Merhaba (Hello),
We arrived back from our trip to Turkey and will try to summarize our trip below....
We had some plane delays on the way over, so we got to spend a day in Amersterdam. Since we had all of our luggage we didn't try to do too much, but Dan did get to experience Europe for the first time.
We finally arrived in Istanbul, Turkey at 1am! and stayed up all night in the airport because we had to catch our plane to Van at 7am (not the original plan!) We got some coffee & made the most of it! We did have our first cow sighting though... we don't think this one will give us much milk!
In Van we visited
Van Kalesi, or the Van Castle, a Uratian fortress. In the early 5th century BC Persian troops occupied it! What history. From the hill the views of Lake Van,
Van Golu, are breath-taking! Lake Van is Turkey's largest & most unusual lake. It was formed by a volcano when it erupted and blocked a river, giving lake Van no natural outlet. Because of this the water has a high level of sodium bicarbinate (like baking soda). There is only one type of fish that's able to live in it. We also got our first Turkish food - it's really good!
As we continued on our journey, we began to see the beautiful country side of Turkey - something many people miss out on! They had tractors, which they certainly used - look at that load of hay!
Our next stop was to see Mt. Ararat, an extinct volcano, that is the supposed landing site of Noah after the Great Flood in Genesis. It soars above the landscape! We also stopped at the
Ishak Pasa Saray, an 18th century palace which is as beautiful as the country side & mountains surrounding it!
We were definetely up in the mountains! We even got to see snow - the guys threw snowballs! In eastern Turkey many people are cattle and sheep herdsman. They don't have fences to keep them in, but truly "shepherd" their animals - leading and chasing them from place to place - sometimes across the road.
The people of Turkey are very hospitable, always inviting you to share a glass of Turkish tea with them. Our hotel manager treated us to some, as well as many of the shop owners. Lynn's not a tea drinker, but thinks Turkish tea is great! (they say it's a "gateway" tea) Even out in eastern Turkey we found a John Deere shop - we thought of all of our John Deere friends here in the states!
As they are everywhere, the kids are super cute! This little guy told us that his business was weighing people, for any price, he'd let you stand on his scale - Dan was 74 kilos. We drove by a University that was preparing for their national holiday, on October 29th, so there were lots and lots of Turkish flags around!
The cities we visited were very modern, with shopping malls, all type of vehicles, electricity, running water, clean streets, beautiful buildings, and more! There are definitely still elements of the traditional ways of living, with open air markets and horses pulling carts.
The people of Turkey are very relational people, who you'll often find sitting around sipping that wonderful Turkish tea they are quick to offer you.
In Elazig we visited the
Harput Castle, built in the 8th century BC, by the Urartian Kingdom. It was captured four times - the Turcoman tribes, the Artuqids, the Seljuk Turks, and the Ottoman Empire. Again, what amazing history! The views of Elazig were wonderful as well!
Our next stop was Istanbul, formerly know as Constantinopole, or Byzantine, where, they say, the East meets the West. We climbed the
Galata Tower for a bird's eye view of the city before seeing it by foot, tram, bus, and ferry! The Galata Tower was built in 528 with wood for use as a lighthouse. Destroyed & rebuilt at least twice it served many purposes through the years: defense, an astronomical observation point, to house slaves, watch for fires in the city, and now a resturant and night club. It is the oldest tower in the world open to visitors!
Our next stop was the
Hippodrome, which was the center of Byzantium's life for 1000 years and of the Ottoman's for another 400 years. Not much is left today of the once large stadium, used for horse races, crowing of kings, and other large events. Somehow they brought a Obelisk from Egypt to place in the center of the Hippodrome along with another obelisk that was once covered in bronze.
One can't go to Istanbul and not see the famed
Blue Mosque, nicked named that because of the blue Iznik tiles that line the walls. When built in 1609 it had six minarets (used for the call to prayer), instead of the usual four, found in most mosques. It's thought to have been a communication error. The architect understood the sultan's request for gold minarets (altin) to mean six (alti) minarets.
Turkish baths are important because cleanliness is important to the people of Turkey. They are not as popular today, because many people have private showers/baths in their own homes. The one we visited is now a carpet shop, although you get the feel of it. It is a mirrored image, one side for men, one side for women. The first room is the square "fridgidarium" for disrobing, the second room is a long "repidarum" for washing. Finally the octagonal "caldarium" room is used for sweating and massages. The Turkish carpets were beautiful too!
Next we visited the beautiful
Aya Sofya, meaning Holy Wisdom. Completed in 537, the third Aya Sofya on the site, it reigned as the greatest church building in Christendom until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The dome was an achievement of wonder, especailly at the time it was built! In 1453 when the Ottoman empire conquered Constaninople, it became a mosque. All images of people & animals are forbidden in Islam, so the beautiful mosaics were covered in plaster. In 1937 Ataturk declared it a museum, allowing resoration of the beautiful mosaics to begin. When the Vikings attacked in the 9th century, they left some graffiti behind. The stone lambs below are from the first Aya Sofya, destroyed in 532 in riots. In transforming it from a church to a mosque, four minarets were added as well.
We stopped to get a snack and ran into a few more cows...
Our next stop was one of the surprises and highlights - the
Sunken Cistern. We hadn't heard a lot about it, but we're glad we went! This underground cistern was constructed in 532 AD and is 70m wide and 140m long, supported by 336 columns. It once held 80,000 cubic meters of water that was pumped and delivered through nearly 20 km of aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea! It's an amazing thing to think that it exists underneath Istanbul, and has been there for almost 1500 years!!!!
Next we walked to the Bosphorus. All along the shore we saw men fishing and the Strait was full of boats coming and going. It was a beautiful day! We had a chance to relax a bit more in a tea garden overlooking the Bosphorus. We received a Turkish teapot and learned how to pour our own glasses. Pour half from the top kettle (the tea) and then fill the rest up with hot water from the bottom. This allows you to make your tea stronger or weaker. We did buy our very own Turkish tea kettle and glasses and would love to treat you to some! As dusk rolled in, we enjoyed the evening, after a full day of sight seeing and shopping!
The next day we hopped on the plane and flew home, thankfully, very uneventfully. We'll bring more pictures to family gatherings and such during the upcoming holiday season!
Hoscakal!
Look at that snow (and snow man!!) Wow!
