Hello from Turkey! Well, actually from Germany because I didn't have time to write a big long one from Turkey. I know I come home tomorrow, but I figured I would try to pump these last two emails out.
Turkey was awesome and could possibly be my favorite country that we visited on this trip…but its close between Turkey and Thailand. For half of our time here we stayed in the capital city of Istanbul, where there is a lot of history (formerly Constantinople if you know the song). In Istanbul we visited the Hagia Sofia, the last remaining ancient wonder of the world that is still standing. It is a giant dome used originally as a cathedral and then later used as a mosque. It was built in the 5th century by Constantine as a way to introduce Christianity to the people. The inside was enormous, with great big doors leading in. Half of the structure was filled with scaffolding because they constantly have to repair. It would be neat to see it without any scaffolding, but I don't know if that will ever happen again.
We also visited the Blue Mosque, as Turkey is primarily a Muslim country. We took a boat ride down the Bosphorous River, which runs through Istanbul, and was very important in trade in the early days. On this boat trip Aysen, our tour guide for Turkey, brought along some local college students studying law at the university. Of course, I began talking away with them and asking them all kinds of questions. You know me. So after the boat ride they asked us if we wanted to go out with them later on in the evening. I was so excited to finally get to talk to a person my age and learn about their lives in Turkey. We met them at Taksim, which we are told is the equivalent to Time Square (It’s the most famous street in all of Istanbul for nightlife, etc.). So, we drank with them, and talked politics with them--I had a blast!
We left Istanbul and traveled down the southwestern coast of Turkey where all the ancient cities are. We visited Troy, Pergamon, Heirapolis, and Ephesus. It is really hard for me to separate what I saw at each one because they all sort of blur together for me, but I will try.
Troy I must say was a bit disappointing with out Brad Pitt :) It was not as well-preserved as some of the other ancient ruins we saw. The man who excavated Troy didn’t really take his time with the process and he was no archaeologist. At Troy, you can see several (I think up to 9) of the cities of Troy. The ancient city was often attacked and destroyed but was rebuilt many times because of its key geographical location.
Pergamon was next and was much more preserved. The ancient city of Pergamon sits atop a huge hill that you have to wind up to get there. Daises and buttercups were scattered over the ruins. It was really quite beautiful with the sunlight reflecting off the ancient marble... one of those moments. In Turkey there are the most beautiful blue skies I have ever seen. Wait until you see pictures from the ruins, you will not believe how bright blue it is! It’s definitely not the same sky we have in Ohio.
Ephesus was the last ancient city we visited and was the preserved the best of all the ruins I saw. Here there are so many areas of the city that are practically undamaged and some areas that have been restored. The most famous of these is the library of Ephesus, which was restores not too long ago.
We also spent a night in Izmir at a really fancy hotel …which was really nice.
I had little to no expectations for Turkey but I found that I loved it! Like most Americans I had no idea that so many ancient cities exist in Turkey. It was definitely a great experience to be able to talk to with people my age in Turkey. They asked us a lot of questions about people in the U.S. and what we thought about the upcoming election, Iraq, etc. It was interesting to see their perspectives and likewise I think for them to see ours. One guy, Baris told me that a few summers back he had cancelled his trip to the U.S. When I asked him why, he told me for fear of discrimination because he is a Muslim. It made me realize how much impact (positive and negative) one event or person can have over the views of someone else. I hope we gave them an honest and positive portrayal of American youth. They certainly showed us a good time in Istanbul. I actually chose to write about this encounter for the Travel Writing course I am taking. See, I actually am doing work over here. It’s not just all sightseeing!!
FYI I can’t find some of the punctuation on this German keyboard so my apologies for any grammatical errors :)
Also, I fly home tomorrow but I hope to be able to get the email about Germany out before I leave. Today is the last day of class so who knows how long it might go.
Peace,
Megan
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