Dear Friends:
Thanks for tagging along with me to Turkey. I am not sure how many entries this particular series has consumed, but it has easily been 75% of a year. It amuses me a bit that this series ends within two weeks of the anniversary of our departure.
(Istanbul)
I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did. I saw a great many more things than I had thought I might see on my tour.
(The Bosporus, Istanbul)
(Basilica Cistern, Istanbul)
I think the most surprising thing to me during my travels was simply the amount of history that exists in this single country. I saw things that were 12,000 years old. I saw the works of former empires - Greek, Alexandrian, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman. Western history lives here in Turkey as much as anywhere else.
(Gülhane Park, Istanbul)
(The Blue Mosque, Istanbul)
It is odd to me that most people do not think to tour Turkey as part of Europe. I confess that prior to this trip I found myself in the same position: Turkey was somewhere neither fully European nor fully Middle Eastern. It was a place "in between".
(Topkapi Palace, Istanbul)
(Aya Sofya, Istanbul)
But being in Turkey, you would not have known you were not somewhere else in Europe (with perhaps the sole exception of mosques instead of churches and the call to prayer).
(Troy)
(Asklepieion)
Do I have a favorite? After almost a year of writing, that is a hard thing to say. Everywhere we went could be a potential favorite. I wish I had a full day at the Topkapi Palace. I wish we had the time to go to the ruins of Pergamon. I wish we had spent more hours in Ephesus and Hierapolis.
(Kuşadasi)
(The Library of Celsus, Ephesus)
(Hierapolis)
(The Tomb of Rumi, Konya)
(Güzelyurt)
(Kapadokya)
So thanks for coming along with me for the ride. I hope that through these posts, you have been able to grasp a little bit of a remarkable location, its history and culture, and its people.
(Göröme Open Air Park, Kapadokya)
(Anıtkabir, Ankara)
( Atatürk International Airport, Istanbul)
Goodbye, Turkey. Until we meet again.
Yes, Turkey has always been the land 'in-between'. Throughout its history, whether due to geography or politics, it has always been the land in between the East and the West.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts and pictures!
Anon - You are welcome! It has been my great pleasure to do so - both fun to write and the ability to revisit all of these places.
DeleteAppreciate the postings and shared thoughts TB, good timing on when you visited considering the current events percolating there now.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nylon12.
DeleteYes, the news is not great - although to be fair, our guide alluded to the split that we see today. We actually saw signs from the mayoral election with Imamoglu's picture. I hope it can be quickly and peacefully resolved - such a beautiful country.
TB, thank you so much for this series! So many wonderful photos and fascinating pieces of information. I had never thought of Turkey as a possible vacation destination, but now I would happily recommend it to anyone who loves to travel. (Even though I don't travel myself, lol)
ReplyDeleteLeigh, you are quite welcome! It was fun going back in my mind all over again in writing this.
DeleteTo Nylon12's point above, I do hope they get their political issues sorted out. It is a lovely country and lovely people and I would hate for people to not be able to go because of "reasons".
My then-fiancé went to Turkey for two weeks way back in the day for his two weeks active duty with the Naval Reserves (the week after our engagement - and in the era before cell phones and FaceTime, so writing postcards was it). He absolutely loved it, and I’ve enjoyed sharing your memories of your trip with him.
ReplyDeleteAnon - That is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
DeleteOccasionally I meet people that have been to places "back in the day". I am always interested in the then versus now - for me, it is Japan. I went when I was 11 and then in my 20's and then started going more recently every year. The changes are quite evident - which is both good and bad. Likely I saw things that new people going will never see.
It is always humbling going someplace with thousands of years of history and we are just one year shy of 250 years of being a country.
ReplyDeleteIt really is, Ed. Certainly helps give some needed historical perspective - walking through all those ruins, one realizes there were individuals that lived there, that had plans and dreams and schemes and world changing ideas of their own. All gone now, except for bones and ruins and dust.
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