Back ın İstanbul

Faıthful Readers:

Sad to say- but Cs laptop has a defunct power source - so my bloggıng abilities have been trımmed. In fact - I dont know if İ can contınue. All the computers here have thıs strange Turkish keyboard wıth different keys (notice that I have not yet located the apostrophe key).

Konya was neat - lots of mosques - a very pious place. Even more wonderful was the afternoon trip to Catal Huyuk. Now I am back in Istanbul - Taksım Square - lectures and tours of neighborhoods today - after the major palaces and mosques yesterday.

Tomorrow the seminar phase of my trip ends.

If I can - I wıll make more posts.

Wild Turkey

I'm back. Actually the wireless connection at the hotel in Ugrup (Cappadocia region, central Turkey) was fine - but we were out late at a mystical Islamic liturgical dance and did not get in until early midnight. It's been two long days of traveling and we've seen many fine things.

Where to begin? The quick narrative is that we left Ankara early on Sunday and rode in our bus for about three hours. We've visited Urgrup and Goreme in Cappadocia (the high, sunny yet very cool and windswept central are of Turkey), and have just now arrived in Konja (south central Turkey).

To keep things quick - there are really two central themes to the last two days: strange geology and unorthodox Islamic cults.

The geological stuff is easier to explain. Cappadocia lies between three volcanos which, over the years, have filled the area with all kinds of different mineral and rocks and volcanic ash. This and the winds have created a seemingly otherworldy landscape of uneven erosion. The result is these towering columns of eroded ash topped with harder rock "hats", and also cliff faces of easily carved rock. I gather the stone - tufa - can be easily dug out with shovels but when exposed to air dries and solidifies.

Anyway - this means that Cappadocians - since the earliest of times and most notably since the early Byzantines - have been carving houses, churches and tunnels into these cliffs. We visited Goreme where there is an old Byzantine monastery (now abandoned) dating from the early Byzantine era. There you see all kinds of rooms and even large painted churches carved into the cliff face. In the afternoon, we visited an example of a cave village - where people (again early Byzantine Greeks - probably around the 6th - 9th centuries) dug straight down under their villages. These caves were were really village defense systems. During the rise of Islamic power after the 600s, army after army pounded back and forth through Cappadocia, and villages found they could simply retreat into these excavated tunnels that go straight DOWN DOWN DOWN - something like 13 or 14 levels.

So - it has been two days of these amazing landscapes and dwellings and tunnels. The vertical caves are not a tourist attraction for the claustrophobes. I am generally ok with closed spaces, but I felt it was close crouching and climbing down through winding staircases , 60, 70,80 90 meters underground. Mercifully, it would open out into small room now and again. (Note - Turkey has a very different sense of tort law; all over the place you see all kinds of sidewalks and features of tourist places that would never be accepted in the states - broken stairs on sidewalks, walks along high walls with no railings, random holes - it keeps your wits active).

Now - the various cults and traditions of unorthodox Islam is a bit harder to understand. We tend to hear about only mainstream and very orthodox versions of Islam (mainstream Sunni and Shiite), but Turkey offers a host of diferent cults and traditions. It must have something to do with the fact that the Anatolian peninsula has always been exposed to a wide array of different religious traditions. So you run into all these very open, ecumenical versions of Islam - sort of the Unitarians of that tradition, only rather than this being a recent thing, these sects go way back. We visited and explored the home of one of these communities yesteday, then in the evening we went to a 12th c. Caravanseray outside of Urgrup to see the the spinning dance (whirling Dervish) of another mystical Islamic tradition.

That dance last night was very beautiful. I was actually expecting some sort of touristic thing dished out for the tour bus, but we saw something much better than that. The old Caravanseray had been beautifully restored, so we walked into this immense 12th c. courtyard at 9:30 last night (beautiful moon). The dance took place in the vaulted area (covered) behind the courtyard. It was a small theater, and the ceremony took about 45 minutes - a series of songs and chants that leads into the spinning dance. Afterwards we were able to go to a small room off the open courtyard to drink tea and speak with one of the Dervishes about the dance. It was a beautiful dance, strange and wonderful music, all in an extraordinary setting.

Interesting point: the fact that Ataturk banned these communities has an interesting double edge to it. These variant Islam traditions, along with others such as the Alevi's have always had tense relationships with the mainstream traditions here. There's even been various massacres and pogroms over the years. It is interesting to see that worship and practice of these sects continues - but now it exists under a kind of state protection administered by the bureau of culture and tourism. So, strangely enough Ataturk's ban has actually functioned as a kind of preservation and protection. This seems almost to be a general rule about Turkey: things tend to be the inversion of what you would expect.

Busy days but lots to see. The hotel in Ugrup was nice - I wish I could have parked there another day or two. We did some walking and shopping around town - put carpet bargaining skills to the test.

Even the bus rides have been good. It's nice to be able to sit for some time in air conditioned comfort and watch the landscape roll by. They also do a nice job of stopping every hour or so at some interesting site (today we stopped at a town known for its pottery as well as some of the places I mentioned above). So, it's nice to have your life run by professionals for a bit.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow because we are taking an afternoon trip to Catal Huyuk - the site of that original city I wrote about a few days ago. Also, the past few days we have had an architectural historian in tow with our tour - it's been great. It will be a long day though - and it ends with a midnight arrival (by plane) back to Istanbul. No chance for blogging tomorrow.


Most Remarkable Thing:

Hmmm...these past two days the harder thing has been to lay hold on something normal. Between looking at Byzantine churches carved into cliffs or crawling down curving stairways a hundred and more feet down..

Pictures:

This is a nice shot of a little roadside stop near Urgrup - and you can get a glimpse of some of the Cappadocian landscape around there.

Very Old Ankara

A short posting tonight, as we have to get up extra early and pile on a bus to Cappadocia tomorrow - leaving our sweet little steppe town.

We hit the BIG sites today - The Anitbakir (Ataturk's Mausoleum, and then over to old Ankara to see some Roman ruins leaning against a very old but very important mosque. Then on to the citadel, and after a stiff climb up that in the sun, some lunch and a few hours at the Museum of Anatolian Antiquities. For all the old city bits we were accompanied by an archaeologist - a Brit who has lived here since the 70s and specializes in Anatolian archaeology.

The Anitbakir was remarkable - really enormous and beautiful - designed in the late 30s (Ataturk died in 1938) by the premier German monumental architects. We filed down the "walk of lions" and into the mausoleum court itself, finally pausing on the steps of the mausoleum to read Ataturk's message to children, then we removed our hats and filed past the tomb of the Great Leader. Even more interesting was the museum underneath the pavilion - but more on that below.

The old city was extraordinary. This archaeologist is particularly accomplished and he was able to point out lots of important things about the Temple of Divine Augustus in the city center.

The center of old Ankara has an entirely different feel. Out here near the hotels, shopping district, and embassies - this could be any pleasant European city. Cross the tracks and climb up into the Ulus and you feel as if you are getting back to a much older Turkey (and you are) - a much more intensive Moslem feel (particularly around this mosque - which is neither the largest, nor the prettiest, but definitely the MOST holy one in the city). Up in the citadel you get into a warren of tiny climbing streets that wind up into this immense stone fortification (a citadel) that offer out-to-the horizon views of all of Ankara. Our archaeologist guide was able to point out how much the city has grown since the 70s - and it is really remarkable.

We had a wonderful lunch, sitting on the kilim pillows around a breezy room in a courtyard eatery in the Citadel. I get the impression that most of the really local restaurants are family operations here - its always fathers hosting, mothers cooking, daughters serving and sons bussing tables and running plates back and forth to the kitchen. It always has a very pleasant homey feel.

In my mind the main event came after lunch - which is actually a little unfortunate because that put it at mid afternoon when everyone was feeling pretty beat up. Our archaeologist guide took us on a tour through the museum of Anatolian Antiquities.

The most important and wonderful thing here was all the best items from Catal Huyuk. This is one of the earliest known human cities. As our guide put it - it ALL began there - at least as far as the West is concerned, domestication of animals, agriculture, etc. - it all happened here first. The really great thing about going through this with him was that he was able to explain that most of the signs on the exhibits and lots of the stuff in textbooks is nonsense (e.g. there actually was no Neolithic revolution or at least it was not relevant to the formation of cities; the wall painting that is interpreted as a picture of the city in front of the blowing volcano - that's probably just beehives next to a leopard skin; the Venus Goddesses figures did NOT figure deities - they were found in trash heaps and never in important places, things like this). Actually, on a nice pedagogical point he said - skip the archaeology theories just look at the thing themselves and see what sense you can make of them.

The early items from Catal Huyuk were remarkable - but there were also marvelous things through the Hittite ages as well. The museum is located in a remodeled market place - really a series of stone domes remodeled by Ataturk back in the day. It's surrounded by lovely statue gardens.

We had some time to do a bit of shopping in the Citadel before getting back on the bus and coming back to Hotel Dedeman. Sauna, swim, quick dinner nearby and some tea & desert over backgammon at a cafe in Kisaly.

One last thing - I probably did not mention that Turkey won ANOTHER big tournament soccer match - this one against Croats. The Croats knocked in the first (and leading) goal with about two minutes left in the game. So, it looked hopeless but then a Turk player - at the very last possible moment (probably the last possible kick) tied it up. They won on overtime goal-kicks after two overtimes. Needless to say, Ankara explodes - and I fall asleep among the firecrackers, sirens, and horns. There was, fortunately, no gunfire - perhaps we'll find some of that out in the provices. We are off to Cappadocia early tomorrow.

Most Remarable Thing:

That Ataturk/Revolution exhibit in the fortress like underpinning of the Mausoleum really was the main nerve of this Turkey-Loves-Ataturk thing. It was all about the War of Revolution, but they also preserved and displayed A's pajamas, shaving kit, even his favorite dog, Fox, was there in a glass case. Just recently they have added a sort of diorama of great battle scenes replete with sound effects and choral singing. It was astonishing - and the little alcoves of the hallways describing (picturing) Greek atrocities.


Correction:

Last night I suggested that Kant says that concepts without percepts are blind. It must have been late - I was tired. Of course, everyone knows that Kant says that concepts without percepts are empty - it's percepts without concepts that are "blind". I'll try to live up to higher standards about this sort of thing in my blog in the future. My apologies.

Note: Who knows what the WiFi situation will be like in the hotels in Urgup tomorrow and in Konja the next night. I will surely be having world-historic experiences, but I am not sure I will be able to share them here.

Pictures:

Here's a glimpse of the Old City/Citadel in Ankara - the old style architecture. I gather these buildings need to be completely rebuilt when those timbers on the overhangs start to fail, and there are some sort of rules about rebuilding them. So it gives the place and extra-crubly/perishing feel that goes nicely with the chunks of Greek and Roman stones.

Ankara Over the Tracks

Great day today! Not that yesterday's presentations and insights weren't sublime, but it was nice to indulge the five senses a bit more today. As Kant says: concepts without percepts are blind.

After the usual breakfast gorging we squeezed ourselves into our minibus (an hour later than usual - we felt like it was a weekend) and headed into the the city center.

Spent the morning at a school for the preservation of traditional Turkish crafts. They had a nice tour of a museum there - with some exquisite examples of the crafts they are preserving like Ottoman bath sandles, brass Hammam boxes, embroidery, more embroidery, a rather fascinating (speaking from my woodworking animus) Koran stand, and lots more embroidery. Then we got to do some "ebru" - this amazing marbling technique where after you powder and swirl paints on this long tray filled with water and some sort of fruit mash (that makes it gelatinous). As soon as the swirling is done, they set a silk cloth over it and - voila! - the design sets in the silk immediately.

Then we went to the Ulus area (the older part of town - we are going back there tomorrow too)for lunch, and pressed on to a poorer area north (?) of the city and took a tour / q&a session first at a social service center for women and families, and at a woman's cooperative. Apparently a typical pattern in poorer families is for women to take in textile piece work. Some middleman, for example, hires them to do embroidery or sewing at home. The cooperative was a group working to cut out the middleman, and find and complete their own work.

So, all of this provided some interesting information and impression about lower class family life here. It was also great to simply be in that part of town. Unlike the more touristed areas, a busload of Americans was something remarkable here - and a clot of onlookers (mostly kids) were gathering around as we came out of the cooperative.

You get a strong impression that there is a lot of street life here in Ankara - and Turkey generally - people tend to be outside chatting, playing, and more or less prefer to pick up things at one of a zillion streetside shops as their needs dictate. In this part of town you see more colorful traditional dress, kids running up who want to practice their English (which is fairly limited to "Hi"). So - it was one of these places you would not see without a pre-arranged tour.

People were feeling pretty tired and maybe ready to get back to the hotel - but there was an arranged Turkish cooking actitvity that was a lot of fun and buouyed everyone up. The tour had booked a little family restaurant in the neighborhood, and after the usual round of water and tea - we piled into the kitchen downstairs to do some cooking. They had set up four stations: gozume(?)(a kind of filled bread that is rolled thin, wrapped around cheese or vegetables and baked on this big inverted bowl cooking surface); dolmus (stuffed grape leaves); the ever popular baklava; and a bulgur salad. So we learned a few dough recipes, some amazing rolling techniques (for the gozume and the baklava), some interesting new ingredients for the tabouleh, and we even figured out the mystery behind how to make the really good tea here. The kitchen was hot, but it was a lot of fun.

Afterwards there was a "saga"(?) player - a three stringed guitar, and we ate what we cooked (and more).

For the gozume dough: flour, water, milk, salt - no yeast.
For the phyllo stuff: they take ten little balls of dough, roll them into pancakes and stack them by tens, and then roll a stack of ten thin. The smart idea is to cut the baklava or spanikoppita BEFORE it cooks. That way it will puff more, not bog down and it will absorb any sauce you put on the top. The Turks put sugar syrup on top - no honey (those damn Greeks!) - it's very nice, a bit lighter and nuttier, less sticky.

Back to the hotel around 7. We were warned to be in by midnight when the Turk/Croatia World Cup game ends - they fear street "rambunctiousness". I gather in the provinces they still do that fire guns into the air thing that you see in news from Iraq. The government puts pictures on TV of the little children being hurt when the bullets fall. So- maybe the hotel bar for a raku and the game a little later.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow: Ataturk's mausoleum (saw it from a distant hill and the thing looks HUGE) and a tour of the citadel and the Museum of Ancient Anatolia which supposedly has all the real pearls of Turkish archaeology.

Most Remarkable Thing:

I'll vote for the Koran stand. I've got to make my own secular version of this. It's really just two boards with a diagonal crosscut, but that have been overlapped around a box cut that makes the thing fold out into a stable X shape.

Pictures:

This is the Ataturk bust at the Turkish craft preservation school (set up by Ataturk himself). His picture is everywhere - even when you dont see it, if you look a bit harder you'll find at least three. The inscription on this one reads: "We owe everything to You!"

Sea Brill

Today was another serious talking day - four presentations sessions starting at 9, ending at 5:30. All good presentations.

In the morning we first heard about Turkey and the EU (from an International Affairs scholar) and then about Human Development in Turkey from an Economist who works on (and with) the United Nations report on the human development index. The afternoon included a Sociologist explaining something of the history of secularism and religious parties in Turkey, and then a discussion with a lawyer from Amnesty International about human rights in modern Turkey.

I won't get into the details (thankfully?) - but actually they were all good presentations. It seems most of these talks always return to the issues I mentioned yesterday: European Union membership and Secularism (which is right now all concretized into the thing about college women wearing headscarves).

But - I am beginning to develop a few conclusions. I remember some columnist saying how Iran is a thriving democracy wrapped up inside a theocracy - Turkey seems to be something of a military dictatorship wrapped up inside a military dictatorship. The history of democracy here - ever since 1950 - has been fairly regularly interrupted by the military pushing the "reset" button on constitutions and political parties every ten or fifteen years. People seem to perceive that another one of these is in the works right now - or maybe next month.

There is a "Constitutional Court" here that was designed to represent the best wisdom of the military, the more traditionalist (Kemalist) political elite - and their task is to make sure that legislation and policies (produced by the democratic National Assembly) never get too far out of hand.

So - I think maybe the EU has some genuine problems with Turkish membership, because this Constitutional Court really is an anti-democratic institution. This is a bad conclusion for the Turks because they are putting tremendous effort into joining the union, and I am also picking up the idea that they see membership as a kind of solution to the role of the military and the Constitutional Court (military coup is just not something they would tolerate). So - there is something of a Catch 22 here as well.

OK - I won't go on about this stuff, but before I start talking about food again I wanted to get down one detail of the economic presentation. It was very entertaining. This economist explained the UN "Human Development" index - what it's components are, why it exists, how it is calculated,etc. He has been asked and appointed by the UN to work and review the Turkish figures, and a lot of his research has been on this as well. In the session, he explained the details and got us involved in a quick discussion of who we think is at the top (rank), what their rating might be (index), at the bottom, where the US is, etc.

This would be a GREAT exercise in the classroom - and all the documents and info are available online through the United Nations. So - we should steal that feature from his presentation.

OK - now food.

After the usual post session sauna and swim, I headed out with C to the Tunali area of town (that is a street near here - something of the upscale shopping district. We explored the bohemian, beery student part of town yesterday). We relied on the tried but true method of finding a restaurant by simply going to the place that seems the most crowded by locals. Tonight this was a fish place - and as it turns out another group from the seminar was already there.

We ordered the grilled Sea Brill - a fresh fish from the Black Sea (Ankara - I gather - has a good reputation for getting fresh fish from the Black Sea). So, I am now not only meeting Asians but also eating their animals. Wonderful fish - and a nice array of mezzes too.

The Turkish are smart about mezzes. Rather than simply putting appetizers on the menu, they actually put them in little dishes and bring them to your table when you are hungry. So you get two or three of these little dishes to share while your drink your Efes Pilsner or Raku and wait for your meal. Very pleasant.

Tomorrow promises to involve more walking and seeing and perhaps a little less concentration. We are doing some site visits to a craft cooperative (where crafts are taught to poor women to give them a means for earning - and WE are going to learn about marbling paper), a tour of a squatters city/shanty town on the edge of Ankara, and a tour of the old city. We finish up with a cooking lesson where we eat what we cook (and maybe, if they are nice, something they cook).

So - there might be some more interesting and original pictures up here tomorrow. I need to get some shots of Ankara city as well.


Most Remarkable Thing:

Perhaps the Sea Brill - but it was food yesterday - so I'll put down the remark from the economist:

"Channeling development funds is easy, the problem is getting it to stay where you put it."

Ataturk's Capital

Today we got down to business - no more the great open spaces of the steppes - now it's just the caverns of the mind.

I could reconsider the very fine presentations from our seminar - maybe I will (poor readers!) - but first a bit about Ankara.

Remind me to write to the guide book people (Fodors) who give this city a bad rap. It's a really nice place - tree lined streets, good nice shops, a living city - not a tourist place nor a hugely governmentalized capital. I could see it would be nice to live here.

Yesterday night we had a nice meal to welcome everyone to the seminar and we took a stroll around and about on our way back to the hotel. There is a nice up scale shopping area, and then also a student district (which is where we will likely head for some dinner tonight). It's a nice place which the guide books describe as something of a dusty and windswept prarie city...go figure.

Today started off with a quick lesson on Turkish. I can see why it's so good to study languages abroad - not only for the practice but mostly for the motivation. Our sessions take place at METU, a high end technical college here in Ankara. The campus is modern but beginning to look a bit dated - e.g. the defunct monorail system that once ran from the edge of campus to its center.

In the morning we had talks by METU Professors of Political Science and Sociology/Anthropology. Both talks were very informative - I get a much better sense (both of what I understand and what I do NOT understand) about Turkish politics and history. The first talk centered on Turkish national identity -covering the (rather hidden) origins of the Turks, but also some remarks about their sense of nationalism today. Some of the most recent issues (post 9/11) were particularly interesting - particularly the worsening of US/Turkish relations. After the Turks declined fly-over rights in the 2003 Iraq fight, there were some Turkish soldiers seized by Kurds in Northern Iraq (July 4, 2004), treated badly - and when the crisis was at its height they got absolutely no help from the US on this. I gather this has been the center of considerable ill feeling about the US here.

The second speaker talked about how easy it is to misunderstand ethnic divisions in Turkey. Different distinctions overlap, and it's a complicated and local matter to understand which disctinctions might be more important in a particular context. He strongly supports a governmental secularism, and worries that the US might find itself regretting that it supports anti-secularist parties here.

The current question hanging over all of this (and other talks as well) - is the fact that the Constitutional Court overturned a government law that allows women to wear headscarfs at colleges. The big issue is whether or not this indicates some movement towards a religious state or simply a kind of mild move towards religious freedom. It is serious business because it means that government could be outlawed and removed, the party disbanded, particular candidates banned - and as this is a fairly popular government (at least in some areas) - it could provoke a real crisis.

The other big issue that cuts acoss several of these talks is EU membership and a marked degree of resentment that several European nations - and France is often singled out here - are blocking this.

In the afternoon we got over to the national assembly to meet with a member of the parliament here. He answered a few questions - and we got to look around the outside of the Assembly building (our inside tour was cancelled because the parliament is having extra sessions these days).

So - the Turkish politial system is inscrutable, but I guess trying to explain our own system would not sound any more clear (and at least they do not have State governments in on the mix).

Accomodations here are nice - a magnificent sauna and a small pool downstairs makes for a particularly nice unwinding at the end of the day.

Most Remarkable Thing:

Sorry - the sessions really were good - but breakfast was amazing. Meat, cheeses, olives, eggs, bread, fruits I have never seen before - all in amazing variety and served up on a nice outdoor terrace. Between the breakfast and sauna this has become one of my favorite hotels.

Picture: No new pictures today (left the camera at the hotel) but here is a shot of out favorite carpet store in Istanbul, just to make things look pretty.

There are people in Asia!

You might have believed this is obvious, but now - and for the first time - I can say this on the basis of personal experience.

C and I crossed the Bosphorus yesterday evening around 7PM, so I first set foot on this new continent. I think it has lots of potential - but then there are all these natives...

Actually, the crossing was a lot of fun. It took some figuring and quick assumptions to find the right boat and how to get admission to the right boat. This involved buying a toke - but that was not obvious at the time. You can get to Asia really cheaply - about 1.4 YTL (Turkish Lira) - and you can even buy tea and simit while enjoying the Bosphorus breezes.

We had a few hours poking around Haydarpasa (where the ferry lands in front of the old train station. Not an especially fascinating place except for the fact you definitely feel that you are NOT in tourist land any more. We walked around the harobor docks for a while and saw the amazing TurkBalon (see below).

We finally got some dinner at a kind of sandwich/diner shop. The waiter of couse spoke no English, but he did have an English menu. Unfortunately when we ordered from that he had no idea what we were asking for. But happily for us, this was not an example of what philosophers call "radical translation" and we made it by ok.

The train was lots of fun. It lurched out of Hayderpasa station around 10:30. The station itself is a beautiful old looming 19th c. (?) building. We each had our own sleeping room (even though the rooms are doubles - squeezing two people into one of them would have removed any chance of a night's sleep).

Even though the train ride was at night, it was remarkable. There was a nice moon. Every now and again you would wake up and find the train standing in the railyard next to cars loaded with enormous blocks of stone (marble?- some white stone) - or see features of land or water move by. I believe the train gained a good bit of elevation at one point - Turkey must have the quality of a plateau.

Woke up on another planet. Sunrise over vast rolling wheatfields, and little patches of melons or orchards. Remarkable scenery - especially for a son of New England like myself who is not used to the really big horizons. Breakfast on the train was fun too - bad coffee but excellent olives and tomatoes (so far I have not seen ANY bad produce in Asia). I think I need to reform my breakfast habits - the Turks seem to be on to a much more sensible way to do things.

And on that subject - Dad - fresh squeesed orange stands are all over the place. Big glass tubs of oranges next to a hand press.

Arrival in Ankara was uneventful. I saw someone fumbling with a guide book and some program from the CIEE that I recognized, so we met up with at least one other person from the seminar. After settling at the Dedeman Hotel, and taking a walk around the neighborhood with C - the three of us had a really nice lunch near the hotel. The best of it was a great tomato salad - dressed tomato chunks on a bed of minced fresh hers, lettuce and a sweet vinegar dressing. Just the thing to go with yet another array of grilled meats.

The seminar officially begins with a reception this evening. I am going to get to the sauna and pool here before that.

It's really nice to know we will be here for five nights - nice to settle for a bit. The guide books did not have much nice to say about Ankara, but so far I really like it. Shady streets - much less humiditiy than Istanbul - a bit more workaday in its business (and a more noticeable presence of soldiers - for some reason 19 year olds with machine guns don' make me feel safer - but the diplomats might be better off for it).

Most remarkable thing:

Has got to be the TurkBalon - Bob (Scimitar?) - that peculiar round ball we were puzzling over on the Dersaadet terrace turns out to be this enormous hot air (or helium?) balloon held down in nets (on the south edge of Haydarpasa harbor). Apparently someone had the inspiration to try to create a floating cafe or room that can be lifted up under this thing. It looks like it's seen better days - but a Ferris Wheel works for London on the Thames - why not a balloon ride for Istanbul and the Bosphorus.

Asia promises many marvels - even great than this.

Pictures:
Breakfast on the train - note portrait of Ataturk over the counter in the back.
Scenery from train.
Sorry for the botched formatting - if you click any of the photos you can see a much larger version.

The Sultanehmet

Finally made it...

Jeff - remind me to send you an email about some of the tips and tricks of navigating our airline flight schedule. Everything came off fine, but that was a very very very long layover in a rather busy and practically minded airport.

But it was all worthwhile when I met my taxi guy (the one with the DAVID KITE sign) and made it to the Hotel Dersaadet. I found C up on the roof, enoying the breezes off the Marmaris with the night-time illuminated Blue Mosque rising up beyond the terrace.

Exactly two beers (a very nice Efes pilsner), a shower and then a nice sleep in an air conditioned room took all the travel off me.

The city is wonderful. Went back up to the terrace for a great breakfast as the ocean traffic rounded into the Golden Horn. M, C and I took a leisurely stroll around the Sultanehmet this morning. The carpet stores are everywhere - C is already negotiating prices for pillow covers.

Actually C has developed some kind of Mediterranean atavism for bargaining. I'll leave it to him to relay his stories, but I think he is a natural at this.

This part of the city is very manageable - very walkable - nice hills (gentle and not so gentle), cobblestones - lots of souvenir places and most with some really nice items (carpets, meerschaum pipes, pottery - and some really tempting felted hats).

The weather is nice- a bit humid but the temperatures are not all that high. After another rooftop lunch at a restaurant down the street from the hotel we came back to rest up a bit. Thoughts of getting over to look at the Grand Bazaar this afternoon. C and I head off on our train to Ankara tonight.

So - it's really impressive way to start the trip. I am just beginning to explore the food, but so far it seems wonderful. Lots of fresh vegatables, great grilled lamb.

Most remarkable moment: After I just got in and was sitting up on the terrace here drinking beer, everyone was involved in a Turkish/Czech soccer game on television. We are keeping an eye on the game from our chairs outside. The Turks tie it up - and then the entire city pops - you can hear these cheers up and down the neighborhoods. A few minutes later when the Turks got the go-ahead (and winning) goal in the last two minutes, even the dogs start barking and you can see flares going up on the Galata side of the city.

So - very nice, very relaxing and LOTS to see (and buy?).

pictures: below, view of Blue Mosque from our breakfast table
above, carpets, carpets, everywhere...

Ready..get set...

This blog will keep you up to date on my trip to Turkey this summer.

My plan is to leave Saturday evening (Jun 14) and arrive in Istanbul (after a healthy layover in Dublin) around 9 PM on Jun 15.

For most of the trip, I'll be part of a CIEE seminar. It begins in Ankara on Jun17, takes us through Cappadocia and Konja and ends in Istabul on Jun28. After that, I'll meet up with JK and spend a week doing some more sights in Istanbul and then perhaps down to the Lycian coast Jul 1-5. We leave from Istanbul on Jul 7.