Expeditions and Excursions

Yesterday I returned from a week-long Duke in Istanbul excursion from Cappadocia and the Aegean coast.  Needless to say it was-

1. Awesome
2. Exhausting
3. Way too action-packed to describe in detail on this blog

So I'll be consulting my notes and putting up some highlights for you to enjoy/laugh at me for.

We flew to Kayseri, a large city in Cappadocia (which is in central Anatolia), from Istanbul, and then drove to our hotel.  Our tourguide in Capp was Sevim, and she was very knowledgeable, funny, and interested in birds (like me of course).  We stayed in a great hotel: the Urgup Evi Cave Hotel, which was in a cave and was quite luxurious.  Cappadocia was beautiful.  It reminded me of Colorado mixed with New Mexico, but had a Central Asian flair that was really attractive.  Everyone we met was hospitable and we saw some amazing sights.

Highlights of the trip:

• 
  Watching whirling Dervishes perform in a Karavanesi at night (I could imagine the Anatolian wolves howling outside)
• Walking through Meskendir Valley and seeing pigeon-houses and the beautiful landscape
• Visiting the Gorome Open Air Museum, which is a collection of Byzantine chapels inside caves/fairy chimneys with stunning frescoes
• Climbing to the top of a fairy chimney to visit a monk's cell, using only hand holds in a steep, vertical shaft
• Seeing a fairy chimney shaped like a camel
• Watching master potters make masterful pots (and bowls, plates, etc)
• Walking through Mustafapasa, a formerly Greek city which was eerily quiet, picturesque, and completely devoid of any memory of conflict between the Greeks and Turks. 

The trip really helped all of us on the program get to know one another and "bond."  It also allowed me to see a part of the world I normally would not be able to visit.  Finally, the food in Cappadocia was fantastic!  The Cave Hotel had a wonderful cook and our dinners and breakfasts there were delicious.  Highlights include poached pair in rose-water, lentil soup, Borek (something like a crusty, flaky turnover filled with cheese and possibly other things), and lots of cay (tea).

From Cappadocia, we flew through Istanbul to Izmir.  The airports in Cappadocia (we flew into one, and out of another) were very small and slightly Soviet-esque.  Also, it seems that all domestic flights in Turkey are delayed for at least half and hour, without fail.  It makes traveling slightly less stressful, if you don't have any tight connections to make, because you can just relax at the airport.

In Izmir, after a day of traveling (Turkish Air gave us all valentines), we were met by Cetin (pronounced Chetin) our guide.  We drove out to Kusadasi (pronounced Kushadasuh- pretend the final i doesn't have a dot above it), and got to our hotel- the "Charisma."  Obviously it was sleazy but was right on the Aegean and I had a fantastic view from my balcony. 

Highlights from the Aegean tour include:

• Touring the ancient city of Ephesus- mosaics, frescoes, sweet water systems, and the beautiful library of Celsus
• Seeing the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which was terribly maintained, preserved, and presented, for something which was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world
• Eating doner kebap, which definitely included intestines, while drinking an Efes (Turkish beer named after Ephesus), and watching the sunset over the Aegean
• Visiting the ancient city of Pergamon, which was the most beautiful site I have ever visited
• Reading the Iliad while watching the sun set over the Trojan plain
• Visiting the battlefields of Gallipoli, which were also stunningly beautiful
• Crossing the Hellespont ("Asia needs one kings like the earth needs one sun")

Needless to say, it was amazing and fantastic and sitting in my little cubicle-like cell in the superdorm, I feel slightly depressed.  Last night, I made it into the city for the first time.  A program-mate has been to Istanbul before and met two musicians, so we went down to the Taksim area, to a bar off Istiklal Caddesi, to see them play.  There music was a mixture of traditional Turkish and modern funk-rock, was clarinet and baglama (like a mandolin) driven, and the bar was hopping by the time we left.

Classes start on Monday and the horribly buerocratic registration system here at Bogazici has left me unsure of what I'm going to be taking.  Oh well.