It's official: I have started to refer to the Jerusalem Center as home. When I got back this morning, it really felt like I was coming home, or at least to a home away from home.
Well onto the exciting part: I spent the last week in Turkey! I realized that I didn't really know much about Turkey's history and culture before going, but I have such a fondness for it now. I sincerely hope that you go someday. It was amazing, that's all I can say to sum it up.
We arrived late Sunday night and for dinner in Istanbul. There were so many people out at night and it was humid but super cool and breezy, absolutely beautiful. The food was pretty good, Turkey meals almost always have 4 courses: salad, soup, meal, dessert. Delicious. And the baklava there is off the charts. Istanbul is a city to visit; there is so much life there. What really makes it incredible is the way that it lies on both sides of the Bosphorous strait, the water way between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Turkey is split into a small European side (west of the Bosphorous Strait) and bigger Asian side (east of it). So we were in one side of Istanbul in Europe, then took a ferry/bridge to Asia, all in the same city. So cool. Our first hotel was good, but the food was strange to us at breakfast on Monday morning. We had no idea what to eat because we were warned that the water would make us sick, so we were basically sticking to cooked food. After a hearty meal of hard-boiled eggs and toast with vişne (delicious sour cherry spread), we followed our tour guide, Ügur, to the area of Istanbul where the Hippodrome was in around 325 A.D. The Hippodrome was basically where a chariot race like in Ben Hur would have been. The only current remains are two columns with inscriptions on them. We then walked over to the Blue Mosque, a ginormous mosque with beautiful blue tile patterns all over on the inside ceiling. All of us girls had to wear our headscarves, while everyone had to take off their shoes; I actually really liked that we did, though, because I was able to take a moment and share the reverence that Muslims have for their place of worship. After that we went to the Topkapi Palace where tons of relics from the Ottoman Empire remain, such as an 86-karat diamond! A lot of muslim relics, too. From there we went to this place called the Basilica Cistern. It is an underground cistern below Istanbul, built around 532 A.D. by emperor Justinian to hold water for the Imperial Palace. It’s like the chamber of secrets with hundreds of columns all around for support. After a typical Turkish lunch we went to the Grand Bazaar, a massive labyrinth of shops and merchants in Istanbul. I got a beautiful Turkish rug, I couldn’t resist. After the Bazaar, we got on a boat and sailed all along the Bosphorous strait. I could stand to have a beach house in Istanbul, then stopped for dinner at Devli Samatya before heading back to our hotels.
Tuesday morning we got on the buses and drove for hours to Gallipoli, a peninsula on the European side of Turkey. It was really beautiful, the water was SO BLUE. Gallipoli was the site of a bloody battle from WWI, with around 25,000 casualties on each side. There is a beautiful graveyard there, as a lot of ANZACs (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps) died there in the battle. We saw a lot of Australians/New Zealanders visiting the gravestones. It was a great place. After Gallipoli we went to lunch, then took another ferry across the Dardanelles to the Asian side of Turkey. From there we went to...Troy! We were all pretty excited for Troy, but it was honestly kind of a let-down: there wasn't a lot to see besides a few ruins, and we were all really tired. They did have a big (fake) Trojan horse, and some Trojan soldiers. That night, we stayed at this amazing hotel Ida Kale, right on the water of the Aegean Sea. I swam in the Aegean Sea!! It was so cold, but so fun. After a delicious dinner right in the hotel, and watched the sun set over the other side of the sea on the dock. Breathtaking. We all stayed and talked on the dock for a while after dark, then we had a dance party on the beach, haha.
Wednesday morning we all got up and took the bus to Assos, which was absolutely amazing. My favorite place in Turkey. The sky was overcast so the weather was perfect. The only way to get up to Assos is to hike up the mountain through this beautifully quaint village. Once you reach the top, you see a bunch of pillars over a big slab that was once a temple. The ruins would have been awesome on their own, but the view up there was just stunning. It was just after sunrise and everything was beautiful, we compared it to the view of the land/sea of Neverland in Hook and Peter Pan. The land and sea just made everything seem flawless. We also had a really great devotional about Paul's ministry up at the top, because he actually did go there to preach. It was just perfect. After lunch, we went to Pergamon Acropolis! These ruins were so great, big pillars everywhere and a big ampitheatre from back in the day. It was awesome, I kind of love ruins. After that we drove a long way to our hotel, but it was so worth it. We stayed in Ephesus at the Hotel Ephesus Princess. Seriously, look it up. We got there too late to swim, but the buffet of food was supreme. And talk about a beautiful view. Some of us walked on the beach, went to the dock and dipped our feet back into the Aegean Sea, and just took it all in.
Thursday morning we took a drive to the city of Smyrna to see the ruins of The Church of St. John. The ruins are awesome, and they overlook the ruins of the Temple of Artemis! The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but, sadly, only one lone pillar is left. Next we went to Ephesus, probably the place most abundant in ruins around. It was pretty crowded, unfortunately, but it was way cool to walk through the whole maze of ancient structures. They had the big library that Alexander the Great gave to Cleopatra and another big amphitheater, among tons of other everyday structures left over. Then we went to Miletus, another place with a lot of ruins. I liked it a lot, I just don't know what to say about it that I haven't said already about the others. Ruins are great, though. Paul also went up to Miletus, so that's interesting. After Miletus we went straight back to the hotel, which gave us plenty of free time. We got to order drinks by the pool and swim. Some really funny kids (Jed, Jordan, Tom, Paul, and Lorina) put on a synchronized swimming performance for us. The thing was, it was actually pretty good. After another amazing dinner at the hotel, many of us walked out on the jetty and watched the sunset. That was probably the best sunset I have seen yet, I’ll post a picture soon! But my favorite part was just walking along the beach and relaxing, getting to know the people sharing this experience with me.
Friday morning we loaded the buses and went to Sardis, an old ruined city with Greek-like traditions like Gymnasiums and pagan practices. We got some good pictures, then we went to Thyatira, this tiny ruin in the middle of the city. It was kind of cool, just it was small, and kind of lame compared to everything else we had seen. We then took a looooong drive to the Grand Mosque in Bursa. First we went to a Bazaar in Bursa, because during the call to prayer only Muslims are praying inside the mosque. Side note: I found that I really like to haggle! Seriously its like a game with the merchant, and you get a sale out of it! Once we got into the mosque, it was very reverent inside. I really enjoyed seeing the devotion of everyone inside, still praying after the call to prayer had finished. It also had some spectacular Islamic artwork and symbols. That night we stayed at the Hotel Gönlüferah, where they seriously treated us like Kings and Queens. The food was delicious, and the éclairs at dessert were smothered in something like nutella. We’ve been extra healthy lately. A few of us walked around the town a bit after dinner, but then we just crashed early.
Saturday morning we went to Nicaea, a small lake-side site of some of Constantine's ruins. It was very peaceful, and we got to sing Praise to the Man, which I loved! After a drive back to Istanbul we stopped for lunch, which we actually did not enjoy: we had beef, which wasn't bad itself, but on a bed of mashed eggplant. Mashed eggplant is a nauseating texture, in case you were wondering. It’s sort of gooey and stringy but without a lot of flavor. But we had a delicious rice pudding dessert, so that made up for it. Then we took a ferry back to the Asian side of Istanbul, and went to the Hagia Sophia museum. Hagia Sophia was a church turned mosque turned museum, and it was spectacular inside. Ginormous, candlelit, the walls are overrun with beautiful artwork and symbols from both Christianity and Islam! There were these beautiful tile mosaics on some parts that had been covered up by plaster when it was turned into a mosque, but the plaster preserved them so well that we can see them today. Gorgeous. Then we had free time to go out into the city and shop. I went with Amy, Emily, and Allison. I got a Turkey shirt, ice cream, and a painted picture of some Turkish dancers to hang up in my future home. All of us were sitting and people watching in the Hippodrome when Amy asked this guy (Jayhoon) to take our picture. Then he asked her name, kissed her on both cheeks, then got a picture with her. Then he did the same for Emily, then me, then Allison. I do love meeting the locals. That night, our last meal in Turkey, they served us fish! I had never had fish served whole before, so it was great to finally try it, and in Istanbul! So fresh. After that, we all loaded the buses for the airport. On the ride there, we had a touching goodbye with Ügur. To sum up our experience with him, as my friend Katy said: “I didn’t always understand what he was saying, but I knew what he meant.” Bless his heart. He is a really great guy, though. He even said he would look us up on LDS.org to better understand our religion, as he is a Muslim and we are learning more about his. He really admired that our church is so focused on charity and service, which he believes is the most important thing we can do. We’ll miss him as much as we’ll miss Turkey.
I am definitely setting a goal to come back to Turkey. The culture is rich and lively, the countryside is beautiful, and I’ll never forget what I saw and learned.
