Turkey

Yeah, that's Him, uncovered a few centuries after conquering Moslems converted Hagia Sofia to a mosque. There are some glorious mosaics in what is now the museum of Hagia Sophia.

Yeah, that’s Him, uncovered a few centuries after conquering Moslems converted Hagia Sofia to a mosque. There are some glorious mosaics in what is now the museum of Hagia Sophia.

How do you write about Istanbul, one of the greatest and most historic cities on earth? One option would be to take the John Julius Norwich approach, and write a massive three-volume history of Byzantium, though of course that only covered a portion of the city’s history, up until the victorious Ottomans appeared. Since he’s already done that, though, I’ll keep this somewhat more brief.

The Galata Tower, built in 1348 by the Genoans to protect their trade concession provided by the Ottomans, now stands guard over the upscale Beyoglu neighborhood

The Galata Tower, built in 1348 by the Genoans to protect their trade concession provided by the Ottomans, now stands guard over the upscale Beyoglu neighborhood

Few cities can claim such a prominent history and such a profound impact on the world. With its position on the eastern edge of Europe, linking to Asia just across the Bosphorus Strait, and controlling the seaway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, it was bound to be an important place. Early in the fourth century Emperor Constantine decided it was time to move the capital of the Roman Empire east, to reflect the changing geography of the Empire. On May 11, 330, then, Rome was essentially abandoned and “New Rome” was declared the capital. Over time, of course, it became known as Constantinople and remained the capital of what we call the Byzantine Empire (though they called it the Roman Empire) until the Byzantines were conquered by the Ottomans on May 29, 1453. In other words, it served as the capital of the Roman Empire for precisely 1,123 years and 19 days.

The city’s glory days, of course, weren’t over. When Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople he made it the capital of the new Ottoman Empire; that lasted until November 1, 1922 when the Republicans won the Turkish War of Independence and established the modern Republic of Turkey with its capital at Ankara. So after it’s long reign as capital of Byzantium (or Rome) it had another 469 years, five months, and three days as the capital of a major empire. It will take Washington DC a while to match that nearly 1,600-year record.

The view one day at lunch with views of the Sea of Marmara. And yes, the food was great, too.

The view one day at lunch with views of the Sea of Marmara. And yes, the food was great, too.

The Sea of Marmara, along the southeast coast of Istanbul, with the rocks that just invite you (me) to lied down and read

The Sea of Marmara, along the southeast coast of Istanbul, with the rocks that just invite you (me) to lied down and read

Though not the political capital, it remains the cultural and economic center of Turkey and indeed, with 14.4 million people, the largest city in Europe. It’s a lively, vibrant, exciting city, with a ton of things to do and restaurants to sample. And as a bonus it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than most big cities!

What do you do with five days in Istanbul? Fortunately, we’ve been here before so we didn’t have to start from scratch. Still, there are things you just have to see when you’re here, starting with Hagia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom”), originally built as the basilica of Constantinople in 537 AD. Do the math – that makes it nearly 1,500 years old. In other words, when St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was started in the early 16th century, Hagia Sophia was nearly 1,000 years old. We can’t think of a building that’s been in regular use (as opposed to, say, the Pyramids, which are just burial chambers) for anywhere near as long. When we were in Ephesus, we toured the ruins of St. John’s cathedral, built by Emperor Justinian at the same time as Hagia Sophia was being built. That of course, was the ruins of St. John’s, a bunch of rocks strewn about. This place is still standing, still being used, and still stunning.

By way of quick background, after the Ottomans took over they converted the church to a mosque and, sadly, covered over all the gorgeous mosaics. When Ataturk made Turkey into a secular republic, though, he had the mosque “repurposed” as a museum so today it is shared and enjoyed by everyone. And fortunately many of the old Christian mosaics were just covered over by the Moslems and thus have been able to be recovered, at least in part. Simply put it is, even for a second or third time, an amazing site to visit.

Mary and her baby in another of the uncovered mosaics in Hagia Sophia. Amusingly, Byzantine emperors had themselves and their wives seated on either side of these religious figures, showing just how close to God they were.

Mary and her baby in another of the uncovered mosaics in Hagia Sophia. Amusingly, Byzantine emperors had themselves and their wives seated on either side of these religious figures, showing just how close to God they were.

At one entrance to the church/museum, this glorious mosaic shows Mary and her baby, with Constantine on her right and Justinian (who built the church) on her left

At one entrance to the church/museum, this glorious mosaic shows Mary and her baby, with Constantine on her right and Justinian (who built the church) on her left

Crowds have been coming here for nearly 1,600 years and we're still amazed by it

Crowds have been coming here for nearly 1,600 years and we’re still amazed by it

Of course, for a city with such a storied history there are plenty of other museums to visit. Istanbul has a great five-day pass that lets you into maybe a dozen museums and we took good advantage of the card. Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman Sultans, is another must-see site. My favorite there was the room with religious artifacts the Sultans had collected over time, including Moses’ staff, a pan Abraham used for cooking, and a sword of David. You have to wonder, did they really believe someone had somehow recovered Abraham’s cooking gear? Weird. We also toured an archeological museum and a museum dedicated to the Great Palace Mosaic, remnants of a mosaic floor that once comprised perhaps 80 million tiny cubes to cover some 1,500 to 2,000 square meters of floor space. There is so much to see in Istanbul.

At the same time, part of the joy of traveling there is just hanging out, walking around, and watching people go about their lives. Some of it was fascinating. There’s a shoe-shine scam that we fortunately didn’t fall for. It goes like this: A guy is walking down the street carrying his shoe-shine equipment. He drops something but doesn’t notice it and keeps walking. You call to him, point what he dropped; he’s very grateful and offers to shine your shoes. That’s how far we got, but I wasn’t interested in having my walking shoes shined so we just kept going. The next time Mark was walking alone, though, and a guy “dropped” his brush Mark just ignored it and pretty soon the guy walked back to get it. And again when Mark & I were walking together, same thing. Presumably if you bite, if you let him give you his free shine in gratitude, at the end he hits you up for money and says he never offered it for free. Nice scam.

Hagia Sophia with crowds waiting to get in

Hagia Sophia with crowds waiting to get in

Some of the street life is truly sad; I’ve never seen so many child beggars or mothers with little babies begging except in India. And the burkhas. Perhaps it doesn’t speak well of me, but I just can’t accept the way conservative Moslems feel women need to be hidden from the rest of the world (or, to be precise, from men). In Turkey you see the whole spectrum of dress, from fully westernized clothes to scarves to full burkhas. I even saw two women whose Burkhas did not include the half-inch eye slit which is typically the most covered you see. Presumably the veil over their eyes was sufficiently translucent that they could see out, but still, your eyes can’t even be seen? Do you think they whisper “What tramps?” when they see women walking around with that half-inch slit so they can see out?

Lest you think Mark's the only one who gets kitty love, this little cutie climbed up on my lap for some serious petting and playing

Lest you think Mark’s the only one who gets kitty love, this little cutie climbed up on my lap for some serious petting and playing

And then some of the city life is just colorful. The men – almost exclusively, perhaps entirely exclusively men – fishing on the Galata Bridge at the mouth of the Golden Horn. Lots of people walking, strolling, fishing, and occasionally swimming along the coast of the Sea of Marmara. Boys doing swan dives from the Galata Bridge into the Golden Horn beneath. Incredible crowds of people walking up and down Iskadel Cadessi – Istanbul’s pedestrian thoroughfare – all through the evening. Streets packed with restaurants and bars and live music and street performers. Lots to enjoy.

Alas, after nearly six weeks it’s time to leave Turkey. We’ll miss a lot of things: olives and yogurt for breakfast, hammams, beaches, ancient ruins, cheap hotels, great food, cheap hotels, easy bus routes. But there are probably more adventures to be had as we head next to Italy for a couple weeks.

The adventurous couple outside Hagia Sophia

The adventurous couple outside Hagia Sophia

Another interior view of Hagia Sophia, giving just a little taste of its fabulousness

Another interior view of Hagia Sophia, giving just a little taste of its fabulousness

The Blue Mosque, another of Istanbul's landmarks. Because Allah has this thing about shorts, though, we couldn't go in.

The Blue Mosque, another of Istanbul’s landmarks. Because Allah has this thing about shorts, though, we couldn’t go in.

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts included dozens of beautiful and ancient korans

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts included dozens of beautiful and ancient korans

The remains of Hagia Eirene, a Byzantine church built just about the same time as Hagia Sofia

The remains of Hagia Eirene, a Byzantine church built just about the same time as Hagia Sofia

A small piece of the floor mosaic at the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. Other parts weren't quite this gory.

A small piece of the floor mosaic at the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. Other parts weren’t quite this gory.

The fishermen of Galata Bridge, with the Galata Tower in the background

The fishermen of Galata Bridge, with the Galata Tower in the background

While touring the archeology museum we saw this and said "Hey, isn't that part of the processional way of Babel's Ishtar Gate that we saw in Berlin?" Sure enough, you know you're getting a good sampling of the world's museums when you see the same exhibits in different places.

While touring the archeology museum we saw this and said “Hey, isn’t that part of the processional way of Babel’s Ishtar Gate that we saw in Berlin?” Sure enough, you know you’re getting a good sampling of the world’s museums when you see the same exhibits in different places.

Hanging out in the Sultan's harem

Hanging out in the Sultan’s harem

Atop the Citadel, with Ankara's sprawl sprawling behind us

Atop the Citadel, with Ankara’s sprawl sprawling behind us

From Cappadocia we made a quick stop in Ankara, Turkey’s capital and second largest city. Second largest, but by no means the second most interesting; on the bus ride in we saw miles and miles and miles of sprawl. And while it’s an old city, there was really not that much going on until Mustafa Kemal Ataturk made it the capital of his revolt against the Ottoman Sultan. When he won that war and thus brought the Ottoman empire to an end, he made it the capital of the new Turkish Republic rather than maintaining Istanbul in that role. In the 1920s it was a city of 30,000, growing to today’s 4.5 million in just a few decades.

We loved these doors in the old city right near the Citadel

We loved these doors in the old city right near the Citadel

(While the city itself isn’t really that interesting, I was intrigued to learn that through much of history the city was known across Europe as Angora. From that came the name of Angora goats [source of mohair], Angora cats, and Angora rabbits. How’s that for making the most of a modest history?)

The main reason we made our way up there from Cappadocia – besides the fact that it was a nice mid-way point en route to Istanbul – is that our old friends Sara & Erik, both former graduate school classmates, live there. Eric is fairly recently retired from the U.S. Foreign Service, but Sarah is still in it, so that’s their post for another year. Over the years Mark & I have periodically thought it would fun to see them in one of their far-flung posts but until now we’ve never made it. As they’re anticipating Sarah’s retirement in a couple years they’ve bought and restored a house in Umbria, Italy, where they’ll live half the year so chances are we’ll see more of them in the coming years. In case it isn’t obvious, we like Italy.

A selfie at the Citadel with our local guide

A selfie at the Citadel with our local guide

We got into Ankara pretty late one evening and were leaving early two days later, so we only had one day to see the city. With a local guide like Erik, though, we made the most of our day. As he put it, “There are just three things you have to see: the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the Citadel, and Ataturk’s mausoleum.” So he showed us up to the Citadel, ruins of an old 9th century castle; 15 minutes later we’d knocked off the first assignment.

Next up was the Museum, a nice little survey of all that’s gone on in Anatolia over the last 10,000 years or so. Mark & I have learned that we like modest-sized museums, and this certainly fit the bill, just a nice little taste of all the great history in a beautiful setting. Erik ran some errands while we toured the museum and then took us to his favorite kebab place right near there.

Final stop was the Ataturk mausoleum, quite the monumental bit of hagiography. That’s not to say Ataturk doesn’t deserve a hefty degree of respect. Almost single handedly he marshaled the Turks’ dissatisfaction with the way the Sultan was effectively giving the country to the European victors after World War I and created the modern democratic Turkish republic. And in the process dragged Turkey into the modern era, creating the secular state that’s so important to the region today.

The mausoleum is intended to inspire awe. It was certainly big, and there were lots and lots of pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The mausoleum is intended to inspire awe. It was certainly big, and there were lots and lots of pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

So that was it – some ruins, a museum, and a mausoleum. Then a couple dinners with Sarah & Erik and we were off to Istanbul. Sadly, they were off to a four-day Blue Cruise down on the coast from Bodrum. Sadly, I say, because they’d planned it with friends who had to cancel. And then, after weeks of fabulous weather, the forecast was for storms on their arrival. We haven’t heard how it went yet, but the signs were not positive.

On to Istanbul!

The Citadel is in the midst of the old city, which, in some cases is genuinely old. We thought we might pick up this fixer-upper for our next condo project.

The Citadel is in the midst of the old city, which, in some cases is genuinely old. We thought we might pick up this fixer-upper for our next condo project.

These are allegedly three different people, but we had a hard time distinguishing between the various 1920-era Turks, who all kind of looked the same to us

These are allegedly three different people, but we had a hard time distinguishing between the various 1920-era Turks, who all kind of looked the same to us

A selfie with Sarah as she got home from work. I was amused to note that in a house of four people while we were staying with them, the only one working was the only woman.

A selfie with Sarah as she got home from work. I was amused to note that in a house of four people while we were staying with them, the only one working was the only woman.

A nice dinner with Sarah & Erik as we capped off our too-brief visit

A nice dinner with Sarah & Erik as we capped off our too-brief visit

Some of Cappadocia's famous "fairy chimneys" just outside our temporary home in Ürgüp

Some of Cappadocia’s famous “fairy chimneys” just outside our temporary home in Ürgüp

From Egirdir, we were off to Cappadocia, a region of central Turkey famous for crazy rock formations, hot air ballooning, great hiking, and churches, monasteries, and homes cut into rocks. It’s a place we’ve wanted to go for many years, so we were pretty excited to finally be off.

The start of a typical meal in Turkey - eggplant salad, yogurt with garlic & cucumber, olives, a meat dish, and raki, the perfect accompaniment to mezzes

The start of a typical meal in Turkey – eggplant salad, yogurt with garlic & cucumber, olives, a meat dish, and raki, the perfect accompaniment to mezzes

Breakfasts on the balcony in Ürgüp were feasts of olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, meat, cheese, fruit, yogurt, and eggs that came later. That's the way to start a day!

Breakfasts on the balcony in Ürgüp were feasts of olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, meat, cheese, fruit, yogurt, and eggs that came later. That’s the way to start a day!

First, though, we made a one-night stop in Konya, a city of a little over a million people; the goal was both to break up the long journey to Cappadocia and perhaps to see the famous Whirling Dervishes. We succeeded at the first – two three- to four-hour bus rides beats one seven-hour day – but not so much at the second.

For the record, the Whirling Dervishes are part of the Sufis, a mystical branch of Islam. The Dervishes are ascetics who use “spinning” as a form of active or physical meditation in their effort to reach what the Buddhists would call enlightenment. It’s not a tourist thing; these are serious worshippers and Konya, their home, is kind of the Bible Belt of Turkey.

Well, our hotel was a little less central than we’d hoped or expected, and one afternoon and evening before catching our morning bus out just wasn’t enough time to figure out the town or where to see these Dervishes. We did, though, have one of those moments when you appreciate the kindness of strangers. Being in the Bible Belt, most of the restaurants don’t serve wine or liquor, but we found a well-rated restaurant that seemed as though it would work for us. It was, though, a 20-minute cab ride away. Fine; we’ll get a taxi. Except for whatever reason, there just weren’t any. Our hotel called a few times and none came. To make matters worse, there was another hotel guest – a Turkish businessman – waiting in front of us, and after 15 or 20 minutes waiting we were getting desperate.

Finally his taxi pulled up, he drove away, and then came back a few minutes later. The driver had explained why there were no cabs and so he had the cab come back to pick us up. He had the driver drop him off first, as his destination was closer, told the driver where we were going, and paid for the whole fare upfront. What a nice guy!

This is colorful Cappadocia

This is colorful Cappadocia

The next morning it was off to Ürgüp, the little town next to Göreme National Park, one of the prime destinations in Cappadocia. How do you describe Cappadocia? It’s an other-worldly landscape of towers and valleys cliffs, the result of millions of years of volcanic activity and erosion; in places where harder rocks sat atop softer volcanic ash, everything would wash away (over many years, of course), except the part under the rock. Voilá, fairy chimneys. This is going to be one of the most photographed stops on this epic adventure.

We love local markets. Here are three Turks trying to sell some of their produce.

We love local markets. Here are three Turks trying to sell some of their produce.

Fabulous figs

Fabulous figs

Perfect peaches

Perfect peaches

And then there’s the strange human history, how this part of Turkey became a refuge for early Christians escaping Roman oppression starting around the 4th century. Discovering that the rock formations were relatively easy to dig into, they dug out churches, cathedrals, monasteries, homes, villages – entire underground cities. And so today as you hike through the valleys of Cappadocia you encounter untold numbers of Byzantine-era churches cut into the rocks, in some of which you can still see the old art. It’s truly awe inspiring.

Day One in Ürgüp was a big one: up 4:15 AM to go ballooning at daybreak. Ballooning is a big deal in Cappadocia. Back in late 2013 Mark & I went ballooning for the first time in Bagan, Myanmar, and I asked the pilot, an American who had flown in many parts of the world, what his favorite place was. Without hesitation he answered Cappadocia. So we had to try it again, right? Well, maybe not. The first time in Bagan was super exciting and interesting and unique. The second time was … less so. Still beautiful with wonderful views. Watching the other balloons floating through the air and sailing over some of the rock formations and so on was very cool. But for us, at least, ballooning isn’t something we have to do that often.

By 8:00 AM we were back at the hotel for breakfast, and by 9:00 we had a car and driver to take us to Idhara Valley, a drive about an hour a way, to hike the valley and have our first experience with all these rock-cut churches and dwellings we’d heard of. It lived up to its hype. It seemed like every hundred or two hundred meters there was another sign pointing to another church cut into the side of a cliff. It didn’t take too long to figure out we didn’t have to see all of them, but several of them were worth the climb.

Two things about the valley stood out in particular. First, we discovered something we would come to love about hiking in the region. Scattered about on these hikes, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, a little café will pop up. Just a little place to stop, take a break, maybe sit on some comfortable couch, and have a cup of tea. The first one we saw had platforms built over the little river cutting through the valley along with fresh-squeezed orange juice. Over our five days in the area we saw some that were more basic, some more elaborate. But all welcome. You just wonder how many 30-cent cups of tea you have to sell to make a living, particularly when, just a short distance from any trail head, we saw very few hikers.

Mark in St. George's Church, one of the first we encountered in the Ihlara Valley

Mark in St. George’s Church, one of the first we encountered in the Ihlara Valley

All this just carved out of rock into the hill

All this just carved out of rock into the hill

The other was our first big underground cathedral, Selime Cathedral at the end of the valley. Wow. It’s hard to describe what an impressive architectural phenomenon some of these underground structures are. Instead of cutting rock somewhere, carrying it to a building site, and then building a big cathedral, these early Christians just dug out the rock and left in columns and tables and chairs and pulpits – everything you would need to live there. While the vast majority are fairly simple structures, some are very elaborate and complex. And this was all done with the tools available to people over a thousand years ago. Stunning.

The most impressive church we saw was the Dark Church in Göreme's Open Air Museum. Because it has essentially no natural light, the frescos have stayed remarkably vibrant (that and some touch-up work still ongoing). Photos are not permitted, so this and the next one were shamelessly taken from the web.

The most impressive church we saw was the Dark Church in Göreme’s Open Air Museum. Because it has essentially no natural light, the frescos have stayed remarkably vibrant (that and some touch-up work still ongoing). Photos are not permitted, so this and the next one were shamelessly taken from the web.

Some of the thousand-year-old art in the Dark Church, perhaps the most brilliant Byzantine art I've ever seen

Some of the thousand-year-old art in the Dark Church, perhaps the most brilliant Byzantine art I’ve ever seen

Over the next few days, then, we did a lot more hiking. One day we took a taxi to the neighboring town of Göreme, home of a UNESCO World Heritage Site “open air museum,” a remarkable area of more of these underground churches and homes. One day we wandered through the local Sunday market before the owner of our little eight-room hotel drove us to a trailhead where tour busses can’t go, meaning we would largely have the valley to ourselves. (Speaking of the kindness of strangers, he also offered to do our laundry for free so long as we didn’t need anything ironed. Traveling as we do, offers of free laundry are about as good as life gets.) Yet another day and we’re off to another great hike through the Göreme National Park, along the beautiful Rose Valley trail. This was the good life.

Hiking, hiking, and more hiking. Mark's knee is pretty much recovered, if that's not obvious.

Hiking, hiking, and more hiking. Mark’s knee is pretty much recovered, if that’s not obvious.

We had five days in Cappadocia, at the end of which I’ll admit I was genuinely tired; we covered a lot of miles by foot. Still, though, there’s a ton we didn’t see, including entire areas of the region south of Ürgüp. So we’ll have to come back, but we keep saying that about just about everywhere we go in Turkey. Except maybe Konya.

From Ürgüp we’re making a quick two-day stop in Ankara, the capital, where old graduate school classmates of ours work at the U.S. Embassy. Then it’s off to Istanbul for our final five nights in Turkey.

The castle in Ortahisar, near Ürgüp, all built up inside that big rock

The castle in Ortahisar, near Ürgüp, all built up inside that big rock

Another highlight was this old village in Çavusin, with the whole town built inside that rock

Another highlight was this old village in Çavusin, with the whole town built inside that rock

From inside I climbed up what was essentially a stone ladder just to get this picture

From inside I climbed up what was essentially a stone ladder just to get this picture

Great country for wedding pictures!

Great country for wedding pictures!

Valley hikes include not just the weird rock formations and rock-cut churches, but beautiful stretches along little rivers

Valley hikes include not just the weird rock formations and rock-cut churches, but beautiful stretches along little rivers

And then you'd come across these little (or not quite so little) cafés

And then you’d come across these little (or not quite so little) cafés

I mean, does that look like a pleasant place to enjoy a book during a break from the hike?

I mean, does that look like a pleasant place to enjoy a book during a break from the hike?

Along the hikes there were lots of apple trees and even some late-season blackberries just there for the picking

Along the hikes there were lots of apple trees and even some late-season blackberries just there for the picking

A very low-key café in the middle of the trail that tour buses can't get to. How much business can they do? Note the woman and her dog sitting on the couch on the right.

A very low-key café in the middle of the trail that tour buses can’t get to. How much business can they do? Note the woman and her dog sitting on the couch on the right.

I thought that was worth a closer shot. What's her life like, sitting at this very quiet cafe while her husband makes tea for the rare passer by?

I thought that was worth a closer shot. What’s her life like, sitting at this very quiet cafe while her husband makes tea for the rare passer by?

All these pictures and I haven't even shown the balloons yet!

All these pictures and I haven’t even shown the balloons yet!

Oddly, I thought watching the balloons was more beautiful than the scenery I was supposed to care about

Oddly, I thought watching the balloons was more beautiful than the scenery I was supposed to care about

Balloons - seemingly hundreds of balloons -  over Love Valley

Balloons – seemingly hundreds of balloons – over Love Valley

Back to the underground churches and their remarkable frescos

Back to the underground churches and their remarkable frescos

Wandering through yet another ancient church

Wandering through yet another ancient church

More frescos

More frescos

And another café along a trail. At this stop the British-born girlfriend of the owner showed as a detailed map of the trails, giving us great suggestions for the rest of the day's hike.

And another café along a trail. At this stop the British-born girlfriend of the owner showed as a detailed map of the trails, giving us great suggestions for the rest of the day’s hike.

Oh, the views on our hikes

Oh, the views on our hikes

And one final look at the fairy tale land of Cappadocia

And one final look at the fairy tale land of Cappadocia