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Tigris
Me in the Tigris River. Spring Break was phenomenal. So much so that I have no idea what all we actually did. There were about 15 of us, from a variety of countries. We left Istanbul in a rented tour bus on Saturday the 26th, arriving in Ankara that evening for a huge dinner at the parent’s apartment of one of the exchange commission members. The apartment was part of a complex a little removed from the city, and was on top of a hill so the view was spectacular.
After dinner, we got back on the bus, and drove through the night to get to southeastern Turkey. I didn’t sleep much, as I was in the back row with a few other people, and didn’t realize until the other seats were full that ours didn’t recline at all. Later there was seat shuffling to try to meet everyone on the trip, and we were all tired enough that subsequent entrances into the bus were met with near instantaneous slumber.
So we arrived in the southeast on Sunday, and began a lightning-fast breakneck tour of the area in an attempt to see as much as (super)humanly possible within a few days. Among the highlights
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View from the ruined mountain town overlooking the Tigris. was skipping stones in the Tigris River, climbing around a ruined mountain city overlooking the same river (personal highlight of the trip), seeing Urfa (which had a great deal of cool religious buildings) and climbing Mount Nemrut. That story is way too long for me to quickly tell, but it is a good one. Mount Nemrut is notable because it has a large pantheon made out of stone at the peak. The unusual thing is that the stone is different from the stone of the mountain, meaning that people moved it up the mountain, but no one knows how long ago they were moved up there.
We did so much more, but those were the personal highlights. The more organized members took notes and recorded an itinerary, but I haven’t opened the PDF they sent around to see specifically what we all saw. I can say that in the drop down box of this site under Southeastern Anatolia I was at all of the places listed.
To make another long story very short, the trip was thrown together at the last minute, and tried to incorporate several smaller trips, including the one Josh and I were originally planning.
Me, going up stairs
To get to the highest point of the ruined town you had to reach the top of the stairs here and then climb up a small domed building. Wednesday was the last official day of the trip, with everyone going their separate ways for the last chunk of break.
An intrepid group of four blazed a trail westward. Josh, Sevgi and Andrea and myself (all Americans, though Sevgi’s parents are Turks living in the Chicago area, and she speaks great Turkish) flying out of Gaziantep to Izmir, then making our way to Selcuk and Ephesus by noon. We toured the area that afternoon, seeing things like Ephesus, the ruins of the Temple of Artemis as well as the church of St. John. We decided to look for a place to see the sunset. Overlooking St. John was an old castle, but when we started asking around, we found that it was closed.
Wondering what to do, we continued to ask around, and eventually we decided to take a cab a few kilometers into the mountains, where there was a small Greek village known for wine. We saw the sunset on top of a hill with a donkey grazing nearby. Then we sampled some wine (from the shop of a relative of the cab driver), then went back down and fell asleep.
The next day, Thursday,
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A shot from one of the higher points of the ruins. You can't really get the scale or the magnitude from the shot, you kinda had to be there. :) our group split again. While the three of them prepared for another day of touring, I headed back to Izmir, where I caught a flight to Istanbul, meeting Dan in the airport.
Which brings this to…. The visitors to Istanbul section.
Last weekend, my roommate from St. Olaf, Dan came to Istanbul. We stayed in Hakan’s apartment with three Turks while we explored the city and Dan was enveloped by the culture. It was a good time, but it’s not my story to really tell.
Dan left early Monday morning, and after several days of class, Wednesday brought more change. Hakan, a Turk from the Netherlands, who has been incredibly welcoming and outgoing, returned to the Netherlands. That night, a great friend of mine since way back when came to Istanbul. Again, we stayed with the Turks, minus one Hakan (if you haven't followed, there were two Hakans living in the apartment, one from Turkey, one from the Netherlands). We saw the sights and again had a fantastic time.
There has been way too much going on to give a detailed description of everything. This is just a (very) brief account of some of the stuff
Mount Nemrut
A shot of some of the group at the top of the mountain. that has transpired in the last few weeks. I need to buckle down and start working on a paper/presentation now, but more friends are coming soon, and I'll write more soon.
Just a quick note on the pictures; they're all from the Spring Break trip.
Lastly....
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!
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debi shannon
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this is awesome brian!!