Turkey Trip Day 21 and Summary!

Thursday July 05

Today was our day to return home after a wonderful experience. The taxi driver was very punctual and we left the hotel at 6:30 am to go the Airport Gaziantep and this little plane brought us to Istanbul.

It took a while to get through immigration and security and we rechecked our luggage but then we had time for a snack. I finally had a real Turkish ice-cream and even so I knew the trick the ice-cream people like to play I still fell for it. 

Bye-bye Turkey! On our way with a 10 hour flight to Newark

Bye-bye, Newark!

Happy to say that my little 'Whirling Dervish' arrived in very good condition at his new home.

See the video!
(But mute your computer, please. Do I really sound like that?)

Hope the dervish didn't mind that he traveled in a wine box James had cleverly saved when we treated ourselves to some libations in Cappadocia.















The Summary:

This has been the most amazing trip. Our group of 13 was wonderful. As Aykut said, we could tease each other and behave like family. We really hope that Harriet B., Marion G., Pam & Larry F., Mary Anna & Bob G., Rick P., Roz & Greg E., Lyn D. and Stephanie will stay in touch. 

Aykut our tripleader could not have been any better. He was excited about his country and full of knowledge about it. I hope he doesn't expect me to retain too much of all the history data. He got energized when we were excited about what we saw and experienced and when we asked question (even if they were those stupid ones from me). This made him try even harder to show us more. And he genuinely cared about each of his charges well being. And every day he had new surprises and highlights for us.

Turkey ... there is much diversity in the landscape and country. It is beautiful and so are the people at least most of them. I found most faces friendly and curious. Beautiful faces really. People happy to help if you look like you need it. Patient when we tried to order food in a restaurant or for directions on the street for example.

History ... so much of it there. All those empires. Greek, Roman, Ottoman. Religion: Pagen, Christian, Muslim, sometimes it seemed to change with the tide or really with the power of a person. If you think one person can't make a difference, think again.

Ruins ... Buildings ... Art

Yes, it has been a great trip! It will take a while to digest it all.

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Turkish Lentil Soup   (from Aykut's CD)

Ingredients

• 4 Tb butter
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 cup red lentils, washed and picked over
• 1/2 cup fine bulgur wheat
• 2 Tb tomato paste
• 8 cups vegetable or beef stock
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
• 1 Tb dried mint leaves, crumbled

How to make it,

• Heat the butter in a large sauce pan and saute the onions over low heat until they are golden--about 15 minutes.
• Stir in the paprika, then the lentils and bulgur to coat them in the butter.
• Add the tomato paste, stock, and hot pepper, bring to a boil, and cook until soft and creamy--about an hour.
• When ready to serve, crumble the mint between your palms into the soup.
• Stir and remove the soup from the heat. Let rest for 10 minutes, then ladle into bowls, serving each with a lemon wedge and a sprinkling of mint leaves (if available) or crushed dried mint.

Enjoy it 

Turkey Trip Day 20

Wednesday July 04

Breakfast. I love that teapot. This is what they have everywhere here. The bottom part is just hot water and the top part is very strong tea.

You take first some tea and then you add water to your liking.

Off with the bus to Zeugma Mozaik Museum. It is the biggest mosaic museum on the world, containing 1700m² of mosaic. It opened to the public on 9 September, 2011. The museum's mosaics are focused on Zeugma, thought to have been founded by a general in Alexander the Great’s army. The treasures, including the mosaics, remained relatively unknown until 2000 when artifacts appeared in museums and when plans for new dams on the Euphrates meant that much of Zeugma would be forever flooded. A large number of the mosaics still remain uncovered (above the flood level) and teams of researchers continue to work on the project.

Antiochus Apollo Stel

From the balcony view down to the bath.

These are mosaics but they look almost 3 dimensional.

The Kidnapping of Europa Mosaic
2nd - 3rd Centuries A.D.

View down to the bath again. See the toilets?

Not much remained of this mosaic but it is the most important one because of the "face of the gipsy girl". On this wall is only a replica.

The real one (here) is in a room all by herself .. very protected. It is said that it is as important as Leonardo da Vinci's girl because the eyes follow you.

I know I got carried away with the photo taking. It was just so incredible. Each mosaic seems to have a story too. I will need to sort this out later. But for now ...

The Bust of Dionysus Mosaic

2nd - 3rd Centuries A.D.

The House of Oceanos

The Wedding of Dionysus and Ariadne

Of course all mosaics are floor mosaics. The reason why they are in the museum on the wall is for better view and saving space ... I am sure.

Sitting Woman Sculpture,
Man
Roman Period, Limestone

Outside the museum with sensory overload. So beautiful. And to think that some were rescued THE DAY of the flooding of the dam. They must have worked feverishly thank you!

Across the museum the statues of the camel caravan we saw from the bus. A photo opportunity now, ha-ha.

Love my photos.

Then we visit the city museum (which is not really in the program). It is interesting. Displays of all the major things in the area ... like pistachios and baklava making here.

Life-size mannequins.

He is weaving "kutnu" cloth.

We saw it later in the bazaar everywhere. Very nice.

A kutnu piece of clothing.

Have you ever seen a wooden light switch?

I should have taken the picture from the outside first but forgot.

Leaving the city museum.

Lunch. Christa, do not touch this (says an inner voice to me)! These things and bread are always put on the table without orderingthem and are complementary

The menu

A heap of bread .. almost like Indian naan.

I ordered Ali Nazik with lamb. It was very delicious. Got to find a recipe to imitate it at home.

The kitchen behind big glass windows.

Dessert. Guess what?

Turkish Baklava

Ringing the bell at our hotel door.

After a short rest James and I explore the bazaar ourselves. If you really want to shop you can't go with a big group.

We buy our pistachio coffee from her.

This bazaar is fun!

James found the court yard with the stair case down to some caves. It seems to be now a restaurant too.

Ihsanbey Kasteli

There is the entrance to it.

But we preferred to sit outside.

You can take your shoes off and sit in the middle on carpets and cushions or at tables next to it.

When you ask to pay they bring the bill in a box. But we sat there quite a while (two teas each). It was very nice.

They also offer water pipes to the smokers if they want

Another fair-well dinner.

It's the 4th of July! Stephanie thought we ought to celebrate and arranged to get some sparklers. It was an excellent idea.

We thought we shouldn't sing the anthem so we sang ... Happy Birthday, America. And Aykut sang it in Turkish. I did take a little video

Then the hotel staff really felt like celebrating.

Another video.

THE END!

Off to packing and bed. The others have to leave much earlier then we (at 1:45 am, before the Imam calls) but it is not so bad for us since our flight from Istanbul is later. James was able to change our inland flight to make it a shorter layover in Istanbul.

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From Aykut's CD:

Day 20 Wednesday 07.04.2012 (Gaziantep)

• Zeugma Museum Visit

• City Museum Visit (Not in the Program. Learning & Discovery)

• Lunch at İmam Çağdaş Restaurant (Ali Nazik & Baklava)

• Free afternoon

                                                               Overnight at Anadolu Evleri Hotel, Gaziantep