Gobble Gobble

Alright, I know this post is long overdue, but things have been so busy!

So now that I have a moment, let me tell you about my adventures in Turkey! I wrote a lot, and you don't have to read it all, but at least take a moment and look at the pictures! 

We flew from Tel Aviv and arrived in Istanbul excited for a week of adventure! First thing we did was eat a little Turkish delight.

Throughout the week, I spent time both in the European and Asian continents and I saw Islands of Greece, all while in Turkey. We traveled along the western part of the country by bus, stopping at sites along the way. Even the hours on the bus were enjoyable because of the scenery. We passed orchards of cherry blossoms and drove alongside green mountains and hills that took me back to Guatemala.  The hills are a giant green patch worked quilt of agriculture. The little towns that we walked through were charming with their colorful storefronts and cobblestone roads. Istanbul is probably the most incredible city I have ever been to. You know how there is an LDS church building on every block in Utah? That’s how Muslim mosques are here. Domes and minarets poke out from every direction. We got to visit quite a few of them, and each time, we all had to take our shoes off and all the girls put scarfs over our heads to cover our hair. Some mosques are simpler than others, but they are all very beautiful. The Blue mosque and the Hagia Sophia were my favorites. The Hagia Sophia is massive and so detailed. It is the largest, grandest, and most intricate piece of art work I have seen in my life, and I am convinced it will be really hard to top.

We also got to spend some time in the grand Bazar which is quite the happening place. The sides of the walkway were lined with hand-painted pottery, colorful lamps, t-shirts, hand-woven towels and rugs, jewelry, and just about everything else you could imagine. Outside the Bazar were street vendors with their little red carts selling fresh-squeezed pomegranate and orange juice, roasted chestnuts, and pastries. I had only ever sung about roasted chestnuts in Christmas carols before, so I got some. They were so tasty!

Once the sun set, we walked along the market street up to the restaurant where we ate dinner. The setting made me feel like I was in movie with a very European feel. There were lights strung above us between the buildings and little restaurants and fish and produce stands all along the cobblestone road that curved up and around the hill. Our restaurant was right on the tip of the Golden Horn overlooking the water, which was beautiful. Turkey is huge on a few things that we ate almost every meal- lentil soup, meat kabobs, and baklava for desert. From what I could tell, their basic spices were mint and dill- which they put in just about everything.

While in Turkey, we got to stay at some pretty sweet places on the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles. I love the water so much! Especially when the sand sparkles- that’s right, it was sparkly- and the water is is so crystal teal blue like it was in Turkey! We watched the sun set over the dock and star gazed at night.

I wasn’t really sure how to cover everything we did in the packed week in one blog post. This is probably for my sake more than anyone else’s. This is a list with some pictures of all the places we went! The ones with the * are some my favorites, and the ones with the ** are even cooler! Keep in mind that pictures don’t do half of these sites any justice.

Topkapi Palace-

Primary residence for the Sultans for 400 years

Us on the balcony of the Palace

Bascilica Cistern-

Underground cistern built in the 6^th century to provide water for the imperial palace. Tons of columns and a couple of Medusa heads from Roman structures.

Hippodrome of Constantine-

horse track

**Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue mosque)-

Built in the 17^th century, called the Blue Mosque because of the blue Iznik tiles used on the interior.

Gallipoli-

 on the Dardanelles, where the Gallipoli Campaign during WWI took place. It is a memorial and burial place for the Turks, Australians, and New Zealanders who died in the battle.

Troy-

Trojan war. We got to see the horse they used in the Hollywood movie, but the one they usually have on site was under construction, so we couldn’t get inside and reenact the Spartan surprise attack. Too bad.

Troas-

Paul had a vision here that a man from Macedonia said, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:1-13). It is also where Paul taught the disciples until midnight and where he embraced Eutychus, who had fallen out of a window and appeared dead, and assured everyone he was well (Acts 20 6-14). We weren’t able to actually visit Troas, but we passed it and talked about it.

*Assos-

Aristotle established an academy there. Paul also visited Assos.

*Pergamum Acropolis-

The second largest library in the world was found there. Also found there was a Roman theater which is the steepest known theater in the ancient world, seating about 10,000 people.

Smyrna-

hometown of Homer, the Greek poet who wrote the Illiad

**Ephesis-

Paul taught in the synagogue at Ephesis. He found people there who claimed to have been baptized by John but did not know about the Holy Ghost. Paul rebaptized them and gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 19). The apostle John probably lived here before he was exiled to Patmos. The Third Ecumenical council took place in the Church of St. Mary.

There is nothing cooler than flipping through the photos behind the BD and realizing you are standing in one of the settings. Between Israel and Turkey, we have had the opportunity to visit a lot of photographed sites.

*Priene and Miletus-

 Paul visited Miletus and spoke to the Elders of Ephasis there. He told them it would be the last time he would see them and warned them against apostacy. (Acts 20:13-38)

Sardis-

really cool Roman bath-gymnasium (it was nasty weather so we didn’t stick around too long). In the Book of Revelation, the Lord rebuked the church at Sardis for hypocracy.

Thyatira-

 famous for its production of purple dye made from shellfish found in the Mediterranean. Story of Lydia who listened to Paul and was baptized (Acts 16:8-15). The Lord praised the church at Thyatira for their good works, charity, faith, and patience, but chastised them for letting Jezebel persuade them into fornication.

This is where I discovered what a squatter is. Another funny thing about bathrooms here is you have to pay for them. Almost every time we stop, one of the professors has to negotiate prices with the attendant haha. I miss US bathrooms…

Bursa-

the capital of the Ottoman Turks in the 14^th Century. We went to the Ulu Cami Mosque here. It has 20 domes on top. The area was known for their silk, so we spent some time at the silk market.

Nicea-

 The council of Nicea and formation of the Nicean Creed happened here. We talked about it while standing on the shore of Lake Iznik. It was frigid cold!!

**Hagia Sophia-

The church of “holy wisdom” was first built in 360 AD as a Basilica, then destroyed and rebuilt a couple times. It was later turned into a mosque and all the Christian mosaics were covered with plaster. Now it is considered a museum and they have uncovered some of the mosaics. It is huge and stunningly gorgeous inside!