Traveling to Türkiye (Turkey)

The second two weeks of the trip were spent in Turkey, which is actually named Türkiye (Tur-kee-yeah), which was changed June 4, 2022 so that a country did not have the same name as an animal. I was actually on another trip in Türkiye when the name change was voted on and the name "changed."

May 26

We had an early morning to get to the airport in Athens so we could fly back to Istanbul for our last two weeks of the trip. When we landed in Istanbul, we went right to the Spice Market. Having been there before two years prior, I knew I wanted to get some more Turkish Delight and some Apple Tea. After the Spice Market, we took a boat ride on the the Bosphorus Strait which divides the European and Asian side of Türkiye and the city of Istanbul. Istanbul is the only city that is divided onto two continents. The Asian and European side of Istanbul look different, but in a way that is difficult to explain. It was also a windy day so we were a little cold and our hair was blowing everywhere!

May 27

Today was spent in the city of Istanbul. We started by going to the church where the Nicene Creed was ratified and then had a delicious lunch of doner kebab. Then we visited the Blue Mosque which is not named for its slightly blue exterior, but the tiles inside that are a very distinct blue color. We then walked to the Hagia Sophia and went to the upstairs of the Mosque. The downstairs used to be open to the public to visit, but recently has just been open for Muslims to pray, and then visitors can go upstairs and see some ancient murals. The murals are Christian murals because prior to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Hagia Sophia was a Christian church.

May 28

This morning we had an early morning to drive to Ankara. We went to the Ataturk Mausoleum, but didn't spend much time there because it was cold and raining. We went to another museum after that had some ancient statues, but after awhile a lot of the statues in museums start to look alike. I also accidently stepped on a little baby snail outside the museum, so naturally we had to have a little funeral for the snail. The rest of the night was a slow quiet night spent in the hotel.

May 29

We got on the road heading East today to Cappadocia. On the way, we stopped at a Caravan Sary, which is where people traveling with animals would have stopped to spend the night (sort of like an old hotel). We stopped for lunch; having some chicken noodle soup with Turkish spices, baklava and Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee is usually made in hot sand with the grounds right in the water. You then get a small cup with the espresso and grounds in it. You drink it until you get to the sludge (the coffee grounds) because that is a weird texture and leaves a funky taste in your mouth. Our hotel in Cappadocia was built into a cave of sorts. It is actually volcanic ash that has solidified.

May 30

We started today by visiting a Salt Lake in Türkiye. The lake we went to is where most of the salt for the country comes from. We then went to a jewelry store that handmakes all of their jewelry. I ended up buying a ring that has three small flat leaves on it made of authentic Turkish Turquoise for $85. It was more expensive than that, but we all got the student discount, and then I worked the price down a little more (bartering a price is really common in Turkey). Our next stop was a pottery place, where they hand throw and hand paint all their pottery. We watched them make the pottery and then got to look at all their finished pottery. I bought a Hittite wine decanter, that is historically placed on someone's arm and then poured from their shoulder, which makes them have to bend (and bow) at whoever they are pouring wine for. Our next stop for the day was seeing cave churches that had been built into the side of the caves. We then ended our day with a trip to a Whirling Dervish ceremony, which is a prayer dance with music in the Islamic faith. While it was different from how we worship, it was fascinating to see some similar themes to Christian faith, combined with things that make the Islamic faith unique.

May 31

This morning we started by seeing some more rock formations; one even shaped like a camel! We then visited a carpet shop, where they just roll tons of carpets out in front of you and invite you to walk on them and see what they feel like. We also saw part of the process of how they make the carpets...all by hand. We then had pide for lunch, which is basically Turkish pizza. This was maybe my favorite lunch in Türkiye. There was also a little thunderstorm today during lunch which made me really happy, since I was missing some good thunderstorms back home. We then went to an underground cave city and walked through it. It was really dark, cold and damp, but overall really neat!

June 1

Today was the earliest I set my alarm all trip because I wanted to see the sunrise in Cappadocia. We hiked up for about 15 minutes and then sat and watched the sunrise and the hot air balloons float around watching them. Everyone that didn't go see the sunrise got to sleep in a little though. We got on the road and made a quick baklava stop in the morning because it is never too early to eat baklava. And then we were on our way to Konya which is a really conservative city. We had to wear long pants or skirts, cover our shoulders, and women had to cover their heads in certain places. We went to a Whirling Dervish museum that explained a bit more about the ceremony we watched a few days prior. We then had a good bit of free time before dinner, which was really nice because the past few days had been busy and we knew the last week was going to be busy.

June 2

This morning we had a long drive to Pisidian Antioch, but there isn't a whole lot there, most of it is just fallen rocks and partial reconstructions. We then drove to Colossae, which has yet to be excavated (but excavation is supposed to begin in the next two years) so it is just a tell, which is a large hill that they know ruins are under. Our hotel tonight was one of the coolest hotels. It had a pool that was most of the ground floor with rooms all around it, and the largest buffet of any hotel we stayed at.

June 3

We started with a visit to Hierapolis this morning. This was the most impressive theater of the whole trip. We also were able to go into some calcium pools that are naturally heated and very clear. In the afternoon we visited Laodicea (which is the lukewarm church). We were able to see a house church, which is thought to have been where the Christian church met in Laodicea. The rest of the evening was filled with swimming in the nice hotel pool.

June 4

Today we drove to Izmir (ancient Smyrna). On the way we stopped at a shopping mall and I got some Turkish candy to try. And then we went to Sardis, saw the Temple of Artemis, the Christian church, and a Jewish temple. In the evening we went to our homestay houses, which was overwhelming at first, but our homestay family was so kind hospitable. It was really great to be back in a house again for a little bit. We walked around Izmir a little and had some Turkish coffee, and I still slept really well.

June 5

I woke up this morning feeling very well rested after spending a night in an actual home and not a hotel. Today was our beach day, so we got on a bus and drove about 2 hours to Cesme beach and spent the whole day there. I didn't get any pictures, but it was a very relaxing day, with no sunburn, just a slight tan!

June 6

Today we saw Ephesus, which is the most touristy church site visit. There are terraced houses there, so it was really cool to see where people likely lived. Then a few of us were able to go up to a cave, a 15 minute hike straight up the mountain, to see the first depiction of Paul. That was really amazing to be able to see that. After this we drove to a little town and had a pide lunch again. This pide was about equally as delicious as the pide a few days ago. We then went to St. John's Basilica and back to our homestay. For dinner tonight our family took us out to a place called The Lift, where you take an elevator up a few floors to the top of a little hill in Izmir and get to see most of Izmir from the restaurant. On the way down we rode in the elevator with a stray dog (stray dogs and cats are all over the place in Turkey).

June 7

Today was a really long and hot day. It started with a visit to Pergamum which is the healing city. We also went up to the top of Pergamum by way of cable car to see the Temple. Getting to our homestay tonight was a bit of an experience then because we were coming from a different side of the city so we needed to get in different vans. We ate dinner and then our homestay family took us to a Turkish mall, which was a wild experience. It was a 4 story mall, with lots of high end stores. We then went back to our homestay house to finish packing and get ready for our early morning flight back home.

June 8

We got on a van that took us to the airport early this morning and took our first flight from Izmir to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to JFK. It was a really long travel day, after not getting much sleep the night before. But it was really nice to be back home and to see my parents after 3 weeks of being away.