Today we start with a trip to the Antalya Museum which contains “The Treasures of Turkey”. Prehistory means prior to the written word. History begins with being able to write down history. The beginning of the museum has a cool map of many of the places that we have seen. (Rob loves maps) Next, we saw small vignettes of historical settings. (I like...
We left our beatiful hotel in the Turkish Riviera. We drive along the Turquoise Coast. Turquoise is a Turkish word meaning Turkish color. Ertunga says that it is much like driving Route 1 from San Francisco to LA. He has been to California. Turkey and American Indians have similar words, customs and shamans. Theory? Not sure why. We drove by an island named Kas which...
Telmessos is the ancient city in Fethiye. It is a 4th century BC tomb. Lycia is known for its rock tombs. It is similar to the fascades in Petra. When kings died, they became gods. They were buried in tombs with the expectation of worship and sacrifice on the date of their birth and death. Often, it is a replica of their house. We saw the tomb of King Amyntas. They...
Heiropolis means holy city. Outside the entrance to the city is the large cemetery called Necropolis or City of the Dead. It was common to have the dead greet someone entering the city. Over 2,000 graves are here which is the largest in the ancient world. Heiropolis is high on a mountain. There are mineral hot springs of which Cleopatra frequented. Today people still...
Today we left our 18th century Greek home full of original art on a hill overlooking the town of Sirince. Ertunga says that in January this quaint little village turns into a camel fight locale. The males fight with their necks. The event is initiated by having a female camel walk by. Sardis Sardis was the capital city of Lydia. The local people were Lydians not...
We had breakfast with a delightful couple from India. Their names are Venkat and Harini and they are on their honeymoon in Turkey. We talked about travel, Turkey, speaking English, diet, and our beliefs. We told them that we usually pray before a meal and asked if they like to join us. They agreed and we held hands and said a quick prayer of thanks. Afterwards Harini...
We told Ertunga that we had decided before we left home that we would attend church wherever we are in the world. God has something to say to us in each country and city. We want to hear and witness firsthand what God is doing. Knowing the cities we would be on the weekends allowed us to research their locations and submit them to Ertunga so that he could work the...
The beauty of the beach must have been felt by everyone as there was boisterous singing until the wee hours of the night. (It is also the start of a week long vacation.) I woke at 5:30 and I could still hear singing… non-stop like a medley. It was over at 7:30am. It must have been time to go home and sleep. Omar said it was the young people. We ate a breakfast...
Troy had a strategic location for controlling the Aegean Sea. There are ten layers to Troy as people fled the city due to fires and earthquakes but returned to rebuild. (There are over 3,000 ancient cities in Turkey; many have not been excavated.) Troy I existed 5,000 years ago. There was evidence of simple ships. People often had to wait months for fair winds. This...
We leave Istanbul to see the rest of Turkey. Our hotel had pools but the temperature was quite cold. Even the “hot tub” was cold and was called a hydro massage. The signage claimed that this was the temperature recommended by the World Health Organization. Understandably, we were the only ones there. Omar kitty Politics written by Rob Street Mustafa Kemal...