...that's nobody's business but the Turks!
Great song, great song. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) cover by They Might Be Giants, was more or less our theme song this week, or at least while in Istanbul. According to our tour guide, the name was changed because there was a sign leading into Constantinople that read "to the city" that foreigners thought was the name to the city, and started to call it that.
Basically, this last week was an educational vacation in Turkey, and it was AMAZING! I very much hope that I get the chance in the future to go back. There were so many sites, and just not enough time to see them all. Especially the museums! Ah, just so amazing.
This blog post is going to be the highlights, but there are just so many, it's hard to choose! I think what I'm going to do is make a list of all the places that we went to, and then just talk about my absolute favorites. Here goes. The Sultanahment Mosque (or Blue Mosque), the Basilica Cistern, the Topkapi Palace, a boat ride on the Bosporus Straight, Gallipoli battlefield, Troy, Assos, Pergamum, St. Johns's Basilica, Ephesus, Prienne, Sardis, Thyratira, Bursa, the Hagia Sophia, and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
The first that I'm going to talk about is the Gallipoli battlefield. We watched a movie made about it the Friday before we left for Turkey. It's a very good movie, I highly recommend it. In World War I, Great Britain and ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Allie Corps) forces attacked the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, hoping to gain access to the Dardenelles, a water way that leads to the Sea of Marmara and then to the Black Sea to open a second front. The allies eventually were forced to pull out, but not after a great loss of life.
The reason I liked this site so much was because of the Turkish attitude towards it. Every year, on the anniversary of the first attack by the ANZAC forces, people from all over Turkey gather to the battlefield. So many people come that after a certain time they close the road, just because there isn't any more room. As the night goes on, they narrate the battle. But they just don't revere and honor the Turkish troops. They very much honor and respect the ANZAC troops as well. The best way that I can really show this is by a quote from Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, a very influential Turkish leader who fought in that battle. "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom, and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
Assos was beautiful. We just visited the acropolis at the top of the hill, but it was so beautiful. It was right on the Aegean sea, on top of a mountain. Behind you there were these beautiful green mountain, and in front of you the sparlking Aegean. It was just beautiful, and peaceful. It's mentioned in Acts 20:13-14 as the place where they picked up Paul, after he wanted to walk by himself from Troas to Assos instead of sailing with his friends. This was during Paul's journey to Jerusalem, and he knew that he wasn't going to be coming back to that place. You could imagine him, walking the 25 miles across the peninsula, thinking about his time as a missionary, and what was about to happen. Walking by himself, so that he could have some time alone to think.
Ephesus is a HUGE city. Well, was a huge city. It was very impressive. It would have been very beautiful. When were were there, there were also several cruise ships in the harbor, so the place was packed. One of the program directors likes to say that "The number one attraction at Ephesus is the cats. The number two attraction at Ephesus is people taking pictures of the cats. The number three attraction at Ephesus is that thing over there (referring to a gladiator show that was put on for the tourists). And then way down on the list is the antiquities." After seeing all the tourist, and taking a few cat pictures myself, I can attest to this.
Before reading the rest of this paragraph, dust off your scriptures and read Acts 19:23-41. Finished?
I was there! I sat in that exact theatre! I stood on the stage of that theatre! As my Old Testament professor put it "There are very few places that we can look at and say with complete certainty that this happened exactly here. But we can say that about this!" To put that scripture in a bit more perspective, that theatre seats 25,000 people. It was such a cool experience, to be there.
Visiting the Hagia Sophia is a dream come true for me. It was something that would have been on my bucket list had I ever though that there was a remote chance that I could have gone there. Having the chance to actually be there...I can't even describe it. The building was beautiful. Just beautiful. The archetecture, what was left of the mosaics, it was just all so breathtaking. It's a museum now, but they left elements up from when it was a mosque, and have uncovered some of the things that were leftover from when it was a church, so it's just a very interesting building. My tour guide said, "I see the Christians come here and cry because they want it to be a church again. I also see the Muslims come here and cry because they want it to be a mosque. I think that it is good that it is a museum because of this." I think I took more pictures there than of anything else in Turkey. It was just...it was literally a dream come true.
The last thing I'm going to talk about is the Istanbul archaeological museum. As I was getting ready to leave the Hagia Sophia, I saw a group of student from the center running out, legitimately running out. I asked them as they passed "Where are you going?" "To the archaeological museum!" "Is it cool?" "They have the oldest know peace treaty in the world there!" That was enough for me to give up my shopping plans and run after them to get there in time. I saw so many just amazing things there. I saw things there that I remember seeing pictures of in history books. One of which being the oldest peace treaty in the world, between the Hittites and the Egyptians. There's apparently a copy of it in the UN building. There's also a sarcophagus there, I believe it's called the Tomb of Alexander the Great, not because it was made for Alexander the Great, but there is a relief covering the outside of it of a battle scene, featuring Alexander the Great. It was amazing. And I got to see real, cuneiform clay tablets! It was so cool! We only had an hour there, but I could have spent a day, at least. We basically just rushed through because we didn't have a lot of time. If I ever get the chance to go back to Turkey, that museum is going to be my first stop.
So, that's the Turkey trip! As I'm sure you've noticed, I skipped over a lot of really cool things. I'd very much encourage every one to look them up. Everywhere we went in Turkey was amazing. The places I talked about were just my favorite.
To end this post, I'm going to talk about the fish. From the beginning, we were told that our very last meal in Turkey was going to be a fish, and entire fish, eyeballs and everything still there. I don't really like fish, but I tried all the meatballs, even though I don't like ground meat, and so I determined to try the fish. It was actually really, really good. And I ate all of it. Yes, I ate an entire fish. Except the eyeballs. I wasn't willing to go quite that far.
Well, that's it for the Turkey trip. In the airport, and again at a few of the hotels, I was able to get pretty good wifi, and they don't block facebook at airports. :) I've posted several pictures, of both Jerusalem and Turkey on my facebook. There's aren't any descriptions, as I couldn't figure out how to put them on with my ipod. But check them out!
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