To Friends and Family:
For three weeks, our group of fifteen stayed in Istanbul, the final week
was spent on a bus touring western and central Turkey.
From Istanbul, we first journeyed north to the city of Edirne and it's
mosque built in 1569 by the Ottoman Emperor Selim II. After that we went
to Gallipoli, the turning point during the Great War for Turkey and the
future Father of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The next stop was even further back into history when we spent a morning
at Troy. Before going there our group was told that unless you're an
archaeologist it's very boring. Later that day, we went to the hospital
and Acropolis in Pergamum. The city is on top of a hill, and there are
still remnants of the temple, and the amphitheater (One of the three
thousand in Turkey) was one of the largest in the country.
As we continued on our trip, the next stop was at Ephesus. Above the city, we went to the House of the Virgin Mary, where it is believed that Mary lived out her last days before she ascended to heaven to join her son. The house is reconstructed from what it was and the paintings and fireplace are all redone. Outside the house down the hill a short way, there is a wall for prayers and wishes. There must've been millions of small handkerchiefs with prayers in every language tied to the wall. It is said if you tie a white tissue to the wall, then Mary will ensure that you get married. So, as a little insurance, a few of us tied a white tissue as well.
After visiting Mary's house, we went to the city of Ephesus where the
Disciple John spent his time with the Ephesians. The library in Ephesus
was one of the largest until Cleopatra and Marc Anthony stole the
documents and took it to Alexandria where it was eventually burned.
One of the nights on the excursion, a few of us went to a Turkish bath. It was a unique experience, and we were the only ones there. First we were all put in one room and told to change, and even when we tried to escape to find private changing quarters, we were herded back in.
Finally, we found some curtains and separated the male and female changing area. After we stripped down and grabbed the towels, we found they were a little bit short, but made do by combining two towels to have an extra-long red-plaid dress.
Next, it was off to the steam bath, which wasn't very steamy and a few of us were skeptical about. After a while, our Turkish Bath Extraordinaire came in to give us our lufah (sp?) and massage. He was very animated as he poked us and energetically washed our hair.
In the end, we found our selves cleaner than ever (probably the cleanest
on this trip so far), sitting in the lobby rejoined with the male half of the group drinking our elma cay (apple tea).
The next day, was a stop in Pamukkale. It looked like a glacier, eternally frozen despite the Turkish humidity , washed by a natural hot water spring flowing from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Our group walked down a small portion of this calcium carbonate glacier. After running through the ruins so familiar at this point, we found refuge in our hotel for the evening.
After Pamukkale, we climbed on the bus for 10 hours to go to Cappadocia.
In Cappadocia, the people of this region, carved into the soft rock towers that looked like 70 feet tall mushrooms to make their homes, and
eventually cities.
The last stop on the tour was in Ankara where we visited the Museum and
Mosoleum of Ataturk, the Father of Turkey and founder of the Turkish
Republic in 1923.
On Sept. 28, we flew out of Turkey, saying goodbye to our home for the
past month. The entire group really grew to love Turkey, and we will miss it a lot. But we're all looking forward to our next leg of the journey in Morocco when we‘ll be moving in with our families.
Sincerely,
Your traveling Child or Friend
For three weeks, our group of fifteen stayed in Istanbul, the final week
was spent on a bus touring western and central Turkey.
From Istanbul, we first journeyed north to the city of Edirne and it's
mosque built in 1569 by the Ottoman Emperor Selim II. After that we went
to Gallipoli, the turning point during the Great War for Turkey and the
future Father of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The next stop was even further back into history when we spent a morning
at Troy. Before going there our group was told that unless you're an
archaeologist it's very boring. Later that day, we went to the hospital
and Acropolis in Pergamum. The city is on top of a hill, and there are
still remnants of the temple, and the amphitheater (One of the three
thousand in Turkey) was one of the largest in the country.
As we continued on our trip, the next stop was at Ephesus. Above the city, we went to the House of the Virgin Mary, where it is believed that Mary lived out her last days before she ascended to heaven to join her son. The house is reconstructed from what it was and the paintings and fireplace are all redone. Outside the house down the hill a short way, there is a wall for prayers and wishes. There must've been millions of small handkerchiefs with prayers in every language tied to the wall. It is said if you tie a white tissue to the wall, then Mary will ensure that you get married. So, as a little insurance, a few of us tied a white tissue as well.
After visiting Mary's house, we went to the city of Ephesus where the
Disciple John spent his time with the Ephesians. The library in Ephesus
was one of the largest until Cleopatra and Marc Anthony stole the
documents and took it to Alexandria where it was eventually burned.
One of the nights on the excursion, a few of us went to a Turkish bath. It was a unique experience, and we were the only ones there. First we were all put in one room and told to change, and even when we tried to escape to find private changing quarters, we were herded back in.
Finally, we found some curtains and separated the male and female changing area. After we stripped down and grabbed the towels, we found they were a little bit short, but made do by combining two towels to have an extra-long red-plaid dress.
Next, it was off to the steam bath, which wasn't very steamy and a few of us were skeptical about. After a while, our Turkish Bath Extraordinaire came in to give us our lufah (sp?) and massage. He was very animated as he poked us and energetically washed our hair.
In the end, we found our selves cleaner than ever (probably the cleanest
on this trip so far), sitting in the lobby rejoined with the male half of the group drinking our elma cay (apple tea).
The next day, was a stop in Pamukkale. It looked like a glacier, eternally frozen despite the Turkish humidity , washed by a natural hot water spring flowing from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Our group walked down a small portion of this calcium carbonate glacier. After running through the ruins so familiar at this point, we found refuge in our hotel for the evening.
After Pamukkale, we climbed on the bus for 10 hours to go to Cappadocia.
In Cappadocia, the people of this region, carved into the soft rock towers that looked like 70 feet tall mushrooms to make their homes, and
eventually cities.
The last stop on the tour was in Ankara where we visited the Museum and
Mosoleum of Ataturk, the Father of Turkey and founder of the Turkish
Republic in 1923.
On Sept. 28, we flew out of Turkey, saying goodbye to our home for the
past month. The entire group really grew to love Turkey, and we will miss it a lot. But we're all looking forward to our next leg of the journey in Morocco when we‘ll be moving in with our families.
Sincerely,
Your traveling Child or Friend