Category: Turkey (Dec 2010)

  • Back in Istanbul

    Rather than spending just one day in Ankara, I caught a connection to Istanbul on an overnight bus. There’s a lot here that I’d still like to see.

  • Goreme to Ankara

    Cappadocia has been really beautiful. I’m headed for the to bus to Ankara in a few minutes. Nobody has had anything nice to say about Ankara, but it’s halfway to Istanbul from here, and hopefully the Archeaology museum is worth a day-long layover there. …much later, I’ve added photos from my second and third days […]

  • Cappadocia, Day 1

    Here are some photos from Goreme in Cappadocia. I feel lucky to have snow on the ground and some blue skies this afternoon.

  • Konya

    Here’s a quick post to say that I’ve made it to Konya. I’ll post more about the last few days soon, but for now I’ll say that I’m amazed at how helpful people here have been. I’ve felt completely safe and very well taken care of. …much later. I’ve added photos from my time in […]

  • Happy New Year

    Last night was a lot of fun. There are about seven of us who have become friends since I got here. Alex and Marta got us invited to a house party through a friend from back home in Croatia. It was about 1/3 Turkish people and mostly expats. I think I was the only Amerıcan. […]

  • Istanbul Modern

    So far so good. I’ve been having nice time. There is a ton to see in Istanbul, and I’ll try to get photos up tomorrow. I’ve fallen in with a good crowd at the guesthouse, and we’re heading to a New Year’s party tonight. It looks like I’ll arrive in 2011 a few hours ahead […]

  • Basilica Cistern

    This underground chamber was used as a water supply. Nobody knows why the Medusa heads were used to support those two columns, but it may just be that they were the right size and the builders got a good deal on them. Many of the columns and capitals were reclaimed from older buildıngs. I had […]

  • Topkapi Palace

    This photo is of the Library of Ahmet III, just one small building at the palace. Perhaps every school kid ın the country was there en masse, so it was a game of trying to get to each of the rooms either before or after a stampede came through. Museum displays of some of jewels […]

  • Aya Sofya

    My first day in Istanbul I went to the Aya Sofya. Built in the sixth century, it was the largest church in the world for about a thousand years until the Ottoman invasion, when it was turned into a mosque. Much of the original artwork was left intact.

  • Turkey 2010

    I just bought a plane ticket, and I’ll be headed to Turkey for a couple weeks after Christmas. I’m not sure how often I’ll have Internet access, but I’ll try to upload some posts and photos during the trip and more afterward.