Travels to Turkey: Loveliness

Oh my, I've been busy. When I last updated, we had just arrived in Pamukkale, which was beautiful. We visited an ancient Roman city on top of a large hill. The site was chosen because of the naturally warm spring water that flows through the area. That same water has a lot of calcium in it, and over the centuries it cas created this massive, well, mound of hard calcium over this hill. It looks like vanilla frosting cascading downwards with warm water pooling in certain places. I walked through the huge Roman ruins for awhile before spending a good amount of time walking barefoot through the warm water and admiring the rolling farmland below and high mountains in the distance. It was absolutely beautiful.

From there we traveled to Kusadasi (Kush-a-day-see), which is a town on the Mediterranean coast. The view of the ocean from our hotel was absolutely amazing, and we got two free days to do whatever we wanted (we don't get weekends here). Three other girls and I (everyone else was super lame) took a one hour ferry to the Greek island of Samos one day, and it was absolutely the most amazing day ever. Samos is a mountainous island with several towns scattered about it, and it has been inhabited for as long as history has been around. We took a 20 minute taxi ride to the town of Pythagorion, and spent the day there. The other girls spent the day at one of Samos' pebble beaches, while I went exploring on my own.

Having the day all to myself, without 24 other people swarming around me, was exactly what I needed. Plus, the island was absolutely beautiful and incredibly laid-back and peaceful. No shopkeepers yelled "Hello lady!" at me like in Turkey, no one asked where I was from, and I could just do exactly what I wanted. I found this amazing fifteenth century Christian basilica; no one was there, and it was beautiful. I discovered a castle used to attack the Turks (who else?) and climbed half-way up a mountain to get an overview of the town. I spent some time at one of the small, quiet pebble beaches before wandering through the town and eating the most delicious green apple I've ever had. The architecture in Greece is the most beautiful and relaxed I've ever seen (yes, I wouldn't mind becoming an architect some day) and I found the house I want to live in some day. We all met up again and took the ferry back to Turkey. Greece was probably my second favorite portion of the whole trip thus far.

After a day spent writing a paper, on Saturday we ventured to Ephesus. Yes, that means the Ephesus of the Book of Ephesians, where Paul preached. We saw the fountain of Hadrian and the ancient library, as well as the amphitheater where Paul denounced the idol-worshipping Romans. We also visited the supposed house of the Virgin Mary, which is a pilgrimage site for both Muslims and Christians. Finally, we caught a plane (and almost missed our plane) back to Istanbul.

Yesterday, we visited the shrine of Eyup, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and considered the most sacred site in Turkey. After a lovely tea session overlooking the Golden Horn, we went to a Turkish bath in the afternoon. There, the girls and I were scrubbed down til our skin glowed and then massaged. The room was super warm, so all my toxins were sweated out, and I felt ever so clean afterwards. The only stain on the experience was this old American woman asking all of us what we wanted to do with our lives. When I told her I want to be a Palestinian rights activist, she started telling me to get a second major because everyone in the Middle East would want to kill me and I wouldn't like them anyway. I got really pissed off; I don't like being told that a certain sector of the population doesn't matter for whatever reason.

Today, we ventured to Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman Sultans until 1900. The place screamed money everywhere you looked, and one room held an 84-carot diamond ring. Also, the Sultans were fat, because their outfits were in there, and about three of me could have fit in them.

My whirlwind tour of Turkey is almost over, and my heart is definitely ready to go home. We have more free time from here on out, though, so I'll be able to explore more. I'm finally getting used to opposite light switches (up is off) and hole-in-the-ground toilets and crazy shopkeepers just in time for me to come home.