Ephesus and the Aegean Sea

This weekend was a good blend of historical sight seeing and relaxation. On Saturday, we took a bus 2.5 hours north to the ruins of Ephesus, and saw what was once the 2nd largest city in the world during Roman times, behind Rome itself. The city is still undergoing excavation (as it has been since the 70's) every summer, as there is still a lot yet to be uncovered. It held one of the 7 Wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis, before it was destroyed in 400 AD.



The Library at Celsus is one of the highlights. It was the 3rd largest ancient library, containing over 10,000 scrolls at its peak. The only larger libraries were those at Alexandria and Pergamon. The library was reconstructed from its remnants by archaeologists.

The other prominent structure still standing is the theater, which held over 25,000 people when in use. It was here that Paul spoke to the Ephesians, and was eventually imprisoned at the city. This was around 55 AD when he wrote 1 Corinthians during his imprisonment.



Pictures of the boat trip will have to wait until tomorrow!

Bodrum Photos

Like I said in my last post, Bodrum is beautiful. I'll let a few of my photos try and do it justice.

Mom, I may "miss" my flight home... sorry :)

Arriving at Bodrum

I have always wanted to go to Spain, southern Italy, or Greece for the white-washed stucco houses and shingled roofs, but Bodrum is pretty darn close. It's a beautiful "Mediterranean" (technically, Aegean) town with, what I presume, is a beautiful view of the sea. We took a walk last night, but it was difficult to see much. Our hotel is not on the sea, but we are a 2 minute walk from it. The "beaches" we found were gravel/rocky, so hopefully we can find some sand beaches around somewhere.

Pictures will be coming today, as it is a beautiful morning down here.

Departing Istanbul

Well, today is my final day in the expansive and fascinating city of Istanbul. It is impossible to find another city that mixes Istanbul/Constantinople's history and culture in such a unique way. After visiting Chicago, London, Houston, Paris, and Munich, I can say Istanbul definitely possesses a distinct blend of heritage and culture. It has taken 3 empires and 3000 years to create what is now Turkey, and more people should experience it.

However, it's not all for naught, as my destination tomorrow is not the United States, but the Turkish city of Bodrum. Bodrum is a resort city on the Aegean Sea with an active nightlife and plentiful beaches. Expect some new pictures from the waterfront within the next couple of days. I leave you now, with a couple more images from my time in Istanbul.

Turkish Tea on the Bosphorous

A ship headed out to the Black Sea

The Bosphorous looking south to Istanbul

Weekend #2

The last couple days have been very action packed for me. We've had two more homework assignments due and have an exam Tuesday for our course. It is pretty difficult to sit down and do work when you're in an exciting city like Istanbul, but I am managing to get everything done so far. Here is a synopsis of the weekend.

Friday

We took a trip to Boğaziçi (Bosphorous) University, which used to be Robert's College, the oldest American university abroad. It was founded in 1863, and it still teaches its courses in English. Our professor got his undergraduate degree from there before moving to the US. We held our lecture there and had lunch overlooking the Bosphorous, then driving over to the other side of the strait to see the Asian side of the city. While there we walked up and down Baghdad Boulevard, the Michigan Avenue/Rodeo Drive of Istanbul. Many, many expensive shops and restaurants. Things like the Ralph Lauren or Lacoste stores are popular... but cost 3x as much as in the states. I can only imagine paying $200+ for a polo, but I guess enough people here can afford that. Finished the day with dinner at a cafe off the main drag and had a home-cooked style Turkish meal, with chicken, beef, spinach and carrots in a yogurt sauce (better than it sounds), rice, and bread.



Saturday

Saturday consisted of a boat trip on the Bosphorous. We boarded in downtown Istanbul, and took the ship all the way north to the Black Sea. It took about 2 hours to reach the small town at the mouth of the Bosphorous, where it empties into the sea. While there, we climbed a large hill to where a fortress was built in the 14th century to defend the Ottoman empire against Russian ships approaching from the Black Sea. Only the remnants of the walls and a few towers still stand, as it was not maintained well at all. After the climb, we enjoyed a lunch of grilled fish, fried calamari and mussels, and bread within the outer walls of the castle, providing an outstanding view of the Bosphorous.



After descending from the fortress and the boat trip back to Istanbul, we did a small amount of shopping, had dinner, and played some cards before calling it a night.

We only have 3 more days in Istanbul, as we leave Wednesday afternoon at 3:30pm for Bodrum. Our final days in Istanbul include an exam on Tuesday. Besides that, I plan on heading back to the Grand Bazaar to buy a couple of things and enjoying the city as much as possible before leaving!

Panorama of Istanbul

This panoramic view does a decent job showing of how dense everything is throughout the city. Very, very dense housing, as far as you can see. This is a result of the city growing from 300,000 to 14 million people in a span of about 40 years. Click to enlarge the view

Traveling and Getting Settled

Well, I made it. Not necessarily smooth traveling, but I can't complain too much. United flight 5982 was delayed 2 hours from Fort Wayne, so instead of arriving at Chicago O'Hare at 7:37, I arrived at 9:45pm for my 10:20pm international departure. This involved me deplaning, running to the train, impatiently waiting for the train to take me to the International Terminal at ORD, sprinting to the ticket counter, cutting to the front of the security line, and running to board the plane at 10:17pm. Turns out there were about 25 people also late, so they held the plane, but it was pretty nervewracking at the time. The biggest inconvenience in this is that my checked bag did not make the connection, and should *hopefully* be arriving tonight on the next flight in from Chicago.

After landing at Ataturk Istanbul International airport, visa and customs checks went smoothly, followed by the bus ride into the city to our hotel. On the way we witnessed a taxi driver fight in the middle of the highway which had traffic backed up about a kilometer.



Above is just a typical street in Istanbul, shot from our bus on the way into town. Shortly after, we arrived at our hotel, a very small one of just about 18 rooms. It has a very small lobby, 3 rooms per floor, and about 6 floors. It's on a very narrow one way street off the main drag in Istanbul.



View down the street from our hotel entrance. The quick snap I took of our hotel came out blurry last night. Following check-in, we went exploring down the popular hang-out street, passing many shops, restaurants, street performers, street vendors, anything a large city would have. The street vendors either sell a type of roasted nut, or kebabs and ice cream. For some reason, the kebabs and ice cream are always sold at the same location.

We searched for a foreign currency exchange shop, but all were closed since it was about 10pm local time. We found a restaurant that would accept dollars and credit cards. I took my first delve into Turkish food, and I don't think I will be losing too much weight while I'm over here. Had a purple salad with olive oil and vinegar as dressing, bread, and a nice slab of Sultahnamet beef with rice. More exploration into cuisine will come as I get more comfortable.

My daily schedule will consist of breakfast, class from 10am-1pm, and the rest of the day is mine to explore, do homework, whatever. Keep an eye out for more updates!

Ryan