TURKEY PART THREE

our third day we visited gallipoli to see the ANZAC memorial. gallipoli is a beautiful peninsula to the

northwest of the dardanelles strait which connects the black sea and the sea of marmara to the mediterranean. during WWI the french and british attempted to attack the cardanelles in order to capture istanbul, a battle the lasted for many months resulting in stalemate. about 250,000 soldiers died on both sides. the ANZAC (australian and new zealand army corps) memorial honors the thousands of australian and new zealand soldiers that were killed during the campaign. we sat on the shore as i teacher told us the story of the soldiers that were honored there and we got to see some of the graves. there are graves up and down the gallipolli peninsula from the attack on the dardanelles.

from a ferry that we took to get to TROY

we danced a traditional dance with these girls and they loved the white girls taking pictures of them, obviously.

TURKEY PART TWO

ready set go. what you've all been waiting for... turkey part two. get ready for words and a photo dump. 

on the morning of our second day, after a much needed diet coke from the hotel of course (that's just me, emma and i are the only ones that really appreciate the nectar of the gods in this group) we headed over to the hippodrome of constantinople by the blue mosque.  unbeknowst to me hippodrome means "horse track." so when the tour guide mentioned horses my ears perked up a little bit.  few things about the hippodrome: in 325 AD the emperor constantine built a huge Roman circus (or circle) next to his palace which was were the blue mosque now stands, and this circus was an expansion of an existing hippodrome. the level of the hippodrome is over 6 feet below the current surface.  (i can never help but blame this on humans and their trash. it builds up).

                         

here's where things get interesting.  apparently constantinople's main sport clubs called the blues and greens (so elementary school don't you think) sponsored chariot teams and engaged in "hooliganism" at sporting events. at a particular chariot race in 532 AD, they started a riot against emperor justinian and after a week, thousands had died and the city was destroyed, including the hagia sophia.  justinian put down the revolt by slaughtering 30,000 people (and here my field trip manual would like to point out that they were "mostly greens"...) ALL in the hippodrome! what?????

but the palace sure was beautiful and my occidental mind observed that it looked quite oriental.

we then went to the blue mosque which was my favorite mosque of the whole trip. we took off our shoes and covered our hairs and it was all fun.

view of the hagia sophia leaving the blue mosque.

we then walked over to the topkapi palace north of the blue mosque and hagia sophia along the bosphorus strait. in 1453 the ottoman sultan mehmet II conquered constantinople and built this palace which functioned as the primary residence of the sultans for 400 years!

this palace was converted to a museum in 1924 and has some really amazing exhibits.

our cute boat. 

thanks istanbul. 

TURKEY PART ONE

that night before we left for the airport i slept for one and a half hours. sleeping hasn't been very common for me lately at the jerusalem center. i'm exhausted by the time classes are done yet we always go out to west jerusalem at night if we can, delaying our homework once again... whoops. west jerusalem is always bustling and full of life, it's hard to resist spending every second there. there's something about walking those streets--just like in any big city, especially manhattan and london--where you feel like you are really a part of something. after we come home, hopefully before curfew, i'm wide awake from all the excitement. i probably won't go to bed after 1 or 2. we love to play board games together or blog and dean is always out there playing guitar. at this time of night, however, you will most likely find us just talking with each other about anything and everything.

SUNDAY

we woke up around 3:30 sunday morning to get in the bus and head to the bel gurion airport. amber and i were pretty hysterical from our lack of sleep. once i look over at her and see her eating the muffin she promised to give me from her sack breakfast. it has been quiet between us for about a minute--meaning not laughing--when i said, "are you eating your muffin?" we were both done for when those words came out of my mouth. i feel bad for the kids on the bus.

we got to the airport and after being herded like sheep, and of course some crappy pizza hut and a not so crappy diet coke, we flew to istanbul. i managed to get the isle... again? i'm having really good luck with the flights on these trips. for some strange reason when i came to the jerusalem center--no, when i first signed up for the program--i knew we were going out of israel to jordan and turkey, but it didn't register in my mind that i would be going to two additional countries. and this didn't register until i got on the plane. i was so excited.

the first thing we did was drive over the bridge across the bosphorus strait that connects the europe and asia sides of istanbul. within a matter of minutes we had changed continents. marked that off my bucket list. i never imagined i would be in one of the most significant cities in history. afterwards we were taken to this restaurant the looks over the bosphorus strait (who knew it would be so big?!) and the most amazing meal. traditional turkish four course meal. it began with a super delicious lentil soup, then salad, and the winner of all the courses, meat loaf with garlic mashes potatoes and brussels sprouts. finished that off with a fruit plate and i was feeling pretty good about turkey so far.

the bosphorus strait

we then drove to hagia sophia--i take back what i said earlier, this is when i registered that i would be going to turkey/i was physically in turkey--and wow. i immediately wished i hadn't been so sleepy that day in my humanities class when we learned about hagia sophia. the square was packed full of people, natives and tourists alike. our amazing guide yasmin took us in to hagia sophia which is now museum. all of the stone work and mosaics were the originals and were still just as stunning as they must have been in the 6th century when it was built. we were eventually set free and lauren and i made a b-line for the medieval ramp that takes you you up to the second story. i was pretty difficult to not slip and fall on my face on those stones that have been worn down by millions of people over hundreds of years. after we took pictures, we headed down again and i noticed a fat cat sitting in a doorway within the mosque so of course i had to take his picture. i sat down across from him (or her...why do all cats look like males to me? i tend to associate specific things with a certain gender) and after i took a few he or she got up, stretched, and crawled right into my lap! i died from happiness! i mean it got a little awkward when he or she started to dig his or her claws into me and granted, i'm not exactly a cat lover, but israeli and now turkish cats are winning me over. have i mentioned the stray dogs? the dogs! stray dogs are everywhere in turkey. and they walk around like they own the place. i would love to delve into their culture and learn their traditions, forget the turks.

thanks to lauren jackson for this photo.

after visiting a museum and eating a brownie with lauren in the cafe (it was a big part of the experience) we had some free time and went to a promenade/walking district/open air mall called taxim square. it's directly between europe and asia and is what i would describe as the heart of the city. it was a really great place to throw ourselves into the culture and get a taste--more like a large bite--of the experience waiting for us in istanbul.

matt...what are you doing?

the gang. 

thanks for reading.