Well here we are still in Ankara! We've been wandering the streets and bumming rides off people and still we don't know how to get around this city. But someday we'll figure it out. It's just built on and around a bunch of hills and valleys so it's hard to get a feel for the lay of the land.
Anyway, how's about I share some of our adventures with you???
Our first Saturday in Turkey we decided to see a few of the famous sites in our fair city.
First up, Amitkabir (Ataturk's Tomb).
So if you don't know about Ataturk, you should read up on him. He is the founder of modern Turkey and a national hero. So his tomb is very important here, and it is a beautiful place to visit, it also has a really good museum and we had a great time visiting.
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| Giant map of Turkey made of flowers, yes, please! |
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| Changing of the guard. |
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| Road of Lions |
See, lions.
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| Hall of Honor |
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| Trum is ready for his speech. |
See those fine marble steps?? Well guess what, they are slippery. And can you guess who fell on them about 2 minutes before this picture was taken?? Why that's correct, it was me! And although everyone around me wanted to laugh they were quite polite and refrained. So much fun!
Next up was a ride on the metro to Gençlik Parkı (literally Youth Park).
The metro here is super clean, cheap & efficient. But it
can only run through the valleys so most people take the bus or taxi or a
dolmuş (which literally means "stuffed", because they are minibuses
that are generally packed with people). Anyway we decided to try it out and we got out at the park. It is beautiful with a big lake and beautiful fountains and an amusement park.
We just took a stroll through it and then decided to head to our next stop, the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations. However, as we are new in town we had to wander up and down some hills, through some markets before we found the museum. All part of the fun!
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| Man with his shoe shine kit. |
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| Groovy seed roasting machine. |
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| One of the many bustling and steep markets in the area. |
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| This is the oldest part of Ankara, it's called Ulus. It is full of these old half timber buildings and shops. |
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| We had to stop for some lunch and we found this great place in a courtyard. There was even a little kitty to entertain us. |
Finally we found the museum, which was awesome! And we intend to go back when we aren't so tired from wandering up and down the hills.
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| The museum is housed in a 15th century covered market. The building itself is amazing and the artifacts are fascinating. |
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| So tired! |
A bit more wandering before we went home.
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| Turkish Delight! |
That was a good day!
For the rest of the week we kind of just hung around our neighborhood. Except Trum and I did go swimming at the Ambassador's residence....Fancy right? It's not really, it's basically the community pool for all the Americans working over here.
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| Trum as a human ring toss. |
I have been on the hunt for the illusive lemon Fanta, which I had the first time I visited Turkey, about 12 years ago, and I have had no luck. However I did find some delightful blood-orange soda to tide me over until I find it. And I will!!!
A thoughtful dinner by a fake waterfall...seriously don't you wish you were here!?!
