Fourth Post From Türkiye or How We Spent the Fourth of July or Our Trip to Konya

Konya!

We had a few days off for the Fourth of July. We figured we better make good use of the time, so we decided to go to Konya for the weekend. 

Konya is rich in history and significance. It was the capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and the Karamanids. It is also the headquarters of the Sufi Mevlevi Order and it's Whirling Dervishes. As you can imagine, Jack, was VERY excited to visit this city. We had a good time, saw lots of cool stuff and even learned a little bit. Just what you want for the Fourth of July!

We don't have our car yet so we decided to take a bus to Konya. This is the way most Turks travel between cities and it is pretty convenient. Jack booked us on kamil koç, which he says is the best. It was really nice, with drinks and snacks and Turkish TV or movies. The seats where pretty comfy and it was cheap as well, which is always important. 

Mevlana Museum

 The museum is the mausoleum of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian Sufi mystic also known as Mevlâna or Rumi. It was also the dervish lodge (tekke) of the Mevlevi order, better known as the whirling dervishes. If this were Jack's blog he would probably explain more but it's not so I will leave it up to you to learn more via Wikipedia or something if you so choose. 

This guy is not a real dervish, he was just posing for a picture, but my question is where did he get the hat and cloak?We want one as well!

A trio of dummies!

Aziziye Mosque

A beautiful mosque built in the Baroque style.

Wandering in the Markets.

 Oh, man! Let me just tell you about this picture. There was an old man sitting in the park with this little stand. In those jars, where some creatures swimming around, and do you know what they were? LEECHES! The best part is his sign, I think it says, Grandfather of the Leech and the Leech Doctor. So I am not sure if you buy leeches from him or just the use of his leeches. Either way I didn't try any of his wares.

Felt Man.

As we were headed back to the hotel, a guy called out to us in German from his shop. Then he came out and we told him we were not German. But he was willing and able to talk to us in English instead. We allowed ourselves to be persuaded to stop in his little rug shop. I wish I had a good picture of the owner he was an interesting fellow, and he had on some awesome white pants. They reminded me of Jimmy Fallon's "Tight Pants" skit. Anyway, we let him give us the whole routine and we ended up buying this Konya Kilim.

Second Day
So we decided to do a little side trip out to Çatalhüyük, and to get there we needed to find our way to the old bus station first. Needless to say we got lost. But we did get to see this groovy little vehicle and eventually we found an old man and his grandson who let us walk with them. Then of course when we got there nobody was quite sure when the dolmuş to Çatalhüyük would be going. So we ended up just taking a taxi. It cost $40 for the taxi to take us there and back, I thought that was pretty cheap for all of us to go out there. Jack felt this was vastly extravagant. Ah, well.  

Çatalhöyük  is an archeaology site that holds the remains of a Neolithic settlement believed to be among the world's oldest human communities. It was really fascinating to visit and fun to see all the American college students there digging away!

 They had a little experimental house built so you could see what the houses looked like when people lived in them.

 There was a free Turkish guide, he spoke terrific English and was really nice.

 I love this picture! These hand prints, that were for decoration and probably to remember a dead loved one, are from a woman who lived approximatly 9,500 years ago! Amazing!

I could seriously write so much about this site, it was really cool! 
As we were walking along, our guide told us that the site was later used by the Romans to make pottery and that all over the trail were little bits of pottery, that we had been walking on! We bent down and picked some up. Of course you can't keep them, you can just walk on them.

Now prepare yourself for some gratuitous agriculture photography!!!
This area of Turkey so reminded me of where I grew up in Idaho! As we were driving through the valley they were, harvesting grain, bailing straw and cutting the alfalfa! They grow a lot of the same crops as they do where I grew up and the area is watered with irrigation canals.

 A cement ditch?

 Sugar Beets!

Even a pivot! Of course, they don't grow sunflowers in the Magic Valley, but maybe they should!

 When we got back to town we walked around and looked at lots of different Mosques and museums, or Mosques that are now museums!

Alâeddin Mosque, built in the 12th century.

Some of the columns are recycled Roman columns.

 

Ince Minare Medrese, built during the time of the Seljuks. It's minaret was struck by lightening  in 1901. Now it is the Museum of Wooden Artifacts and Stone Carving.

  It has amazing carving around it's portal!

We searched for like two hours to find this museum, I think it was the Tombstone Museum. And then when we found it, it was inexplicably closed!

But that was okay because as we wandered around looking for it we stumbled onto some cool stuff. 

Like this little Madrasa from the Seljuk period.

We also found another amazing mosque portal and minaret from the same time period. The original mosque had been destroyed, but this remained and behind the new mosque was a great little museum. I can't remember the name. But it was terrific!

 In the museum they had some amazing rugs and kilims displayed on these large rolling panels.

 And there was a tomb with amazing tile work!

 

These fellows were just enjoying the afternoon in the back of a truck.

Sometimes, the translation is just not quite right.

That evening we walked out to the Mevlana Culture Center to see the Dervishes. Since it is Ramadan, the whirling started later than usual so we killed some time watching the sunset and Trum running around the outdoor facility.

 Eventually we did make it inside to see the Whirling Dervishes. It was really interesting and worth the wait.

The next morning we went to the Karatay Medresesi Museum before our bus ride home. It is another Seljuk building that is now the tile museum. 

 The Seljuk s where converts to Islam so some of their tiles have faces and figures on them.

It was a great little museum and we even enjoyed their courtyard. Trum was super excited about the grapes!

Last site in Konya: the Seljuk Statue.

And when we got home I, as usual, needed a vacation from our vacation, so the Trum and I have been hanging out at the house playing The Hobbit game on the Xbox. Oh, how our lives have changed since we came to Turkey...

Third Post from Türkiye

So one correction from the last post: the title says Second Post from Turkche and Jack informs me that, turkche means turkish (the language) and that Türkiye mean Turkey (the country). And just as a bit of interest turkey the bird is hindi. So now you know. 

Last Saturday we went back to Ulus, but this time we explored the Citadel & Castle. 

Here is some wikipedia info for ya:

The foundations of the Ankara castle and citadel were laid by the Galatians on a prominent lava outcrop, and the rest was completed by the Romans. The Byzantines and Seljuks further made restorations and additions. The area around and inside the citadel, being the oldest part of Ankara, contains many fine examples of traditional architecture. There are also recreational areas to relax. Many restored traditional Turkish houses inside the citadel area have found new life as restaurants, serving local cuisine.

It is a really cool area of the city and we had fun, despite the heat and the hike.

In the wall you can see ancient blocks that are recycled from other buildings. This block has Greek lettering on it.

You can kind of see behind me where the wall went all the way over to where the flag is, and that these old houses were built right up against it. Also notice, no safety precautions whatsoever.

Sites around the Citadel.

We would NEVER actually drink this water. Trum is just pretending.

 

Some nineler (grandmas) setting up their wares.

Hey! There's a band!

You know, just go ahead and touch that artifact. No one cares. 

Old cradle turned into a planter.

 
 Traditional Craftsmen:

I heard that you can get a brass plaque costume made. The sign on our church building is made like this from brass & some friends told us they had a picture of the temple made. We are totally gonna do it!

How's about a hand made drum, or a huge bag of wool, or a concussion from something falling off that building onto your head? All good options.

Column built to commemorate Roman emperor Julian the Apostate's visit to Ankara in 362. 

Apparently storks nest on top, but not that day.

 

Hacı Bayram Mosque, built in the 15th century to honor of Hacı Bayram-ı Veli, whose tomb, you

can see in the picture above. It is built right next to the Temple of  Augustus, built around 25 BC. You can see the ruins in the picture below. 

4th of July celebration at the base.

 It was meant to be fun, there was music, food and people to chat with. To be followed by fireworks.

 Instead we got rain, thunder and lightening and a wait in the gymn. We skinned out of there early, and we don't regret it, since the rain didn't stop and the fireworks got cancelled. Boo-hoo, sad.

 Here is a little fun Turkish fact for you. See these neat-o outfits you can buy for your little boy? Well, if you got one you would want it for a special occasion right? Well how about his circumcision? Yikes! That's right, this is how big boys are when they are circumcised here and how they get dressed. It is kind of a big deal, but I don't think getting to be dressed in this outfit would make the procedure any more bearable.