As promised, it’s time for part II of Sara and I’s adventures overseas. Things actually did not start very well in Istanbul; we arrived in Turkey at 2am after a late night flight to an airport an hour outside of Istanbul. Price to pay for using the discount airline and a free stopover in Dubai, though, I suppose. After finally making it to our hotel at 3am, banging on the door for 15 minutes, and carrying our bags up three flights of narrow stairs, we arrived in a room… the size of my closet. And my closet is not big. Here is the bathroom, as an example (yes, that’s the shower above the toilet):
So it wasn’t the biggest place, and didn’t have the cleanest sheets, but we were in Istanbul, who cares, right? How much time do you spend in your room in a place like this? If you only knew…
We woke up to a pleasant surprise: that we were being changed rooms to one with a big window overlooking the Blue Mosque! From there on out, all was well with the hotel and they were extremely nice people. On the top floor was a cafe terrace with many tables and a great view of the Bosporus and the Blue Mosque/Haghia Sophia. After a nice breakfast we wandered through Istanbul and saw many interesting sites, including the Galata Tower (the oldest tower people can ascend [and descend] in the world), the Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque, the Hippodrome, and the underground Basilica Cistern. We capped the day off with some Indian food and bought some plane tickets for Ephesus the next day.
Ephesus
The next day we took a late-night early-morning (5am) flight to Izmir, and then traveled to Ephesus, one of the most famous ancient Roman ruin sites in the world. Many think (and I agree) that the ruins here are much better preserved here than in Rome itself. More on that later. The place itself was absolutely beautiful, with some very interesting ruins including an old library and beautiful amphitheater. I was only minimally jaded by the construction cranes “reconstructing” the ruins at the site and the closed off area which charged you more to see newly excavated ruins of old houses. While probably interesting, I’m sure someone you know was on one of the 30+ cruise ship tours there also, and they took pictures. Just saying…
Afterwards we went to the 7th Wonder of the World, the Temple of Artemis, which is really just one column in the middle of the field. Pretty cool nonetheless. However, about the same time, the English speaking contingent in my group began a coup de tat of sorts, and demanded asked politely that we divert the tour from our planned stops to see the museum and Basilica of St. John. For those of you less traveled than these folks, almost every tour you sign up for offers a free, complementary shopping trip included with your tour package. This was no exception, and we were herded to a “gold factory” and a “leather warehouse” to buy over-priced goods hawked by annoying salesmen. I was personally hooked on the selection of leather goods, although I was once again jaded by the lack of chaps or any jackets with frill. Maybe next time…
Back to our tour, we also went to the (alleged) house of the Virgin Mary. It is said she died there after being taken to Ephesus with St. John. You can decide for yourself. The place itself was really nice, with a nice (reconstructed, of course) house with a stream running under it. They say if you drink it, you will be rich, healthy and happy. After visiting the hospital of course. After hitting my head on Mother Mary’s door frame (“that boy conked his head” – thanks tourist guy), we headed back to the airport, with a two-hour stop at the beach. While not the nicest, it was the first time in a year I stuck my feet in the sand and water, and it was WONDERFUL!
Istanbul, continued
Our arrival back in Istanbul corresponded with Sara falling sick, from what we may never know (she’s ok now, though, thanks for asking). With her bedridden for the next two days (I knew that small room would come back to bite us…) I set out alone during the day but was able to visit a lot of the other Istanbul sites including Topkapi Palace and Haghia Sophia, two of the most famous sites. They were both very beautiful, but of course not the same without good company. Topkapi Palace does have an amazing harem and treasury, where the sultan’s hundreds of wives and their jewelery resided, respectively. Too be honest I have never seen diamonds that big in my life and just seeing them made my life seem quite humble. Hopefully I’ll never encounter a diamond that big again (sorry, future Mrs. Gifford). I also saw the ironically-named “New Mosque”, which was completed in 1663. The rest of the trip was enjoyable, and we spent a lot more time squatting on our rooftop patio than anything else, but vacations aren’t about what you’re seeing, it’s about who you’re seeing them with.
Armenia and Hadgohutsyuns…
Long story short (too late) we went back for another night in a nice hotel in Dubai with a pool, relaxed, ordered room service and watched American TV (Baywatch reruns!!). We returned back to Armenia and visited my host family from Bazum and then went back to Noyemberyan. Sara had a chance to meet all of the students from my English clubs and we had a really great last few days. The send-off at the airport on Tuesday was rough to say the least, but amidst the tears in the security line, a nice old man behind us gave Sara some candy to calm her down. I was later informed his wife cried on the airplane citing “how romantic it all was”. There’s your mushiness for the year, folks, enjoy.
That was our trip. It was good. It was enough of the West to tide me over for a year (that pizza was really good), and now I am back to work. Which is good. The Partnership Project mentioned two posts ago about IOC camp has already been fulfilled (YAY! I feel like Pip from Great Expectations) and thank all who donated. We break ground in two weeks on ramp construction at the school. The new volunteers (47 of them) arrive on June 2nd. Life is back to normal… time for a bucket bath.
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