Taxim Square

Many of you may be interested in my views and experience with the protests in Turkey in June.

In case you didn’t see it all over the news, here’s a quick recap of what happened. The protests began as a peaceful opposition to tearing down one of the last green spaces in Istanbul, Gezi Park, in order to build a new shopping mall. Then, the police became involved and used harsh chemicals and violence to stop the protest. This overreaction on the police’s part made the people of Turkey even more willing to protest. It turned from a peaceful park destruction protest, to a protest of the government and the current Prime Minister, Recep Erdoğan. After a week or so of violence, it calmed down. They even opened the park up to protesters and stayed like that for a few days, then it turned to hell again. I was actually able to go into Taxim Square and see Gezi Park (pictures later on).

Thankfully we left Istanbul to go to the Mediterranean Sea for vacation the day before the protests started. But once they started it was all over the news. Every channel must have had it on, showing everyone’s views: the police, protesters of all ages, and going over Instagram and Twitter updates of the protests. #occupygezi became a very popular hashtag on both Instagram and Twitter, as actual protesters would give real information, as opposed to the news altering it to make it look the way they want. Other protests, against the government, started popping up around every major city in Turkey, including the capital, Ankara, where the protests became very violent. Süleyman told me that many of the smaller, less violent protests were mainly because students wanted to avoid taking exams.

Most of the protesters were simply protecting themselves when they threw back the tear gas cannons that were shot at them. But when another group came into the picture, one thought to be the same group that attacked the American Embassy in Ankara, they would make and attack the police with Molotov cocktail bombs.

WARNING DISTURBING PICTURES: Here is a link to a very raw tumblr page full of pictures from #occupygezi. Be warned, it is gruesome and disturbing.

The following are pictures from my own experience in Taxim Square, after it had mostly calmed down.

 Here is a large group of people, hearing about the people killed in the protests. Some people were wearing pictures of the victims over their faces.

 There were lines of police buses and many police officers behind a line, waiting for any suspicious activity.

 This building is the Ataturk Cultural Center, or AKM, was an important symbol during the protests. Apparently the government was planning on demolishing the building and building a new one in its place. AKM is a symbol of the Ataturk, and many citizens are highly patriotic, hated the idea of destroying a symbol of the man who changed their country. Protesters climbed to the roof, hung flags and painted the windows.

 “Standing Man” was such a strong symbol during the protests. He silently and calmly stood, staring at the AKM for hours, before being forced to leave. He almost instantly became a viral hit, and many people joined him.

 Here are a few participants representing Standing Man. The woman on the left is facing Gezi Park, while the majority of the people are facing AKM.

 These two men show their pride for their country by waving the Turkish flag, and a modified flag with the Ataturk’s picture overlaying it.

 (photo credit) We ran into our own tension with the police. We went down to the Bosporus River to pick up a few friends who had arrived by boat, and we saw massive amounts of police officers running into Taxim Square and many slowly walking out, exhausted. We asked one of the police officers leaving Taxim Square about open roads and he could barely answer he was so exhausted. This was a terrible example of how the police weren’t very happy about the situation either, they were simply following orders.

 (photo credit) It wasn’t just protesters being attacked. Innocent people, and animals, not involved were injured as well. I even heard of a veterinarian who held a free clinic for injured animals of the attacks.

 (photo credit) This woman in red also became an iconic symbol of never letting down.

 Here is Taxim’s pedestrian shopping area, absolutely full of people, which was such a wonderful view for me, after seeing all of the violence on the television.

 Many of the businesses offered help and free water to protesters, especially after getting the chemicals in their eyes. But there were a few that refused to help. Most of those businesses were attacked by the protesters, as well as a few American businesses (for some reason), such as Starbucks and this Levi’s, which had cracks in the windows, like someone had thrown a large rock at it.

 This was another wonderful site for me to see. I have talked about the trolley before, how it does up and down Taxim and on the weekends, there is an extra car with a band on it. This particular weekend, we saw a wonderful LGBT pride band. They handed out posters with the LGBT rainbow flag on them and invited everyone to join them in a protest later on in the weekend. Turkey is about 99% Muslim, and in Islam it is a sin to be homosexual. While Turkey is not the most conservative country, especially not in Istanbul, it still has a lot of resistance to this group of people. They were very brave to go out in public singing about LGBT and being proud.

According to my family and friends, when they saw the protest on their news channels, it was overblown to look like another Arab Spring, like another revolution that would completely change Turkey’s future. This will definitely change Turkey’s future, but in a good way. This protest and violence shows that the people do have the power, not the government, and if they people want to change something they can and they will. It really is horrible that people had to lose their lives in order to prove a point to the government, but it will be better down the road. The government will learn from this and will change soon, I hope.

This is all of the information I have right now, but I can add more information as I find it, including pictures.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/14/why-turkey-protests-are-a-good-thing/

Mersin

 Mersin is located on the Mediterranean Sea, on the southern end of Turkey, This is Kızkalesi, or Maiden’s Castle/Fortress.

While we were there, Mersin was also setting up for the 2013 Mediterranean Games. We didn’t get to see any of the action, unfortunately, only the set-up.

 The sand here wasn’t like how it was a few hundred miles west… it was very fine and so soft. (In Fethiye, it was mostly rock sand… very painful to walk on!).

 The wave reaching the shore at Mersin. The water created very different, intricate trenches in the sand as it passed over it. This beach was very shallow as well. You could go 100 meters into the water and still be standing with your head over the water.

   At night, the castle had lights shining on it in different colors. It changed once every second, and was such a wonderful addition that I wouldn’t have expected.  These pictures were taken from our hotel room.

 Entry was free, but to have a seat, and optional umbrella, was 12 Lira for both of us, after a discount from our hotel. We just walked up to a seat and almost immediately one of the workers asked us for the money, then he would keep track of the people all day and remember who paid. We left the second day to go to the castle and, after 3 hours, came back to our stuff still there and no problems.

 The security for the beach, sitting calmly in the shade. We had the Kale Motel, the small white hotel on the right side of the picture. It had a gorgeous view of the castle.

 We got to paddle boat to the castle. I hadn’t paddle boated in so long. It was very tiring, but not as tiring as swimming would be. We were able to paddle boat for two hours for about 20 Lira or so; water boat parachuting would have been 100 Lira for a 15 minute ride. Entry into the castle is 5 Lira.

Kızkalesi, Maiden’s Castle, was built some time before 1200 AD by Alexios I Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire, most likely. It’s about 1/4 mile from the shore (or 400 meters).

I tried researching more information beyond who built it and who renovated it, but found very little. I’ve read conflicting legends online between Kızkalesi (Maiden’s Castle in Mersin) and Kız Kulesi (Maiden’s Tower in Istanbul). I read over and over the same story that I read about Kız Kulesi (the ruler’s daughter was predicted to be bitten by a snake, so he built the island, and was bit by the snake anyway. sorry about the spoiler). So I’m not sure of the reason why it’s named Kız Kulesi. If I do find the information, I’ll update the blog to reflect what I know (or if anyone else knows why, please comment!). Anyway, back to the pictures!

 Just inside the castle.

 A water boat parachutist above the castle.

 The tiny stairs in the tower.

 I’m standing on the top of the far right tower, you can see a far-away view in the next picture.

 We were at least 100 feet (about 30 meters) high.  It was such a beautiful view too. The sun sparkling on the water, and the warm, salty wind blowing at our faces. It was so perfect up there.

 I loved the colors in this picture. The different shades of blue against the stark white of the castle.

 Looking over the edge. Suleyman was so worried I’d fall off, so he made me sit on the tower.

 Some of the support beams for the top part of the castle. Such a beautiful view, I couldn’t resist.

 The view of the castle from the top of the tower. The square structure in the middle is a bridge to show some of the mosaic designs on the ground.

 Here’s a closer detail of one of the mosaics. Many of them were destroyed, or barely survived time, but some are still distinguishable. (Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bysmallmeans/2921756637/)

The next day we went spelunking (exploring through caves). We went to the Asthma Caves and The Chasm of Heaven and the Pit of Hell. Before I even post the cave pictures, just know that even with Süleyman’s fancy DSL camera, because it was so dark, we had to use a high aperture (to allow the most light inside the camera) and a flash, which made the quality of the pictures go down. So trust me when I say it’s very beautiful in the caves, but the pictures won’t represent that.

 The entrance to the Asthma Caves. It was inside another building filled with a few tourist shops and a small restaurant. The asthma caves were well-lit (well enough to keep the personality of the cave), when compared with the Chasm of Heaven, which had a few bright lights near the entrance of the cave, but not enough to see the beautiful natural artwork on the ceiling of the cave.

 When you finish the stairs, there are more stairs and a few paths you can take. We first took the far right path and ended up in this room. The first room we discovered; it was heavenly.

 Here is a huge column where the stalactites met the stalagmites.  If you can strain your eyes, I’m standing to the left of it, wearing blue and white.

 Some more stalactites (on top growing down) and stalagmites (on the bottom, growing up).

 Beautifully lit stalactites near the wall.

 They had an adorable Heaven/Hell picture they pasted on many products: thermal mugs, coasters, notebooks, pens, etc. Half of the creature was an angel, and the other half a devil. So cute!

 Here’s the Pit of Hell. Again, it was dark, so the quality might not be the best. But it was beautiful! The diameter is 30 meters (about 100 feet), and the depth is 120 meters (about 400 feet). There is a Greek legend about this cave. Typhon, a 100-headed, fire-breathing dragon battles Zeus, the god of all gods, from time to time. One of these fights Typhon won and banished Zeus to this pit. Zeus called two other gods, Hermes and Pan, to rescue him. After they rescued him, Zeus captured Typhon and buried him deep in the earth, below Mount Etna, in Italy, an active volcano, supposedly because of the dragon.

 Süleyman was a little nervous looking down to the Pit of Hell.

 But I felt just fine up there.

The Pit of Hell to the right, up a slight incline, and the Chasm of Heaven to the left, down a steep and rocky 455 steps.

 A sign on the way down to the Chasm of Heaven, “Attention: The ground is slippery.”

 It takes 288 steps to get to the Virgin Mary Chapel.

 Many people got their picture taken here, then walked back up to the very warm world. Right about when you hit this spot it started cooling down, but gets really chilly down in the cave.  This spot is 70 more steps down from the chapel.

 This spot, at the mouth of the cave was the furthest most people went (right below the chapel). This is when it got really dirty, but you could still see into the cave a little, with the help of those spotlights you can see in the darkness.

 This is the muck-coated floor of Heaven. It’s pretty slippery, so try to wear decent shoes. And expect to get dirty. You won’t really have to deal with this, unless you go into the mouth of the cave. All the way before it isn’t very slippery/dirty.

 A view of the chapel from  inside the cave.

 The best picture of the intense height of the cave. This was taken from deep inside the cave. Süleyman is in this picture at the bottom, wearing white.

 This wonderful shot I got of Süleyman enjoying the cooling cave. Right where I stood you could hear the underground river that eventually led to the sea.

 The treacherous hike back up the 455 steps. It took us a good five or ten minutes longer to go back up than to go down, and the humidity level rising didn’t help either. But both were equally difficult with foot holds, loose rocks and other people climbing up and down.

Surprisingly enough, somehow in both the Asthma Caves and Heaven and Hell, we had just missed large tour groups, as they were walking in just as we were walking back out. After walking all day, with almost no water (get a water bottle!!!) and no food, we were exhausted and starving. A (very filling) meal of tantuni, thinly diced meat (with optional tomatoes, peppers or rocket) on a thin bread, like a tortilla, rolled up. The grease will slide all over your hands and chin, and it’s so deliciously bad for you! A perfect meal for the end of a long day!

Sources:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/med/kizkalesi/cennet-cehennem.html

Fethiye

 We went on holiday to the Mediterranean Sea, to the famous Ölüdeniz, or Dead Sea. We drove down, up and down mountain sides to get there. It was a beautiful drive. It’s located on the southwest border of Turkey, right on the Mediterranean Sea.

 This is the Blue Paradise. The white beach you see is part of a peninsula, which separates the lake from the rest of the Mediterranean Sea. That lake is the “dead sea,” where almost no wind comes down, so you’ll rarely see waves! (Picture credit: http://www.theclassytraveler.com/paragliding-and-the-blue-lagoon-in-oludeniz-turkey/)

 The walkway to the beach, it was longer than you’d expect, but totally worth it once you made it in. The cost was 6 lira (about $3) for me, and free for Süleyman with his Turkish (or international) student ID.

 My first view of the Mediterranean.

 These beach loungers cost 14 Lira each (if I can remember correctly), and an umbrella cost more, but could be shared with two people. I didn’t mind laying on the ground, and as long as you have a towel, you can move the rocks to be comfortable… and a plus: no sandy towels!
There were also food stands scattered around the peninsula with highly overpriced foods and snacks. We got a sandwich and watermelon for 15 Lira (about $7.50), and 1.5 liter water and a beer for about the same price. There were burgers, chicken sandwiches, soda, chips, etc.

 It was a rock beach, no sand. It looks beautiful from above, but is a horror to walk on. Bare feet hurt, flip-flops hurt; there is no winning, only pain, so be prepared for pain!

  It’s probably not the Dead Sea you’re thinking of; that’s in Jordan. It’s called the Dead Sea because, it’s location is so isolated that almost no wind comes down, which means almost no waves.

 Another nickname is the “Blue Paradise.” And they weren’t kidding. It is so blue.

 Just look at that water. It’s so beautiful. But be warned: this is the saltiest water I’ve ever accidentally swallowed. It’s really terrible. If you slip and swallow, you will be coughing and reaching for your water bottle (definitely bring one, or buy one there!), it’s very dehydrating just being in the water.

 We went to the more isolated part of the peninsula originally, the northern side. When we had been there about two hours we wanted to leave, but on our walk around the peninsula, we decided to go for one more dip. That dip turned into another 3 or 4 hours in the water. And we did not regret that. With water that warm and that beautiful, (besides the rock beach) how could we say no?

 On the southern side of the peninsula. This side was much more of our personalities and we were much more relaxed there, there were more people our age swimming out further than the rope boundaries like we were. We swam to the smaller rock formation, on the left, and Süleyman, being the daredevil he is, jumped off into the water. It was a good 9 meters (30 feet) at least!

Here’s a close up of the rock. There are people near the bottom. Click on the picture to get its full size to see the comparison.

Big clouds hung over and rained on the mountains, but never made it to the Blue Paradise, it just made a beautiful lighting setting.

 There were a lot of tourist-related things to do in Fethiye, like paragliding (you’ll see that everywhere!), and boat tours! And because it’s such a tourist-crazy place, many things are in English, like the boat tour we went on. We met people from Russia, Turkey, and even Sweden on our tour.

 There were many tour boats that were on the same schedule. The tour lasted from 9 am to about 4 pm. We got one boat, and each paid about 20 Lira (about $10) for the entire day. It included five or six stops nearby and lunch. Granted, lunch wasn’t very good, but for 14 Lira all day, I’d say it was a good deal! Süleyman made friends with the captain and found out he owned the boat, so it was cheaper than some of the other tours, and they all made the same tours. All we were paying for was the gas. They made most of their money on drinks, sweets, ice cream and snacks between stops.

 I just adore being on boats, so I was pretty content bobbing up and down.

 The view out the side. That gorgeous blue will never be replicated in my mind. It was perfect.

 Unfortunately because the water was so choppy that day, we couldn’t go to the first stop, which was The Blue Cave (Mavi Mağara), but we got to float by it.

 The next stop was Butterfly Valley (Kelebekler Vadisi). Entry fee is 5 Lira, or about $2.50.

 It was beautiful, but stressful for  me. I wasn’t having the best morning, and hiking up a mountain side in bad quality flip-flops didn’t help.

 But the end result was worth it.

 The goal for most people is to see and drink from the freshwater waterfall. But we found out later that you can climb higher and it’s even better. Süleyman is right next to the waterfall in this picture.

 A beautiful shot I got of some of the early flowers blooming. Surprisingly, we only saw two butterflies when we were there. But later on in the summer is when it’s supposed to live up to its name.

 Resting on our way back down to catch the boat. We got about 45 minutes there.

 Our next stop was for lunch. After the thrilling meal of reheated chicken and salad, the captain started the water slide. That’s right everyone, you read that correctly. A water slide. On. The. Boat. It was pretty much a straight shot down at first, then after some crazy twists, you were ejected out the opposite side. I went down twice, I screamed like a little girl both times.

 The top floor of the boat had comfy foam mats and a little seating, as well as the water slide opening. The bottom floor had picnic-style table and seating.

 Speaking of screaming like a little girl, I did that again when I jumped off the two-story boat. I know, I can’t believe I did it either, and only the pictures would help my friends believe it.

 We got matching towels on our way down to Fethiye too, his was brown and green, mine was purple and blue. Aren’t we adorable?

The same place we stopped for lunch and jumping off of boats and such was the really cool place where the cold freshwater spring from the mountain met the warm salty water from the sea. Weird as it sounds, the top of the water in that area was very cold (fresh is less dense than salty water) and the lower you went the warmer it got. It was so weird, I loved experiencing that! Süleyman dove down a little deeper to feel more difference, and he said going back up hurt his head because of how cold it was! Awesome!

 This is St. Nicholas Island (Adası), where according to the plaque near the entrance (8 Lira to enter), “St. Nicholas may have lived or visited this island.” We didn’t feel like forking over a whopping $4 to go in, so we decided to swim and collect rocks instead. But the deteriorating stone buildings were wonderful!

 A better view of the architecture of St. Nicholas Island. It contains 4 large churches, many vaulted tombs and is residential too. We saw the backside of this island at another beach we went to.

 When we would stop for a while, smaller boats would sit nearby and sell gözleme (sort of like a Turkish quesadilla), that they cook right on their boat.

 Camel Beach. Süleyman took this picture from the boat (that’s me in the water). Supposedly the big tan rock on the side of the mountain looks like a camel’s hump, hence the name.

 The view from Camel Beach. Those big rocks were so different from many other rocks in the area, these were black. the sand at this beach was also much darker than the other beaches in the area.

 The next day, we ventured outside of Fethiye to Kayaköy,  about 4 miles (6 km) south of Fethiye. Anatolian Greek speaking Christians lived here until 1923 when Greece and Turkey signed an agreement about a population exchange. It was built on the ancient city of Carmylessus in the 18th century.

 Apparently in the 1900 census, there were about 2,000 residents here, and over 500 residences. It was very eerie being there. While it was abandoned for a reason of just boundaries, it still seemed like there was so much history there and it felt like we weren’t quite alone. I can’t even imagine being there at night.

 One of the buildings. We saw a few sheep in one building, and a horse resting in the shade of another, so it seems that farmers in the area are still using the area. There is a 5 Lira fee (if I remember correctly), but we got in for free accidentally. We took an entrance that wasn’t guarded apparently, so..oops!

 The path we took around the buildings. It was very difficult and careful stepping was a necessity! Be careful!

 The “steps” up the hillside. Surprisingly difficult to climb, and even harder to walk down them.

 The lower of the two churches. There is an upper church and a lower church.

 Before exploring the abandoned village, we enjoyed a lunch of gözleme. It’s almost like a Turkish quesadilla. It’s made with thin bread, cheese and it’s fried on both sides in a special oven. The cheese is almost like feta, but less strong. You can get different types of cheese, or other additions. I got spinach in mine, but you can get meat or other vegetables too.

 The oven used to make gözleme.

 An adorable camel mother and her calf at the foot of the abandoned village, ready for walking tours.

 An entrance to a restaurant near Kayaköy.

 It was relieving having so much English around me. Most of the people there spoke fluent English, or at least had a few phrases down. We found “Happy Pork Shop” in Fethiye… one of many pork shops actually! This was the only place in Turkey I saw any reference to pork at all; it was very surprising! Turkey is 99% Muslim, and part of the religion is to not eat pork, so normally it would be easy to find food without it, but not in Fethiye. There are so many tourists from other countries, I guess it just makes sense to give them what they’re used to!

 Such a great sign I found outside a restaurant in the downtown area in Fethiye. If you can’t read it: “Wanted, Customer. No previous experience needed as full training will be given. Please apply within.”

So a few reminders about Ölüdeniz: It is so breathtakingly  beautiful, the “best” beach has only rocks, and finally the water is extremely salty. And definitely take a boat tour. It’s so relaxing, and you get to see some of the spots only available by boat! Even though there were a lot of bad things about this place, overall, it was amazing, and I’d love to go back.

Some of the information I used here were from these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemiler_Island

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayak%C3%B6y

Süleymaniye

 Süleymaniye Mosque is the largest mosque in Istanbul and sits on one of the famous seven hills of Istanbul. This picture was taken from our lunch spot.

 (Photo credit: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/suleymaniye-mosque_pod_image.html) This mosque was built for Süleyman the Magnificent, by the famous architect (mimar in Turkish) Sinan in 1550. It took seven years and more than 3500 men to build it. Mimar Sinan designed the well-known Sultan Ahmed Camii (Blue Mosque), as well as 92 other large mosques, 48 bath houses, 8 bridges, 6 aqueducts, 3 hospitals, and the list goes on. He is well known in Turkey and his architecture is very well respected. When the mosque was finished, Mimar Sinan was the first to open the door to pray. He is now buried at the front of the mosque.

 This is a picture of Süleymaniye when I was in Turkey in January. On the far left of the picture you can see a tower. That tower shines green at night and if you’re close by, you can tell which mosque is Süleymaniye because of that tower.

 This pictures shows the two larger minarets (or small towers). There are four on Süleymaniye, with ten balconies, representing Süleyman the Magnificent, the tenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

 The courtyard was so peaceful and empty when we first arrived.

 Mosaic tiles with an Arabic saying, found in the courtyard.

 The inside dome along the edge of the courtyard, more mosaics.

 The courtyard entrance. When we first got there, it was pretty empty, but as we were leaving we went to take more pictures of the outside and a huge tour group went in after us. Somehow we avoided the huge crowds right before they got there…well everywhere except for Topkapı Palce (I’ll get into that in another post!).

 The first view is just breathtaking. It’s so much bigger inside than you would imagine (58x57x53 meters, 190x187x173 feet).

 The low hung chandiler makes the huge space seem a little more cozy. And I really enjoyed the choice of carpet. It looks like an aqueduct (which Mimar Sinan did design), but it also looks like separate prayer rugs, neatly placed in lines.

 The dome. This picture does it no justice because it is so much more beautiful than this. The dome is a height of 53 meters (173 feet), and the diameter is 26.4 meters (86 feet). When it was built, it was the highest dome in the Ottoman Empire, but still it is smaller than Hagia Sophia (currently standing at 55.6 meters, or 182 feet).

  The pillars, as you can see in this picture, line the perimeter of the mosque and support the weight of the dome. Sinan masked the pillars and pushed them into the walls so people could see the openness instead of pillars everywhere. Smaller domes, surrounding the main dome also distribute the weight evenly. The half-domes, or smaller domes, to support some weight of the large dome has a similar style to Hagia Sophia.

 Inside you had to take your shoes off, similar to the Blue Mosque. There were many shoe/cubbies near the entrance, and you can get a baggie to put your shoes in. But women also had to wear scarves on their heads. If you don’t have one with you, you can borrow one of their’s, like I did (I’m not sure how sanitary it was though). There were small shops near the mosque that sold various tourist-y things, including scarves, so if you’re a little squeamish, I’d recommend that (plus you can never have too many scarves).

 There are more than 200 stained glass windows. One of the stories Süleyman told me about Süleymaniye is that it was built with extremely good acoustics. So good, in fact, that the architect was using nargile (similar to hookah in the states), and the bubbles from the container could be heard all over the mosque. Tobacco isn’t allowed in Islam, so when Sultan Süleyman heard, he was so angry he threated to end Sinan’s life for disrespecting the mosque. Sinan calmly responded that nargile has no tobacco and no smoke even, he only used it to hear the bubbles.

 Because this is still a working mosque, and not a museum, during prayer times it was closed off to tourists. But even when tourists are allowed in, some people still use that time to pray.

 While we gazed at the beauty and took pictures, a small prayer group started. Süleyman told me when there is a group of people praying, one person will become the leader, like an Imam, and guide the other Muslims through a prayer.

 After lunch we went on a walk and found a café with rooftop seating. We drank kahve (Turkish coffee), chocolate for me, pistachio for Süleyman. This was his view.

 This was my view. I had complained how just by chance he would get the better view, and I wouldn’t notice until we left. But I think we tied this time. I had never seen the Bosporus or Golden Horn so blue.

 The water directly behind us is the Golden Horn, entering the Bosporus on the right. You can just barely see the Bosporus bridge near the top of the picture. Also, behind Süleyman’s right shoulder, across the river, is Galata Tower, sticking out high above the buildings.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCleymaniye_Mosque

http://www.istanbultrails.com/2008/06/if-you-dont-visit-the-suleyman-mosque-now-youll-hate-yourself-later/

Dolmabahçe

I’m so sorry for not updating in a while, my mind has drifted away and forgotten to do this!

Dolma: filled-up, stuffed; and bahçe meaning garden.

It is located in Istanbul, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, near Taxim. It served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922.

It took 13 years to built the palace (between 1843 and 1856), and cost five million Ottoman gold pounds (the equivalent of 35 tons of gold). Sultan Abdülmecit I, the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire, commissioned the construction.

It is said that 40 tons of silver and 14 tons of gold were used for the decoration of
the palace. In fact, the palace’s gilded ceilings feature gold leaf details; they used 14 tons of gold leaf for that alone.

This is the largest palace in Turkey, with 285 rooms, 46 halls, 6 Turkish baths, 68 toilets and 1427 windows.

 This was the main “front” entrance to the palace grounds.

 The fees to get in. We only went to the “official part,” because Süleyman believed that the family house was boring (and too expensive). We both used our student IDs, only 5 Lira. Really, it would have been about $20 to enter the entire palace, and it only cost us about $2.50.

 The absolutely massive front doors. The palace grounds were so big, I’m sure you could sneak in and no one would find you for months… that is, if they had no security.

 The “side gate,” equally as beautiful as the front or anything else here.

 Suleyman and me at the side gate.

 This is the main, “official” building that we got to tour. It was breathtakingly beautiful inside and out, the walkway was lined with flowers and behind me, there was a beautiful fountain.

When we entered, we could only go through with a tour guide. They had walking tours with English and Turkish speakers about every 15-20 minutes, so it wasn’t long of a wait.

Unfortunately ours happened to be extremely annoying. He said, “If you were royalty you could (do this), but you’re not” over and over again. That was pretty much all he was telling us. He didn’t really mention much about importance of certain objects or answer anyone’s questions clearly. He really was a terrible tour guide. Süleyman had been there before and tried remembering certain details, but only mentioned that the fireplace was important and this was important. So, alas, no fun histories, only what I found online.

 I guess this was because we were in a very old palace and had to preserve it, but we had to wear these plastic footies over our shoes. TIP, it’s slippery. They put carpet down, you know to preserve it, but I guess it wasn’t enough, so footies it is.

Well, one of those things we weren’t allowed to do was take pictures inside, and Süleyman, being super hardcore BA, took pictures anyway, so enjoy these awkward angled, somewhat blurry pictures.

 this was the ceiling in one of the first rooms in the palace. And this is just one of the many intricate designs on the ceilings.

 Some beautiful chandeliers, and the carpet, complete with ropes, to make sure no one was going off track. (Follow the red carpet road, follow the red carpet road…)

 Seating.

 Some beautiful mirrors, and a hand-made Turkish rug, of course.

 Oh look the footies! This is the grand crystal staircase.

 (Picture credit: http://citylifepicture.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/crystal-staircase/) Made into a “double horseshoe” and is made from Baccarat crystal, brass and mahogany, one of the key places you’ll want to see in the palace.

 The ivory and silver candelabra, incense holder, standing in front of the door, was a gift of Ahmed Ratib Pasha, the governor of the Hejaz in Saudi Arabia, to Sultan Abdulhamid II.

 More details on the ceiling. (P.S. that’s super-blurry me on the right)

 A bear skin that I have to assume is hundreds of years old. A website I found said that there were bearskin rugs given as a gift from the Tsar of Russia.

 A gasp-worthy porcelain vase. And look at that beautiful wood floor?

 The library.

 And more ceilings.

 Now this was the crème de la crème. The main room. The grand Ceremonial Hall where rulers of countries would come together and chat with some tea (I’m assuming). It was a gift from Queen Victoria of Britain, to the Ottoman Empire in the late 1800s. It is so gorgeous it was hard to take my eyes off of it and leave the palace.

 Our tour guide claimed this chandelier second heaviest chandelier in the world (the first is in Qatar). But online, I found it at#5. I know it’s not that impressive, but stick with me.  It weighs 4.5 tons (that’s 9,000 pounds, or 4082 kilograms) and has 750 lamps on it, not to mention the weight it bears on your chest as you look at its immense beauty.

 (Picture credit: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/twiga_swala/tags/hall/) During the years 1910 – 1912 Dolmabahçe Palace received its central heating and electrical systems. This picture is very hard to see (I’m sorry!), the groups of column have a metal grate where they meet the floor. (The columns to the left of the chandelier have a brown stripe near the floor then a more tan stripe, and the tan stripe is what I’m talking about.) Suleyman told me about this when we were leaving, the tour guide failed to do so. The heat was under the floor and heat rises, so it would go out the vents and heat the whole room. Similar rooms were built like this.

 The domed ceiling of the Ceremony Hall. This was the last stop in our short tour; it was about 25 minutes long.

 Suleyman and me after our tour.

 Can you find me in all that marble?

 One of the many Bosphorus entrances.

 In the garden were roaming peacocks and cats (per usual), but also a weird bird we couldn’t identify and more livestock-type birds.

 I met this homeless cat (with no name), and immediately fell in love. I won’t bore you with the details, but this is by far my favorite cat on earth. I was so sad to leave him there.

 We also went into the “Dolmabahçe sarayı camlı köşk” (Dolmabahçe palace glass pavilion). Here is the gorgeous metal work on the stairs.

 Each of these figures were candle holders or lamps, and were peacocks. They were very beautiful.

Süleyman told me that the sultans would come up to the glass pavilion and watch his people, he would feel closer to them  when he did. Unfortunately, many people forget about this building, and it was very difficult to find information about it online, let alone pictures.

Because it’s out of the way when you’re about to leave the palace (as you leave, it’s on your right), many people skip over it. I believe there was an extra fee to get in, but I’m not sure how much. But it was quite a gem. The inside (as you’ll see soon), was very beautifully decorated and Süleyman could not sneak another picture of the ceiling, which of course was beautiful. There were intricate paintings of lions near the ceiling, as lions are the kings.

 The vast room (and the security guard).

 Inside the entrance hall.

 We got on a bus nearby as we left and got to see the famous room from the window. This was the best shot I could get.

 (Photo credit: http://georarchy.com/Detail/22280) This is a much better, (non-roped-off) more clear picture, just to show how beautiful it was inside.

 (Photo credit: http://wikimapia.org/20467487/tr/Caml%C4%B1-K%C3%B6%C5%9Fk) Here’s a professional picture I found online. This was taken from inside the palace grounds, near the bird houses.

 The clock tower. We went to this clock tower when I was in Turkey in January, and Süleyman kept calling it the watch tower. Now this is after we had been to Galata Tower, another watch tower. He was so confused when I asked him if they spotted many fires from this “watch” tower. He had compared watch to the watch on your wrist…or a clock. We straightened it out eventually.

Dolmabahce Clock Tower is a clock tower situated outside Dolmabahce Palace. The tower was constructed by the  architect Sarkis Balyan between 1890 and 1895 with the order of Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II. The four-story tower stands at a height of 89 feet (or 27 meters).

Dolmabahce Palace has a great meaning for Turkish people since the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, had used the palace as a residence and spent the most serious period of his illness there.  He passed away in this palace on November 10, 1938 at 9:05 AM, all the clocks in the palace are stopped at this time. At 9:05 on November 10th every year, for the entire minute, people honk their horns, bang their pots, make noise, etc. to pay homage to their great founder.

Sources for information:

http://www.dolmabahcepalace.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolmabah%C3%A7e_Palace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolmabah%C3%A7e_Clock_Tower

http://www.travellinkturkey.com/dolmabahce.html

Pamukkale

“The Cotton Fortress,” a unique natural landmark, where hot springs, rich in calcium, bubble out of the ground and fall down this cliff. It dries quickly as this brilliant white rock, and forms pools. Despite how it looks like snow/ice, it’s very warm. Pamukkale has been a spa since the Romans built the city Hierapolis around the hot springs. The entrance fee was 20 Lira (about $10), or Müzekart also worked here.

 Here you can see the white paste in the water after I disturbed it. When it’s still, it reflects the blue sky, as seen below. This paste is what forms the hard rocky cliffs of the natural wonder.

 This picture is one of my favorites. You can see the long line of pools with their wonderful blue. Also in this picture you can see the two men in the foreground. Business men who came just to dip their feet in the warm water. While here I saw lots of people, of all ages, many older people also, to benefit from the healing powers of the thermal pools.

 Pamukkale is near the city Denizli, and near either of the entrances (north or south), there is a collection of small stores selling hats, sunscreen, water, snacks and sunglasses. Sunscreen and sunglasses are a must. The white cliffs are blinding, especially with the bright sun! With some bargaining, we got my sunglasses for 10 Lira (about $5).

 Paumkkale was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988 and was saved from almost complete destruction from misuse. Now the site closes off certain areas at different times so that the cliffs can form naturally and not be hurt by humans. Because of this, they require no shoes on the white cliffs. The rock is so hard, and textured so much that it’s hard to slip on it (easy to stub your toes though!). In the pools, especially near the edge, is a little slippery so watch out there.

 This is the place where you have to take off your shoes. I love the huge difference between the brown of the earth and the white of the cliffs.

 The rock is very hard, so watch your toes. I stubbed mine all day. But boy, was it beautiful. These pictures don’t do it justice.

 Near some of the pools were waterfalls; this was the biggest we saw (and where my eye problems began).

 The different textures of the water flow on the rock was so fascinating to me; I took many pictures, these are just my favorites.

 Near the top of the cliffs, some of the rock looked red. I’m not sure if it was natural or man who made it that way, but it made the water flow carving look amazing.

 The variety in the rock was what really was fascinating.

 These were more textures that looked like miniature versions of the famous pools.

 It really was like a dream. It was so beautiful, we didn’t want to leave.

 As we left I “stole” some of the paste with some water. The water is what kept the paste from turning to rock in the bottle.

 We took a picture before moving on to the next part of Pamukkale.

 The Antique Pool. There was an earthquake in Hierapolis, completely destroying the Roman temple of Apollo. Because it was so close to the springs, it was turned into the beautiful thermal swimming pool where you can swim among the ruins. It was so beautiful and eerie at the same time.

 It cost 35 Lira to enter the pool (Müzekart did not work for this). It seemed a little steep, but it was 100% worth it. They gave us these gorgeous tickets, and then didn’t let us keep them.

 The pool was so warm (35.2 Celcius, 95.4 Fahrenheit) and I never got used to it. It kept hitting me in waves of amazing warmth. It was constantly fed by a hot spring and drained to go down the white cliff, among other places, so the water was very clean and 100% natural.

 A sign near the pool listing the milligrams/liter of water for many elements, including oxygen, chlorine, potassium and calcium, and also included pH level and a few more things I didn’t know existed.

There was another sign near the elements sign that listed just a few of the diseases and problems that the thermal pool can help cure including chronic respiratory problems, obesity, and blood pressure problems.

 I had a lot of trouble with my contacts the entire time I was there. It was hard for me to keep my eyes open long enough to take a decent picture most of the time. It must have been the calcium in the water that made my contacts not want to stay in my eyes and hurt so bad. I have really terrible vision so I had to keep my contacts in, but I suffered the whole time. If you wear contacts, try to completely avoid getting your eyes wet at all costs, or keep solution and a contact case with you. If it weren’t for this personal setback, it would have been a perfect day.

 You can The rope going the length of part of the pool showed the deep end. Süleyman was able to dive all the way to the bottom (probably 5 meters) multiple times. We very unfortunately forgot his waterproof camera, so we missed out on a lot of really amazing pictures.

 Süleyman made friends with a few of the workers at the pool who were swimming before their shift. After the pool closed to the public at 7 p.m., they began restoration of part of the pool and they couldn’t work under the water so they drained the entire pool in about an hour, then simply let it fill again when they were done.

 Near one of the entrances there was a very short column that reached just under the surface of the water, so we pretended to be Roman gods. Here Süleyman is Hercules.

 Standing on another fallen column, this was near the deep end, and falling down would mean 4 meters down in the water.

 When we got to the pool it was littered with people, but after an hour or two in the warm water….

 It cleared up a lot, and eventually it was just us and another couple in the whole pool. We left right before another huge crowd entered.

We spent so long here and had so much fun swimming among the ruins we had completely forgotten about the Cotton Fortress. It really was an amazing place and skipping this pool would be a mistake. If you make it all the way to Pamukkale, make it to the pool; the fee is completely worth it.

 Just up the hill from the Cotton Fortress, and on the way to the Ancient Pool is a taste of some ruins. These are so beautiful and somehow are still standing. They could have been reconstructed, but some of the structures were still standing, it was so wonderful. If you have this view and turn around, you will see a museum, which we didn’t have time to go to, but looked interesting. There were a few other trails you could go on to see other ruins, but we only saw the big ones due to time constraints.

 A huge building, still mostly standing. If you look closely, you’ll see I’m standing, near the top, on the right side of the picture.

 More broken columns, the taller of the two standing had a huge crack across the circumference and looked like it could have fallen at any minute. Many of the ruins were being organized for some reconstruction and restoration, which would be nice to see in a few years.

 More standing columns near the road.

 The 12,000 seat Roman amphitheater of Hierapolis from afar.

 And up close. It was difficult to walk up the hill to get there (especially after swimming all day, and not eating or drinking anything), but it was worth it. It was very beautiful, and mostly preserved.

 Except they were reconstructing the stage area while we were there. There were more piles of ruins, carefully organized near the foot of the amphitheater. This will definitely be on my list to revisit when the restoration is finished.

 Some of the steps were growing grass and they were uneven, but most of the theater was in tip-top shape and looked amazing.

 After a long walk back to the entrance, we left right as the sun was setting on the beautiful clear water. It was a nearly perfect day and if you’re making a trip to turkey I would highly recommend coming here.

Quick tips for a day long trip: bring a backpack, wear a swimsuit and light clothes that are easy to take off, sunglasses, sunscreen, WATER! SNACKS! We were so starved when we left and very thirsty. There was a cafe at the Ancient Pool, but we didn’t want to spend a lot of money there. Bring enough money, a towel, and expect to hurt yourself somehow. I stubbed my toes all over the white cliffs, got cut on my legs and feet by the Ancient Pool and could barely see from the water in my contact lenses. And step back from everything, close your eyes and just listen, smell and feel.

Welcome to abroadwithliz2

This is a continuation of abroadwithliz, which you can find by clicking here.

I am currently in Turkey again and will be blogging on my amazing holiday in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as more foods, culture and people. My last trip to Turkey (in January) was just short of two weeks, this trip is about 6 weeks, so I will have a lot more posts and pictures, I hope you enjoy!

Like I said in my last post to abroadwithliz, if you’d like to get email updates for this blog you’ll have to follow me again, which you can find in the sidebar. You will most likely not get any more updates on abroadwithliz, but it will still be there if you’d like to look back on something. Thank you again to all of my followers, you’re all awesome!