After an early morning stop at a ceramic shop in Avanos we are back on the motor coach heading for the Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
A light rain falls as we make our way through the farm land of the Anatolian Plateau.
Cattle grazing on the hillside.
It's still raining as we enter Ankara and pass a teapot fountain.
Our first stop in Ankara is the Mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic.
Next stop, the Anatolian Civlizations Museum, selected the European Museum of the Year in 1997. Here are just a few of the items in the museum.
Stag statuette, symbol of a Hittite male god
Chimera with a human head and a lion's head; Late Hittite period
Gate lion from the inner gate of the Lion's Gate at Arslantepe.
Bronze ceremonial standard of the Hittites
Gold earrings
Our hotel.
An old VW Beetle parked at the entrance to our hotel.
Another travel day as we leave Ankara and return to Istanbul. The rains of yesterday have past through the area and the day is bright and sunny
We leave the Anatolian Plateau and enter the Pontic Mountains as we start our descent, west to the Sea of Marmara.
The flat farmland of the Anatolian Plateau has given way to the vast forests with small villages.
Time for another rest stop.
One of the locals at the rest area.
The rest area has some produce and garlic ... lots of garlic.
After descending out of the mountains we are back to a farming area. This is a large poultry farm.
The
Erpilic poultry feed factory near Bolu. This plant produces over 220,000 tons of feed per year.
On
November 12, 1999 and a magnitude of 7.5 earthquake leveled many of the homes in the Bolu area. Here are some of the new homes built after the earthquake.
Government housing constructed in Bolu after the 1999 earthquake.
Time for lunch and our motor coach stops at a beautiful spot just off the highway at Sapanca.
A passenger train passes the rest area, with Lake Spanca in the background.
Some excitement at the rest area as a caravan of black vehicles pulls into the parking lot.
Among the many black vehicles is this car which doesn't have any license plate, just an emblem.
We get to see Abdullah Gül, the current President of Turkey.
The President's bodyguards. Note all the antennas on the vehicle.
Back on the road and we enter the area around Izmit where a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on August
17, 1999, killing 17,127 people.
New government housing constructed for the 300,000 people left homeless after the 1999 earthquake.
We now enter the Asian side of Istanbul and see some of the new government housing that is constructed to be low energy and low cost.
The skyline of East (Asian) Istanbul.
The Turkish flag landscaped in flowers.
Crossing the Bosphorus, which connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea and divides the city of Istanbul into a European side and an Asian, Anatolian side.
Houses on the European side of the Bosphorus.
The Yeni Cami (Mosque), or New Mosque, situated on the Golden Horn at the southern end of the Galata Bridge, and next to the Spice Bazaar.
While part of out tour group takes the optional Bosphorus Cruise, we get one more chance to visit the Spice Bazaar. Walking one of the streets leading to the Spice Bazaar you never know what you will find. The prices and selection along this street is much better than the Grand Bazaar.
Heavy duty shovels and hand tools. Mary wanted to bring some of these home for her garden.
Mary looking for a bargain on the main street of the Spice Bazaar.
Stuff you can't find back in the states. Like goat cheese that was aged in a goatskin.
All types of herbs and spices.
Handmade candy, including the national favorite, Turkish Delight.
An olive lovers heaven with lots of free samples.
Dried figs and apricots (and more free samples).
All types of honey. Turkey is a major producer and consumer of honey. All of the hotels we stayed at had several types of honey at the breakfast buffet and a couple hotels even had honey combs mounted in racks for the use of customers.
Time leave the Spice Bazaar and check in at our hotel for our last night in Turkey (for this visit). An old Roman aqueduct (still in use) crosses one of the streets near our hotel.
Our tour guide takes us to a farewell dinner at a restaurant near the fish market.
A Turkish ice cream vendor near the fish market. Turkish ice cream (Dondurma) is commonly sold from street vendor's carts where
the mixture is churned regularly with long-handled paddles to keep it
workable. Turkish ice cream is resistant to melting because it is not frozen, thickening agents give it texture.
Our table at the farewell dinner and a few of the new friends we met on this tour of Turkey.
