Türkiye!

Once upon a time I went to Turkey! (:

We woke up and had breakfast at 3:30 am and then went to catch an 8:30 flight!  It’s crazy because you have to plan for so much time at the airport, because of Israeli airport security.  You need at least 3 hours to be safely on time.

We arrived in Istanbul by lunchtime which was so crazy—I had about three or four hours of sleep, and for some reason I thought we’d just go to bed when we got there! Haha but we only had 7 days in this beautiful amazing country, so I was perfectly glad to dash from place to place, even though I usually like to stroll.

First day we drove from the airport directly to the Hagia Sophia!!  It took about half an hour, and on the way, the hillsides were just dotted with mosques.  Every street corner there’s a mosque in Turkey. It is a 98% Islamic country, so it’s to be expected, but WOW.  The architecture is phenomenal.  Each one is unique and gorgeous. I have about a hundred pictures of just little mosques here and there throughout the country.  The towers are called minarets, and they broadcast the call to prayer from loudspeakers on the minarets, five times a day.  It never ceases to thrill me, even though I’ve been listening to the call to prayer every day here in Jerusalem.  But it was different in Turkey.  It’s so very very Muslim and so enchanting to hear them sing words of scripture from the Qur’an, and show so much devotion to Allah every day.

Okay I better get going, this is a lot of stuff.  So we went to the Hagia Sophia, (see picture) which is originally a Christian basilica built by Justinian in the 6^th century, I believe.  Remember, Istanbul used to be Byzantium, and then Constantinople, after Constantine, who was Christian.  So it has very Christian roots, despite the huge amount of Muslims living there now. It’s an amazing juxtaposition of culture.  The basilica was transformed into a mosque, and six minarets were built around the basilica.  It’s ancient and glorious and so full of history.  There are gold mosaics of Jesus and Mary and the apostles that were covered in plaster during the Islamic period, that were actually preserved by the plaster, and are in beautiful condition.  The Arabic calligraphy inside is also very beautiful.  I love that both cultures and religions sing to you inside the basilica.  Another awesome thing is that some of the pillars inside the temple were taken from the Temple of Diana in Ephesus, where Paul preached.  There is so much history, all in one building.  Our tour guide for the trip was awesome, his name was Necip, which rhymes with Egypt actually haha.  We had headsets for the whole trip and he would tell us everything about everything. He was the coolest guy ever!  Thus I often am wearing earbuds in these pictures, don't think i'm just rocking out to Tangled or something, i'm not (; hahaha.

There’s also a place where condensation builds inside of a pillar, and they say that the water is angel tears, and if you make a wish and reach inside, your wish will come true if you touch the water.  Pretty cool! haha.

The Blue Mosque is right across the plaza, and it’s gorgeous too.  It’s a mosque that still functions today, and so girls are required to wear headscarves for modesty, and we all remove our shoes.  It is so very very pretty inside.  I was kinda shell-shocked from lack of sleep, but that didn’t keep me from loving every minute of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

After that we went to the Spice Bazaar, which was close by.  They gave us samples of real Turkish Delight.  Soooo yummy. I like the nutty kind, and the little pink and yellow ones.  There were tons of little shops, and piles and piles of different spices and herbs like saffron and jasmine tea.  There were so many different scents.  After that we went to our hotel and then went to sleep finally!!  It was great.

            Day 2 we went to a million museums and saw some amazing historical stuff.  I won’t bore you haha.  We went to the Topkapi Palace and some cool places that are all basically museums now.  There was this really cool underground cistern that we got to walk around in too. I don’t know how many pictures I’ll be able to attach, but I took like 1200 on the Turkey trip alone so I’ll do my best to condense. After that we went to the Grand Bazaar—this huge market with 4,000 shops in it.  I loved it because it just pulses with excitement and movement and wherever you look, there are people hawking their wares, and everyone hurrying and making purchases and shouting, and everything just weaves in and out.  It was so cool.  I bought a shirt with the Turkish flag on it, and a necklace, and a mirror, and a pink silk scarf.  And I never buy stuff, so this was kind of a big deal haha.  They expect you to haggle over the price, and I did pretty decent (: It’s these big blue eyes of mine. Haha just kidding (:

After that we went on a little cruise on the Bosphorus Strait, the strait that links the Aegean Sea with the Black Sea.  On one side is the European side of Istanbul, and the other side is the Asian side of Istanbul.  Two continents collide. It’s crazy!  So I guess I’ve been to Europe too now! Haha.  The cruise was beautiful, as was the sunset, and as we came into the harbor, the moon and Venus looked so beautiful next to the Blue Mosque, and I just had to take a picture. Or like 20.  It was so gorgeous.

Day 3!  We went to Gallipoli and had lunch on the bay, and then went on to Anzac Cove.  Here's me and my friend Michael at Gallipoli right before we went to the cove. That's the Aegean Sea!  We were right next to Greece.  Amazing, right?!

Anzac Cove is absolutely stunning. It’s a WWI monument/cemetery for the Australians and New Zealanders who gave their lives at this harbor in 1915.  It was a very somber, beautiful place.  Looking at the beach, you’d never think what transpired there.  After that, we took a ferry across the Dardanelles Strait, kind of a shortcut back to the mainland, and then drove to Troy! (By the way this is tons of bus driving to all these places.  It’s crazy.  But we do have a great group of people on this trip. I didn’t really mind all the driving.)  Troy was cool, they have a Trojan horse there from the movie Troy and we took pictures. I look like a weirdo though.  Anyways.  That was cool, we looked at all the stratigraphy of the tel, because that’s what we do hahaha :P  There’s a ton of layers of civilization in Troy.  But not as many as say, Jericho.  Sorry okay back to normal stuff. OH best part of Troy was when some friends and I did a photoshoot and pretended to be Helen. Hahaha.  It was so great. 

Don't judge this picture...haha that photoshoot made for some good memories.  Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to share any other pictures from that photoshoot, on pain of death.

Okay so then we stayed in a hotel on the beach and it was awesome!  But we didn’t swim because it was late and freezing.  Day 4 we woke up early as usual and went to Assos, a port city where Paul stayed. It’s mentioned a couple times in his letters.  Assos was really pretty, you climb to a precipice and look down over the harbor.  It was lovely.  You could almost see Paul sailing in to meet the saints of Assos. 

After that we went to Pergamon, which is a huge acropolis on top of a mountain (see above).  You have to take a tram to get there.  It was an amaaaazing view.  Pergamon is mentioned in the book of Revelation, as one of the seven churches of Asia.  We went to five of the seven, I think.  Anyways.  There was a lovely amphitheater where we sang a hymn—High on a Mountain Top—and just explored and took pictures.  That was a really fun day.  My darling roommate Amanda and I took pictures at Pergamon together...enjoy (:  We just love our antiquity!! hahaha.

 That night we got to stay in the ritziest resort ever, on the beach of the Aegean.  I went swimming for a bit right at sunset, when we got there, but it was frigid!!  Still super fun though.  I liked the resort, it was really fancy and nice, but the people…they had hollow eyes.  It’s like over time, they have been entertained out of their minds, and so they go on doing the same fun, exciting things over and over, not really caring anymore.  They just need the gospel… Then they could enjoy more fully the sunlight.  Who needs gorgeous beaches and all-you-can-eat buffets when you can sit for a while and watch a thunderstorm roll in, or feel the sunshine and smell the flowers.  Those things take time, and those people seemed to always be in a rush to do the next fun thing to fill their empty lives.  It was really interesting, and kind of heartbreaking.

            Day 5—we went to Saint John’s Basilica (or what’s left of it).  It’s a church shaped like a cross, and it still is very beautiful.  After that we went to my favorite place!  Ephesus!  Where the saints lived, who Paul wrote Ephesians for.  And he was there.  We went to the Temple of Artemis (Diana) where he gave a great sermon.  The picture #31 in your scriptures is right there!!  That was really exciting.  I figured out where it was and then took about 20 pictures of various people in the same spot.

After that we went to the lovely Miletus, also mentioned in the scriptures, and went to a lovely ruined church there.  Actually I think it may have been a mosque.  There were trees growing from the floor up to the long-lost ceiling.  It was pretty. 

Day 6 we went to a number of places.  We visited Thyatira, and some place with a  name that escapes me (it’s all such a blur) and we saw some beautiful ancient architecture.  After that we drove to Bursa, and visited another active mosque (thus the headscarf was necessary).  The best thing?  Bursa is the textile capital of Turkey, so of course we had to go to the Silk Bazaar!  It was gorgeous.  

I bought five scarves there.  Oi.  I know that’s a lot, but they were so cheap! Some were only like 5 lira, which is like $2.50 American.  And they were silky and gorgeous.  Ooooh and I got a skirt.  Happy happy happy day. Haha.  Bursa was fun.  Not super educational, just fun.  And, I needed that.  Sometimes my brain gets overloaded with information here (Jerusalem too, but definitely the whole time in Turkey), so it was nice to take a break and not feel the need to memorize and analyze every piece of information we hear.

Day 7: Nicea.  This was our last day in beautiful Turkey.  We did a lot of driving, and got to the ruins of Nicaea in the afternoon.  It was really pretty, there was a small, ancient mosque there that is still functioning, so we wore our headscarves.  It was the location of the 7^th and last Ecumenical council to debate the doctrines of Christianity.  It’s very pretty and old, and they’ve restored a lot of it to use it as a mosque again.  I really liked that mosque.  There’s a mihrab in it, which is a niche that points you in the direction of Mecca to pray.  That’s like my favorite thing ever.  You see them in like every mosque.  They’re fun to look for, it’s like playing eye spy.  If I ever take my kiddos here, we’ll have a competition, and see who can find the most mihrabs.  My kids are going to be so weird. Haha.

Then we went to the location of the famous Council of Nicaea, held in Constantine’s palace on the shores of Lake Iznik, where around 300 bishops gathered to discuss the basic doctrines of Christianity and the nature of Christ.  The palace is gone now, and the foundations are submerged beneath the lake, so we went out on a little peninsula, which is as close as you can get.  

Brother Belnap gave us the most amazing lesson on Nicaea and about our Savior.  He had us read Joseph Smith’s First Vision story and talked about how wonderful it is that we can know our Savior personally.  It was the most spiritual part of our trip, even more so than Ephesus, which was pretty amazing.  I totally cried (I always cry lately...Everything is so intense on this trip.  My emotions are just magnified and I express myself through tears. Hahaha it’s ridiculous.)  I loved Nicaea so much.  You could kind of feel the thought of those men there, 325 years after Christ, trying to understand Him.  Some people vilify the Council, but I really could imagine their good intentions, which I’d never really considered before.  Anyways. If you don’t know much about the Council of Nicaea, just Google it.  It’s quite interesting.

Then we drove to the airport and took a ferry back across the Bosphorus.  Then we were back on our plane, and back to our beautiful Jerusalem!

It’s sad that I don’t actually miss Turkey very much, like everyone else, because Jerusalem is almost all I’ve ever wanted (The only thing missing is family and friends.  You guys should move here and we’ll start a kibbutz or something! Haha.)  But Turkey was definitely a place I would go again.  It’s so cool.  Mom and Dad, you should totally go to Turkey for your 20^th wedding anniversary. Not Hawaii. Who needs Hawaii.  Just kidding! …Mostly.

Thanks for listening to me ramble guys. Wow.  Haha if you made it this far, you are either crazy, or you really love me.  Haha.  Hopefully everything's all in order, these pictures are taking FOREVER to load.  Love and miss you all!  Until next week!
Love always,

Rapunzel