Turkey - Part 3

I know, I know, still no pictures... they are coming as soon as I get back to my own lovely computer. I'm currently in Fethiye, a fairly major tourist town down on the southwest Mediterranean coast. Unfortunately, the city museum is closed for restorations and it's been a bit difficult getting transport to all of our 'key' sites, but Derek and I have managed to stay optimistic (with the help of a boat tour at Ölüdeniz and a hike through the Saklıkent Gorge, both completely fantastic). Tomorrow morning we move on to Selçuk ('Sel-chuk'), which is the city adjacent to the ancient site of Ephesus, an important site for my research, and close to ancient Didyma, another important location. After that, it's off to İstanbul for a few nights and then back to Ankara for some concluding research and perhaps a visit to Gordion, the site of a Phrygian city ruled by, allegedly, King Midas (he of the golden touch and the ass's ears).

Turkey - Part 2

From Ankara, Derek and I travelled by overnight coach to the seaside city of Antalya. It was beautiful - completely Mediterranean - and our hostel was very friendly and picturesque. We ate dinner there during our 3-night stay and got along very well with the Turkish owner and several fabulous German tourists who were the only other guests. While in Antalya, I visited the Archaeological Museum (much larger and more relevant than the one in Ankara) as well as Termessos (an ancient city high up in the mountains with an utterly breathtaking theatre and several temples dedicated to the goddess Artemis) and also Perge (another ancient city site with very well-preserved Roman baths and a long colonnaded roadway).

From Antalya, Derek and I caught a 'dolmuş' aka mini-bus to another coastal town, Kaş. It is west and a bit south of Antalya, and from here (it's currently our first day here) we can visit several sites containing Lycian rock-cut house tombs (the subject of Derek's research) before going northwest along the coast to Fethiye, a larger city close to several important sites as well as a 'Butterfly Valley'. spiffy. Well, as our hotel in Kaş has a pool, I'm off for a dip and some text-reading in the sun before the storm clouds that are hanging menacingly over the mountains behind me decide to descend into the town.

And don't worry, those of you who do, I'm not badly sunburned yet... just a lot more freckled with pretty pink shoulders and knees. :)

Turkey - Part 1

Greetings from Ankara! It is day 3 here, and I still cannot find the apostrophe key. It is also mildly difficult to type the letter i because the Turkish ı is where the English i usually is. Tricky, tricky. So far, Ankara is an interesting city. A bit messy, with lots of hills and uneven sidewalks, but it has some beautiful modern buildings and sculptures, lovely parks, a very impressive replica of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and crazy winding bazaars. Derek (my partner in archaeological crime) and I have visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and spent quite a long time in the library of the British Institute, which we are affiliated with while staying here. We hope to visit Gordion next week - the site of the tomb of King Midas - before leaving for Antalya in southern Turkey on Thursday.

Brief Update

I know that I'm awful about adding to this and that a short summary will not quench the curiosity of my avid readers (all five of you), but more details and photos are coming, I promise!

In the meantime, I am loving Bristol in the spring aside from the humidity that settled over the city the moment the sun came out. Good thing we have a constant breeze going on. At any rate, it's probably much cooler than Turkey will be when I arrive there next Thursday. Hooray! I'll be in Ankara for a week and then travelling up the south-west coast visiting such significant archaeological sites as Ephesus and Troy. Expect an update on the trip when I return in mid-June, since I won't have my computer along. I will try to toss off a few posts along the way, but who knows if that will work.