Ankara
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2008
1
13
22
Trip End
Dec 15, 2008
Ankara,
Ankara,
Turkey
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
buildings,lots of fancy restaurants, shops, etc - i am having trouble typing this as i am hooked
up to the internet through the TV - very interesting and convenient - but the keyboard is still a turkis
one and i can only see part of what i am typing on the screen - the hotel here is a sheraton and absolutely
beautiful - we had a multicourse set dinner in the hotel restaurant last night which was wonderfua trio of small pickled fruits and veggies, a delicious meat dish, strips of very tender beef in a light sauce with rice and a
delicious custard desert - all beautifully presented -
T
he days have been long - wakeup at 645 then out by 8 and arrive at the next hotel by 5 - it is totally
dark here by 5 pm so the sightseeing time is shorter in the winter - yesterday was a lot of driving - probably
about 5 hours total but cut up into 3 pieces stopping at a very interesting traditional village outside of
bursa where the people still dress in traditional clothes and the streets are all very narrow cobblestone
with 2-3 story buildings lining them - the houses there are all built in the traditional way - first story
of stone, second of concrete, and third of wood - all very colorfully painted in different colors - lots of
purples, bright green, yellow, pink - it is such a change from israel where everything was sandstone
colored - as we came into the city, there were 3 large high rise apt buildings of about 15 to 20 stories
each, each story was painted a different color - purple, yellow and pink - i guess they dont have
to worry about fussy homeowners associations here - try that color combo at home and see what
your neighbors think
We stopped at king midas' tomb (tumulus) which is just a high mound of dirt about 2 stories tall - thiswas the king midas who was so greedy for gold that the gods cursed him so that everything he touched turn3ed to gold
he thought that was wonderful until he turned his only daughter into a gold statue - he actually 3existed
in the 8th century BC and they are excavating his tomb now
note to bob - they looked up my starwood number so you dont have to look for it.
Have to go now and catch the bus - will write more later if i can find a better keyboard - so far we have
been staying in a different hotel each night but tonight have a 2 night stay.
Ankara Shirley
