Talking Turkey
Caught between East and West
Dates
Spring 2009(14 nights)
Itinerary
Day 1. Arrival in Ankara
Our private guide will greet us at the Ankara Airport and accompany us to our hotel. Our Welcome Dinner will be at an Ottoman mansion with traditional Turkish food. Overnight in Ankara. (D)
Day 2. Ankara – Cappadocia
After our book discussion, we will visit the world-famous Museum of Anatolian Civilization containing precious artefacts from Palaeolithic to Roman times and the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Then we travel by private mini-bus to Cappadocia our base, for the next four nights. (B, D)
Day 3. Cappadocia
After our book discussion, we will explore the fascinating Goreme Valley. The lunar like landscape of this region is eerie, yet beautiful. Over thousands of years the rain has eroded this landscape to give rise to strange rock formations known as “Fairy Chimneys.” Many of these have homes and churches carved into them. Some of the grottos are magnificently decorated with colorful frescoes depicting biblical scenes. Then we will visit Zelve, one of the most important settlements and religious centres for the Christian community between the ninth and thirteenth centuries and the hidden and monastic valley of Pasabagi, which has a large number of carved rock houses and churches. (B, D)
Day 4.Cappadocia
After our book discussion, we will visit local municipality carpet cooperative, sort of a carpet farm where we will get the chance to explore the district from a contemporary cultural perspective. We will visit the Underground City of Kaymakli, where around the sixth century the Christian inhabitants of the region began to tunnel into the soft volcanic rock of large hill. Several thousand people lived in this subterranean city on eight levels as deep as 275 five feet. (B, D)
Day 5. Cappadocia
After our book discussion, we will explore a typical Turkish village, Avanos where the techniques of ceramic art date from the 12th to the 3rd centuries B.C. and the sleepy and picturesque village of Cavusin with its new houses and old churches. Overnight in Cappadocia. (B, D)
Day 6.Cappadocia – Selcuk
After breakfast, we will transfer to the Kayseri Airport for flight to Izmir and then an hour’s drive by private mini-bus to Selcuk. Overnight in Selcuk. (B, D)
Day 7. Selcuk
After our book discussion, we will visit Ephesus, the largest ancient city ever uncovered. Once populated with three hundred thousand people, it has an enormous amphitheatre, which can still hold twenty-four thousand spectators. As we walk down the marble covered streets, we will see gymnasiums, baths houses, public latrines, the Library of Celsius and the Temple of Artemis. Overnight in Selcuk. (B, D)
Day 8. Selcuk
After our book discussion, we will drive to south to visit Priene, a spectacular ancient Greek holy city with a magnificent Temple of Athena and a five thousand-seat Hellenistic Theatre and Didyma, Priene remains are a major source of information about ancient Greek town planning (I studied Priene in my graduate studies in city planning and am most excited to visit this site. AK). We will also visit the gigantic Temple of Apollo at Didyma (Didim in Turkish), among the most famous oracles in the ancient world, equal in importance to the oracular temple at Delphi in Greece. Overnight in Selcuk. (B, D)
Day 9. Selcuk – Istanbul
After breakfast we will transfer to Adnan Menderes Airport for a direct flight to Istanbul where we will stay 6 nights. We will explore the magnificent Topkapi Palace, the great Ottoman seat of government and home for the Sultans and the Blue Mosque, unique with its six minarets and is famous for twenty thousand blue Iznik tiles that cover the interior walls. Then we will also visit the Hippodrome and Basilica of St. Sophia, which has inspired architects and religious leaders for over fifteen hundred years. Overnight in Istanbul. (B)
Day 10. Istanbul
We will spend much of the day sailing up the Bosphorus between two continents, stopping at various typical villages and enjoying lunch along the shore. Overnight in Istanbul. (BL)
Day 11.Istanbul
After our morning discussion, we will visit the Chora Church, including 14th Century Byzantine mosaics and frescoes and the Suleymaniye Mosque which was built for Suleyman the Magnificent by the greatest of Ottoman architects, Sinan. Overnight in Istanbul. (BL)
Day 12. Istanbul
After our morning discussion, we will visit the Underground Basilica Cistern, a Byzantine underground water cistern that supplied the imperial palaces and the fragrant Spice Market where one finds every kind of spice and Eastern culinary delight. Overnight in Istanbul. (BL)
Day 13. Istanbul
After a free morning, we will travel to Ortakoy, once a fishing village and now a chic and artsy neighbourhood, where we will visit the open-air handicrafts market, the Etz Ahayim Synagogue and have lunch. We will also walk through Beyoglu (formerly known as Pera), the 19th century European section of Istanbul, housing embassies, homes of foreign merchants, and posh boutiques. Beyoglu was one of the neighbourhoods favoured by the sultan's Jewish subjects and still has many beautiful small synagogues. Overnight in Istanbul. (BL)
Day 14.Istanbul
After our final morning discussion, we will have a free day to explore new or revisit now familiar and favourite sites. We will convene for a farewell dinner. (BD)
Final Morning. Istanbul Departure
After a farewell breakfast, we transfer to Ataturk Airport to have a flight to home. (B)
