November 23 - 25 Ankara to Istanbul

We had to go to Ankara to apply for residence permits.  We left Wednesday, November 20, drove to Istanbul and flew to Ankara. Friday morning we flew back to Istanbul and then checked into the Gonen Hotel** near the airport for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. We returned to the Saros Monday via the dealership where we picked up our car which they had to repair the accident damage.

Ankara, Turkey's capital.

In the chauffeur driven van, pretending to be famous.

In the chauffeur driven van.

Thor The DarkWorld 3D at Panora Mall, Ankara: pre-assigned seating, prepaid popcorn (we opted out), Turkish subtitles, and a ten minute intermission. There was a National Film Board of Canada short film before the feature!

At the Istanbul Akvaryum - the largest aquarium in Europe depending on who you ask.  We were careful to have lunch before we paid our admission, but there were cafes and restaurant around every bend inside the aquarium.

This ray was showing off for Sam.

Poseidon's Pool

Nicole and Poseidon

Sam at the South Pole

Johanna and Nicole with a really big ice cube.

Nicole and Hercules.

Johanna and fish

Sam found a hiding place.

Sam and Nicole in the rainforest

Big trees and big fish tanks.

Cam and Johanna

Little neon green frogs. They also had other frogs and big big spiders.

Tourists.

Johanna enjoying the view from the mall attached to the aquarium.

Cam checking messages at the mall attached to the aquarium.

At the Rahmi M. Koc Museum - Istanbul A museum dedicated to transportation, communication and industry. They have a "sister" museum in Ankara. It is very small compared to this one.  If you're going, plan to spend the day! I particularly liked seeing the model ships and the submarine tour.                     http://www.rmk-museum.org.tr/english/

The cab ride from our hotel was very exciting because neither cab driver really knew where the museum was located.  The girls and I were in one cab. Cam and Sam were in the other cab.  Our driver was a "professional driver" attached to our hotel.  The other driver also in a yellow cab was "no good" according to our driver. Our driver began to swear at him loudly in Turkish about half way to the museum.

Nicole and a Beetle

This one looks like it might be fun to drive.

Too many steering wheels ... make art!

After the tour of the submarine. See we got certificates!

Submarine

If subs and boats don't interest you - you can always tour an airplane or

look at earth moving equipment.

Or read about people who sail around the world in little boats! We even took a short train ride.

Sam with the fish beside the Golden Horn.

Outside the building that houses the models.

It's not the Tardis but still pretty cool.

Heidelberg Printing Press. This printing press made me homesick for my childhood.

Johanna at the helm.  In this ship display there were charts for the Newfoundland and Labrador.

**Gonen Hotel - treated us very well. They gave us a free upgraded room. Food was excellent. Their North American "cuisine" was very tasty.  Lots of choices at the breakfast buffet. On the weekends there is someone standing by to make omletes! Staff went out of their way to be kind and helpful. Good pool, free shuttle to and from the airport, free wifi. We took the kids to the "pub" on the last night we were there.  We had supper, played pool and hung out. This was a great weekend away from the Saros!

Cam's Day

When the children and I returned to Turkey in August we had to purchase 90 day Visitor's Visas at the airport because our Residence Permits could not be renewed before we left. Between the Gazi Park Riots, and influx of Syrian refugees, the Police, who handle such things were very busy last spring.

Cam has had few days off in the last four months, so our trip to Ankara to apply for new Residence Visas was postponed until the day before our Visitor's Visas expired. This is my take on his day:

7:30 a.m. Makes himself breakfast and coffee.  Tries to help me find a reasonably priced hotel in Istanbul for the weekend.

8:15 a.m. Walks to the highway to catch a ride to the lease because our car is in the shop

8:15 - 12:30 p.m. Supervises operations on location

12:30 Drives home in the rental car that has been dropped off at the lease for our use.

1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch with us

1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.  Packs for Ankara and changes from work clothes to travel clothes

2:00 - 5:30 p.m. Drives from home to Ataturk Airport Istanbul

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Eats a stale muffin and a drinks a bottle of water. Answers a "Where are you?" phone call from work.

6:30 p.m. Takes a bus across the tarmac and boards plane

7:15 - 8:30 p.m. Eats airplane food (eggplant and tomatoes, 1/2 turkey sandwich, vanilla pudding, water)

8:30 p.m. Answers second "Where are you?" phone call from Ankara manager while we are waiting to get off the plane.

8:30 - 9:30 p.m. Collects luggage, connects us to the company driver who is waiting outside the terminal to take us to the hotel, checks into hotel, ensures the kids are settled in their room, prays with them.

9:30 - 10:40 p.m. Writes daily report (work), answers emails (work), and talks to his Canadian boss on the phone (work)

10:40 p.m. Sets alarm for tomorrow 7:30 a.m. and goes to bed.

Wednesday, May 29 Ankara to Konya

Tuesday night we stayed at the Park Hotel, Ankara.  We didn't arrive until 11 pm and then waited an hour for them to bring bedding for the cot and the pull out couch.  Sam fell asleep in our bed. Johanna ended up sleeping on the floor. Wednesday morning the kids and I hit the pool (outdoor unheated).  Then we had breakfast together and checked out.  Cam dropped us at the Panora Mall. He had a meeting Wednesday afternoon. He picked us up about 4 pm and we drove to Konya. (aka Iconium)

Brr! "You must be from somewhere else.  No Turk would get into water that cold!" said one of the hotel's employees.

We had the 2nd floor pool and deck all to ourselves.  There's a large mosque in the background.

North American fast food is very popular with the Turks.

We ate at KFC; but we usually choose Turkish food over fast food.

Ankara to Konya reminded us of Alberta prairies and foothills.

Enormous quarry - one of many we saw.

Flat valley bottoms.

Turkey Video by Johanna

A video I made of Turkey photos to a song called 'Fire Nation' by Two Steps from Hell.

Oh those Hittites!

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

 

Although much of the museum is currently under renovation what we did see was amazing.  We were offered English audio guides for 5 tl a piece. These are usually very informative but take away from our ability to share the wonder of our discoveries.  So we skipped them.  I think all of the signs were in both Turkish and English, so we never felt like we were missing anything.

All of the artifacts we saw were from the Hittite, Phrygian and Early Bronze peoples living in Turkey; with the exception of one display case with a few pieces of jewelry from Troy.

Early Bronze 3000 - 1950 BC   Hittite 1750-1200 BC     Phrygian 1200-700 BC

Lots of bulls

This is a replica of a statue of one God standing on another God

Ancient history is soooo funny!

Lots of headless statues outside.

My favourite bas relief. Lion hunting from a chariot!

Here kitty kitty kitty.  There were actually two of these little guys.

I love this pot. The stand has cloven feet.  Wouldn't it be perfect for hobo soup or beef stew?

Book in its case.  The barely visible squiggles are actually some sort of ancient script.

Johanna

Johanna and Nicole

Nicole and Johanna

There were a few of these pots with animal heads.

Lots of these antlered creatures on display.

Super model?

Warrior

Sam - still smiling!

The caption says "God in a temple" - but honestly it looked like model for the "new" bathroom design.

Stand like a Hittite.

And we're done!