Our hotel backed up to the river; the entrance obviously on the street side.

There is a covered restaurant on the right and a patio on the left for dining when the weather is sunnier than it was when we were visiting.

The lobby

We had a stunning view from the dining room.

My morning walks took me across the river for a walk along the foot of the mountain.

Gern. Antony, Els, David, Patricia and Dorothy were finishing up breakfast when I stopped in for a glass of tea after my walk.  I’d already eaten

I crossed the bridge and walked past the “intermittent waterfall.”   Water is pumped up above the rock face and periodically allowed to fall back which is a surprise before you know what’s happening.  A disappearing waterfall is a strange phenomenon when it occurs on a daily basis rather than seasonally.

Saraydüzü Regimental Quarters Museum ofNational Struggle and Congress Center

Owing to its historical significance, Saraydüzü Kışlası, which Atatürk used as his headquarters during his

visits to Amasya and where the Amasya Circular was penned, was rebuilt (after landslides in 1935 and 1944)  in compliance with the original plan on the banks of the Yeşilırmak. The building is used both as a museum housing certain documents and works belonging to the Republican Period and a culture center where various organisations are held.  The Independence Museum, which is open all year round, houses reliefs and statues depicting Atatürk’s arrival in the city, the welcoming committee and the announcement of the Amasya Circular, along with numerous documents belonging to the period.  http://www.amasyakulturturizm.gov.tr/dosya/1-280779/h/rehber-ing-mail.pdf

In 1919 Amasya was the location of the final planning meetings held by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for the building of a Turkish army to establish the Turkish republic following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. It was here that Mustafa Kemal made the announcement of the Turkish War of Independence in the Amasya Circular. This circular is considered as the first written document putting the Turkish War of Independence in motion. The circular, distributed across Anatolia, declared Turkey’s independence and integrity to be in danger and called for a national conference to be held in Sivas (Sivas Congress) and before that, for a preparatory congress comprising representatives from the eastern provinces of Anatolia to be held in Erzurum in July (Erzurum Congress).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasya#The_Turkish_War_of_Independence

Mary Lee Settle’s impressions of the Ataturk statue now surrounded by Toruism Week banners.

“…..the ever-present statue of  Mustafa Kemal Atatὕrk is the finest I saw in Turkey.  When the first statues were put up in the inland cities in the twenties and thirties, most of the people had just been jogged awake from a thousand years of medieval sleep by circumstance and Mustafa Kemal.  Most of them had never in their lives seen a statue, as the Koran forbids the representation of humans.

It stands on a crag of rock in the middle of the Centrum.  Baroque, elegant, and in some ways a dangerously inept memory of him, Ataturk sits on a wonderful Delacroix horse: he is a ghazi, a warrior hero.  There is no sense here of his reforms, his modern views, his dandyism, his intelligence…..he is a fighter  surrounded by heroic figures from the army that he created out of almost nothing at the end of the First World War.  There are the wounded, the women, the lines of his generals who look out across the river at the tomb of the Pontic kings.

It was in Amasya where Ataturk found a force of mountain volunteers already formed to fight against the Greek parisans who had armed themselves to take part in the carving up of Anatolia (Turkey) by the Allies at the end of the First World War.”  Turkish Reflections

Back side of the statue.

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours… you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.”

http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/ataturk.asp

Aussie Peter Barker of Bowtie Lady read this piece at the end of the morning NET on ANZAC Day.  It was incredibly moving.

Strange picture, No?

Gwen hates heights, unless she’s in an airplane and then it’s okay.  She especially hates driving long winding mountain roads.  Taṣ figured what she couldn’t see wouldn’t bother her.

Our way to Amasya Castle

http://www.amasyakulturturizm.gov.tr/dosya/1-280779/h/rehber-ing-mail.pdf has more info about the castle.  I liked it because it was a great place to climb around and see the view and get exercise.

The letter R had been left out of appropriate so Taṣ was filling it in.

“Yesilirmak has been the source of civilizations since Chalcolithic Age in Amasya. Also the passages opened by the river in the deep valleys have ensured the safest ways for thousands of years connecting Amasya to the Central Anatolia and to the Black Sea coast and enabled the permanence of the civilizations in the region. That’s why Hattis, Hittites, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Medes, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks and Ilkhanids, Eretna State and of course great Ottoman Empire have left traces in Amasya.”  http://www.yesilirmak.org.tr/en/destinasyon1.aspx

A hamam is a Turkish bath that was included at one point when the Ottomans used the castle.

I remembered that we were shown the mikvah, a Jewish version of the hamam, while touring Masada.  I started to research the similarities/differences but that just was so far off the topic of Amasya that I’ll have to leave it for another day.

I had used a blade of grass to make a “duck caller.”  Taṣ was fascinated so Randal was showing him how to make one.

Red hat day.

Randal bought three hats in Avanos, Cappadocia: red, light tan, and black.  He wears a color when the mood strikes to wear that color.  Our day in Amasya was certainly a red letter day!

All too soon it was time to go, but Taṣ lured us back to the minibus with the promise of a coffee stop on the way back to Amasya town.

Coincidentally Pam and Dave arrived on the day before the President’s Bicycle Ride stage ended in Marmaris.  Funny enough our first day ever in Marmaris was the stage of the same race.  Our bus was stopped at an intersection on the way from Izmir to Marmaris so the race could cross an intersection.  I believe a Russian won this stage: Pam and I went back later in the afternoon to see the finish but it was over when we arrived. So we went off to visit the yarn shops instead.

A banner painted by some of the art students to celebrate Tourism Week, the 15^th-22^nd of April.

Paintings and wood sculpture are the current exhibits.

The artist who was exhibiting her work.

This was my favorite..

Or maybe this one: I liked her use of bright colors!

I liked the bold rooftop perspective on this painting of a mosque.

Wood sculptures were fun.

This wood sculpture inspired us to try one ourselves…….

Tables were set up so you could make your own sculpture.

My sculpture.

I just sort of picked up the pieces and set them down but looking at it now I see big animals sheltering smaller animals.

A mountain range?

Teens are teens and McDonald’s is McDonalds except in India where there is no beef.

I love what I call “Cape Cod blue” because the color reminds me of what I remember from my growing up years in Massachusetts.  Here it’s Mediterranean Blue.

This restaurant in Boḡazkale had an interesting name.

You can translate Aşıkoğlu  as “son of the lover or really lover son .”  Aşık translates as lover, wanderer or bard and when you add oḡlu it means son.

Lunchtime celebrities.

Ayden and Taṣ with this gentleman who was the only undefeated competitive wrestler from the region.

Photos were displayed on the restaurant wall.

The restaurant manager had once acted the part of a Hittite King in a National Geographic documentary.

Lunch was fun!

Standing in the ancient past….

The replica of the Sphinx Gate: the originals are in The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. But even the replicas were striking in the setting.

“The most important of the extant remains of the Hittites at Alacahoyuk is the Sphinx Gate, which marked the entrance to the Bronze Age city. This dates to the Hittite Empire period of 1450-1180 B.C. The original orthostats that decorated the city wall are in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara, but they have been replaced at the site by cast replicas.” http://www.travellinkturkey.com/hittites-alacahoyuk.html

Bas Relief with cat

“These orthostats, from the left side of the entrance, bear depictions of a king and his queen worshipping the sacred bull, sacrificial animals, priests, jugglers, a sword swallower, and a man climbing a ladder that is standing in space, and an unfinished relief that may possibly have been intended as a chariot scene. On the right side of the entrance gate is likely a representation of the sun goddess Arinna, who was the primary female deity of the Hittites.”  http://www.travellinkturkey.com/hittites-alacahoyuk.html

The cat followed us around the site meowing finally allowing me to give it a few pats just before we entered the museum.

Burial sites

“The first excavations at Alacahoyuk were started in 1861 by a French archeologist. Georges Perrot. More extensive work was initiated by the Turkish Historical Association in 1935 and continued until 1948. While excavating in the deeper levels of the city-mound at Alacahoyuk, a group of graves was found by Turkish archaeologists. They are thought to be of a local ruling family of the Early Bronze Age period, buried among the paraphernalia of their funerary ceremonies, and accompanied by their private possessions. The interments had been made over a period of several generations. Some of the graves contained single burials, while others held the remains of both a man and a woman buried on separate occasions. In the graves, the men were buried with their weapons and women with jewelry, ornaments, and toiletries. Both were accompanied by utensils and eating vessels that were made of precious metals. An extraordinary find was a dagger in the shape of a crescent, made entirely of iron. This metal, very rarely used during this early period, was likely to have been much more valuable than gold. A large assortment of funerary objects was found in the graves including bronze “sun-disks” and standards that were likely used at the top of a pole in the funeral procession or on canopy-stakes at the burial spot. Many of these standards were uncovered in the graves. They are openwork grills, often adorned with animal figures. Others were simply representations of animals mounted on a base, such as the well-known Hittite stag. These were made of bronze and inlaid with silver.

The graves at Alacahoyuk were in the form of rectangular pits, as large as twenty feet long and ten feet Wide in several cases. The tombs were lined with a wall of rough stone and covered with a lid of wooden beams. On top of the wood were placed the skulls and hooves of cattle, which had apparently remained attached to the hides; it is assumed that the carcasses of the animals were eaten during the funeral feast. Wooden furniture and other perishable articles are believed to have been placed in the graves with the bodies.” http://www.travellinkturkey.com/hittites-alacahoyuk.html

Where’s Randal!

Graves of Early Bronze Age

When you widen the scene it gets surreal with the ancient and present side by side. With the house in the photo the Sphinx Gate just becomes an artifact.  In the first photo you feel as if time stopped in the tage of the Hittites.

Can you imagine living so close to something so ancient?  What a great place to play as a kid.  I would have loved that.

The sign for the dam had fallen down so Taṣ stood it back up!

Bronze Age Dam Irrigates Modern Farms

Bible and archaeology news

Noah Wiener  •  11/07/2012

“This Bronze Age dam at Alacahöyük still irrigates modern farmland. AA photos.

A 3,250-year-old Hittite dam at Alacahöyük features striking similarities to modern water management construction. Archaeologist Aykut Çınaroğlu says the dam in north-central Turkey was built for irrigation and drinking water, and the dam’s clean water is still used by local farmers today. Hittite tablets indicate that it was built under the reign of King Hattushili III or his son Tudhaliya IV in the 13th century B.C.E. and was dedicated to the goddess Hepat. Like other Hittite dams, the large clay construction was built by hand during a period of drought and famine in Late Bronze Age Anatolia, recorded in the historical record by documentation of the importation of wheat from Egypt and evinced by dendrochronological archaeological evidence. However, unlike its contemporaries, the water source for the Alacahöyük dam is located inside the dam’s reservoir, and as a result, it hasn’t run dry over the course of the past three millennia. Professor Çınaroğlu told the Turkish paper Hurriyet Daily News that “The dam had been used to provide water for animals for thousands of years. Analyses have shown that its water is very clean. It could even be sold under the name Hittite water.”

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/bronze-age-dam-irrigates-modern-farms/

Gwen standing outside the Çorum Museum

We only had a short time to visit the museum before it closed at 5 pm.

Big Vase with reliefs 1650 B.C.                                            I loved the blue color on this vase

A mosaic in the museum lobby

There was a birthday banner, flowers and gifts….

Bill and Joan: A Birthday Kiss!

Gwen giving the “Birthday Toast”  Here!  Here!

Everyone was happy to see Bill feeling better after his “not so great” past 2 days.

Bill, Joan and their grandson Chris

The gang’s all here…

Dear friend Nermin.

Alex and Joan dancing to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.”

My piece of cake was size X-Large but I managed to get most of it down even after a huge dinner of pasta with salmon, spinach and cheese.

     “Located a short distance from Hattusas, Yazilikaya (the “inscribed rocks”) was the official temple and sanctuary of the Hittite empire. It consists of several rock-cut chambers carved around a large rocky outcrop possessing two large alcoves and an open-air sanctuary. Both alcoves contain reliefs of Gods and Goddesses in a parade, all appearing by profile. It is possible that some of the smaller alcoves were used for burial of the deceased Kings, and that the whole sanctuary was therefore a funerary monument built to celebrate some Royal ancestors.”  http://unchartedruins.blogspot.com/2012/08/in-hittite-lands-yazilikaya-and-alaca.html

“The rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya ( = rock with writing) lies nestled between rock outcroppings at the foot of the high ridge east of Hattusha. In contrast to the temples within the city, the two rooms of this sanctuary (Chambers A and B), hemmed in by natural rock faces up to 12 m high, lie open to the skies. Although the site has been in use since the 15th century BC at least, not until the 13th century did the long procession of gods and goddesses take their place here, chiseled onto the rock faces by Hittite sculptors. It apparently represents the "House of the New Year’s Celebration," a House of the Weather God where festivities were held to honor all the pantheon at the coming of the New Year and the beginning of spring.”  http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

Largest known Hittite Rock Sanctuary

Chamber A entrance is the dark area to the right of the tree and Chamber B on the right cut into the rocks with the V of blue sky overhead. 

Chamber A

“On the left side we have male deities (with two exceptions); on the right, female. They all face the opposite end of the chamber, towards which they appear to be slowly progressing; and there, indeed, is the climactic tableau: as leaders of the holy procession, the two supreme divinities, the weather god and the sun goddess greet one another.”  http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

The relief sculpture in the small chamber B is much better preserved because the chamber was partly filled with earth and remained unexcavated until the mid 19th century. http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

Chamber B 

Relief of the 12 kings

“On the wall immediately to the right of the entrance was carved a line of gods of the Underworld. They wear shirts, belts, short skirts and shoes curling up at the toe. They each carry a crescent-shaped sword flung over the shoulder, and the horned pointed hats that identify them as divinities.”

http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

View of the countryside below.   It was an absolutely picture perfect morning and the landscape was beautiful.

Our second stop was Hattuṣa  (spelled various ways) and the remains of the Great Temple that, at this point is mostly a stone outline of what must have been and reconstructed Hittite City Walls.

We saw these women off in the distance and some of us were curious.

Taṣ asked and it was some kind of tiny leaf they made him eat; but he survived without growing larger or smaller; so I guess it was okay.

So cute!

Lower City

Remains of the Great Temple and reconstructed Hittite City Walls

“With this project, some 65 meters long, segments of the mud brick city walls of Hattuṣa were re-erected as of 2005.  Three wall segments 7 to 8 meters high, along with two 12 to 13 meters high towers were re-constructed.”  Çorum Guide from the Ministry of Tourism

The green cubic stone at Hattusa was probably a gift to the later Hittite rulers of the city from the Egyptian pharaoh with whom they signed a peace treay in 1258 BC    http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/AnatoliaHattiHattusa.htm

It was a lovely fragment of some type of vessel but I left it behind…which was not only the moral thing to do but the legal thing to do.  It’s illegal to take “antiquities” from Turkey.  This shard might have been a year old or a thousand years old. 

Our next stop was Lion Gate

I believe one lion has been reconstructed and the other untouched.  According to the Çorum Guide the hieroglyphic inscription on one side of the lion still has not be deciphered except for the last word which means gate.

Mark and David walking forward; Patricia taking a photo.

More beautiful countryside with other sections of the Hittite complex.

Our last stop of the day was the Atatürk mausoleum and museum complex.  

Every town in Turkey has at least one statue of Atatὒrk.  He’s the Turkish  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt rolled into one.  (With maybe a bit of Stalin and Mao thrown in too.)

“Atatürk was a Turkish nationalist leader and founder and first president of the republic of Turkey.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in 1881 in Salonika (now Thessaloniki) in what was then the Ottoman Empire. His father was a minor official and later a timber merchant. When Atatürk was 12, he was sent to military school and then to the military academy in Istanbul, graduating in 1905.

In 1911, he served against the Italians in Libya and then in the Balkan Wars (1912 – 1913). He made his military reputation repelling the Allied invasion at the Dardanelles in 1915.

In May 1919, Atatürk began a nationalist revolution in Anatolia, organizing resistance to the peace settlement imposed on Turkey by the victorious Allies. This was particularly focused on resisting Greek attempts to seize Smyrna and its hinterland. Victory over the Greeks enabled him to secure revision of the peace settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne.

In 1921, Atatürk established a provisional government in Ankara. The following year the Ottoman Sultanate was formally abolished and, in 1923, Turkey became a secular republic with Atatürk as its president. He established a single party regime that lasted almost without interruption until 1945.

He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernize Turkey. These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey’s neighbours.

In 1935, when surnames were introduced in Turkey, he was given the name Atatürk, meaning ‘Father of the Turks’. He died on 10 November 1938.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/ataturk_kemal.shtml

The question is how much longer Mustafa Kemal can remain on that pedestal. To the people of his country, Atatürk—the sobriquet means “father of the Turks”—has been both a national hero and an ideology, bolstered by decades of indoctrination in the schools and by his ubiquitous image in the form of busts, portraits, statues, figurines, T-shirts, currency, key chains, and even iPhone cases. A reformist Ottoman Army general, he led an independence struggle against the invading Greek, French, and Italian armies after the First World War, culminating in the establishment of a modern republic in 1923.

Under Mustafa Kemal’s leadership, the young republic made a clean break from its Ottoman past nearly nine decades ago, ditching the caliphate for a secular regime and turning away from the empire’s former Arab territories in favor of an anti-clerical, pro-Western vision that became known as Kemalism. He pushed for women’s suffrage, decreed the alphabet’s conversion from Arabic to Latin overnight, established parliamentary government, declared war on Islamic zealotry long before jihadism became a global concern, even banned the Ottoman fez in favor of European-style hats. Turkish schoolbooks today summarize the changes he imposed as “the Atatürk revolutions.”

Nevertheless, Mustafa Kemal’s staunchly secularist legacy is now being challenged by a new Turkish strongman, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Free at last to espouse and promote his conservative Muslim faith publicly, the prime minister embodies the political aspirations of millions of Turks who have been alienated from the military-backed secular establishment for generations: the rural folk, the urban poor, conservative Muslim clerics, and the rising religiously conservative business classes. While studiously avoiding direct confrontation with Atatürk’s Westernized ideals, Erdogan and other pro-Islamist leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have inaugurated an era of deep political transformation.

With the party’s encouragement, many Turks have come to regard Kemalism as an outmoded ideology unsuited to the needs of present-day Turkey’s dynamic society. “I don’t know if Atatürk himself is dead,” says liberal academic and commentator Mehmet Altan. “But Kemalism will eventually die, as Turkey democratizes.” Altan has argued for years against the Kemalist doctrine, calling instead for the creation of a “second republic” that would be less centralized, more inclusive of Kurds and Islamists, and less rigid in its secular and nationalist policies.

That’s what’s already happening as the Erdogan government dismantles the Kemalist establishment. The military, once the country’s most powerful political force and the self-proclaimed guardian of secularism, has been relegated to the barracks and publicly reprimanded for the series of coups that have stunted democracy’s growth since Atatürk’s death. Religious conservatism is on the rise, and Ankara has turned its attention away from the country’s longstanding bid for European Union membership, seeking instead a more prominent role in the Middle East and the former Ottoman lands. Vestiges of the old Kemalist order—the headscarf ban on university campuses, restrictions on use of the Kurdish language, Soviet-style commemorations held in stadiums on national days—have nearly disappeared.

And yet liberal democrats like Altan are not happy. Many feel that Erdogan’s government has lost its reformist drive, becoming authoritarian and single-mindedly Islamic instead. Intellectuals who once supported Erdogan against the military now complain about his efforts to control the media, his intolerance for dissent, and his halfhearted concessions to Kurdish demands. “Politics in Turkey has always been a struggle between the barracks and the mosque,” says Altan. “Because we never had a proper capitalist class, the Army represented the bourgeoisie, and the mosque represented the underprivileged. With AKP, we thought a democracy would emerge out of the mosque. But instead what we got was simply the revenge of the mosque.”

A year ago Altan finally became one of the many journalists who have lost their jobs for criticizing Erdogan. It’s the same penalty commentators used to incur for finding fault with Atatürk. Altan grieves for the fading of Turkey’s European dreams. Bringing European standards to Turkey’s democracy was the only possible solution for the conflict between the secularists and the Islamists, he says. “But the EU reforms have stopped, and the government’s Islamic reflexes are more obvious now, making the division even sharper.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/12/16/turkey-is-ataturk-dead-erdogan-islamism-replaces-kemalism.html

Model of the Atatὒrk complex.

http://andresalvador.smugmug.com/Travel-Turkey/ATATURK-MUSEUM/17111707_XjBgzL#!i=1296793661&k=B87vNVF

Lonely Planet review for Anıt Kabir

The monumental mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder of modern Turkey, sits high above the city with its abundance of marble and air of veneration. You enter via the Lion Road, a 262m walkway lined with 24 lion statues – Hittite symbols of power used to represent the strength of the Turkish nation. The path leads to a massive courtyard, framed by colonnaded walkways, with steps leading up to the huge tomb on the left.

To the right of the tomb, the extensive museum displays Atatürk memorabilia, personal effects, gifts from famous admirers, and recreations of his childhood home and school. Just as revealing as all the rich artifacts are his simple rowing machine and huge multilingual library, which includes tomes he wrote.

Downstairs, extensive exhibits about the War of Independence and the formation of the republic move from battlefield murals with sound effects to over detailed explanations of post-1923 reforms. At the end, a gift shop sells Atatürk items of all shapes and sizes.

As you approach the tomb itself, look left and right at the gilded inscriptions, which are quotations from Atatürk’s speech celebrating the republic’s 10th anniversary in 1932. Remove your hat as you enter, and bend your neck to view the ceiling of the lofty hall, lined in marble and sparingly decorated with 15th- and 16th-century Ottoman mosaics. At the northern end stands an immense marble cenotaph, cut from a single piece of stone weighing 40 tons. The actual tomb is in a chamber beneath it.

It takes around two hours to see the whole site. It is virtually a pilgrimage site, so arrive early to beat the crowds; school groups frequently drop by midweek, especially in May, June and September.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/central-anatolia/ankara/sights/monument/ant-kabir

Statues illustrate the sterotypical occupations of Turkish women and men  supposedly showing  the strength of Turkey’s  people.

Whoever this man was, he had security with him as he walked along having his photo taken with visitors.  I think Randal, former Marine that he is,  was tempted to have his photo taken with this officer too.  

The tomb of the second president of Turkey.

“İsmet İnönü,  (born Sept. 24, 1884, Smyrna, Ottoman Empire—died Dec. 25, 1973, Ankara), Turkish army officer, statesman, and collaborator with and successor to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as president of the Turkish Republic.  Identified with one-party rule between 1939 and 1946, he later emerged as a champion of democracy. “  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/288786/Ismet-Inonu

A car and boat that had belonged to Atatὒrk were housed in a small wing of the complex.

The main museum with exhibits illustrating the history of Turkish independence didn’t allow photos.  Photos were allowed in the building that houses the tomb.

Marble cenotaph over Ataturk’s tomb

There were so many people posing for photos directly in front that I could only get this side view.

I like the contrast between the 3 men and the lone woman with her several bags. 

I used the long lens to get this photo and only when I was writing this email did I notice all of the people in both groups were female.  Now I wonder why. 

All women with various types of dress; some with their heads covered and some not.

We were there at closing so saw the changing of the guard.

I have to say that I think our “marching” looks less militaristic than this type of marching.  It would be interesting to know why some armies march one way and others differently.

On a more peaceful note, there were lots of lovely flowers.

Then it was back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner.  Randal and I had a time figuring out how to get our shower to work.  There were so many optional buttons for lights or radio or water jets.  I just wanted a plain old shower which we finally figured out.  I had planned to take a photo of the thing but forgot.  When we stayed in the same hotel our last night our room had a less fancy shower  but it was much easier to get the water to do what you expected it would do.

Some folks went directly into the Museum of Anatolian Civilization.  I joined the group that followed Taṣ up the hill to the castle neighborhood.  After sitting all morning and eating half a cheese pide at lunch, I needed  physical exercise more than I needed intellectual stimulation. 

The ones that got away…

While I was off doing my own wanderings, Randal visited this shop and almost bought a carpet but buyer and seller couldn’t agree on a price.

Saatli Kapı  (Clock Gate)

“The most interesting part of Ankara to poke about in, this well preserved quarter of thick walls and intriguing winding streets took its present shape in the 9^th century AD, when the Byzantine emperor Michael II constructed the outer ramparts.  The inner walls which the local authority is slowly rebuilding, date from the 7^th century.”  lonely planet Turkey

Taṣ pointing out the information about Ankara Castle. 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-castle-not-preserved-but-a-must-see-in-the-capital.aspx?pageID=238&nid=18083 is a great human interest article about the castle and the still lived in neighborhood that surrounds it. 

The constant and ongoing renovation taking place on the castle walls and within the castle walls.

Castle walls entrance with its few souvenir shops at the far end.

Construction workers were happy to pose

View from the Washington Restaurant where we were allowed to visit their roof top dining area to take some photos.

“1923’s …

Having worked at Karpiç Restaurant, until 1940, which was the only protocol restaurant of the period and frequented by Atatürk in 1923, Şişman Kardeşler gained privileged experience in the restaurant service and management, from cuisine and food culture to protocol service and food servicing manners.

1940’s …

Their experience and success in providing service for Atatürk and protocol members of the Republic of Turkey have resulted in assignment of Şişman Kardeşler for cuisine and service requirements of the protocol dinners thrown by the Embassy of Turkey in the USA, in a manner to represent Turkish cuisine.”

http://en.washingtonrestaurant.com.tr/

Washington Restaurant Review

“An institution in Ankara, the Washington Restaurant was established in 1955 with the money the owners raised while working at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. The restaurant remained in Kizilay until 1992, and then spent the next 14 years in the citadel before heading back to Kizilay. Now installed in a two-story house in Gaziosmanpasa, Washington remains true to the menu that has drawn politicians, journalists, and artists for more than 50 years.”

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/ankara/D39937.html#ixzz2RBuZGy95

Our walking group dissolved as we each went our own way.  I was attracted by both the felting and the old Ottoman building.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Akeka/286432591413535

Upstairs was the showroom.

Some colorful samples.

I loved the hats, the windows, lace curtains, floor..

And the original ceiling from the 500 year old building.

I wandered back down towards the museum through the crumbling but still lovely neighborhoods.

White-washed walls, wooden windows and balconies, and stone walls totally capture my imagination. 

The outer castle walls and the path to the park were inviting, but I felt compelled to make a quick visit to the museum so alas, another road not taken.

The streets below the castle were filled with small shops and restaurants which I was able to visit for a short time after racing through the museum in no time flat.

These were interesting.

Three bags full….

Not sure where this wool goes as there was no apparent carpet weaving happening anywhere we visited; much to Randal’s and our friend Dave Murphy’s disappointment. 

Gourds and spices galore.

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

This Buds for you. 

I believe these are the original Hittite statues from The Sphinx Gate.

Originally erected in Alaca, they are now housed in the museum.  We visited Alaca the following day and saw the reconstructions in situ.  More about Alaca and Çorum, the land of the Hittites in later emails.

My nephew teaches some classes at the University of Pennsylvania so I found  this sign worth a photo.

Our next stop of the day (and the next email) was the complex that houses Atatürk’s tomb. 

The weather cleared for our visit to Amasya Castle high above the town.

“…so graceful a place, so protected by its fortress mountains, that it was chosen for centuries as the city where Ottoman princes were sent to be educated in the arts of government.”  Mary Lee Settle