TIME FOR TURKEY!!!!!!!!!

I went through all of my emails and found this itinerary for our trip to Turkey. Since I haven't received another one, I assume that this is the itinerary that we will be using. I wanted to share it with you all along with some pictures. Sorry I can't identify all the photographs but when I return I'll post lots more photos.

ITINERARY:

Monday, July 28 - Arrival in Istanbul. Stay at the Arcadia Hotel for three nights. Welcome dinner.

Tuesday, July 29 - Depart for visit to the 17th century Spice Bazaar. Visit to Robert College, a private high school founded by Americans. Continue Bosphorous cruise on privately chartered boat, crossing back and forth between Europe and Asia. Seafood lunch in Arnavutkoy. Drive to Uskudar to try out hand at ancient Turkish art of Ebru, paper marbling, by one of the leading ebru artists of Turkey, Mr. Hikmet Barutcugil. Reception at Turkish Cultural Foundation Turkey office.

Wednesday, July 30 - Full day Istanbul tour. We will visit the Blue Mosque. We next visit Hippodrome, the former center of supportive and political activities of Constantinople. Then visit to the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. Before lunch, visit the Topkapi Palace. After lunch at Konyali Restaurant we enter the intricate maze of the Harem and rooms decorated with Iznik tiles. Tour will continue with visit to Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia). It contains some of the finest mosaics to have survived from the Byzantine Period. If time permits, we will see an underground cistern. Live Turkish classical music at dinner.

Thursday, July 31 - Departure for Adapazari. Visit, meeting and lunch with teachers at Enka Schools. Depart for Iznik and visit to St. Sophia. We proceed to Bursa and visit the Great Mosque. Our visit will continue with the Koza Han, home of the Silk Trade. Dinner and overnight at Kervansaray Hotel. After dinner we will enjoy a traditional Turkish Shadow Theatre: Karagoz.

Friday, August 1 - If time permits we will visit the Green Mosque and Tomb. Proceed to Ephesus. Lunch will be taken enroute. Afternoon visit to Ephesus. We will have a chance to sit in the theatre where St. Paul preached. Ephesus is among the best classical cities of the Mediterranean, and the perfect place to get the feeling for what life was like in Roman times. Our next stop will be the house where it is believed the Virgin Mary spent the last years of her life. Dinner and overnight at the at the Charisma Hotel in Kusadasi.

Saturday, August 2 - We depart for Pamukkale. After breakfast we move on to the Ephesus Archaeological Museum. Late afternoon visit to the remains of Aphrodisias, the city dedicated to the goddess of Love. We will visit the Temple of Aphrodite, built around the 1st century B.C. Lunch in Karacasu. Visit to a village school. Then we will drive to the delight "frozen waterfalls" and the hot healing mineral springs of Pamukkale. We will visit Hierapolis. Dinner and overnight at Richmond Thermal Hotel.

Sunday, August 3 - Drive to Konya. We will visit the Museum and Tomb of Rumi. Its dome is completely covered with intricate faience mosaics. Lunch will be taken enroute. Our next stop will be the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk. We will be given a private tour of this site. There we will visit the magnificent, early thirteenth century Agzikarajan Seljuk caravanserai. We drive to the land of wonders that is Cappadocia. The Byzantines carved hundreds of churches into the rock of Cappadocia. Dinner and overnight at LykiaLodge Kapadoyka.

Monday, August 4 - Depart for full day Cappadocia tour. Our first stop will be the celebrated Goreme Open Air Museum. Lunch will be served enroute. We will visit the Underground city of Kaymakli. In Avanos, the town famous for its pottery, we will visit a pottery workshop. Dinner and overnight at hotel. After dinner we will attend a Whirling Dervishers ceremony at the magnificent Saruhan Caravanserai.

Tuesday, August 5 - We depart for the city of Ankara. First we will visit the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. Lunch at Ankara Castle. Then we will visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. We will attend a briefing on domestic/foreign policy issues hosted by Eurasia Strategic Research Foundation. Dinner and overnight at Gordion Hotel.

Wednesday, July 9 - We depart from Hotel. Transfer to airport for home bound flights through Istanbul.

Larry Hewett