Chora church Oman Thursday August 39

August 27

Each year I aim to mark this anniversary with something special that nurtured my spirit. Last year I was in Alaska, on the Chilcoot Trail. The year previous I hiked Binna Burra to O'Reillys. Or perhaps it was a year earlier? Anyway this year it's Istanbul, doing the sort of adventurous travel that I like.
Life is an adventure.
To the past, I say thank you. To the future I say yes.

Aya Sofya on Wednesday August 28

Halva for sale downtown

Looks like the marble on the acropolis.

Ready made food for dinner

38 lira, plus 2 pieces of baklava (2 lira) for dessert. I'm doing very well on two meals a day. Have to watch dehydration though.

Big clue I’d found the right street

We just have too much shit

At the exit.

Believe it or not, I found the shortcut to the exit on Akropol Caddesi

Classic patterns

More splendid flooring

Fantastic mosaic work

Second century AD mask mosaic floor and earlier era wall colors in Building Z

The old road leading to shrines downhill

This section of seating still has its original facade pieces

Temple of Dionysus stage left

Up to the nosebleed seats

Amphitheater

Unusually steep this one

Trajan’s temple

Presumably this is Trajan

Nice belt

Temple pieces awaiting inventorying

Amazing that these 2,000 pieces survived medieval Pergamon residents needing lime for cement and cistern construction, and nineteenth century German archaeologists building museum collections.

Small souvenirs safely protected

Bergama acropolis

A single olive tree but that's all you need to shade up and enjoy the panoramic views.

Tea in paradise

5 lira from a gruff stall owner who didn't understand me saying: cay lutfen. No doubt I had the wrong suffix or something equally ungrammatical, but I don't give a rat's.

The cable car is working!

Couldn't find this while googling last night at Pergamon Pension. I could ride it back for 20 lira, but I'll probably walk.

Acropolis parking lot

I made it by 11am, at a snail's pace as it's hot. It's very windy too, and it looks like the landscape of inland Northern California, except with a couple of ruined Roman acquaducts. Very few cars driving up and I'm the only pedestrian.

Beginning of splendid views

Eureka!

1. Kale S to a couple of steps onto the acropolis road. Other routes I found required the use of wire cutters to get through a fence.

10am lost in the hillside of traditional Greek houses and alleys

Grapes, pomegranates, and figs. Probably an olive in there too, if I look long enough.

Goal for Saturday August 31

The Acropol above Pergamon. I set out to walk it, just like the Ancient Greeks did. Crossed Tabak Kopru and set off to find the shortcut, 1. Kale S to the access road.

An interesting looking hamam in town

C16th Haci Hekim Hamami. Lonely Planet says it's a nice one for provincial Turkey. Haven't tried any yet.

My guest house

While it looks romantic, my ground floor room is a little beaten up. Pros: the A/C works, there's hot water in the shower, and the bed linen is clean. Cons: bathroom should be cleaner. Don't care for a bar of used soap left in shower soap dish, and the "free" stained slippers left by an earlier guest also going in the trash can, right alongside the soap. I packed toiletries as usual, but I went back and checked the Agoda.com booking I made. In the fine print I see toiletries aren't listed. When compared to the other rooms photographed, I see I have a cheaper but inferior room. I will ask for a price discount tomorrow when I officially check in and pay. Today being a public holiday, the woman who helped me wasn't in a rush to do the formalities.
One of the drawbacks of doing onwards reservations while traveling. I'm more used to booking.com but it's blocked in Turkey as far as I can tell. So the layout of fine print is unfamiliar.

View of acropolis from guesthouse

The roof deck is a bit worse for wear, and was being used to sun dry big pans of tomato paste.

A traditional Ottoman house in Pergamon

I can see the Greek Acropolis from the rooftop patio. Definitely out in the country now.

Friday my home for next 3 nights

The Bergama pension, 25 euros per.

Welcome lunch in Bergama

After being driven from Istanbul by Ibrahim, we had lunch for 40 lira in a local cafe. Much nicer than the typical roadhouse slop at the one place we stopped for a mediocre cay and a bathroom break.

Bosphorus cruise for another day

The end of my Tuesday

Sulaymaniye Mosque from the ferry terminals near Galata bridge

Fresh fruit

Another souvenir idea

Filo pastry rolling pins!

Pide for dinner after another full day

Simit for sale

Amazing lemon drink seller

Rose petal delight

Definitely a possibility for taking home to Seattle when my trip is over.

Turkish delight and how

Combinations new to me.

Turkish coffee

Outside the arcade is the real action

Tea (cay)

Dried fruits and nuts

Reminds me of Egypt

Tuesday in the Egyptian (spice) Market

I used my Istanbulkart to take the tram to Eminonu.