Friday, June 3

On Thursday, after touring the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, we had lunch where we celebrated Courtney's birthday (note the cake in the photo).

After lunch, we went to the Spice Market where we sampled Turkish delight, among other things. We then boarded the van to travel to a small church called Chora (meaning something like "in the country" because the church was originally built outside Constantinople's city walls).

Chora contains many beautiful mosaics depicting the lives of Jesus and his mother. The photos of the mosaics on the left depict first, Jesus and his mother and second, Theodore Metochites (who restored the church in the 14th century) presenting the church to Christ.

After Chora, we returned to the hotel and said goodby to Ersin, our wonderful guide who has been with us throughout Turkey.

Today was a free day and we all did some shopping and explored Istanbul. We are getting ready to fly back to the US in the morning. We leave for the airport at 6:20 am. It will be sad to leave Istanbul but I am sure that everyone is looking forward to getting back home.

On Thursday, we explored Istanbul together. We visited the Blue Mosque, built in 1616 by Sultan Ahmet. It sits across from Hagia Sophia, built in the sixth century as a church and converted into a mosque in 1453. In 1923, it was turned into a museum by Attaturk.

Wednesday, June 1

Today we drove from Canakkale to Istanbul. We arrived early in the afternoon and toured Topkapi Palace, the former palace of the Ottoman Emperor.

The photos include a shot of the students, a picture of the Mosque of Sulieman and the New Mosque from Tokapi and a view of the convergence of three bodies of water: the Golden Horn (left), the Bosphoros (center), and the Sea of Marmara (right).

Tuesday, May 31

After Sardis, we traveled to Izmir for the night. This morning, we traveled north to the ancient site of Pergamum. We visited the acropolis where we viewed, among other things, the temple of the emperor Trajan and the remarkable theater. Afterwards, we descended from the acropolis and explored the sanctuary of Asclepius, the god of healing.

We then drove to Canakkale where we will spend the night. Tomorrow morning, we drive to Istanbul.

Tuesday, May 31

On Monday morning, we left Pamukkale for Sardis, the former capital of the Lydian empire and an important city in Hellenistic and Roman times. There we viewed an ancient synagogue and the ruins of the temple of Artemis.

Tuesday, May 31

After Aphrodisias, we continued west to Pamukkale, the site of the ancient city of Hieropolis. Pamukkale is particularly interesting because the spring at Hieropolis contains a large amount of calcium that has built up over the millenia that the water has flowed over the mountainside. The result is a white cliff face of calcium carbonate. We were able to walk up from the bottom of the mountainside to the site barefoot (since shoes damage the site).

Tuesday, May 31

It has been a busy couple of days. On Sunday, we traveled from Kusadasi west to Aphrodisias, a city famous for its sculpture. Pictured are one of the reliefs from the Sebastion (temple to the Roman emperors), the entrance to the temple of Aphrodite, and the stadium.