Are You Smarter than Your Phone?

We live in an era of smart stuff.  Our televisions remember our favorite shows, our automobiles remember and adjust the seat to fit us, and our microwave ovens pop every kernel of popcorn to perfection. And then there is the smart phone. I remember those heavy black rotary dial telephones. They didn't have many automated features and they didn't have the time.  You actually had to call a certain number and a nice female voice would tell you how nice it was to shop at some local business before announcing the time.  She always  gave the time in the briefest manner. Never "20 minutes before eight"or "20 'til eight" but seven-forty. And never "quarter after six" or "quarter past six" but six fifteen. She had a very nice voice. and sometimes I would call just hear her voice. But I was young then and had a fixation on Annette Funicello. Now I can see Annette in full color on my Samsung Galaxy SIII but somehow she looks different. I think I'll check out Carly Foulkes.

Do you remember the old portable phones? Boy, were they cheesy! We saw a lot of them in old TV shows.  I had a boss once that had a phone in his car that had dial-up.  Then we had those huge hand held things that very few people could afford.  Of course now folks on Medicaid can get a cellphone. 

I was somewhat reluctant to purchase a cellphone.  There are times when I don't want to be disturbed. With some cellphones you can lose all anonymity   There are times when I don't  want to be known. However, with some encouragement of my spouse, I became a part of the cellphone owning hordes. She convinced me I need one by using the old "What if I need you and you're not around" argument.  Now I carry a smartphone, and it's always within reach. Now it's as much of my everyday life as the belt which holds up my trousers. 

By definition a smartphone is a portable phone that is built on an operating system with advanced computing and connectivity.  In other words, these phones are not just for talking. To truly utilize the power of the smartphone you must use certain applications or "aps".  This is cell phone jargon for programs.  The aps have made me a true fan of smartphones. Here are a few of the ways I use my phone, and this is by no means stretching the capabilities of it. 

Evolution of the cellphone

While visiting a son in Phoenix he requested his Mom make him a banana pudding. We knew not where to find bananas in Phoenix, but by speaking the word "bananas" into the phone a kind voice directed us to the nearest Safeway store.  While in northern California we used the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) feature to determine our location and dictate a route.  While on vacation in Turkey we used our smartphones to update our Facebook pages with photos and comments. At one attraction photographs were not allowed, but I was able to make sketches on the screen of my smartphone and used the drawings as illustrations on my blog. We frequently check our email as well as airline flight schedules. Photos and video shot with our phones are often used in my YouTube videos, on Picasa or Flickr, and/or in our Blurb or Shutterfly books.  At the gym I plug the earbuds into my phone and listen to my favorite music on Pandora or tunes downloaded from the internet. This list of uses is by no means complete, just some of my favorites. Literally thousands of applications are available. 

The technology of a smartphone is awe inspiring. The same technology in a smartphone is used for automatic pilot in airplanes, controlling military drones, anti-theft devices for our automobiles, and a host of other applications. 

 Am I smarter than my phone? Probably, but sometimes I'm not sure how!

Planes Over the Islands

Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 Type 0

On the 441 acre island in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor is the Pacific Aviation Museum.  This museum on Ford Island is a monument to aviation in the Pacific housed in old aircraft hangers from another era.  Don't expect to see and big collection of aircraft here.  Do expect to see a superb collection of aircraft depicting the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Hangar 37 has over 41,000 square feet of exhibition space including theater and gift shop.  My favorite part of this museum is what it does best. And that is it explains all aspects of the attack in graphic detail. When entering the first thing that catches your eye is the Zero.  Mitsubishi's superb fighter plane of the Japanese air force. It was faster and more maneuverable than American planes. Also seen is an American Curtis P-40 as flown by the Army Air Force from nearby Wheeler field. You may have seen Ben Afleck flying one in the movie Pearl Harbor. Seemingly out of place is a small red plane hanging from the ceiling which was flown by a  civilian on the day of the attack who saw the everything from the air. There is also a rather pristine B-25 Mitchell bomber on display depicting the aircraft used in Doolittle's famous Tokyo raid. Near the bomber is a kiosk with a computer screen, webcam and keyboard. You can use this to take your photograph in front of the B-25 and post it directly to your facebook page.  On the walls are graphics explaining the flight paths of the various attacking aircraft. A SBD "Dauntless" dive bomber sits close by showing the rigors of battle. No longer pristine, the paint is worn by salt spray and dents are on the fuselage.  We notice aircraft wreckage in one display and discover a very interesting story.  The Japanese Zero crash landed on the island and the pilot was rescued by a local Japanese resident. At this time there was a large Japanese population in Hawaii who had come to the islands as sugarcane and pineapple farm workers. Some were sympathetic to the enemy. This pilot, Airman 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi, was sheltered by a local resident. However, less sympathetic other local residents took the pilot from his protector and killed him.  The Japanese sympathizer later committed suicide.  There are two more planes in this exhibit hanger. A F4F "Wildcat" depicting the "Cactus Air Force" in a great display and the Boeing Stearman biplane trainer in which the former president Geo. H. W. Bush soloed.

(clockwise) Zero wreckage, Dauntless, Wildcat, Aeronca

You exit this building  near the tarmac with the tower close by and walk toward Hanger 79. along the way pass the F-86 Sabre, F-4 Phantom II, SH-3 Sea King and others.  As you enter the hanger notice the bullet holes in the glass panels on the right.  Those holes were made by the invading Japanese planes on December 7th.  To the left is a guide with information about the contents of the hanger. Hanging overhead is the F-86 and MiG-15 from the Korean Conflict posed in attack mode.  Underneath are two jet engines representing the axial-flow and centrifugal types. Our guide was very helpful explaining the operation of each. Elsewhere in the hanger are newer aircraft such as the F-14 and F-15. And a number of helicopters. In the corner is a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in the shark's mouth design of Chenault's Flying Tigers.  There's an F-15 cockpit for training purposes and a B-52 nose section.  One of the most interesting aircraft is the Soviet MiG-21 with U.S. insignia. The Fishbed was used as an aggressor in dogfight exercises.

Mig-15, F-86, MiG-21

The Pacific Aviation Museum is a great treat for the history or aviation buff. But it is only accessible from the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center via shuttle bus.

                   Museum Aircraft

• Grumman F-14D Tomcat
• McDonnell   Douglas    F-15C Eagle
• Bell AH-1 Cobra
• Bell UH-1 Iroquois
• Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King
• Convair F102A Delta Dagger
• McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II
• North American Aviation F-86 Sabre
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
• Curtis P-40E Warhawk
• Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk
• Lockheed T-33 (T-Bird) Shooting Star
• North American T-6 Texan
• Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat
• Douglas SBD Dauntless
• Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 Type 0
• Aeronca Model 65TC
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21

                                                       Click here for Pacific Aviation Museum website
                                                                        Pearl Harbor Naval Base
                                                                        U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

These Houses Rock

Some of the most incredibly fascinating things we saw in Turkey were the underground cities of Cappadocia. Upon arrival in Cappadocia we saw what are known as "fairy castles".  These are stone , actually lava rock, monoliths created by natural forces shaping the stone.  These columns can be a few feet high to over one hundred feet tall. This is the land of few trees, and mountains jut from the lava rock plain reaching for the cerealean sky.  Dwellings have been carved into these stone mountains which were created by an eruption of Mount Erciyes.   It is an uphill walk from the parking area to the entrance of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The people in this barren land found that they could easily carve a dwelling place in the soft rock.  These man-made caves number in the thousands, and many are connected vertically and horizontally via shafts. Early Christians in the third century found refuge in these caves. Therefore, several of the caves are churches or places for Christian worship.  One of the most notable is the church of Saint Barbara, the first woman martyred for her faith.  The interior of the cave is small with religious symbols on the walls, most notably the sign of the fish and the cross.  A baptistery is also carved from the stone. These structures are very crude.  There are no square corners or indications of exacting craftsmanship. These are purely utilitarian structures.  As you return to the parking lot you will notice another church entrance. After passing the security guard you walk on a slightly elevated wooden pathway. This church is cruciform. The art on the wall is Byzantine and beautifully restored. All cave dwellings are not a part of the World Heritage Site.  Private citizens live in the caves as well as conventional housing.  There is also a hotel carved from stone with rooms renting for rates in excess of $1,000 per night. We did not stay in that hotel. However, the next day we would visit a modern family living in a cave house.

The visit to the underground city was fascinating. The entrance was a portal in a low hill of lava rock.  We entered the cool darkness after walking about twenty feet down to the entrance. The walls were rough carved stone just like we had seen in the churches. There were passages off the the main corridor which led to a large room. The walls and ceiling are curved, which reminded me of some of Gaudi's architecture.  Our guide showed us a cistern which caught water from the outside and the huge stone which was rolled into place for security, effectively closing off the city from the outside world. There were twelve more floors beneath us.  At one time 20,000 people had lived here with all their livestock.  There were olive presses, stables, storage rooms, chapels, and of course  living areas. Smoke from the fires were dissipated through hundreds of small vents to the surface revealing no evidence of life underground.  I held Claudette's hand as we walked through the dimly lit passageways.

"Something about this is familiar," I said to her.

"What? You've never been to Turkey before.  The only tunnel like this we've ever been in was in Chattanooga, and you banged your head on the overhead there," she said with a smile.

"Oh, I know what it was. I saw this show on the History Channel about it."

"What did it say?"

"They thought it was built in the 7th or 8th century B.C. The experts thought these underground cities were built for folks to hide in, and some thought that they may have been built with the help of aliens, I replied"

"Yeah, right!" said she in disbelief.

"I don't know about aliens, but I believe that the third century Christians could have used them to escape persecution.  Remember, the Romans would douse them with oil, light 'em up and use 'em for torches in their gardens."

"I guess that would be incentive enough to hide," she said.

We continued our walk through this subterranean metropolis before emerging into the cool air of a September afternoon. There were local women  selling dolls in native costume.  These small dolls, some of which were about ten inches tall and some taller, were only about three or four Turkish lira each.  We bought some for the little girls next door. These women were the stereotypical peasant women  dressed in baggy pants with kerchiefs covering their heads. I'm sure they were much younger than they appeared.  They appeared, as we would say in the southern vernacular,  "Rode hard and put away wet!"

Evening was rapidly approaching as we went to our hotel nearby.  We wanted to retire early because we had a 4:30 wake-up call to go for our hot-air balloon ride. But, before I drifted off I remembered.  Inside the passageways in the underground city was like walking inside the lava tubes in volcanic areas of Hawaii.

The Goreme Open Air Museum from a balloon

floor plan of church carved from lava rock
Samsung Galaxy SIII

inside a house carved out of lava rock

The City of Two Continents

Sultan Ahmed's Mosque

The Swissair A-300 seemed to bounce on the runway as we completed the flight from Zurich. Finally, journey's end. It seemed like forever since we had left our home on the Carolina coast, and now we were going to spend a few days in Turkey. Prior to our trip friends asked me "Why Turkey?" To which I responded, "Why not." But actually I wanted to visit a Moslem country that we deemed safe.  When you are no longer young nor fleet of foot you tend to pick destinations that don't require any quick actions. Therefore, Turkey seemed like a logical choice.

We deplaned and caught our bus to our hotel in Istanbul, a city of 12.5 million. The Attaturk International Airport is on the European side of the Bosphorus Strait, which flows between the European and Asian parts of the city. Later our guide, an English speaking Turkish woman in her early forties, briefed us on what to expect. Certain caveats prevailed, the most important of which was "Don't drink the water." But according to Yesim bottled water was readily available on the tour bus.  The price was right; 1TL (Turkish lira) for 2 bottles and 1 TL was equal to about $.70 U.S. We took advantage of the service by "stocking up" every day before we left the bus. We dined that night in the hotel restaurant with a view of the ships moving on the Bosphorus, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara.

Inside The Blue Mosque

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel.  It was buffet style with a variety of unfamiliar foods. There was a huge variety of pastries and fresh honey still in the comb.   I did recognize  a croissant and ate it with some butter and honey.  Fresh fruit and yogurt was good, and I had a glass of fresh guava juice that was delicious.  Yogurt is very popular in Turkey and is eaten at every meal.

After breakfast we were off to see the sights of this famous and fourth most visited city in the world. The first site we saw was the Hippodrome. I mentioned to Claudette that the name sure sounded like hippodome, which, as everyone knows, is an aquatic structure for use by hippopotamuses.  Actually, hippo means horse in Greek, and a hippodrome is a horse racing track.  The one in Istanbul was build in 203 A.D. and was the site of many chariot races, to the delight of up to 100,000 spectators.  Today the grandstands are gone as well as most all of the lavish adornments. However, a obelisk from Egypt and a spiral column remain from its heyday. There is one relic from the twentith century, Kaiser Wilhelm's Fountain. I seem to recall that  the Kaiser sought and received Turkey's support in their ill-fated attempt to win the "war to end all wars".  It was a bright sunny morning in September, and we were inundated by street vendors. Many were selling guide books, hand made flutes, scarves, and various trinkets. One man balanced six layers of giant soft pretzels on his head! The peddlers were persistant but not near as pesky as those in Tangier.

Inside Topkapi

Topkapi is one of the most famous sites in the world, and this palace of the Ottoman sultans is within the old walled city; which was the first walled city in Europe to be besieged by cannon. As gunpowder and firearms moved west from their origin in China, the great city on the Silk Road then known as Constantinople was a formidable target.  Construction began in 1459 on the huge palace, which is a single level structure covering 7.5 million square feet, or about 130 American football fields.  Within its walls are the national treasury, living quarters, bakeries, armory, library, harem, and of course, a mosque.  At its peak it housed 4,000 Turks. Unlike  other palaces such as Versailles, which were designed and built by one man, Topkapi evolved from its original builder over hundreds of years.  Most of the changes were made by Suleiman the Magnificent, the same Suleiman who recaptured Jerusalem from the Christians during the crusades. The site is guarded by Turkish military and other security guards.   We passed through the metal detectors unobstructed after running our tickets through the scanner to unlock the turnstile. One of the big advantages of being a part of a tour group is that you get your tickets to attractions before entering, and that means that you don't have to wait in the ticket line. The actual entrance is inside the massive Imperial Gate. At such a famous historic site as this there are always crowds of people, and every attraction had a queue. Photographs were not allowed in the interiors, but  I was able to make a few drawings. Virtually every object on display was covered with precious and semi-precious stones. There were all sorts of bracelets and necklaces as well as jewel encrusted daggers. There was also furniture gilded with inlaid jewels.  The rooms were dimly lit, but everything in them sparkled.  We did not have a chance to visit the harem (it required a separate ticket) or the armory. Our time was short, and we needed to be at the Blue Mosque.

Inside Hagai Sophia

Sultan Ahmed's Mosque was built in the seventeenth century and has several unique features. It is normally referred to as the "Blue Mosque" because its interior has thousands of blue ceramic tiles lining its walls. A unique feature of the exterior is that it has six minarets. The norm is four, but in the case of a very small mosque I saw near Ephesus, there was only one minaret. When first constructed, minarets were the place where the call to prayer was given by a mauzzin over fifty feet off the ground. Now the call to prayer is from a loudspeaker mounted high in the minaret.  "God is greatest! God is greatest! God is greatest! I bear witness that there is no witness except God... " This we heard five times per day. We had to remove our shoes before entering the mosque and were given a bag to carry them in. Each mosque is equipped outside for worshipers to wash their feet before entering but we did not have to do that.  The women were not required to cover their heads, because there was no service during our visit.  Worship areas are separated according to gender. The interior of the mosque was a thing of beauty even though over the years much of it has been plundered by conquering nations.  Many verses from the Koran adorned the walls, and calligraphy of gold and precious stones sparkled in the light from the many stained glass windows.   Lush carpets covered the floor, which was nice for our unshod feet.  After exiting we had a glass of tea while waiting for the tour group to assemble.

A street near The Grand Bazaar

The streets were crowded with cars, trucks, scooters, and trams, which frequently do not move due to the heavy traffic.  There are tourists and locals on the streets. Many men are moving heavy cartons on hand trucks. We had a lunch served cafeteria style and continued to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is the largest covered shopping mall in the world.  Yes, larger that the Mall of America in Minnesota.   There are over three thousands shops, some only four feet by six feet in area along the sixty-one streets.. There is a great view of the Bazaar roof of many domes in the James Bond film, "Skyfall".  Outside the Bazaar the street shops have a variety of products as well, and with exception of the fumes of motor vehicles, you get a whiff of the exotic; some of the same odors smelled by the travelers on the Silk Road centuries ago. The aromas of spices and foods being cooked are most notable. Prices in this area are usually quoted in euros and are always negotiable. I think the quality of goods in this area should probably be questioned.  Five euros for a large bottle of Chanel No. 5 may indicate that the product may not be authentic.

Our next  site was Hagia Sophia, one of the most impressive structures in Istanbul.  This huge mosque, built as a Christian church  in 360 A.D., was the largest Christian church until the construction of the cathedral in Seville, Spain, in 1453. The huge domed structure is large enough to house the Statue of Liberty.  It is over 30 feet taller.  After its conversion to a mosque during the Ottoman Turk Empire, the Christian mosaics and decorative elements were covered by paint or stucco.  In 1935 when Hagia Sophia opened as a museum some of these elements were uncovered. Most of the wall art is in the Byzatine style.   Since it was not built as a mosque, the altar for the worship leader had been moved to the corner so that worshipers faced Mecca. It was a real treat to see a place of worship pay homage to two of the world's great religions.

A view from the Bosphorous

Rumelian Castle

We then  boarded a boat for a voyage on the Bosphorous Strait, which separates Europe from Asia. This waterway allows passage from the Mediterean Sea via the Aegean and Marmara Seas to the Black Sea.  Needless to say, it is always busy with watercraft. We boarded a motor vessel about 75 feet long for a  late afternoon cruise.  It was windy and cool when we left the pier, but glasses of hot tea soon warmed us up. A voice in heavily accented English pointed out landmarks on the shores. From the fantail of the boat we could see sunset over the city's mosques. It was a Kodak moment; actually, the first of quite a few. Upon the shore were the palaces of the ancient sultans who once ruled the area, many of which had been converted into luxury hotels. One of the most impressive structures is the Rumelian Castle, built between 1451 and 1452 on the European side of the strait.  Darkness soon surrounded us, and the light on the water came only from the stream of vessels and the full moon. There are only two bridges connecting the continents here, but more are in planning stages, as is the construction of a tunnel. One of these suspension bridges has lights on it which change color every twenty minutes.  We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the Bosphorus, which wasn't included in the tour package, but we were glad we opted for the extra tour. We were hungry when we disembarked and glad it was time for dinner at Kervanardy's, a popular restaurant.

Belly Dancer

This was quite a treat.  There was a delicious three course meal, including adult beverages, and a fantastic show. The show featured belly dancers as well as folk dancers. The dancers were awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed the show.   The wait staff put flags on our tables according to nationality, and there was a singer who sang in different languages.  And yes, he did get me up on the stage for an inspiring version of Old MacDonald's Farm.  It was a memorable night.

We climbed into bed exhausted.  Tomorrow, Ankara.

Efes: It's Not Just a Turkish Beer

Ruins of the Temple of Artemis once
the size of a soccer field

One of the most interesting places we visited in Turkey was the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus.  In Turkish the name is Efes. (Efes is the name of the the local beer.) It was a beautiful fall day.  The air was brisk. The sky was cloudless and a light shade of cobalt blue. The sun was brilliant, making the reflected light from the ruins almost blinding. This city is one of the most famous in the ancient world, having its beginnings around 6000 years before the birth of Christ and over 300,000 inhabitants at its peak. You enter the site at the high part of the city, and your first view is the sprawling metropolis below you. There was once a harbor here, but silt deposits over thousands of years have relocated the harbor six miles away.  Every major empire has ruled Ephesus under various names.

One of the first places you see among portions of fallen columns is a theater.  It's a small one, only seating 1500 people. It was a roofed theater; the roofs were usually of canvas and removable. The masonry of the structures always amaze me.  So much of the stonework is mortarless. "Isn't this theater a lot like the one in Vaison la Romaine?" I asked.

"Yes," said Claudette, "but the one in France is still being used."

Ionic and Corinthian capital

She and I left the theater and ventured through the agora, marketplace, lined by columns. On one of the capitals, the top of a column, we spotted something quite interesting.  "Look at this capital," I said, "It's  weird."

"It sure is," said my architecture fan wife. "It's a combination of Ionic and Corinthian styles."

We continued our walk down the paved street with the ruins of ancient buildings on either side.  On the left we saw a large relief carving of the goddess of tennis shoes, Nike. It is a beautiful piece of work.

The city of Ephesus relates prominently to the spreading of Christianity. The Apostle Paul was here for three years, and John was here as well. The book of John was probably written here. It is believed that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was here also. History is littered with the names of the people who have walked these streets: Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, Emperors Hadrian and Constantine. Today Claudette and Tony were here.  We stopped to take a good look at the Temple of Hadrian. This was the second structure in our travels we had seen with the Roman emperor's name on it.  The other was Hadrian's Wall in England. The Roman Empire was indeed vast, from the British Isles to Asia Minor and North Africa.

Looking down the main street of Ephesus

The street is of rough paving stones as we continue downhill with the white stone of ancient structures all around. We stepped into an ancient restroom.  The ancient toilets still exist.  They are communal, with no privacy, and with a fountain in the center.  Fragrant shrubbery tended to camouflage any offensive odors. There is one thing I don't understand about toilets. Over two thousand years ago the Romans had sit down toilets,  but today in much of Europe and Asia we see squatter toilets. Did they not learn anything from the ancients?

As we continued walking we found ourselves at a narrow gate. Claudette stood and measured the width with her outstretched arms.  She could barely touch the vertical posts of stone decorated with a relief of the ancient Hercules. This gate served to render the street pedestrian only, since no vehicle would be narrow enough to enter.

We continued our walk with the tourists of many other lands. The sounds of many voices in many languages rendered a cacophony of sound. It was almost musical.  Little groups were clustered around guides carrying different colored flags.  People were posing for pictures in front of the ruins. There were Americans in baseball caps, Moslem women with heads covered, Indian women in saris, and an unbelievable variety of hats worn by Japanese women.  At the bottom of the hill the street ends in front on the Library of Celsus.

Our tour group.  Our guide has an umbrella rather than a flag. 

It is a great restoration of its former glory.  It once held 12,000 scrolls in the large room behind the huge Ionic and Corinthian columns. It was the third largest library in the ancient world. The building faces east to provide the morning light for readers. Celsus, a Greek, had been a governor of Asia and counsel to the Roman government. His son completed the library in his honor. The library entombs Celsus.  It was extremely rare for someone to be entombed in a public building or even inside the city.  Supposedly, the building facing the library was a brothel and there was a tunnel leading from the main reading room in the library under the street to this building. Neither the apostle Paul or John would have visited this library because it was finished some eighty years after their visits. But there is the image of a minorah carved at the base of one of the columns. Our tour group lingered here long enough to have a group photo taken.

We walked through the ruins of another  agora with many toppled columns and then climbed a small hill.  From the shade of some olive trees we had a great view of the Grand Theater. It was one of the largest and best preserved of the ancient world and had seats for 24,000. It was the site of gladiator fights and theatrical productions, many of which were pornographic.

The apostle Paul may have spoken here during his three years in Ephesus.  We do know that he was jailed here for preaching against the pagan religions of the day. Paul caused a riot led by the silversmith Demetrius, because the silversmiths believed Paul was hurting their business of making small statues of the goddess Artemis.  Paul was imprisoned in Ephesus before continuing his third missionary journey.

We left the best preserved classical city of the eastern Mediterranean and were soon back at our hotel overlooking the Aegean Sea.  We were were ready for an Efes of the liquid kind.

They Don't Eat Turkey in Turkey.

That's true; I was there, and not a turkey was to be seen anywhere. You see, turkeys aren't from Turkey.  They originated in North America. When introduced to Europe they were considered exotic, and exotic birds were thought to come from Asian countries. So, they became known as turkeys.

Of course Porky Pig and all other "oinkers" are safe as well, since Turkey is a Moslem country, and Moslems don't eat pork. They do eat sheep though; shish-ka-bobs, sheep meat, or baby sheep meat grilled on skewers.  It's mighty tasty. The meat is from long-tailed sheep, although I'm not sure I can distinguish the difference between long-tailed and short-tailed sheep meat. Kinda like trying to tell if your burger was made of Herford or Santa Gertrudis beef.

Sheep meat is served in a lot of stews as well.  I don't know why the Turks eat a lot of stews.  Maybe it's because they have a limited number of cooking pots, I'm not sure. In some places you have fish, primarily near one of the five bodies of water that border Turkey. Fish is cooked with the head on. My dear wife refuses to eat a fish that is looking at her. However, most lovers of fish like me believe that the more intact a fish is when cooked the better the flavor.

What the Turks serve a lot of is vegetables, including many varieties of beans and squashes. There are zucchinis and pumpkins as well as others. They boil 'em, roast 'em, grill 'em, and of course put 'em in stews. Not any of these squashes are known for their robust flavor, but, the Turks excel in their use of spices.  Even the most boring slice of zucchini can be "kicked up a notch" (I got that from Emeril Lagasse.) with herbs and spices. Cumin, saffron, nutmeg, garlic, cinnamon, and others are for sale in large containers at the outdoor markets. I'll bet there are a hundred different ways to fix zucchini, and every one of them is tasty. We enjoyed a number of soups for lunch. A bowl of soup was usually about 4.5 Turkish Lira. But at one place they charged  

us 9.5 TL. (I guess they saw the big gold tour bus coming and hiked up the price.)  We had bulgar wheat, lentil, and chickpea soup.  I especially like the chickpeas cooked in olive oil and paprika. There were a great variety of breads as well, but, alas, no cornbread. You see, the Turks don't eat corn.  A French influence?  The pastries are delightful and too numerous to name, many with honey, figs, and dates.  At our hotels' breakfast buffets there would be over fifty different pastries, many the size ofhors d'oeuvres.  

I would be remiss, no, very remiss, if I did not mention Turkish yogurt. I like yogurt, and I hope this fact does not damage my "macho" image.  It's good for you, and and tastes good.  Even Jamie Lee Curtis agrees with me about this. Turkish yogurt is extremely thick and rich.  You can stick a spoon in it, and it will stand up straight.  Flip your plate upside down, and it won't fall off. Mix local honey straight from the comb with it, add some poppy seeds, and it is a treat fit for the gods. They eat a lot of good food in Turkish Asia-Minor, but don't look for turkey on the menu.

Afterthought: Beverages in Turkey usually consist of water (which you cannot drink), tea, and coffee. Tea is strong and sweet, and is usually served in a small glass for 2 TL. Bottled water is available.  Even though Turkey is a Moslem country, and drinking alcohol is against the teachings of Islam, beer and wine are available. I found "Efes" beer compatible with mainstream American lagers. The local high octane beverage is called raki.  It is a clear odorless liquid that I'm sure would burn with a pale blue flame. There is a reason they offer it accompanied with water. 

A Bit Off the Beaten Path

Hittite Vase

"Ankara" Yesim said accenting the first syllable and rolling the "r". "is the second largest city in Turkey."

We were now on a small twenty-passenger bus due to the narrow streets we would be traveling. Earlier in the day while still on our big bus we had visited the tomb of  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The area around the moseleum was extremely crowded.  The plaza in front of his tomb will hold 50,000 people. Our guide, Yisim, was adimate about the Turkish people's love for Ataturk. Incedently, Ataturk was a name bestowed on Mustafa by the Turkish parliament meaning " Father of the Turks".  However, she failed to mention Ataturk's involvement in the genocide of thousands of Armenians. Tensions were high in the area of the museuleum with increased security due the hundreds of protesters on hand. And now we were on mini-buses traveling the back streets of Ankara en route to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The streets were crowded and in many places only one lane was available if indeed there had ever been two lanes.  The rugged gravel streets wove there way through the Atpazan area of Ankara. There were shops with canopies on either side with foodstuffs and other goods for sale stacked very close to the street. The dust was stiffling in the warm November afternoon as the buses tires crunched over the gravel street.

 Soon we reached the museum which is housed in a  old bazaar building. Displays are modern and well maintained.  The objects displayed date from 8000 B.C. to the Greek and Roman period. I find the ancient metal work very interesting. When copper was first mined and refined and cast some beautiful objects were created. Copper was also hammered or rather forged into various useful and decorative items. Then tin was mined and mixed with copper and the resultant metal , bronze, prompted the name, Bronze Age.  Gold is seen in some of the jewelry. Beautiful in design and execution. Perhaps one  of the most interesting of the objects presented was a small statue of a sitting female only 10 inches in height.   She is the Mother Goddess, Kybele, from the period 80000-5500 B.C. She a gross figure very overweight with ponderous breasts hanging to her waist. Looking closely I notice the the sitting figure is giving birth with the head of an infant emerging from between her legs. This is the mother goddess from which all mankind came. Every civilization needs a creation story. 

"Yesim," I asked, "Why is the mother goddess so grossly overweight?"

"Because, it was in those times that people got fat in the summer when food was plentiful. In winter food was not as plentiful." 

I got it: they lived off the fat just like many animals do.  

Across from Kybele is a seventh century B.C. wall painting depicting a volcanic eruption and next to it an ancient map. It is the first map I've seen created before the birth of Christ.   Perhaps, more attention is given to the Hittite period (1750-1200 B.C.) in this museum. And, indeed it is the largest collection of Hittite artifacts in the world.  One of the most interesting pieces on exhibit here is a letter.  It is written by the wife of Ranses II, Nefertari, to the Hittite queen, Puduhepa. Girl-talk. I asked Claudette what she thought two queens would talk about. She did not speculate. There are quite a few large carved stone lions about ten feet long. The lion is usually the symbol of the monarchy.But some of these lions are smiling and some are snarling. Why? Probably only the ancients could tell.  This was one of those places where I could have stayed a long time. But it was not to be.  Places to go and things to see.

We boarded the mini-buses and wound our way through the narrow streets reminiscent of Granada to our hotel. Tomorrow we would be on the road again. 

A Feeding Frenzy?

It was a chilly morning with threatening clouds as Claudette and I  got off the bus at Hierapolis. We moved through the gate, putting our tickets through the scanners before beginning a long road into the ruins of the city of  Hierapolis.  Founded in the second century B.C. it had always been a city famous for its spas.  The wide street was paved with stone, and the sewer ran beside it. The water still flowed in the ancient sewers, and you could see it where there were flat stones missing.  There were toppled columns on either side.

We entered the main part of the city through an arched gate of stone. The Romans were great stone cutters and engineers.  Many structures have no cement between the huge stone blocks. The clouds became more ominous, and the mist thickened. To our left were the travertines, large deposits of calcium.  The white deposits from the mineral water appeared as cooled lava would have appeared had it been white. The mineral water still flows, and one can walk barefoot in it as it flows over the calcium deposits. This was a city of 100,000 at its peak, and although it was not founded by the Romans it was rebuilt by them four many earthquakes.

We continued our walk by the Roman baths which are now the museum of Hierapolis. It is a vaulted structure of several buildings which  also contained a gymnasium and a library. When Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the religion of the  Roman Empire, the Christians closed the baths. Further along the way the street dead-ends in front of a modern structure; a place to get food and enter the hot springs. The water temperature is 98.6F to 134.6F.We do not bathe, but we watch others.  It is amusing to watch the clouds of steam rising from the pools.  Behind this spa is the theater, which is under restoration, and on the side of the hill  is the martyrium. This is the final resting place of the apostle Phillip who was crucified upside-down here about 56 A.D.. However, there is some question about which Phillip it was. There seems to have been several "Phillip the Apostles" around.

The rain began to fall harder, and we decided it was time to return to the big Mercedes-Benz tour bus. On our left opposite the museum is the necropolis. Did I mention that Hierapolis's major attraction was the mineral baths?  For that reason many migrated here to find a cure for their ills. Many died here, cured or not. Many graves are those of Christians and Jews. We found a bit of shelter under some trees as we turn the corner and watched the people barefoot in the mineral water flowing nearby. Finally, we returned to the entrance and decided on a glass of tea. There is a post office, several cafes, and souvenir shops there.  I bought a postage stamp for 2 lira  to paste in my sketchbook.  I'm sure there was a cheaper stamp, but I could not get the clerk to understand. Sometimes the language barrier is insurmountable. We ducked into a small cafe and asked for tea.  The proprietor was quick to offer cups of tea, but I said that I wanted a glass, or rather two glasses. Before he could tell me the price I put four lira on the counter. This is the normal price for a glass of tea, but some cafe operators are quick to double the price if you aren't careful. Turkish tea is strong and sweet.  I love it!

We left Hierapolis with our tour guide telling us about Russian vacationers causing a problem with the Turkish workers working on the city's restoration.  It seemed the Russian ladies preferred to enjoy the baths topless. Concentration on their tasks was difficult for the Turks, and some concessions in bathing attire was made by the Russians.

Little did we, Claudette and I, know that we were headed for a feeding frenzy at our hotel. Our hotel was a modern structure with many water features: swimming pool, thermal pool, and whirlpool. In this area marble abounds, on floors as well as walls.  There was also another kind of pool; the kind of pool you put your feet in and allow small fish to eat the dead skin from you feet. Naturally, I could not pass up such an opportunity.  This small fish, less than two inches long, gama rufa is sometimes called the "nibble" fish.  Its name is well deserved, because when you put your feet in the fish tank, the size of a small aquarium, the fish immediately begin to nibble on your feet. It's quite a sensation. There are dozens of these little buggers having a feeding frenzy on your feet. They are looking for food. They don't actually eat the dead skin but pull it off searching for food.

The day began and ended with rain, but it was quite a day in Hierapolis and Pamukkale. Wi-fi wasn't working, and there was nothing in English on television, and we were ready for a good night's sleep.  Besides, we needed to rest up for our next adventure.

A Morning Ride...

I reached for the phone in the dark.  It had interrupted a perfectly wonderful dream involving me and a bevy of south sea beauties.  "Hello," I said in a voice completely devoid of warmth.

"It's your morning wake-up call, Mr. Young," said the voice in heavily accented English.

"Is it four thirty in the morning?" asked Claudette drowsily.

"Hurry, I'm not going to shave.  We'll eat breakfast when we get back."

We dressed warmly and met our friends in the lobby of the hotel. Soon the van stopped by to pick us up.  The driver maneuvered the van quickly over the rough road to the launch site after stopping at the business office for us to sign some disclaimers. They had some hot coffee and pastries for us too.

The cloudless sky was filled with stars as first light approached.  There were probably one hundred hot air balloons in the process of being inflated. The sound of the small engines that powered the fans blowing up the giant balloons and murmurs of the crowd broke the silence of dawn. The propane burners spouted six foot flames into the balloons as the giants erected themselves like montrous mushrooms from the rough terrain of the Asia Minor landscape. We waited expectantly as our multicolored flying machine rose from the earth raising its gondola from its reclining position.  Twenty of us clamored into the basket.

"I am Muhammet, your pilot, " he said.  The voice came from the muscular young man with close cropped black hair.  He had a flat nose, bushy eyebrows, deep set very dark eyes, thick lips, and sparkling white teeth. Surrounding him in the center of the basket were a number of propane tanks.

The balloon towering above was filled with over 300,000 cubic feet of hot air. As Muhammet operated the controls the propane burners spit out six foot flames heating the air inside the balloon.

We began to move. We had lift-off. We became a lighter-than-air craft. Soon, the lunar appearing landscape of Goreme, Turkey, was below us as we overcame the bounds of gravity and rose in the chilly morning air.  The jagged peaks of cave dwellings slipped below us as we drifted away. We raised our voices in a chorus of "o-o-oh's" and "a-a-ah's"  as the sun illuminated the multi-colored spheres of the others in the mass ascension. It was quiet except for the occasional roar of the burners. The view below became a patchwork as we reached 2,000 feet.  A twenty-mile-per-hour wind moved us along briskly.

Muhammet watched his instruments, altimeter, rate-of-climb meter, and GPS indicator. The radio chattered in Turkish.  "What are they saying?" I asked Muhammet.

"I don't know," he said.  "I don't speak Turkish.  I'm Egyptian!"

We were higher than any of the other balloons. They flew in silence below us.  After flying an hour it was time to land. Muhammet pulled a control line that allowed hot air to escape from the balloon,  and we slowly descended.  I noticed radio chatter was now in English. Our pilot was told to follow "Number Two'" in landing. Muhammet told us to review the crash position.  A Canadian man asked if the landing would be rough.  Our pilot responded, " I don't know, it's my first landing!"

When we were about fifty feet off the ground I saw a Toyota Landcruiser with a trailer following us.
Our pilot and the ground crew communicated and the trailer was positioned directly beneath us. Our balloon pilot gently landed the balloon on the trailer, and our flight was over.

We disembarked the gondola and joined Muhammet around a small table with campagne flutes. He popped the cork on the champagne, and we ha the traditional celebratory drink for good landing.

This ride in the most primitive of aircraft will remain one of the highlights of our trip to Turkey.

Click Here to see a YouTube video of our ride!

To Revisit a Moment in Time

Wikipidea image

He had a wrinkled, leathery face with his eyes shielded by the bill of a battered green baseball cap with "John Deere" embroidered on it. He clutched the front rail of his walker as he supported his frail body while peering up at the names on the wall. I watched his lips move amongst the stubble of gray as he read the names. Did the names on the wall represent shipmates or old friends? I could not bring myself to interrupt his moment of solitude to ask.  A shaft of light streaming through the memorial reflected off a tear slowly moving down his weathered cheek as the crowd of tourists silently moved me away from him. There were 1,177 names of the men who went down with the Arizona on that fateful day, December 7, 1941, listed on that wall.  A number had my surname, but to my knowledge we were not related.

I retraced my steps toward the entrance of the memorial where a naval launch was waiting to take me back to shore. Along the way I paused by a large opening in the floor of the memorial where you can see the vague outline of the ship below. The USS Arizona, BB-39, was a Pennsylvania class battleship of 30,000 tons.  Black oil bubbles to the surface from it as it has for the last seventy years.  This oil once fired the boilers of the warship, producing steam for the turbines which produced 31,500 horsepower for turning four twelve foot propellers.  Now the oil is called "black tears". She weeps for those she could not protect on that fateful day. The ship is 609 feet long with a width of ninety-seven feet.  The memorial is over one hundred feet long, since it covers the width of the sunken behemoth.  Off the starboard side is the USS Missouri, a larger battleship upon which the   Japanese surrender was signed.  The visit to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was a very sobering experience.

Back aboard the tour bus the bus driver reminded us that there were two sunken ships at Pearl Harbor.

"How many ships are still on the bottom near Ford Island?"

There were several answers of one, two or three.

"Two.  The Arizona and the Utah.  We know 1,177 men went down with the Arizona."

The big Hawaiian's composure became more calm and he said, "Fifty-eight officers and men and..." his voice dropped to almost a whisper, "one baby girl."

The big man had our attention.

He continued his the story.  "The Utah was an old battleship used for target practice and had a fairly small compliment of men. Albert Wagner was a sailor aboard that ship who had a very special cargo. Do you know what that was?'

No one answers.

"He had in his locker the cremated remains of his infant daughter.  Earlier, Wagner's wife had given birth to twin daughters. Only one survived. Wagner's request to bury his daughter at sea had been approved by the Navy, but there was not a chaplain on board.  However, there was a chaplain scheduled to come aboard before the Utah would put to sea on Monday, the eighth of December, 1941. As you know, the Japanese sank the Utah on December 7th.  But that's not all of the story. Wagner and all but 58 men survived the attack.  The tiny burial urn was never recovered. But every year a woman appears on Ford Island to throw a lei into the water at the Utah's resting place. She says that she's never met her twin sister but sees her in every mirror she looks into. She is eternally grateful for the 58 brave officers and men that guard her little sister's crypt."

The big Hawaiian bus driver finished his story and all was quite.  Like the old man at the memorial  I felt a tear on my cheek.

FYI Burial at sea information for Naval veterans and dependents.

The Road to Hana and then some...

I remember the last time I was traveling by bus on a mountain road. It was quite a few years ago, and I was going from Manila to Olongapo City in the Philippine Islands.  It was a rather short bus filled with mostly native Filipinos jabbering in tagalog. There were a few chickens and a pig on board as well as a couple of tired U.S. military men.  The trip seemed to take forever over somewhat primitive roads.  We traveled through several villages most with the seemingly prerequisite Catholic church. We managed to get some warm beer at one stop, where the bus driver obligingly opened the bottles of San Miguel with his teeth.

We boarded the mini-bus at Lahaina, looking forward to a trip through the other Maui, the part not cluttered with souvenir shops and places hawking other things for tourists. As we left the urban area of  of the city we passed abandoned sugar mills, a reminder of when sugar was the number one industry in the islands.  We left highway 31 for highway 36, following the coast in a clockwise direction.  Highway 36 is known as the "Hana Highway". This road has quite a reputation. It is a mountain road built through the mountains by convict labor in 1926.  It was paved in 1962.  I use the term paved loosely because with the average traffic of one thousand cars per day there is considerable wear and tear on the road's surface. Actually, part of the road is so rough that certain rental car companies don't allow their cars to be driven on it. I was on the right side of the bus, or the oceanside.  This is the best side for those who aren't squeamish and those not afraid of heights. But the left side of the bus gets to hear and feel the constant brushing of foliage against the side of the bus. The first stop the bus makes before entering the rain forest is Hookipa Beach Park.  We stopped at a grassy knoll overlooking the beach. There were a number of surfers catching waves of an azure sea on this picture postcard morning. The sky was near cloudless, and a gentle breeze rippled the flag with the Union Jack in its corner.  A breath of salt tinged air was invigorating.

It's only 58 miles to Hana but due to the 600 turns or curves and 59 bridges it takes a while.Water falls seem to be everywhere and we stop at Wailua Falls,Puuohokomoa Falls and Waikani Falls. You can always tell when there is a waterfall ahead because of all the cars beside the road. The drive finds a place to park the bus on the roadside and we get off and elbow our way through the hordes of touristas to get a picture of the waterfall.  The waterfalls are best seen from the bridge.  The driver warns us to be aware of traffic across the one lane bridge. However, the bridges are always in the center of the hairpin turns  and vehicles must slow down. But the view is spectacular of a waterfall tumbling hundreds of feet down the mountainside in a tropical rain forest.  On much of this road 20 mph is the maximum. It is very narrow and vehicles almost come to a standstill when meeting. I peered down at an SUV with a young woman holding her steering wheel white-knuckled. And she was two feet from the edge of the road! Those would be the visitors. The natives hardly reduce speed at all. However, I did witness a rural mail carrier committing an illegal act  We were meeting a rural mail carrier in a turn and she had to back up to let us through. It's against carrier rules for them to back their vehicles up.  I was much concerned about our drivers ability. He never honked his horn when entering a blind turn. How was anyone to know that we were coming through?  They could not see us! I found while driving similar roads in the Pyrenees Mountains you need to let people know you are coming. On the road to Hana in one place I looked out my window and I could see nothing but the pounding surf hundreds of feet below. I am confident we were on the road although I could not see it. We were in a bus, not a plane. 

We stopped at a state park for a box lunch. It was a chance to relax a bit and enjoy lunch. Waves in this area can reach a height of 60 feet in winter making it a prime surfing spot.  We continue to Oheo Stream and Pools, sometimes called the Seven Sacred Pools. This gave us a chance to stretch our legs. The waterfalls cascade down the mountain to the sea creating seven pools along the way. The shoreline is either lava rock or vegetation here.  

On our way back to our hotel we stopped by a winery.  The tasting was very poorly administered, no cuspidor to spit in or no water to wash out the taste of each wine before sampling another. We bought of bottle of sweet wine and enjoyed it that night in the hotel. 

I'm not sure that I would refer to the road to Hana as an adventure but it certainly did show a part of Hawaii seldom seen.