Travels in Turkey (Türkiye)
In 1993, while attending graduate school at UCLA for a degree in archaeology, I got a job offer to work in Turkey. The Institute of Nautical Archaeology, located in Bodrum (southwest Turkey) was looking for grad students to study and analyze the glass remains from an 11th century shipwreck. Since I’d always wanted to visit Turkey, I jumped at the chance to go. For the next four and a half months, I lived and worked in Bodrum with six other students. Though we didn’t get much time off, we managed to visit a few other places, like the ancient ruins at Ephesus, Hierapolis, and Aphrodisias, and the cities of Istanbul, Konya, and Selçuk.
The first tour was a half-day walking tour around a few of the older areas of Istanbul, including the Fener and Balat neighborhoods with their steep, narrow hills and colorful houses. Thanks to our guide, Sahil, I got to explore parts of the city I’d never seen before. He had us using every form of public transportation available—bus, tram, ferry, and cable car! We ended the day by walking through an old cemetery until we reached the Pierre Loti café, which overlooked the city. As we sat in the shade, sipping apple tea (a big favorite in Turkey), I felt lucky to have come this far.
My second tour—and definitely my favorite—was a day-long foodie excursion, featuring delicacies from both the European and Asian sides of the city. I felt like I was on the Netflix show “Somebody Feed Phil” as we ate our way through Istanbul. We visited the Spice Bazaar, taste-tested all kinds of cheeses and olives, had a traditional Turkish breakfast, ate doner kebab, tried lots of street food, and had lunch at Çiya, a restaurant that was featured in an episode of the show “Chef’s Table.”
After a couple of days in Istanbul, it was time for me to take the bus to Çanakkale, a harbor town near the site of Troy. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trying to leave the city when the Istanbul marathon was taking place (the only marathon to cross two continents!). Since no taxis were allowed into the older part of the city, I had to walk on foot, with all my bags, until I reached a tram station that was running. But that wasn’t the hardest part! Believe me when I say that Istanbul’s crowded, chaotic Esenler Otogar (bus station), is not for the faint at heart. There were so many people and so many buses that I’m lucky I caught the right one.
My last day in Turkey was spent in Istanbul, walking through the city and indulging in a little more shopping and eating. I also took the ferry over to Kadiköy, to spend time on the Asian side of Istanbul. Though I wished I’d had time to get back to Bodrum, I figured I’d save that visit for the next time! For now, this 10-day trip was more than enough to provide me with plenty of stories, photos, and memories.