Bayram Bash 2011: Izmir!

Dear readers,

I'm sorry to have left you hanging on the last bid of my bayram adventures. I know you were waiting with much anticipation on the edge of your seats.

Luckily, now that I've read the entire The Hunger Games series, as well as The Green Mile, I'm ready to finish up this post on Izmir. 

This is going to be mostly photos, less words. I'm a little tired, readers, don't judge.

 So, I overnight-bussed it from Antalya to Izmir, and passed out in my hotel room for five hours until Greg texted me. We walked around Basmane and Konak and Alsancak in the afternoon before grabbing dinner.

Konak Camii, super cute little mosque.

Kutahya tiles, not Iznik. Get it straight.

Konak Clock Tower, designed by a French dude to make
the Ottomans more modern and western.

Shrimp fettuccine. Almost like real Italian. Almost.

Just a little Ataturk for you, no big deal.

This is how Greg and I ended our night: finding a "love trail" through Izmir. We didn't walk it through... to be honest, it looks like a glorified version of a rape trail, but that could just be the Rowan in me talking.

The next day, Greg and I decided to take the walk through town to visit the Agora of Smyrna. Smyrna is the Roman name of Izmir, before it was Izmir, obviously.

It doesn't look like much now, but it was kind of a big deal in its day... It was the commercial, judicial, and political center of a major Roman city. Sure, Ephesus and Pergamum get most of the attention because they are so well preserved, but Smyrna was a real big deal. Its agora was used not only by the Romans, but also by the Selcuks, the Ottomans, and the Byzantines. That's more than a millennium of use, even though the Ottomans used it as a cemetery.

 Its agora was used not only by the Romans, but also by the Selcuks, the Ottomans, and the Byzantines. That's more than a millennium of use, even though the Ottomans used it as a cemetery.

One of the amazing things about the Agora is the absurd number of different types and colors of stones that were used in its construction. It must have been a real sight to see... you know, when MARCUS AURELIUS rebuilt it during his rule. Sound familiar? He's the old guy who dies at the beginning of Gladiator.

Pictured: just how awesome history can be.

The agora also had a basement. The contractors who built my house couldn't even handle that. And it has like four sections!

 

After our trip to the Agora, Greg and I decided to walk down the kordon, which is more or less a pier fileld with restaurants and bars. And while we were walking, of course, Greg made some friends who were just so sad to see us go. Highlight of my bayram, I think.

That night, we were hosted by some Fulbright friends, Donnie and Catherine, in their lovely Izmir apartment to watch the Turkish national football team's game that night. To make a long, painful gruesome story short, they were pulverized 3-0. Womp womp, Turkey... womp womp.


The next day, before I headed back to Balikesir, we did another loop around the kordon after we went to the historical pazar area of Izmir. It's called the Kemeralti pazar, and while it's not as grand as the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, it was really nice and not too busy.

This lady looks pissed that I took her picture, though.

Overall, Izmir: not too shabby. If only it had been a little warmer!

Bayram Bash 2011: The Hall of Gods & Goddesses

I'm a big fan of old things. Ruins, rocks, human remains... that sounds creepy, but it's really true. I'm a real big fan. Naturally, I like museums. Loaded with old things! You can understand that I was amped to go the the Antalya Museum then, because it's consistently ranked as a top museum in Europe.

I was not disappointed.

Like all museums of archaeology, we began in the Paleolithic Age, taking peeks at some sweet arrowheads and stone tools and all that jazz. Then, of course, onwards into the Stone Age and Bronze Ages and all that fun. This was interesting, of course, when I didn't realize that the Antalya Museum had so many more promising artifacts to behold. As usual, we found some really well preserved pottery and ceramic pieces, as well as artwork cast from bronze.

This little guy reminded me of something out of Monty Python.

The museum also had a fantastic collection of Roman glass, which was really, really beautiful. I think the coolest job in a museum is the one responsible for arranging the various artifacts. I mean, you're responsible for literally presenting history in a way that will want to make people learn about it... talk about pressure.

How do you like that backlighting?

From glass, we moved onwards once again to an interesting display on how copies of even older Greek marble statues were made by the Romans.  Interesting, super cool, good to know, way to go Romans. I mean, they were super good at it. This surviving marble head is so pretty.

And then I saw this sign.

And I kid you not, readers, I almost fainted. They should just call it "The Hall of Awesome," because it's more accurate.

Let me stress that all of these statues date back to the 2nd century. Comparatively, some of them are in better condition than cars manufactured twenty-five years ago. The Romans built to last.

As a born-again Greek mythology buff (thanks, Rick Riordan!), this was just the coolest thing. The majority of them were found at Perga an archaeological site in the province of Antalya.

Here's just a small serving of the gods and goddesses featured in the Hall of... Gods and Goddesses.

Nemesis, the spirit of divine retribution... this girl had all
sorts of statues in this place.

Statue of a dancing woman, likely to have been a goddess.

Emperor Hadrian... not a god, probably thought he was one though.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her son, Eros.

My girl, Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the forests, and the moon.
Perga apparently had a temple dedicated in her honor. Because she's the coolest.

Athena, the goddess of (deep breath): wisdom, courage, inspiration,
civilization, warfare, strength, strategy,  the arts, crafts, justice, aaaand skill.

Hera, the queen bee goddess. I find it ironic that he head was knocked off.

BIG DADDY ZEUS!

A headless (and topless) Aphrodite.

Apollo, god of music, poetry, the sun, light, and medicine.

Hygieia, the goddess of hygiene!

Hermes, the messenger god.

This might have been Hestia. I can't remember! Ahh!

This guy was just downright terrifying.

Dionysius, the god of wine.

More Athena!

Gosh, it was just the coolest thing. They were enormous too! It was like walking around in Clash of the Titans... but the old one, because that one's the best.

We also toured a room of sarcophagi found at Perge, and the coolest one, in my opinion, depicted all twelve labors of Hercules. It was almost more impressive than the statues in the Hall of Gods and Goddesses because a) the carvings were even smaller and b) someone actually PAID to be entombed in this sucker forever. It's almost as badass as a Jedi burial... almost.

Maybe the most recently famous artifact in the museum was the recently reunited pieces of the Farnese Herakles of Perga. While the bottom half was kept in the Antalya Museum, the top half had been in the Boston Museum for decades, where its discovery (and removal from Turkey) had not been documented (meaning: someone stole it). Like two months ago, the Turkish government was able to secure its return to Turkey after a number of tests concluded that the two pieces fit.

He was a pretty wild site to behold.

So, there's the Antalya Museum of Archaeology. It was awesome. Come visit me and we'll go. And we'll take inappropriate pictures with all of the statues. Just kidding, but not really.

Oh, this a drachma featuring Athena and her symbol, the owl.
I love that owl. Potential future tattoo.