So we got to Troy, and we were not let down. The site was magnificent, if a bit abstract. Troy was the site of nine distinct periods of civilization, and every time the new occupants built their city on the remains of the previous one, creating a massive mound that rose above the surrounding countryside. No problem.
But excavating it has become a major controversy. Which civilization are we looking for? Homeric Troy, the city of Priam and Paris? Neolithic Troy? Roman Troy? You see the problem. Most of the ruins were closed, but there was a nice walking tour complete with explanatory signs that gave us a pretty good idea of what was going on. Colleen was fascinated by it. At one point she took the video camera out of my hands and proceeded to make sure she shot every square inch of the site. We'll have lots of Troy on the video tape.
We left Troy and headed back for Istanbul, a four-hour trip, crossing the Dardanelles via car ferry at Gelibolu. We made it safely back to our hotel and met up with the other four for an authentic Ottoman-style dinner that night. Not bad, but Colleen refused to eat the spiced rice wrapped in some animal's intestines.
Thursday morning led us to the Hagia Sophia, the greatest stop on our tour of Istanbul. The main dome, which was unfortunately partially obscured by scaffolding, is enormous and sits almost magically in the air. The mosaics which they have uncovered were truly breathtaking. See, the moslems arrived in the Byzantine church in 1453 after conquering the city and soon had all the beautiful mosaics that covered the walls and the ceilings covered up with plaster. Islam doesn't allow the portrayal of immortal souls (i.e. people or animals). Again, this brings us to the question of which civilization is more important. With the recent work, it seems we are leaning toward Byzantine.
From there, we met up with the other four and visited the Sunken Cistern, the ancient water storage facility of Constantinople. Underneath the city lies a huge room, with the ceiling (being the street above) supported by columns the Byzantines stole from ruins around the ancient world. It was an amazing collection of Egyptian, Greek, and who knows what else.
We had to break early Thursday, because the carpet dealer was going to take us out to dinner (you thought I would never get there, did you?). He picked us up at Paige's hotel and we drove for about 20 minutes along the Bosphorous. There we caught a water taxi that dropped us off at the restaurant. It had the most amazing food we have eaten the entire trip.
The evening was pleasant as we dined on the shores of Bosphorous. He even invited a friend of his, an expatriate from San Diego! We had the opportunity to get an American's view of the city and the culture, and it was very entertaining. We really had a great time. After the dealer drove us back to our hotel, he promised to meet us at his shop the next morning (this morning).
See, the deal with the Grand Bazaar is that there is never a fixed price. Depending on how you look and what you say, an item can be priced anywhere between $5 and $75. You think this is silly, but for most of the things on sale there, $75 sounds like a steal to an American tourist, because the same item will cost them $150 at home. So the dealer promised to walk us around the Bazaar, taking us to shops owned by his friends, and getting them to quote us their best price right off the bat, eliminating the need for haggling. It made the whole Bazaar experience more calming, although Colleen had the buyer's eye, and it was all I could do to stop her from buying the whole inventory of Istanbul.
Finally, at 4:30 this afternoon (it's almost 8 pm here) we caught our flight from Istanbul to Skopje, FYROM (see above, way above). We were met at the airport by embassy personnel and came to Paige's house. I am sitting at her computer writing this email.
So that about does it. Everyone downstairs is wondering where I am right now, so I'd better call it quits. I hope all is well at home, and will write more in the next day or two.
Paul and Colleen
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