Family Visits
In May, my mother Connie came to visit and we took the opportunity to get in some mother-son travel together. We started out with one many must-see sites in Turkey: Cappadocia.
After a full couple days of tours and hiking, I headed back for Ankara to teach (sadly) and left mom to venture forth solo. It was interesting to see the difference between how I have been treated by foreigners as a young American male versus how Turks approached and communicated with mom. Once I left Cappadocia, it seems that our American/foreign origin was far less intimidating as my mom reports everything from eye contact (unusual especially from the more conservative women here) to being invited into a local’s home for a meal.
Once we were reunited in Ankara, it was off to see all that Ankara has to offer (not a ton). First and foremost on my mom’s mind was the famous Anatolian Museum.
Upon realizing that hopes for a spectacular vacation rested outside of Ankara, our next stop was Istanbul and the ever majestic Aya Sofya.
Just across the street (strategically located) is the almost as famous Blue Mosque. As you can see Connie came equipped with the necessary head scarf. Behind her are the men washing up before prayer.
I managed to catch the call to prayer on tape just outside the Blue Mosque.
We concluded our time together in Istanbul with a little relaxing in our luxurious hotel room overlooking the sea with a Bosphorus ferry ride.
We were fortunate enough to get caught in the middle of a sail boat race underneath the famous Fatih bridge…
At any point throughout our stay there were over 100 boats/tankers visible outside our hotel window emphasizing Istanbul’s true geographic importance.
