Photos from Turkey
Carolyn and I were in Turkey from Saturday, January 31, through Friday, February 6, 2009, so I could give a keynote address at a business conference there. Of course, we squeezed in some great sightseeing, too! Here are a few photos from the trip.
Inside the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
David Gerrold, who was also giving a keynote, and our Istanbul tour guide Mehmet Bozdemir
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul
Robert J. Sawyer giving his keynote at the "Time to Exit the Labyrinth" Conference at the Conrad Istanbul
Robert J. Sawyer, Erin Brockovich, and Carolyn Clink; Erin also gave a keynote at the conference.
Robert J. Sawyer, conference organizer Pelin Pirnal
On the day after the main conference, Rob and David also gave futurism talks at the headquarters of Garanti Bank in Istanbul
Our private tour of the Greco-Roman ruins Ephesus -- virtually deserted on the day we visited
The Celsus Library at Ephesus
Robert J. Sawyer and Carolyn Clink out front of the Celsus Library
Roman bust and Carolyn Clink
Tumbled columns at Priene
Our fabulous private tour guide, Yusuf Savat, as we visited Priene
More of Priene, although we also toured Miletus and Didyma
Didyma
All in all, an amazingly wonderful trip, and I'm very glad I went.
The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
Labels: Trips
Posted by Rob on Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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4 comments
4 Comments:
In my tour of Europe in 2007, I toured both Miletus and Didyma as well. With the exception of perhaps Westminster Abbey, I thought that the ruins of Miletus (where philosophy was born) was the most remarkable place I'd ever seen. It was 100+ degrees out and at one point, I was standing in the shade of one of the theater's vomitoriums, leaning against the wall, and I realized that thousands of years ago, Thales, Anaximander, or Anaximenes could have been leaning against this very wall. It was so amazing.
Glad to hear you had a great trip.
...Some scholars insist that Mount Olympus was really in Turkey...
How long did it take you to get there? How were your airport experiences? Anything unusual happen on the trip?
We were flying Turkish Airways (which I highly recommend). They don't fly from Toronto, but they do fly from Chicago to Istanbul direct, so we first had to go from Toronto to Chicago (via Air Canada, 75 minutes), then fly from Chicago to Istanbul (10 hours). The flight home was the reverse -- but, because of the winds, takes 11.5 hours.
The only hassle was changing planes in Chicago, because we had to claim and then re-check our luggage, and go through US customs. It took way longer than it should have.
There were no surprises on the trip to Turkey; it was a wonderful experience, and our hosts treated us extremely well. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
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