Five Days in Istanbul and one in Ankara
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The museum collection lives up to its reputation. It is, in one word, stunning. Truly a world-class museum that could hold its own with the appropriate collections in the British Museum.
The Paleolithic (70,000 - 10,000 B.C.) pictographs from caves were so similar to those found in France and Spain, South Africa and North America, that one really wonders about shared experiences back in ancient times. Similarly, the Neolithic (8000 - 5500 B.C.) morbidly obese female mother goddess figures are uniform with those found in ancient Celtic sites.
I observed female figures from the Chalcolithic era (5500 - 3000 B.C.), the Assyrian Trade Colonies (1950 - 1750 B.C.) and the Hittite civilization (1750 - 1200 B.C.), all holding their breasts, in one of the trance postures which Felicitas Goodman wrote about. The youngest artifacts in the museum were from the Uratarians who disappeared around 700 B.C.
On a lower level there is an Ankara city museum. This covers relatively recent history and the artifacts are from Greek, Roman, Hellenistic and Byzantine times!
An evening flight, this time planned in advance, took us back to Istanbul’s main airport which is about a half hour from the city center.
The hotel I had chosen, Hanedan Hotel, was a small hotel (10 rooms) in the old city with small, tastefully furnished rooms. At 35 euros (approximately $45 U.S.) for a double room, including breakfast, I thought it was a steal.
Breakfast, a self-serve buffet, was in a glass enclosed structure on the roof with views of the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya) and the Sea of Marmara. In summer you could eat out on the terrace, but not in February!
I had a laundry list of things I wanted to see in the five full days that we would have in the city. Just like being on tour, I grouped the sights day by day according to location and days of closure. Spontaneity and serendipity be damned - I know what I want to see! To my great good fortune Renate has the same mentality, tenacity and endurance as I for museum hounding.