Friday, November 26, 2010

Backroads of Aegean Turkey

We drove on, looking back to hilltop Assos and its situation
on the sea
















From a high point: much more stone fencing here than we
have seen in Turkey; olive groves everywhere, the whole
population out in the groves for the harvest; I love olives;
they're cheap and delicious here; but seeing the labor-
intensiveness, the back-breaking work, will make me value
each one a little more



















One of a dozen or more stone round-houses we saw, all
bunched together in one little town
















An exceedingly rocky country, but beautiful grasses and
pines and undergrowth everywhere; maybe it was the
Mediterranean/Aegean light, but the greens here were as
verdant and vibrant as any I have seen


















Lunch-time view















The seaside fortress at Babakale, the last Ottoman castle
built
















View from Babakale
















Another
















The Temple of Apollo at Gulpinar; those of you familiar
with the Iliad will recognize this as (a much later version of)
the Apollo temple that figures importantly in Homeric
matters; Agamemnon had to return the daughter of the priest
here, after offending Apollo, and then grabbed Achilles'
trophy-girl, thus inflaming Achilles' rage, of which Homer
sang; much less importantly, it is also a temple to mice (yes,
mice), who figure in the founding of the city in ways too
boring to recount; 2nd century BCE






















More archaeology going on at Gulpinar















Funded by Efes; never forget that Jack Horner's first funder
was Rainier Beer; cheers for Efes
I am going to guess this is where the archaeology students
hang out in the summer-time; more Efes fans

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