Roy had New Year's Day off so we ventured out to see a famous Ankara landmark: the Citadel or “Castle” (kale in Turkish). The base was Hittite and over 4,000
years old, added to by the Greeks, then the Romans about the time of
Christ, then occupied by the Byzantines, the Crusaders, and finally the Ottoman Empire Turks.
How old these places are just boggles your mind. At least it does
mine. The weather had warmed considerably and we were happy to have a beautiful day as we wandered about.
The walls, it seemed, were built up with whatever was handy - Greek tablets, pieces of old Roman columns, bricks, anything stone. It was fascinating.
We meandered slowly down the hill window shopping as we strolled along through shops and stalls.
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| yes, girls, I'm looking at dangly earrings.... |
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| You never know what you may find - bird (chukar) in a cage |
The dried fruit and nuts here are very good; apricots, grapes, cranberries, figs, pistachios, almonds, hazels nuts, to name a few. The shopkeepers are very friendly and will urge you (in Turkish), to sample anything and everything.
Down the hill and up another hill - have I mentioned yet that Ankara is very hilly? - brought us to the remains of the Temple of Augustus, built in 20 BC to honor a visit by the Roman Emperor, Augustus.
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| this is in front of that wall |
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| a warm place for a nap, ancient or not. |
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