Today was our last day in Sanliurfa, and definitely an easy one for us! No specific sights to see, at least archaeologically, just a few things of interest in town. So, while we were up fairly early, we read and rested and just hung out here at the hotel for a while, before getting a taxi (and boy, do these guys really drive FAST here! As R said, he didn’t know that the Turkish word for kamikaze was taxi – local spelling is taksi!).
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| Castle walls at the top of the hill |
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| Sacred pool with carp |
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| Don't think I'd eat one, regardless of the consequences... |
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| Mosque next to the sacred pool |
Shot rather quickly into town and down to the Balikligol, (Fish Lake) commonly referred to as the Pool ofAbraham, which is in a really beautiful and (relatively) peaceful park in the city center. According to the story, Abraham had been born at Urfa (now called Sanliurfa), and had eventually fallen in love with the daughter of King Nimrod, Zeliha. Angered by this, Nimrod then cast Abraham into a massive fire, but the flames were miraculously transformed by God into the pool of water and the logs into the sacred carp. So … like I say, that is one of the stories, and the pool, along with the carp, are considered to be very sacred places here in Sanliurfa. There is also the cave nearby where Abraham was said to have been born and hidden away, as his mother was afraid of the King.
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| Girl feeding the carp |
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| Lovely canals with bridges |
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| Waterwheel |
It really was a lovely day outside, and there were lots of people in the park – many of them buying fish food and feeding the carp, which are forbidden to be touched or certainly not to be eaten. One legend says that if you do eat a sacred carp, you will go blind! So … lots of people in the park, but some lovely places to sit and enjoy the day! It was interesting seeing all these children racing around and across some of the small bridges over the streams, none of which have any railings on them! I’m assuming that Turkish children learn very quickly to mind where they’re walking, as we didn’t witness anyone falling in, and there sure were plenty of people!
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| Front street into the bazaar |
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| Spices everywhere! |
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| Plus lots of nuts and dried fruits |
After enjoying the park and walking some of the paths, we decided to head to the Grand Bazaar of Sanliurfa, which wasn’t very far away at all. Enjoyed looking at some of the spice stores – lots of baskets of nuts and ground spices everywhere, as well as lots of things hanging up – didn’t know what most of them were, but everything smelled so good and was so colorful! Very enjoyable! We strolled through some of the Bazaar, but as we neither of us had any intention of buying gold, jewelry or having anything tailored, we could pass through fairly quickly! And honestly, with the amount of smoking that was going on in the narrow corridors, I’m surprised we didn’t come out of their wheezing! Whew! Overwhelming!
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| And of course, gold! |
Decided by this time it was way past lunch, and we were both feeling peckish, so thought we’d head back to the hotel and get some lunch. Walked back through the beautiful park and found a major taxi stand right out in front of the park, and once again, we were whisked up the hill in record time! Did think that we would have an unfortunate encounter with the back of a bus, but our driver did manage to pull up just in time! Boy!
Back to the DoubleTree and in for lunch! This time, R had their fettucine with alfredo sauce and chicken, and I went for their Big Big Burger! (Oh! R wants it noted for the record that he is missing bacon … but he is definitely going to have to wait on that one, for sure!) My Big Big Burger was absolutely delicious, and came with sauteed mushrooms and onions together on top, and some sort of parmesan coleslaw on the bottom. I’ve decided that rather than to try to modify the menu in any way, it’s just safer (and definitely easier!) just to take it as it comes and deal with things then – and so far, it has worked out really well!
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| R's fettuccine |
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| My Big Big Burger |
Then back upstairs for a nice afternoon nap, which was definitely needed, and now back into my book for a bit this afternoon!
Tomorrow we are off to Adana, as we start our journey westward. It’s about a four hour drive. On our first journey this way in Turkiye, we were actually at the ticket counter for the Adana Archaeological Museum, when we were told it was CLOSING, and turned outside! And boy, that museum definitely did close – for something like 7 or 8 YEARS! They are now in a new facility with an entirely new museum, and we are very much looking forward to seeing it! So! More tomorrow!
m
xxx
[Random note: Starbucks is in Turkey. Now, what in the world can Starbucks tell the Turks about coffee? – R]
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