Day 17....how'd that get there?

Well, after yesterday's huge venting festival I decided to move on to bigger and better complaints. We've acquired a new tour guide in Ankara because apparently its the law. You have to have one travel with your group. Up until now, our professor had been giving us the big tours or bringing other professors from local universities, but not in Ankara. This was not cool. At first we thought he was cool, but as time went on, we learned he was not a part of our group. I first noticed that he needed to be voted off the island when he talked for 3 hours straight on a road trip to the Hittite capital on Monday...on the bus microphone! That was the last straw.

So Ertan, that's his name, took us to the Ankara Museum. Its a nice museum, the design is great, an old Bazaar building that was redone, the artwork is great, the artifacts are amazing and it is organized perfectly. The only downside was our tour guide. I watched other tour groups come in a look at the important pieces then leave within an hour. How long were we there? 3 1/2 hours!!!! That's because someone likes to hear themselves talk! Lord have mercy!

We then went for a big lunch, which is the last straw for me. I need a diet. I'm afraid to step on a scale when I get back home. Its embarrassing. Kids, remember that when you look at the pictures, the camera adds ten pounds....and there are a lot of cameras on me. We went to the old city walls of Ankara that were built by the Byzantines, using all Roman temples, and then visited an Old Roman temple that was converted into a church and then later a mosque. It was super cool.

We got back to the hotel early, which gave us a chance to pack because tomorrow we go to Cappadocia. We went to walk around the town a little and then came back to the hotel to watch a movie and relax. I'm going to get eight hours of sleep tonight and there will be no question about that. Exhaustion has hit in and I still have 2 more weeks in Turkey and 3 more in Egypt. This is just the beginning of the trip!

Quote of the Day:
"Huh? How'd that get there?" - ME after Doug and I noticed that an old Roman Temple looked just like Ataturk's tomb. Or maybe it was the other way around.