After a nice bus ride from Istanbul, we arrived at our comfy and new looking hotel in downtown Ankara. We all joined Taylan in dining at a local pub. Dinner was delish and the Raki flowed plentifully. I enjoyed a tasty bottle of beer - a nice porter brewed somewhere nearby, No one in the group stayed up very late during the entire trip, and it wasn't due to age - Our days were jam packed and sleep was calling loudly by nine in the evening!
The next morning we were up and on our way by 8 am. Our first destination was the excellent Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Very modern, yet located in an ancient site, this museum is artfully put together. Big enough to be fascinating, yet small enough to avoid being overwhelming. Having an archeologist as a guide was a definite benefit here and in many other locations, since so many of the sites are from antiquity. There's more old stuff in Turkey than you can throw a stick at!
Taylan gave us a solid overview of the museum, then turned us loose to explore it in more detail. We learned that the Hittites are indeed responsible for much of the enduring mythology of the world. They pre-date the Greek and Roman Pantheons, and even are responsible for the beginning of the Santa Claus mythology. And, even more surprising, those Hittites (dating back to 8000BC) even invented the first cell phone! And you can see what I mean in the photos below.
Afterwards, we headed to the Ataturk Mausoleum and Memorial. If you've ever been to Red Square and seen Lenin's Tomb, prepare to be blown away! Ataturk's Memorial is HUGE. And monolithic, and did I mention that it's really, really big! Surprisingly, Ataturk and Lenin share some similarities - especially after their deaths. Neither wanted to be hero-worshiped and both were followed by subsequent rulers who decided that a little hero-worship was a pretty good thing. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a pretty intense guy who truly believed in an autonomous Turkey and from all we learned actually was not in it for the glory. I'm guessing he'd not be too thrilled with this creation, however it is impressive, very impressive. If you like to relive battles and war memorabilia, there's a very extensive museum under the complex with every detail you could imagine lined out as well as clothing and swords from all the folks pivotal to the events. I breezed thru in about 15 minutes at a brisk pace - it's a labyrinth underground.
The Mausoleum has the obligate Eternal Flame and statue-like guards who perform elaborate changing-of-the-guard routines every so often. There's also killer panoramic views of the sprawling modern city and a beautiful, immaculately garden with a long mall lined by huge lion statues leading up to the structure.
After this, we piled back into the bus and headed to Cappadocia, stopping briefly a a ginormous salt lake... really cool!
Check out this link for more info: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/greece-turkey/turkey