May 10, 2005 - June 01, 2005

This morning we left Ayvacik, a small town on the Aegean. Last night we dined by the water and a wonderful restaurant - fish and salad, eggplant and calamari - just lovely.We stopped first at an architectural salvage/antique market, as Meli is looking for doorknobs for her house. There were old paintings of Ataturk, linens, pottery, jewelry, bed frames, other architectural fixtures...If I was building a house in Turkey, I would utilize this place, too.We also visited a Turkish flea market, which was so similar to open air flea markets at home. Lots of new clothing, knick knacks, carnival rides, house wares, etc. Not "traditional" arts. It was rather large and we wandered on our own. Sarah and I walked around together.((If you haven't already heard the news, I found a Roman coin at Pergamum I am an art historian and this was quite a thrill. I was looking at a marble capitol, looked at the ground and saw a black disc. I picked it up and thought, "this is a coin." I took it to Yu, then Rebun, then to Lincoln. They all though so, too. Then I found Meli, and she was so moved by it as noone on her tour had ever found anything. We contacted the director of the Bergama Museum and he drove up to the site and he confirmed that it was a Roman coin, from the Late Roman period, and it was possibly a Numi. It didn't have much value in its day due to inflation. How exciting. He took it and I got his address to contact him. He said they would clean it to confirm the denomination.I have so many questions about that little coin - who dropped it? What were they doing? Why me? The span of time since its owner dropped it and I found it is so amazing. Just think of all the people who walked over it over the centuries.))We went to Troy, the City of Priam, chronicled by Homer in the Illiad. Our guide was a man (amatuer archaeologist) named Mustafa Adan. He was wonderful - informative, funny, but serious about distinguishing between the real and ficticious Troy.

He told us the story of Heinrich Schleimann, the first person to discover Troy. The site was nothing like I expected. It was a loose collection of small hills, with exposed mud bricks, a large ramp, that originally went to the sea, and walls that lined the city. Only 10% of the site has been uncovered - just think of what still remains to be unearthed! Among the things that have been found are pots, jewelry of gold and lapis lazuli.We traveled through the mountains to the town of Assos, which overlooks the Aegean. You can see from the top of the mountain that overlooks the town, the Greek island of Lesbos. The walk up to the Temple of Athena was very steep, lined with villagers selling trinkets - including rugs, jewelry, olive oil soap...It was a wonderful spot for taking pictures, and a breathtaking view. The remains of the Temple of Athena show an imposing and stoic Doric design. Severe, yet elegant.