Istanbul adventures!

This past May, I traveled to Istanbul to meet my cousin who was there for work. Not only was it a much-needed vacation, but I absolutely loved Istanbul and would go back any time... from the Hagia Sophia and numerous other mosques and tombs of sultans with their beautiful art and mysterious auras, to the surrounding culture - my favorite things included the ice cream (it's an event that everyone should experience), coffee and bookstores - it was a relatively short trip that I got a lot out of (something I've gotten good at from multiple trips like this I've taken).

I explored on my own and walked into many mosques and tombs; did a cruise tour in the afternoon with stops; and toured the Hagia Sophia, Archaeology museum and more. My cousin and I stayed in an upscale hotel, ate at a fancy restaurant (because Istanbul is cheap!), drank all the local coffee (disclaimer: that's an exaggeration), made friends at the spice market while trying all the Turkish delight and ice cream and discovered a fantastic jazz club. I would definitely go back to Istanbul again, but until then I have a good collection of books to read from the bookstore!

Below are photos, some say what they are, and others are from various mosques and other adventures. Enjoy!

Galata Tower 

The Hittite Kadesh Treaty at the archaeology museum 

Shalmaneser III

 

 

 

 

     

Click through these photos to see and read about the Sultan's tombs:

Hagia Sophia

Rumelihisarı

Taksi!

Starbucks (since I couldn't get Starbucks in Israel, and I love how they spelled my name!) 

Flip through these photos of Topkapi Palace:

The Spice Market

Masada

This past month I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Tel Aviv University Masada dig, which was so exciting and a fantastic experience! I dug for three weeks and it was really great to get to meet new people and go up to the mountain to dig each day, plus getting to have tours and lectures by people and professors I admire and learned so much from.

I began the dig in Area A, which is in the western part of the palace. We were digging through some residential areas. I spent some time in another area of the palace as well, and finally spent the last week in Area C, which was in a cave (seems like a theme for me, but caves are fun so no complaints here)!

Masada Sunrise

View to the West near the palace

Looking up at Masada from the cable car area below

With dig friends!

Tower view on top of Masada

Rainy day tour around the base of Masada

Rainy day - behind me you can see the waterfall which is rare, a result of the rain

Reenacting the Roman camps around Masada's base during the rainy day tour

Myself & Masada

From the stop along the way to the dig each week

Looking down from Masada

Sunrise - each morning pottery washing

More sunrise from the pottery washing area at the base of Masada where we stayed

In the Area C cave

I also spent my birthday digging, which was fantastic!

Ending the day right!

My second semester just began, and I'm still working the publications office as well as doing some work for another dig which I will be participating in this summer. I have classes about Jerusalem, the Persian-Hellenistic periods, animal bones, botanical archaeology, continued Hittite, the Transjordan, and a couple other history classes. It's busy, but worthwhile and I'm enjoying it - especially after the excavation, which was a needed break!