Day 4

When I woke up I had to go to Bergama. The drive was 4 hours long and around 262 Km which is 163 miles. The night of I decided to go to the Archaeology Museum and the Red Basilica. I arrived at Bergama at around 1:00 P.M. and thought I would visit the Archaeology Museum first.




To enter the Archaeology Museum you have to pay $1.75, but it’s all worth it. The museum had a bunch of stuff. It has a replicated Zues Altar, a fraction of an acropolis, and a statue of Hadrian taken from the Asklepion library. It also has a stone horse from the Zues Altar. After haveing a good time in the Archaeology Museum I went to the Red Basilica. The Red Basilica is a Roman Temple to worship the Egyptian Gods. After that it was time to eat. I ate at the Saglam Restaurant and had the Baked Boneless Lamb in a Brick Oven for $20

Day 3

          When I woke up in the hotel room, I had to get going on the road. I was going to Bursa around 149 miles away from Istanbul. While on the road I planned where I was going in Bursa. I was going to go to the Muradiye Complex. The drive took around 3 hours.
         When I got to Bursa I went to get something to eat. I chose the Caffe Siesta and got the pizza. When I was done with eating I went to the Muradiye Complex. The Muradiye Complex is an educational institution for muslims. It has a Koran School for boys, a mosque and a soup kitchen. After I got done looking around the Muradiye Complex I went to the Tombs of Osman and Orhan. The Tombs were around a beautiful garden. After I was done there I went to go find a hotel. I booked a room for $100 at the Hotel Celik Palas Thermal Spa. I went to bed after that because I had to wake up early.

Day 2

                When I woke up in my hotel I planned my big day,   even though I was still tired from jet lag.  My planned day was full of old buildings such as museums.  The first museum I was going to go visit is called the Hagia Sophia Museum.

                When I got to the Hagia Sophia Museum I looked at its magnificent architecture.  I went inside and to my surprise you didn’t have to pay to get in.  While I was inside it was full of beautiful, old mosaics.  It was extremely big and it took an hour tour to get through half of it.  When I was done with my tour of the Hagia Sophia Museum I went to get something to eat at the Galata House. I got the Hingali, meat-filled dumplings smothered with tomato sauce. The Hingali was cheap for how good it was, just around 40 Turkish Lira which is only $21. 

Day 1

The plane ride was the worst. I traveled using US Airways and the ticket cost me $911 for a coach seat. I got on the plane in Buffalo, New York, so I had to drive about 6 hours on top of my plane ride. The plane ride took 18 hours. I left for Istanbul, Turkey at 4:00 P.M. and I arrived in Turkey at around 5:05 P.M. The total travel time it took my to get to Istanbul from West Virginia was around 1 day.

When I arrived I was ready for some sleep, but it was daytime so I could not go to bed without messing up my hole sleeping schedule. So I walked around Istanbul looking for a hotel that would be good for me. I looked at around four hotels until i found one that was good. The hotel's name was Best Western Antea Palace Hotel and Spa. The room was $165 and that is 307 Turkish Lira. When I got the room I went immediatly to bed.

Map

Sugar Raisin Cookies (Uzumlu-Toz Sekerli Kurabiye)

125 gr unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoon full (a little bit more then 1/3 cup) plain yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
6 tbsp Sultana or Golden raisins

Glaze:
1 egg white, lightly whisked
4-5 tbsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients except raisins, knead. When the dough comes together, add the raisins and knead again. Make chestnut-sized balls with your hands. First dip in egg white, then sugar only on one part of the ball. Place them on parchment paper on an oven tray with the sugar sides on top.

Preheat the oven to 385 F (190 C) and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops take a light pink color.

Makes 16-17 cookies.

Biography of Hannibal

Hannibal was the son of the great Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. According to Polybius and Livy, the main Latin sources for his life, Hannibal was taken to Spain by his father and at an early age was made to swear eternal hostility to Rome. From the death of his father in 229 B.C. until his own death about 183B.C., Hannibal's life was one of constant struggle against the Roman Republic.Hannibal's earliest commands were given to him in the Carthaginian province of Spain by Hasdrubal, son-in-law and successor of Hamilcar. It is clear that Hannibal emerged as a successful officer, for, on the assassination of Hasdrubal in 221, the army proclaimed him, at age 26, its commander in chief, and the Carthaginian government quickly ratified his field appointment.