A Day in Ankara
Posted on October 1, 2023 • 8 minutes • 1671 words
We were feeling the need for some exploring and to drench ourselves in some Turkish culture. The weather forecast was for rain, so we picked the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations to visit. Our trusty Lonely Planet book raved about it, so we thought we’d give it a go. We headed out of our place and with just a sprinkling of rain, we walked briskly over to a taxi stand and had no problem finding one at about 9:15am. Easy taxi ride, except for police cars having to stop suddenly to avoid hitting us. Yes, I know it was our taxi driver that should have been getting out of their way, but to be fair, I didn’t hear the sirens until the last second either. We arrive at the museum, which we figured out was very close to the castle, and it was a huge hit. Walking in through the vast courtyard (which actually wrapped around most of the building) we knew we chose a good place. Statues, old columns, parts of buildings were distributed throughout the courtyard.
When we entered, we figured out it was arranged chronologically around the circumference of the building so we started at the beginning. To be totally honest, it was all so well done. So much to see, well explained and the kids were fully engaged for a solid 2hrs. Nice work museum curators!
We started out in the Palaeolithic Age (before 8000BC) where we saw old hunter-gather tools…spear heads are always a hit with the kids.
We wandered through the ages and saw rock paintings, where you had to use a bit of imagination to see what was painted at first. Then we’d look at the rendering on the explanation card and see what we had seen. Kinda an ancient picture search?
There was a reconstruction of a scene of men heating a fire to melt metal so they could pour it into a cast. I’m not sure what amazes me more; the fact that these figures or pottery or jewelry was created so beautifully and delicately without much more than fire and stone tools or that they survived SO long!
We saw terra cotta animal figures, big and small, necklaces with stone beads so small.
They had a lot of stone tablets that were for complex and the simplest of things. All that work for a receipt? And we just chuck our or request not to have one.
These kids are always fascinated by REAL gold and there was lots to see. I have to get it through their heads that back then, things WERE gold, not plated in gold…yet Ben seems to always have to double check. So many coins.
After walking the interior circumference, we went into the center were there were lots of statues, stone carvings.
And in the center, you could see the old brick roof of the building. The main hit though, was the gladiator helmet. No surprise there. We headed downstairs to see a few more things and then started searching for the café. Our book had said there was a nice café in the courtyard, but thanks to the rain, it wasn’t open and we opted for a couple quick cappuccinos and carrot cake at small table in the gift shop. Calories in the kids always necessary. I had a little time to get a couple things and Max had time to win over the shop employee and was hugging her withing 10 minute. The rain did hold up enough for us to enjoy sometime on a bench in the courtyard where Ben and Sam each picked a stone piece to sketch in their field journals. Feeling we had seen most of what we were going to, especially with very complaint children, we bid the museum adieu and set off in search of food. The one we looked up was closed, so we just wandered towards the old town area where we had been a couple weekends before. Although, with the less than prime weather, it was totally empty. I saw a sign for ‘Kepabi’ and we headed there, but not before poking in a few shops. I found a cloth shop and probably would have purchased much more if I wasn’t worried about a hunger meltdown. Coaxed the kids past a stand selling every kind of nut and dried fruit, promising we’d come back after. Finally arrived and when we peaked in, it didn’t look like there was much room to set and the tables on the street might have been a bit cold. Maybe not the place to eat on a rainy day, but the guy inside said “upstairs” and we gladly agreed and followed him up. Lots of space and when the kids saw the covered terrace, he lead us even further up with a smile. We probably had the table furthest from the kitchen as possible. It was my kind of restaurant…about 10 things on the menu total! I ordered the pida (pita) with cheese, chicken kebab, meat kebab and meatballs. They bought out lavash and dishes of pickles, tomato/pepper/cucumber and the amazing red sauce we see a lot. It’s sort of a bell pepper salsa, maybe some tomato mixed in. Whatever it is, it’s delicious. All of the food was delicious and the kids were clearly starving. We ate every last bite and many ‘tesekkulars’ were heard from the kids. As we were leaving, the waiters gifted the kids each a lollipop, which if you ask them, might have been the best part of the day.
When we were walking in, we saw a fresh pomegranate and orange juice stand. I couldn’t resist and we got a glass of pomegranate. Good, a little bitter, but I think it happens when you don’t meticulously pick out all the flesh between the seeds. Still loved it, as did Max. We stand out a bit (a bit?) sometimes, especially with our English, so we get a ‘where are you from?’ every so often. Always smiles when we say where we are from and lots of questions. Another country where we feel very welcome and kids get their hair ruffled by old men and cheeks pinched by old women with giant smiles. Makes me so happy. Max in his salmon-colored rain jacket was pretty adorable today.
We felt we had filed up our souls with Turkish culture enough for the day and we still had energetic kids. As we headed towards a bigger street to find a taxi, we passed a man selling simit and one look of wide open eyes from Ben, I wasn’t going to say no. How they still wanted to eat after all the lunch food 30 minutes ago, I don’t know. I gave a smile to the kids, signaling yes. The man selling them, gestured to them that they could each grab the one they wanted, which made the whole experience EVEN better for them. You could see the wheels turning in their heads about which one…you’d think they were naming their first pet. Finally, with their simits picked, we continued our walk.
Easy to find a taxi and as we were driving the driver is talking to us. We can’t understand. He is a bit animated pointing to a building and we just smile and apologize. We catch ‘car’ and he makes a ‘boom’ sound with his voice while his hands make a explosion jester. I then catch ‘terror’, ‘senator’ and ‘today’. We say ‘oh wow’ or something like this so he knows we understood, even though I’m not sure we did and I just felt confused. I get my phone out and into the google bar put ‘ankara bomb 2023’ and my stomach flips as I see the news articles. At 9:30am that morning, in front of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, a car bomb exploded and then gun shots were heard after. The suicide bomber was killed and another person was ‘neutralized’ after (probably the gun shots, but I haven’t read more about it). Kids had a million questions, mainly Ben, but I just felt so sick. Outside a government building meant it was most likely targeted, but didn’t put me at any more peace in the moment. The police car and sirens we heard, were probably heading there that morning. The one we almost hit…that just felt a bit too close. I got through as many of his questions as I could and was saved by arriving at our destination.
Not sure how any of us had the energy, but Dan was desperate for a pair of shoes, so we decided to stop at the big mall we saw on our way there. It’s crazy how malls in so many countries are exactly the same. Well not exactly, as this one had very limited shoes in Dan’s size. It got to the point that he’s just walk into a store and ask what they had in 46. One store had 0 options. It was a bit defeating finding no good options and maybe the kids could tell, or maybe they had hit their limit…it has been a long day of walking/exploring…so I buckled and we went for McDonalds soft serve. I felt a bit guilty doing McDonalds aboard (well in the US too actually), but we needed ice cream and we needed it fast and it was the first thing I recognized that would have ice cream when we walked into the food court.
Dan was still hunting and staying just a bit optimistic, so when we finished, we headed outside to the pretty cool looking playground. Nothing like ice cream and some running/climbing to lift everyone’s spirts. Dan came out empty handed, we gave the kids 10 more minutes and found a taxi home.
Overall, a really good day (minus the bomb). We picked a great museum that kept the kids super interested, had a great lunch and got in a bit of old town wandering with some shopping…oh and street food, always need street food.