10/15/13
Today was our last day touring Turkey with our tour group. Our first stop was the city of Pergamon. This city is located at the top of the mountain to have a better view of incoming armies that were going to attack. Our bus parked at the bottom of the mountain because the road was too narrow to maneuver a large bus. A row of taxis veered off the street and into the parking lot next to our bus. Seven taxis had to take our group to the top of the mountain at the beginning of the city.
Before we entered the city gates, there was a small market that sold little goods to the tourists passing to see the city. There is where I bargained hard for my Turkish duffel bag. The man tried to get me to buy the red, gold, and white duffel but my heart was set on the red, white, and blue duffel bag. My patriotic pride is coming out strong while living in Europe.
Inside the city we saw the place where the Great Altar Upper Market once stood. People bought and exchange goods for their families in this building. Now a beautiful tree stands in its place.
The Assembly Hall was perched on the side of hill, like all assembly halls, but in Pergamon the assembly hall was quite steep. We could see the entire city sitting below this mountain. I saw windmills in the distance creating energy from the wind that surged around through this valley. One of the ladies in my group decided to walk down to the bottom of the hall and sing a song. Her voice was lovely and I definitely didn’t expect to witness this lady to sing in public. She wore a purple t-shirt that read Geek across the chest. She wore black glasses and Bermuda shorts. From my seat at the top, I could hear her sing perfectly. The assembly hall was designed to enable everyone to hear perfectly from any seat. No one was missing out on the lovely music. A group of Koreans (Sunny identified their nationality) appeared from the sides and started cheering the lady to keep singing. My group sat with gapping mouth, listening to the magic.
Then we walked to the temple where people could pray, bath, or relax while looking out into the view of the mountains. There was a dam created next to the mountain to bring fresh water to the city and harvest fish in the water. When the city was being attacked, they had to shut off their suppliers and gates which meant having to supply food and water to themselves. It looked to be a clever city that was protected on all sides.
We stopped at another city called Troja. I-IV. The story behind the name was when a big horse structure was used to break into the city and take full control of it. A group of men designed a tall wooden horse that they would roll up to the city’s gate called Troja. The men inside the city took the horse in through the gates and left it in the main square for all the citizens to see. The city thought it was a gift from a distant city trying to make an alliance. When night fell and the city became quiet, the army sitting inside the horse broke out, opened the city gates to let the rest of the army inside, and completely took over the city. I climbed inside the horse structure and could imagine the men leaning against the wall with their swords in hand. If I was a man in this horse back then, I would be confident our plan was going to work. No one saw this attack coming.
We walked through the city and saw parts that were marked off as either Troja city I-IV. The city kept being rebuilt because it was burned down or destroyed. Over the years they just built on top of the ruins from the Troja before. There were irrigation canals, city walls, and roads all covered with dirty.
At one point of the trail you were looking over the Asian part of Turkey. The city of Troja was located in the Asian part of Turkey. The country is split into being half European and half Asian. We could see freight boats carrying containers of goods and supplies to the city. I had now been in Asia and Europe. This year was full of first time experiences.
Stephanie Raquel
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