Terminal Case of Stendhal syndrome

We set out on a walk today, vowing to waste hours away by staring at the sea. Instead we got sucked into the Archeology Museum, and what a museum it was. I have never seen such amounts of history in one place, as there were literally acres of potshards and bones that were being categorized and investigated – all from the dredging occurring in the Bosphorous as the city set about creating an underground metro line. There were rooms upon rooms of Roman, Greek, Ottoman and Ionian sculpture and artwork. Some of my favorite items were the Sumerian and Coptic writing examples that were housed there. Particularly the items shown below – called the Terse Business Communication – I am betting that these say things like, did you get the TPS report? Or are reminders for meetings and such – they just happen to be carved into stone.

The museum was actually created to house its impressive store of stone sarcophagi. These were amazing, and beyond written description. Most were discovered by a farmer in Lebanon as he was tilling his fields, he came upon a cavity which housed a multitude of well preserved coffins which were styled in Greek, Egyptian, and Roman style. Here is a photo, but more will be up on the Flickr page too...check it out – they were breathtaking.

After the museum we continued on our walk and discovered a park that we didn’t even know existed, it was huge, with fields of flower, strolling paths, waterfalls, and hundreds of people lounging in the shade of all the old growth trees. We wandered to the far wall of the park and found a little café to have a baked potato (that’s right, another one) and a pot of tea – and watched the ships come in and out of the harbor. I even saw Dolphins!

We rounded out the day by eating pizza and drinking beer while watching Turkey go on to win their second game of the Euro cup 2008 football series. It’s good to leave with everyone feeling good and happy about their team..