596 - Pergamon Ancient City
Today was my last day in Turkey, and I decided to change it up with a portrait shoot.
Partially because I wanted to show thanks to the girl who’d helped me navigate this country, and partially because I was tired of shooting ruins.
They’re hard as fuck. Give me a break.
But real talk, if it wasn’t for Alara, it would have been a completely different trip. Since she was familiar with the language and the culture, navigation was significantly easier, which allowed us to see and experience Turkey from several different angles.
Case and point, we were chilling at a restaurant in Istanbul, and Alara overheard an American couple sitting a few seats down from us. They had no concept of the Turkish language, and were struggling to communicate with their waiter. Gibberish was ensuing.
Alara jumped in and facilitated a full translation for them, and made sure they ordered a dish they’d like. In turn, we got to hear a bit about their experience traveling through Istanbul. In short, they described their trip as “beautiful, but intense.”
Luckily for me, I could only describe this trip as beautiful, because of Alara. Not only because of her stunningly good looks and expert navigation skills, but also because of her extraordinarily welcoming and kind family.
There’s countless moments from this trip that I couldn’t include in blog posts, so I’ll stop glazing and write up a few of my favorites here:
Eating fried anchovies (a native dish called ‘hamsi’) by the dozen on the side of the road
Getting stared at by dozens of retired folk at while I ran through a small beach town
Eating a raw olive while picking them from trees in the backyard with Alara’s mom (it tasted like sour candy without the sugar)
Walking across a stone walkway through the middle of sea, feeling like a current could sweep us out at any moment
Navigating countless street bazaars that felt like an Indiana Jones movie
Doing acro-yoga on the beach while watching cats fight for territory
Eating gozleme (a fried, pupusa-esque dish) in a small restaurant owned by an old lady, who cooked the food on a stove on the floor. (USDA nightmare material, but absolutely delicious)
Spotting the American couple Alara helped in Istanbul at the exact same hotel we were staying at in Eastern Turkey, 330 miles away.
And finally, here’s a few photos of Alara in Perganom Ancient City, our final destination for the trip. These were taken in the beloved Acropolis Theater, overlooking the city of Bergama:
“Tree of the Clouds”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 50mm f/1.8
[ISO 250 ~ 54mm ~ f/4 ~ 1/400s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Above Bergama”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4
[ISO 250 ~ 50mm ~ f/1.8 ~ 1/2000s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
That’s Turkey for ya. Shoutout Alara for making this all happen! I couldn’t be happier that I decided to make the trip out here.
But stay tuned…
Our next stop is in Scotland… whether neither of us are familiar with the culture.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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