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Tim Lynette Wilkins
Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore
    Hattusa entrance gates
    Drainage channelStorage jarsWork continuesLion gateTunnel under the wallsSphinx gateKings gateRoyal PalaceBull-headed vase (big!)

    Hattusa

    15 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Hattusa is one of the highlights of the trip for us. We know of it as the capital of the Hittite empire from around 1700 BC to 1200BC when it was destroyed and the Hittites "disappeared ". But we have now learned that it was much more than that and the Hittites didn't disappear but moved south towards Syria and were no longer significant.
    Hattusa was the capital for a tribe called the Hattians who were indigenous in Anatolia before the Hittites moved in ( probably from central Asia) and took over. They were fierce warriors ( eg. Fighting Ramses to a draw at Kadesh) and built their capital with strong defensive walls. But they adopted the gods and practices of those that conquered or allied with and ended up with a pantheon of hundreds of gods.
    The site was both wonderful and disappointing. Wonderful in the size, location and scale of the place but disappointing in that most of the sculptures and carvings have been removed to museums.
    We toured the site in the minibus as its so vast stopping at temples (of which the are 32), gates (we visited 3) and the Royal acropolis. The site has a small museum but the best bits are in Ankara that we saw yesterday.
    We spent the night in a simple rural hotel with a view over the site.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore
    Obsidian toolsPlaster painting 6000 BCObsidian rock mirrorBronze jug 2500 BCGold jugs 2500 BCLion head 18th century BCGold and lapiz rings 17th century BCWall carving of Gilgamesh 800 BCWar chariot 800 BC

    Ankara museum

    14 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We spent the morning in the Ankara museum. Its quite a small museum in a beautiful 15th c ottoman Palace and, like all the museums we've been to here, is well thought out and presented. It contains a lot of the artifacts from the places we visited before, along with a wealth of Hittite material from sites we will visit tomorrow.

    After that, a drive to the site of Gordion, a phrygian city at its heights in about 800 BC. The city is named for king Gordius, and surrounded by huge tumuli, one of which the King's. His son was king Midas, of the turning everything to gold fame. In addition, its the city where Alexander the great cut the famous knot defending the city using his sword.

    The Gordius tumulus is open to the public we went in saw the huge wooden burial chamber in side, made of whole cypress trees,,! The local museum, also small but beautifully presented , contains all of the grave goods, but his body which was found in place during the excavation in now missing. Also, there is a pebble mosaic, from the 9th c BC, said to be the oldest ever found.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore
    Euphrates
    FortFortPistachiosZeugma villaZeugmaMosaicDanae

    Gaziantep

    12 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    From Sanliurfa we took our bus to the banks of the Euphrates and a hours river trip before having lunch. On the river trip we could see the remains of a seljuk and roman fort dating to the first century AD. When the dam was built many villages and towns were flooded, in particular the town of Zeugma, from which spectacular mosaics were saved and which are now in the museum in Gaziantep and we will see tomorrow. Some however were in an roman villa above the water level and are still in situ.

    Along the drive we passed through great fields of tobacco and cotton, and vast plantations of pistachio trees. This area is renowned for its pistachios and when we go for a walk through the grand bazaar tomorrow we plan to buy some, along with some baklava, another speciality of the city.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore
    First human statue 9500 BC
    Vulture karahantepe 8000 BCWild boar gobekli tepe 8500 BCReproduction T-columns showing how big they were!Copper age bowlCopper age idolBronze age toy carIron age head of SargonRoman necropolisMosaic of achilles and thesis 1st c AD

    Sanliurfa museum

    11 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    This morning we were supposed to take a trip to a town called Harran, but we opted out. The sites in the town were damaged in the earthquake and are either rebuild anew, or levelled and built over. Half of our group went anyway, but we had a pleasant morning in our room reading and doing crosswords, which seemed a nice relaxation after all our recent site visits. When they came back we all went out for lunch at local restaurant with some really good turkish food, followed by the city museum.

    This museum is only 9 years old, and is excellent, but absolutely HUGE. Amongst other things it contains the finds from the excavations at Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe so there was lots to see and really we could have stayed all day, but we needed to also visit the mosaic museum.

    The mosaic museum is based around the mosaics found from a roman Palace dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries A D, . The mosaics are still shown in place where they found. They are exquisite, and made from very small and fine tessera, and show animals, birds and scenes from mythology.

    Finally we went to see the cave where Abraham was supposed to have been born and the pool where he was thrown into the fire and saved by God by creating the pool of water.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore
    T-shaped columns
    Desert fox carvingScorpionPredator and a wild boarAtaturk damEuphrates riverChillies drying in the sun

    Sanliurfa

    10 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    Two incredible neolithic sites today,

    We started off by going to Gobekli tepe, and on the way seeing the massive Ataturk dam on the river Euphrates . The archaeological site was excavated from 1995 until today and remains one of the earliest human constructions, dating from 9500 BC to around 8000 BC. It consists of a number of circular structures cut into the bedrock and containing rings of stone columns inscribed with animals, birds and human figures. The columns were T-shaped. This area is in the heart of the fertile crescent so central to development of early civilisation. The main site seems to have been used as a meeting or religious site, and some residential sites have been found around it, but it's not known if they represent a domestic settlement or just for guardians of the site. We should see many of the artifacts on our museum visit tomorrow. While we were there , there was a team from the Discovery Channel filming for a programme to be broadcast next year - we'll have to look out for it! Work continues!

    The second site at Karahan tepe was only discovered recently with excavations starting 5 years ago. It's a bit later than Gobekli tepe, from 8500 BC. It is more clearly a settlement site with domestic tools and artifacts - all stone, both these sites predate ceramics and metals. There are also many columns in the circular areas, some T-shaped, but also many phallus-shaped. We were able to meet and discuss with the site director some of his interpretations about the site which was really interesting. Looking down from the top of the tel, it was easy to see other rings and marks in the surrounding land so I think they will be working there for many years to come. We weren't allowed to take pictures of some of the site because it hasn't been published yet.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore

    Earthquake and wildlife

    10 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    This whole area was one of the worst affect by the big earthquake of last year, along with northern Syria. Over 100,000 people were killed and millions left homeless. A lot of work has been done to start to recover but many people are still living in temporary portcabin-like homes. In the cities there are many city blocks where the ruins have been razed down but which are still heaps of rubble, and some high-rise buildings still have the top floors open and ruined. However there is lots of new construction going on. But the most noticeable fact is that many high rise buildings DID survive - those that complied with the regulations for earthquake proofing.

    As we drive through the countryside and hills we see bits of local wildlife. Yesterday we stopped by the side of the road to watch a family of gazelle - a adult male and female and a couple of kids. Today we saw some desert foxes. Very handsome!    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore

    Adiyaman and Mount Nimrud

    9 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Another early start to get an internal turkish flight from Istanbul to Adiyaman, way down in the south east part of the country, then a long winding journey by bus over the mountains to Mount Nimrud, to see the colossal heads we put in the photo of this blog trip. We stopped on the way to see a really nice small roman bridge over the river, and climbed up the mountain (2,200 metres high). It was a tough, rough climb, the guide book say takes 20 to 30 mins, we did it in about an hour!

    The top of the mountain is a huge tumulus of King Antiochus, who surrounded it with huge statues of gods and himself, although over the years the statues have fallen and now only the heads stick up.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore

    Istanbul

    8 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We were woken during the night by a massive thunderstorm with lighting so bright you could see it despite the heavy curtains and closed eyelids, and with a tremendous downpour of rain, and great claps of thunder that seemed to shake the whole city. So no surprise that we got wet in our travels around the city this morning.

    We started with a visit to the old city walls, built up from roman times to byzantine and ottoman times, followed by a wonderful church dating to the 13th century and completely covered by magnificent mosaics and frescoes. We've been there a couple of times before but that doesn't matter, it's still breathtaking.

    One of the most popular sites in the city is the huge cistern, where roman and byzantine aquaducts bring fresh water into the city and its stored in underground reservoirs. After lunch we spent a couple of hours in the archaeological museum, stopping, now in hot sunshine, to buy a bag of hot roasted chestnuts on our way back to the hotel.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyViaggiatore
    View from our room
    Spice marketInto the restaurant

    Arrival in Istanbul

    7 settembre 2024, Turchia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Long day - taxi at 3 a.m., but trip itself was uneventful. We arrived at the brand new Istanbul Airport which is wonderful, quiet peaceful and efficient, we were out with our bags in no time at all. After checking in to the hotel we walked to the spice market which is just down the street in the centre of the city, and afterwards went for an early dinner at a restaurant we know next to the aghia Sofia mosque ( it used to a cathedral, then a museum and then a mosque) . The setting for the restaurant is wonderful - down inside a medieval water cistern and every time before we have loved it. Since then its been done up and seems now to cater to Japanese and Chinese tour groups. The food is still great but the prices are stunningly and eye-wateringly expensive. Ah well , , , times change! At least on our walk back we bought our first batch of baklava. Still good!Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore

    Madrid

    19 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We left Merida at midday to get the train to Madrid. But as with the journey coming out, the first half was a replacement bus. It was perfectly comfortable and connected easily with the train. Then a short walk to our hotel. The timings were such that there wasn't a train that would arrive for today's flight so we had to stay tonight around the train station and then get a taxi to the airport in the morning. Annoying, but manageable!Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore
    Aquaduct
    AquaductBasilicaBasilicaSecond aquaductCircusHippodromeFamily of storks

    Last day in Merida

    18 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Until today, the weather has been rather disappointing. A warm 20c to 24c but mostly cloudy with occasional flashes of sunshine. But today the sky was blue and the sun shone all day and we spent much of the afternoon on the roof terrace.
    But not before our last bits of sightseeing. A 20 min walk takes you to another Roman Bridge ( over a tributary of the Guadiana) from which you can see the remains of an enormous aqueduct that brought water to the city from 10km away. Whilst not as wonderfully preserved as the one in Segovia, it is still a very impressive sight - and nearly every tower had a storks nest on top.
    The last two sites on our list were a HUGE, over 400m long and over 100 m wide, circus used for chariot races, and the Basilica of Santa Eulalia - a martyr in Roman times and the patron saint of Merida. Dating from just 20 or 30 AD, the circus was Impressive from its size, certainly by far the biggest I've seen , it took me nearly an hour to walk around it. The basilica was small and unremarkable, with Roman remains in the under crypt, but with visigoth foundations dating to 5th c AD. They used a convenient roman temple as an portico.

    Tomorrow afternoon we return to Madrid ready for our flight home on Monday.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore
    Mosaic
    Statue of Ceres, goddess of agriculture, 1st c ADPlaster relief of tree with birds and serpent. 1st c ADPlaster relief of Bacchus. 1st c ADTheater maskMuralMosaicMosaicIvory hair pinGlass jug 1st c AD

    A day of museums

    17 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    This morning we spent in the museum of Roman art. Its a very modern building and is huge, on four floors, and while it was being built they found a roman villa and cemetery underneath. The museum is very easy to get around but for a new museum the information on the exhibits is strangely lacking, often telling you very little, even to the dates.

    On to a much smaller museum of visigoth merida. So small i don't know why they didn't just put it all in one room of the other museum.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore
    Theater
    AmphitheaterAmphitheater entrancesAmphitheater bricked roofTheaterStatue of Minervs (?)StatuesTheater bath houseTheater gardens

    Spectacular sights!

    16 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    The roman theater in Merida was listed in the "12 best sights of spain" (of which we have now been to ten !) And today we went first to the amphitheater, and then to the theater , which are next door to each other . They were founded by Agrippa in the 8 BC, and are both spectacular and really well preserved.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore
    Roman Bridge
    Moorish cisternRoman/Visigoth/Moorish wallsCasa del Mitreo wall paintingRoman Wall paintingGeometric mosaic floorMosaic floor with central cherubMagnificent mosaicTemple of Diana

    A taste of each era

    15 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Merida has been occupied since pre-Roman times and today we thought we would have a gentle introduction to the remains. We started out with a visit near the hotel to the Alcazaba which was a Fort built in the 9c ad by the Moors who ruled hereabouts at the time. However it was built on top of the Roman Fort at the end of the Roman Bridge crossing the river Guadiana. So we got two cultures in one place with the Moors reusing lots of Roman masonry. Oh and the Visigoths added to the defensive walls so a third! The highlights were walks along the walls with good views of the Roman Bridge and another Moorish cistern.

    We then walked around some Roman remains they discovered when building new office blocks. They went ahead with the building just raising them on pillars so it was pretty difficult to make out anything significant.
    After a coffee and snack we went to the Casa del Mitreo - a large 1c ad villa just outside the city walls which has lovely mosaics - mostly geometric- and great extant wall painting. It's only about waist high so no fabulous murals like Pompeii, but clear colours and designs. It must have been wonderful in its day.
    After lunch in the bull ring cafe we walked back via a temple to Diana which some chap in the 15c incorporated into his palace.
    When the sun is out it is lovely but there are plenty of clouds and then it gets chilly. Still an hour on the hotel roof terrace this afternoon was very pleasant.

    Whereas Caceras was quite green and pleasant, and the old town well-looked after, Merida seemed mostly a modern but down-at-heel and threadbare city, so far not much to be pleased with, other than the incredible histor.y and our hotel which is in a beautiful old palace!    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore
    Plaza mayor at evening
    Old town9th c - 11th c cisternMoorish house roof 12cCathedralFig tree

    Caceres

    14 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Lovely hotel, slept well, and a gentle start to the day. Caseres has a really nice feel to it and the sights in the old town centre are in easy walking distance. Just as well as it was distinctly chilly this morning!
    As it was cold, we started in the museum, which is small but has plenty worth seeing, from prehistory to roman and Muslim eras, including some Latin inscriptions dating from the 8th to 10th centuries B.C. - I didn't know Latin could go back that far in Spain!

    Next a moorish period house dating to 14th century, and the cathedral with great views from the Bell tower looking out on the plains of Extremadura. The cathedral itself is quite plain for a Spanish church and very elegant. And finally to the small but lovely gardens of a Palace with a fig tree that is hundreds of year old.

    Somewhere in there we had lunch in the main square. We had a small dinner inthe square last night and the food was OK, but expensive with small portions, which we put down to it being the main tourist centre, but lunch today, in a different restaurant, was half the price for a full three course menu of the day , and good food too!

    Local bus drive for an hour this evening to arrive in Merida.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsExtremaduraViaggiatore
    Madrid train station

    Long day!

    13 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Up at 4.30 to get a taxi to the airport, then fly to Madrid, taxi to the train station in time to have lunch. And train to Caceres, in theory !

    But they are building a new High speed line between Madrid and Lisbon and so we had to get off in Plasencia and take a bus replacement. At least the buses were there waiting and comfortable and air conditioned, not like the ones they put on the northern line which are never there and leave you cold and waiting in the rain. Then a final taxi from the train station in Caceres to the hotel.

    Although the new train is supposed to be from Madrid to Lisbon, it will only go as far as the border at Badajoz as the Portuguese decided they couldn't afford it so their section isn't being built. The cities along the route, like Badajoz, Caceres, Talavera, will all be very familiar to anyone who reads the Sharpe novels of Bernard Cornwell, as they describe the campaigns of Wellington's battles against the French that went along the Tagus valley towards Madrid.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2024Viaggiatore
    Drinks time in the evening sun

    Andalucia Day

    28 febbraio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Andalucia (spelled with a "s" in english and "c" in spanish) is Spain's largest autonomous province. Created as such on February 28th 1980, it marks the date with a public holiday, so all the schools, public buildings and shops are closed although a few of the pavement bars and cafes are open.

    It's still the middle of the Flamenco festival so the streets are crowded with people; spanish tourists of course but also plenty of British, German, French and Japanese ones as well. There are always lots of Japanese here for the flamenco. With the streets mostly empty of traffic, the churches take the opportunity to practice carrying their floats.

    The prawns we bought in the market yesterday are big deep red ones called "carabineros", supposedly because they are the colour of Spanish customs police uniforms!

    Packing tomorrow to go home, we've been coming now since 2015, with just a few years out - one when finlay was born and only came here for a week with him and Natalie, one when we went to almeria instead, and one in the pandemic when we couldn't travel. That first time we came for three months from New year to Easter, just coming home for a week in the middle. So being here so long , it really felt like a second home!    Leggi altro

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