My journey has come to an end, and I am back in the United States now. I want to thank all of my Turkish colleagues, collaborators and friends for making this trip so enjoyable. A special thanks to Dr. Ali Dönmez and Zübeyde Uğurlu for their collaboration, field expertise and hospitality!
During my last day in Turkey I traveled just outside of Ankara to visit the small town of Beypazarı. The town's historical significance is great; it was once a stop on the trade route between Istanbul and Baghdad. Now the city is famous for many things, but mostly carrots, baklava and güveç. I enjoyed a couple bottles of freshly juiced carrots, a specialty in the city and a great beverage for a hot day.
This dish, güveç, literally means earth pot. It features an array of spices, rice and lamb that is baked all together in a clay pot. Delicious!
One of my stops in the city was the "living museum" which is a nearly 200 year old preserved house turned museum. A walk through the museum simulates the daily life of families during the Ottoman Empire. The house was quite large with many rooms and an especially large hallway that was utilized as a familial gathering place. Typically these houses were inhabited by large families including great grandparents, grandparents, siblings, newly weds, children, etc. Above is a well preserved textile in the attic that would have been used to make clothing for the family, and to sell.
Our Dacia took a beating but it managed to get us to many remote locations with ease.
I was successful in collecting 25 accessions of Camelina from around central Anatolia but I was less successful in finding rare populations in the Black Sea region.
I managed to visit dozens of towns and cities that I hadn't seen in my previous trips which allowed me to further expand my cultural and historical understanding of this amazing country.
This was also my first trip in Turkey during the holy month of Ramazan. This presented additional obstacles to my travel, however ultimately it allowed me to gain a greater understanding of religion in Turkey.
Additionally, I was able to sample a wide variety of fruit trees. My taste-buds were tantalized by everything from crab apples, sour cherries and endemic figs to white mulberries (my favorite!).
Where will I go next year? ;)
Where will I go next year? ;)