I wouldn't call it a golden opportunity... -

On the heels of our extended day trip, we were curious how our next big weekend excursion would transpire, though we were soon informed that what had been billed as a two-day camping trip at a local wilderness area was being replaced with a half-day visit to a local archaeological site that is reputed to be the burial spot of King Midas. The contrast between a two-day excursion to a wilderness area and another that ended up lasting no longer than our wine-tasting trip was pretty striking and the reasons given for the change varied from an expectation that the original trip would be more boring then originally envisioned to some mention of increased bear sightings around the camp site. I have to feel like the change was made for one reason or the other because I'm not sure any place can be effectively described as both boring and bear infested! With our new plans I learned an important lesson: when someone tells you that your day will consist of a visit to a historical burial mound, don't expend too much energy imagining what a historical burial mound will look like. While the attached archaeological museum had a couple interesting items to see, the burial mound was exactly what it sounded like, a small hill with a chamber inside that at one time contained a body. There wasn't much more to it. As a result, the trip made for one of the less exciting and less involved events of the trip so far, but on the plus side it gave us a free day on Sunday for some much needed personal time. The down time was appreciated in the run-up to the big three day trip to Istanbul the next weekend. Please enjoy your pictures of the burial mound.

(Also featured is a picture of me with one of our peer tutors, Ömer, a Ph.D. student in the political science department at Ankara Universitesi and one of a number of great local students keeping us entertained and helping us practice our Turkish while we're here. I'm sure they could think of better ways to spend their summer than letting us know exactly how little sense we make in Turkish but their companionship is much appreciated!)