We drove to the Anıtkabir (memorial tomb) of Ataturk and the national museum which is adjacent to it. Set up on one of the highest hills of Ankara, the memorial (which has his mausoleum) looks like a stylized Roman temple.
Lined with statues representing the people of Turkey
and lions to remind one of the Greco-Roman legacy
the way from the drive to the memorial reminded me of the many main roads we walked in the ruins we visited.
The museum houses photographs, paintings, personal effects (including clothes and books) of Mustafa Kemal, the leader in the fight for Turkish independence, the founder of the modern state of Turkey, and the first president of the Republic of Turkey. No wonder everyone here refers to him as Ataturk, father of Turkey, rather than using his given name.
What I found most interesting in the visit to the museum was the various methods used to “preach” the message about how good the reforms Ataturk devised were, how everyone—peasants, women, even children—supported Ataturk and the war for independence, how caring the Turkish soldiers were—even in warfare. Subtle and not so subtle propaganda faced us in the written descriptions of Ataturk and the painted murals about the fight for the modern state of Turkey. It was easy for me to recognize the embellishments in their rendition of their history. I wondered if this experience will help me recognize our own embellishments and propaganda in our descriptions of our country and our history.
Several school groups visited the museum when we were there. No wonder—it is their national museum; it promotes Turkish pride; and it tells their story.
We had lunch at an restaurant in old Ankara where the food was more Americanized than any food we’ve had during our visit here. However, it was delicious, and the beef (or was it lamb—I rarely could taste the difference unless it was ground like hamburger) kabob was the best I have eaten.
After lunch we walked the short distance to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
where we saw pottery, jewelry, weapons, coins, utensils, and bas reliefs from excavations in central and eastern Anatolia. Cultures represented included Assyrian, Hittite, Phrygian, Uratian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Turk—Seljuk and Ottoman.
Here is a Hittite statue on the grounds, one of the first things we saw walking into the museum.
Leaving the museum, we headed to the airport to catch our evening flight to Istanbul. We gave our driver a standing ovation!
(He's pictured here with his son who accompanied him on this trip. He will take exams for university in a few weeks.)
He was patient with us, got us safely where we needed to be on time, was always pleasant, and kept a map posted in the front of the bus, so that we would know where we had been. 
The Ankara airport is a beautiful, new, and under-used facility. Our guide told us Lufhansa will soon start flying to this airport, and its international flights will help business at the airport increase. We went through one (easy) security check, perhaps because this is a domestic flight.
(Here is Lewie, now using the cane we got him and each signed, herding us in the Ankara airport.)
We arrived in Istanbul late in the evening, rode back to the hotel where we spent our first nights, and enjoyed a delicious final (very late) supper in Turkey. I won (in the “random drawing” conducted by our guide) a memoir of the Turkish writer and 2006 Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Orhan Pamuk titled Istanbul: Memories and the City. Our guide told me the English translation (which I won) is better written than the Turkish original.
We presented our guide with a special thank you card, and Lewie presented him with a bottle of wine.
Not much time for sleep tonight. We have a 3 a.m. wake-up call to make our 6:30 a.m. flight.
Here are all of this day's Turkey pictures.
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