Yesterday I came back from my trip to Ankara. I stayed in a part of the city called Emek, with my cousin Özge and her flat mate Elif.
On Sunday, Özge and I went to Anıtkabir, which is Atatürk's Mausoleum. However, the sarcophagus that everyone sees in this mausoleum is symbolic; Atatürk's actual sarcophagus is kept underground in another building where visitors are not allowed. There is also a large museum about Turkey's Independence War and, of course, about Ataürk. I learned that one important battle of the war was fought in Afyon. There is a large mural (it takes up one entire room), depicting the war and half of one wall is dedicated to the battle in Afyon. The museum is fascinating and Anıtkabir is probably the most important landmark in Ankara.

Another place that I visited was Kızılay, which is this immensely popular shopping center. I also went to Or-An and spent a day with the exchange students who live in Ankara, which was really fun.
Amy (an exchanger from Michigan) and I went to Ulus to see the Anatolian Culture Museum, but it was closed by the time we got there. Then, we decided to visit the Ankara Citadel, but that turned out to be closed as well. So, we decided to go back to Kızılay and do some shopping. We walked from Ulus to Kızılay, which turned out to be a really long walk (about an hour), but Amy and I did get an interesting walking tour of the city that way.

Have a good Friday and a great weekend everyone!