Another traditional IDC intercultural trip to Turkey took place between Aug 1st and Aug 11th, 2008. This time IDC hosted a group of educators and a mayor. The group had opportunity to visit some schools, see many historical sites, have dinner with local families, etc. They got to know the Turkish culture very closely. Some of the important sites visited included Hagia Sophia, Ephesus, Blue Mosque, House of Virgin Mary, underground city and carved chapels in Cappadocia. The cities that were included on the trip were Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, Antalya, Konya and Cappadocia.
Some pictures of this wonderful experience:
At the Miniaturk Models Park
Taking off for the bout tour on Bosphorus
Yeni Mosque as seen from Golden Horn in the evening
At the Kariye Museum, an old church
At the terrace at Topkapi Palaca
Blue mosque as seen through the windows of Hagia Sophia
With some students at a private school in Bursa 
With some students at a private school in Bursa
In front Celsius Llibrary in Ephesus
After a dinner with local families in Izmir
At a school in Antalya
Sarcophaguses in Antalya Archaeology Museum
City view in Antalya
Lunch at Duden waterfall in Antalya
At the 1800 year old Aspendos Theatre in Antalya
Another view of Aspendos Theatre in Antalya 
At the gate of an old Seljuk University in Konya
Konya style Turkish pizza
Undergound city
Group picture in Cappadocia
Our group visited the Authors and Journalists Foundation in Istanbul
Shopping in Spice Bazaar
Group picture after a dinner with families in Istanbul
Entering the Dolmabahce Palace
Inside the Dolmabahce Palace
500th Year Jewish Museum
Model of the celestial globe in the Museum of History of Science and Technology in Islam, constructed at the observatoryof Maragha in 1279 CE and kept in Dresden since 1562.
Istanbul Archaeology Museum 
Detail of a sarcophagus in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum 
Our group attended a live concert by Ottoman military band
Dinner with some other families last night in Turkey