FOR THE LOVE OF ISTANBUL

- Chapter 9 -

The city of Ankara welcomed them with a cloudless sky and warm summer-like air. Deb had to admit she was a bit surprised that Kader pulled up to the AnkaMall. It was a whirlwind of a shopping center, where he decided to take her to purchase a swimming suit, just as he promised. She kept smiling because shopping with him felt like a breeze. He knew where to go, and what he was looking for. They went straight to the retailer with swimming and beach apparel. Though she felt uncertain about what to pick, she felt more uncertain about the looks they both received from quite a few onlookers. It took her a moment to recall that her companion wasn't just a regular man, or just a regular father for that matter. He was Kader Gökyüzü, Aslan's father, and with that came a territory she was not accustomed to. Which was why she decided to accept Kader's first choice of a swimming suit he brought for her to try. The sooner she would make up her mind, the sooner they could leave the store.

It surprised her, though, that he picked a piece she not only liked, but one that would fit her, and, what made her wonder the most - one that he somehow knew she would look beautiful in. She accepted the black swimming suit with intricate gold and deep blue stitching in a heartbeat. When she stepped up to the cashier, she realized Kader stood right behind her, and chose two beach towels adorned with the flag of Turkey. She raised her eyebrow at him. Without any reservation in his voice, Kader explained that it was better for them to come with their own beach towels rather than request them from the hotel. And she had to laugh when he added that although a beach towel hardly qualified as a birthday gift, he would not be outdone by his cousin Cengiz's measly gift of a teacup and saucer. He also added that if she would come to remember this day someday, he'd prefer for her to recall his gift of a luxurious beach towel over Cengiz's little gift.

After they purchased what was needed, they left the AnkaMall and drove toward what Kader explained was something that she would hopefully like to see. As they drove through Ankara, Deb listened intently as Kader offered her a little history lesson. She liked the fact that he chose to offer versions of history which were intertwined with little known details over history-book hard facts. Although she always assumed that Istanbul was the capital of Turkey, it turned out that it was actually Ankara. Kader explained to her that some ancestors believed that Ankara's name was derived from the word "anker", meaning "ship's anchor". According to him, the city was established in the place where the king of Phrygia, Midas, supposedly found a ship's anchor and named the region after it. Deb couldn't help herself and asked if Kader just mentioned the one and only King Midas with the golden touch? Kader smiled and replied that yes, he did mean 'that' King Midas, but he didn't skip a beat in his history tale. He continued to say that the city was later conquered by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great in 333 BC, and after the War of Independence was won under the guiding leadership of the grand President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the capital of Turkey was moved to Ankara from Istanbul.

Deb realized that it was easy to lose herself in listening to Kader. He had a way with words, and he did so without the slightest of effort. He enjoyed talking about history, places, and the past. There was no question about it. Whenever they drove past a monument, or a park, or a museum, or a mosque, Kader pointed it out to her, and provided a little background history. That way she learned about the Museum of Turkish Republic and the Sultan Alâeddin Mosque. The Mosque was founded in the 13th century and was altered in later centuries, although its interior wooden design remained to this day. As they drove up a hill and turned the corner, her eyes came upon a castle-like fortress. It was the Ankara Castle. It looked ancient to her. It looked regal. And it captured her heart. Seeing that she liked what she saw, Kader grinned and added that some believed that there was a secret passageway connecting the Ankara Castle to the Temple of Augustus. He turned to Deb, anticipating her question, wiggled his eyebrows, and mentioned with a smile that yes, he was referring to 'that' Emperor Augustus from the ancient times. Unfortunately, the passageway was later sealed when a mosque was built on top of it in the 10th century.