My Dream Foreign Tour
In the autumn of 2018 I planned a foreign tour solely inspired by my long-cherished desires. Since school days when I heard about the Pyramids as the only visible ancient Seven Wonders of the world, I fancied to see them. Later as a student of history and literature I was attracted towards Turkey and Greece. With this motivation, I embarked on the tour of these countries.
First, I and Laxmi reached Cairo on 27th September,2018. We went and visited Great Pyramids of Giza. This and other pyramids are the oldest surviving structures built by the human beings. Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu built the Pyramid of Giza about 4,600 years back as a tomb. It has three chambers including Queen’s Chamber and one for Khufu. Khufu’s vizier Hemiunu is supposed to be the architect of this colossal. This is built of granite with almost now vanished casing of limestone. The base is a square of each side 230.34 meters ( 756’) and height of 138.8 meter ( originally 146.7 m). It has very uniform slope of 51 degrees 52” on all four side. In that period the builders had a great sense of angles and measurements. All sides are remarkably equal. Stones were cut at the quarries and transported by river Nile.Precise planning, design and construction without the help of pulleys, wheels and iron tools, the pyramids are real marvel and rightly a wonder. I was fortunate to witness it.
The Sphinx is built in the background of Pyramid. Ancient Pharaohs ( kings) used to visit it for power and health. A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. In Greek tradition, it has the head of a human, the haunches of a lion This Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred as just the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature. Facing directly from West to East, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.
We reached Turkey from Egypt and visited historical places of Istanbul, a bridge between Europe and Asia. Istanbul, historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, is the most populous city in Turkey and the country’s economic, cultural, and historic center. Istanbul is a transcontinental city, straddling the Bosporus strait (which separates Europe and Asia) between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side and about a third of its population lives on the Asian side. Istanbul is viewed as a bridge between the East and West. We visited fort, mosques and famous Museum of Hagia Sophia. We also took an evening cruise.
Istanbul ( Constantinople) was once the seat of Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire from antiquity to the late Middle Ages. Later Osman 1 founded Ottoman Empire which finally captured Constantinople( Istanbul) in 1453 AD. The Ottoman Empire, also historically known as the Turkish Empire or simply Turkey, was a state that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries.
My next destination was Greece. known as Yunan in India, this was a remarkable place in ancient time being the source of all aspects of thinking, literature and culture. We visited Acropolis of Athens which is on a small hill of immense archeological importance. Though some remains of thirteenth are present, the most imposing remains are of temple of Athena, the Goddess of peace and victory ( 427 BC) and the temple of Poseidon, brother of Zeus. Both had fought for supremacy of Athens. Goddess Athena won and brought peace with olive leaves.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, as well as the Olympic Games. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek culture and science from the eastern Mediterranean to India. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire and for sometime part of Ottoman Empire.
It was my one of the most satisfying foreign tours.
