Photos from Turkey

Carolyn and I were in Turkey from Saturday, January 31, through Friday, February 6, 2009, so I could give a keynote address at a business conference there. Of course, we squeezed in some great sightseeing, too! Here are a few photos from the trip.



Inside the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul



David Gerrold, who was also giving a keynote, and our Istanbul tour guide Mehmet Bozdemir



The Blue Mosque in Istanbul



Robert J. Sawyer giving his keynote at the "Time to Exit the Labyrinth" Conference at the Conrad Istanbul



Robert J. Sawyer, Erin Brockovich, and Carolyn Clink; Erin also gave a keynote at the conference.



Robert J. Sawyer, conference organizer Pelin Pirnal



On the day after the main conference, Rob and David also gave futurism talks at the headquarters of Garanti Bank in Istanbul



Our private tour of the Greco-Roman ruins Ephesus -- virtually deserted on the day we visited



The Celsus Library at Ephesus



Robert J. Sawyer and Carolyn Clink out front of the Celsus Library



Roman bust and Carolyn Clink



Tumbled columns at Priene



Our fabulous private tour guide, Yusuf Savat, as we visited Priene



More of Priene, although we also toured Miletus and Didyma



Didyma

All in all, an amazingly wonderful trip, and I'm very glad I went.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Butterflies

I'm very fond of butterfly conservatories -- and the Smithsonian has a new one, so on my way to the airport in Washington yesterday, after the Gartner IT Security Summit, I took a detour to visit the National Museum of Natural History, where my friend paleontologist Mike Brett-Surman (pictured with a butterly on his sleeve) showed me around the butterfly conservatory there.

(The night before, Mike and his wife, exhibit designer Kim Moeller, came out to visit me at the fabulous Gaylord National where we had a terrific Italian buffet dinner.)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site