April 2026

In April, our humans were going to attend a conference in Istanbul. We were invited to join them. The trip would include a 5 day tour and we would be exploring the now world famous, ancient monuments at Gobekli Tepe. Check out the map to see where we went.

Click each photo to enlarge

Dublin Airport, April 2026

It was late April as our humans were going to Istanbul in Turkiye to attend a conference. It wasn't called Turkey any more, now it was called Turkiye. Having learned about Göbekli Tepe in eastern Turkiye, we did a lot of studies to get ready for a visit to the archaeological site.

We packed our gear and went with our humans to Dublin Airport. We would be flying Turkish Airlines. Here we are at the gate waiting on our aircraft to arrive.

Istanbul Airport, April 2026

We arrived the huge airport just north of Istanbul. When Roger realized the airport's name was Istanbul Airport, something dawned on him.
"McBear, haven't we been here before, and you called it Istanbul's Havalimani Airport?"
"That's right."
"Howcome all airports in the Istanbul vicinity are called havalimani-something? Could it be that havalimani simply means airport in Turkish?"
"Well, I...eh..."
Things also dawned on Tom, and he started giggling.
"Does that mean, we have now arrived Istanbul Airport Airport?"
"Well, I...eh..."
Poor McBear. He felt a bit embarrassed as we left the havalimani in a taxi.

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, April 2026

Our humans would be staying at a guest house at the university campus. Since we were going to be on our own for some time, they handed us a pile of Turkish Lira notes in case we needed to buy something. Now, since Turkish inflation was among the hightest in the world, we had to use the liras fast.
"That's absolutely no problem, believe me!" Roger assured our humans.

We would be the usual senior bears, McBear, Roger and Tom, however, when our humans were unpacking their luggage, it turned out McBear had managed to sneak in another two bears: James and dr. Ursula Cambridge.

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, April 2026

The conference was going to be held at the Yildiz Technical University Campus and we had a walk around to get familiar with the area.

Istanbul, April 2026

In the afternoon, we went down town to the old parts of Istanbul. Here, we saw the great Higia Sophia Mosque. Unfortunately, the mosque was undergoing restoration and was almost wrapped in scaffolding. It was said, that it would take around 40 years to complete the restoration.

Istanbul, April 2026

Not far from the Sophia Mosque is the Blue Mosque located, and fortunately it was not wrapped in scaffolding. The Blue Mosque had magnificent interiors.

Istanbul, April 2026

According to legend, a cat saved Mohammed's life. This has resonnated well into modern times, and even today Turkish citizens look well after cats in the streets. People can buy food for cats at machines like the one on the photo.

The Bosphorus Strait, April 2026

We went down to the coast at the famous Bosphorus Strait. It's a narrow strait and has an strategically important role to play internationally.

The Bosphorus Strait, April 2026

The Bosphorus Strait separates the European part of Turkiye from the Asian part of Turkiye. A couple of bridges connect the two parts. This huge suspension bridge is one that spans the strait.

Yildiz Technical University, April 2026

The conference would take place in this beautiful, old building at the university. Oddly, our names did not appear in the list of delegates.
"Just typical, said Roger. Some humans don't seem to realize the existence of bears..."
Roger went over to talk to the organizers and came back with good news.
"They organizers agreed that we should definitely be granted slots tomorrow for our presentations. So, we have to finalize all the presentations, we are working on."
"Just remember," said McBear, "we are not supposed to do too much of... you know... "I, Roger"-waffling".
"I never waffle!" Roger insisted. "I merely do a brief presentation of myself. I always write an abstract with an abstract title, I do a serious literature review, reason my methodology, list findings and end with a conclusion and references."

Yildiz Technical University, April 2026

The next morning we went to the hall where the conference would be taking place. It was a beautiful room of oriental design.
"Have you all prepared your presentations?" asked Roger.
We all nodded. Tom started out with the title of his presentation.
"Stuffed Bears' Impact on Byzantine Cosmology in the 15th Century".
Next in turn was dr. Cambridge. Her presentation would be dealing with a question:
"Did the Animal Carvings and Circular Layouts at Göbekli Tepe Develop into the Astrological Zodiac of Modern Days?"
"That's a good one," Roger said in recognition. "McBear?"
"Well, my presentation attempts to answer the great question: Did the civilisation at Göbekli Tepe have an Influence on Contemporary AI?"
"McBear, you are being silly! We know the answer..."
"Yeah, well, I was actually thinking of moving the time span closer to the computers of modern days. Now, I could instead use my spare presentation: Did Constellations like the Ursus Major and Ursus Minor Inspire the Culture at Göbekli Tepe to Create Stuffed Bears?"