The Innocents Abroad
I graduated from UC Davis in Septmber of 1986 with a BA in International Relations and a minor in Russian Language. I was a founding father of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity in 1985 and am looking for other Pikes from 85-86. After several years working in ![[wikipedia]](http://wikispot.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/inter.png){kind=small}
Naval Intelligence, I switched to the Information Technology field. Currently, I work at Data Storage Technology field.
If you were in Pi Kappa Alpha 1985-1986 or if we knew each other back then, please email me at: mdenmark2010@gmail.com
In 2002, I married Allyse Mathis. My wife is a Manager of Corporate Communications at ![[WWW]](http://wikispot.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
Cox Enterprises and a graduate of Michigan State University.
Our favorite thing to do is travel. Here are some of our places we have been:
Jerusalem, Israel: The Dome of The Rock next to the Western Wall
Bodrum Turkey: At the Ventian Castle in Bodrum Harbor
Belize: Ambergris Caye in Belize
Cabo San Lucas Mexico: The Cabo San Lucas marina before a snorkeling trip
Paris: The front of the Palias Royale in Paris
Stockholm: The Stockholm waterfront
Oslo: The Vigeland Statue Park in Oslo
Prague: The Charles Bridge in Prague
Krumlov, Czech Republic: The medieval city of Cesky Krumlov in the south of the Czech Republic
Izmir,Turkey: Izmir; the 3rd largest city in Turkey
Selcuk, Turkey: The Ottoman Castle of Selcuk, Turkey
Costa Rica: In the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica
Dubrovnik, Croatia: In 2008 we went to the Dalmatian Coast
We visited Dubrovnik in Croatia:
We also went to Montenegro:
This is Perast on The Bay of Kotor
This is the Serbian Orthodox church in the town of Kotor
This year, we made a long awaited trip to the South of France and and took a side trip to Tunisia in North Africa
This is our first stop, Marseilles 
We also went to Aix en Provence
This is the village of Cassis
and took the train to Nice
We also visited Africa for the first time when we traveled to Tunisia; we stayed in Hammammet
These are from the Tunisian National Museum of Greek and Roman Antiquities:
Allyse on the roof of an preserved Ottoman-era home in Sidi Bou Said:
Allyse on our visit to the souk of Neubel, a small town near Hammammet
View from our Hotel in Hammammet
This is at the Tunisian Carthage Historical Museum in front a drawing of Ancient Carthage
= Travels in Turkey and other parts of the former Ottoman Empire =
Check out my new Wiki Page dedicated to travels in Turkey:
travels-in-turkey.wikispot.org
Here I am on the coast in Kusadasi on our last trip to Turkey in 2007. The The Turkish Coast is my favorite place in the world:
Everything on the coast of Turkey from Izmir to Antalya is absolutely amazing in it's beauty and culture both ancient and modern.
Destinations on the Turkish coast include:
Izmir which used to be called Smyrna in pre-Ottoman era. This is the Agora, the Greek marketplace, preserved as a tourist park
This is overlooking the city of Izmir; Izmir is Turkey's most cosmopolitan city where Turks, Greeks, Jews and Armenians have been living together since the Byzantine era
Bodrum is famous for it's Venetian Castle: 
Fethiye is very famous as a destination for Aegean and Mediterranean yachtsman 
Marmaris is another famous yachting destination: 
Antalya is one of Turkey's largest ports in the South. This is on the road to the Greek ruins of Perge and Aspendos, north of Antalya: 
Kusadasi is on the Aegean coast, west of Izmir near Selcuk; This was the view from our hotel towards the port of Kusadasi: 
Istanbul although not on the coast, is one the most magnificant and historical cities on the face of the earth. 
The best thing about Turkey is the dozens of archeological sites. The coast of modern Turkey was the location of the ancient Greek colonies of Ionia and Iilyria. You can find two of the Ancient Wonders of the world here including the Library at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
Archeological sites I have visited include:
The ancient ampitheater of Aspendos, located near Antalya, which can seat up to 15,000 people:
The ancient city of Perge, also outside of Antalya, which legend states was founded by refugees from Troy after their defeat by the Greeks:
The Agora of Izmir. This is the preserved Greek ruins in the Turkish city of Izmir:
The Library at Ephesus. The Ephesus site is one the largest preservations of Ancient Greek ruins in the world: 
Political News From Turkey
Check out what is going on in Turkey these days with the Zaman Online Newspaper: Zaman Online
Keep up with the latest news about Turkey's EU Membership campaign: EurActiv
Read an interesting article on Turkey's EU challenges from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy Turkish Research Program Washington Institute For Near East Policy
The latest news from the Turkey-Iraq-Kurdish political crisis http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1029/p04s01-wome.html
Travels in Israel
I also traveled to Israel for the 1st time in the summer of 2005. Israel is a wonderful country full of history and beauty. From the Judean Hills to the beaches of Tel Aviv; from Haifa in the north to Eilat in the south. Ancient Palestine (Israel, Lebanon, The West Bank and Gaza) was one of the provinces of the former Ottoman Empire
Check out the pictures below:
The Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem:
The Jaffa Gate in the Old City; You can see the bullet holes from the 1967 War:
The Church of The Holy Sepulcure; Believed to be the resting place of Jesus of Nazareth. This church was built by mother of The Byzantine Roman Emperor Constanine, Helena, in 330 A.D.:
The fortress of Masada in the Judean Hills which overlooks the Dead Sea and Jordan: 
A view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives; you can see the Old City, The Dome of the Rock and modern Jerusalem: 
Check out the news from Israel: Ha'aretz Daily Online
The other spots in the former Ottoman Empire I have been to include:
Athens, Greece 
Rhodes, Greece 
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2008-05-26 17:38:50 Welcome to the Wiki. Allow me to introduce two features of the Image macro: ,thumbnail and , "Caption". If you change [[Image(picture.jpg)]] to [[Image(picture.jpg, thumbnail, "This is a picture")]] it will look nicer. You can even add a size to control the sizes of the thumbnails like [[Image(picture.jpg, thumbnail, 300, "This is a picture")]]. —JasonAller
