Tumblr Meet-up 2012, Ankara Edition: Superfluidity
Last week, we here at Tragos HQ, received a truly distinguished visitor: none other than Superfluidity.
For those of you souls so unlucky or benighted as to not follow Superfluidity, I’ll say this: he is Tumblr’s resident classicist, current wanderer among the Greek wilds, and general purveyor of intelligence, wit, and civilization.
Having spent the past year in Athens on fellowship, traveling through Greece, Europe, and Egypt, Superfluidity turned his attention to Turkey. Few people strolling amidst Istanbul’s wonders take the time to head east and visit the country’s capitol. Superfluidity was kind enough to hop on a bus and stay with us here in Ankara.
Most people on the Internet, myself included, present a version of themselves far superior to their real, crude, scruffy selves. Amazingly enough, considering the general brilliance and polish of his Tumblr, the real Superfluidity meets and far exceeds his virtual self.
He showed up on our doorstep with a beautiful scarf for Mrs. Tragos, and a large stuffed sea turtle for Baby Tragos. We all went out to dinner, and it was immediately obvious: this is a fellow who doesn’t just read and travel and befriend: he knows how to ponder and shape the phenomena of life.
On Friday night, the four of us grabbed dinner at the nearby Marriott, where we enjoyed cocktails (well, Superfluidity and I at any rate) and much excellent conversation about ancient Greece, about our new adopted homelands, and about ideas in general. There was none of the patterned ironic diminishing and evasion so common to our current days and ways.
The next morning, Superfluidity and I headed down to the Cer Modern Art Center to see its current exhibit: Salvador Dalí’s expansive series of paintings of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Tragos-friendly to be sure). Our conversation touched on hell, purgatory, and paradise, of course; but it also touched on Cormac McCarthy, Jose Saramago, Homer, and Strabo, about whom I learned a ton over the weekend.
We then met up with Mrs. Tragos and Baby Tragos in Ulus, where we grabbed lunch at the Koç Museum, took a tour of the Kale, bought fruit and fish at a local market, and then wandered through Ankara’s Gençlik Park. Baby Tragos got her first ride on a ferris wheel, and seemed to enjoy the sight of the city from up high.
That night, we had dinner on the porch while listening to the Turkish pop singer Hadise croon below. (Tragos HQ is located right above the Odeon, a massive concert hall just below.) The next morning, Superfluidity lit out for the Anatolian territory, continuing his year-long adventure.
There is no doubt that there will be future rendezvous with the inestimable Superfluidity, possibly here in Turkey, possibly in the US, possibly elsewhere. We can’t wait.
