The Best Intentions

Well, I had intended to post pictures of Istanbul… which I hope to still do but I will have to do it soon before we begin our around-the-world-move and things become chaotic.

I liked Istanbul, I think because people told me I would, but I LOVED the small town we visited as my birthday present: Selcuk. I wish now that we had had more time and money to explore the south coast of Turkey because I think we would have been pleasantly surprised. After visiting Selcuk, I can see why people would retire to Turkey (Ankara does not inspire retirement). The picture above is a close-up of some of the carving that was at St. John’s Basilica.
A handsome tortoise at St. Johns.

The jaw-dropping Library of Celsus.

A lion mosaic in the Terrace Houses. It was in a room with murals of different game birds on the wall. It looked like it could have been a stunning playroom.

Olive oil and olives for sale at Sirince. We had the best gozleme in this town at a garden eatery that served only gozleme (Turkish pancakes with filling) and ayran and tea. The view from this little place down a dirt track was stunning. The place was called Azrum Piknik Gozleme. Well worth the little walk off the beaten track.

And lastly, some of the storks on the aqueduct.

A marvelous trip, indeed. Turkey has been a challenge for me – which inspired me to start another blog on the subject of happiness – but visiting some place as warm, laid back and comfortable as Selcuk was truly a bright spot. Why oh why did they build this university in Ankara?! Although, I like Ankara better than Istanbul! Gasp! Its cleaner and more classy – not the same skyline to be sure, but for a small city girl like me (burbs of Denver) Ankara is easier to endure.

I hadn’t thought before that people should try to come to Turkey but really, I think a trip to see the south coast would be a good trip to plan for if people need holiday ideas!

Walking on Water

Nearly a month ago we travelled down to Cappadocia and had a fantastic time. It was very nice to leave what one woman has described to me as “The Compound” as we live on campus; we work on campus and drink at the campus pub. Plus the grocery store is just across from the main gates of campus (which gated with security guards, hence the idea of a compound, I suppose). Anyway, it was fabulous to get away.

On the drive down we went past a huge salt lake. It was beautiful and seemed perfect for a rest break – mind you, the rest stops were few and far between and we were the only people at the rest stop we pulled into… In addition to the three men who came over and watched us the entire time as we went down to the WC and bought a bag of chips. Kind of eerie. But they waved and smiled as we drove off.
The lake though, was amazing. It looked deep but you could literllay walk on it as the water was only about 1 inch deep and stretched to the horizon. I think we could have walked across if we were so inclined. The setting sun and reflections in the water were spectacular. It seemed like the perfect place to shoot a car advert.



We stayed in a town called Goreme – a sort of hippie/backpacker enclave with more carpet shops than restaurants and its very own DHL office for shipping all of those carpets. We spent a few hours in one carpet shop – the Rose carpet shop, which was owned by the proprieter of the hotel we stayed in, The Canyon View Hotel. We really enjoyed our stay there and would recommend it highly. Hassan the propretier was very nice and made great scrambled eggs to go with our full Turkish breakfast (cheese, bread, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, jams, honey, oilive past and tea/coffee). He also showed us a gorgeous cave church behind the town (near The Flintstones hotel and past a stonewalled garden/orchard) as well as trying to sell us carpets in his shop. We nearly bought the pale yellow kilim standing against the wall to the left in the photo but it was more than we could afford right now and we are trying to save up for one to buy in Ankara before we go… Oh, and we would highly recommend the Goreme Restuarnt in town! Fantastic atmosphere, food and prices. Again, one of those places we ate in two nights in a row!
The next few pictures were taken across the road from the open air museum in Goreme. The museum entry fee is 10 lira per person. As we were on a limited budget we opted to go across the road and explore the many cave houses and churches there. Best idea ever. We had a blast exploring on our own, climbing into caves, looking at the gorgeous desings on church ceilings afforded to us by the flash on our cameras and climbing through a valley -inlcuding climbing up an 8 foot wall by bridging it! This was super exciting for me as I am not inclined to such big adventures for fear of falling but we were with experienced climbers, Annie is even an instuctor and so even me, super nerdy whiner who would have always said “no that is too dangerous,” managed to climb all through this valley and had a blast! Much better deal then the museum. I would just recommend good shoes, water and a flashlight for exploring!
I think these colors and motifs are gorgeous. Inspiration galore in Turkey! Not that I would paint saints on the ceiling of my house but some of these color combinations and patterns could make for some amazing visual interest in a room..

Amasra

A sweet fishing village by the sea. Relaxed. Not crowded. Three mosques. Eight or nine bars. Twenty tea rooms. A number of excellent fish houses. Countless boats. One museum. One public library. “Stray” cats and dogs. And us equals a magical mini-break.



For the longest time, even while living here, I thought “Turkish Delight” was mixed nuts – like Bombay mix. I was wrong. It’s candy. Not saltwater taffy, but similar – with a clearer base and less artificial colorings and not as sweet. Actually, it’s not like saltwater taffy at all. Try some. I never thought they looked like anything yummy – no visible chocolate coating or candied berries or succulent pistachios or walnuts, but Turkish Delight is a nice addition to the list if you’re making a trip to a local Mediterranean store anyway and they stock that sort of thing.





Men here fish and women sew beautiful embroidered shawls (it was raining and too dark in the shops for me to photograph their handiwork). I am sure there are other jobs here: like baking bread, serving in a tea shop, working in a hotel or running the local Playstation Salonu (there were TWO in Amasra where apparently, all of the adolescent boys spend their time).



Or, of course, there is the library to be staffed.



The stunning location of Amasra makes it seem like owning property anywhere in the town would afford one a sea-view. The people are friendly and warm without being pushy in that southern-costal-tourist-town way (i.e., as in Antalya where they want to sell you everything and are pesky) and everything is half the price that is in Ankara!



This picture of boats in a row was snapped while having tea and tost. Everyday should be like this.





The famous Amasra salad was a highlight for me. Who knew a salad could be like a geological survey? One website says that depending on the season, the salad could have 28 different ingredients! I believe it. I think ours had close to 20! And I am certain that everything in the salad can be bought from Salad Lane near our hotel. There isn’t actually a Salad Lane but there really were stands and stands of families selling only salad ingredients. Mmmm. Amasra salad.





And a parting view of the main harbor stiched together by Peter using the panoramic feature on the camera. Gorgeous. But it is remote. Hard to get to. A real "Turkey through the back door" type of town.