Istanbul, September

Two of us are headed to Istanbul for the weekend! This city is like nothing I've ever seen- energetic vibe, very European, but with a Turkish tinge. No matter what time of the day you are out and about the city is bustling with people. We stayed with Oben and her family, in her beautiful home on the European side. Her baby boy, Efe, is adorable. She is overly generous and spoiled us every morning with an immense breakfast that included home-made jam and börek.

Saturday Elena and I started exploring the 'Old City.' First was Hagia Sofia, or Ayasofya. It is breathtakingly beautiful. My favorite thing here. Emperor Justinian built it in 537 as a

Christian church, it was then converted into a mosque by the Ottomans in the 15th Century. They have since uncovered the Byzantine mosaics that the Ottomans cemented over.

It's both strange and nice to see images of the Virgin Mary and Christ right next to the name of Allah.

Next we headed to Topkapı sarayı to see the palace, the imperial costumes (For you, Caroline!), the Divan and the courtyards. Then, the kapalıçarşı, or Grand Bazaar. It is an overwhelming, covered labyrinth of booth-like shops with everything you could possibly think of. The vendors speak all sorts of languages to cater to the bargaining tourists. For some reason they get excited when you tell them you're from America.

Sunday was more relaxed. We went down to the Bosphorus with Oben and her family to walk around the area. We took an hour long ferry ride to see the coastline and it's beautiful homes. We followed this up with some kumpir- baked potatoes they sell on the sides of the street with kaşar cheese, ketchup, sweet corn, onions, etc- and a waffle.

Kapadokya, Şeker Bayram

September 19-22

Şeker Bayram, September 20-22 this year, is celebrated at the end of Ramazan. Traditionally a lot of sweets are eaten and families visit their elders. We have a four-day weekend and eight of us CSIs headed east to Kapadokya, (Cappadocia in English). We took a bus from Ankara to Göreme. We were pleasantly surprised by the cushy seats and offerings of tea/coffee and a snack on the bus ride. It's nothing like the buses in the US. The ride was a little under five hours. Our hostel was great, complete with a pool and breakfast- I ordered the French toast everyday.

Day 1: Cappadocia means “land of beautiful horses,” so of course we booked a sunset horseback riding tour for our first day in Kapadokya. The tour company picked us up from the hostel. Two tour guides led seven of us on horseback around the area for two hours. The path led us up some mountainous areas and then on the way back to the stables they took us down some pretty steep areas. I think most of us were sore for the next few days, but the scenery was nice; I’d definitely recommend these tours.

For dinner we headed to a restaurant in the town, Göreme Restaurant. The restaurant has a great atmosphere, floor cushions for seating and live music- a man sang and played the violin and the saz. I was amazed by the abundant vegetarian options and overall everyone was delighted with their meals.

Day 2: This morning, along with two others, I headed out for a day tour of the Kapadokya area with a company called Turkish Heritage Travel. They picked us up from the hostel and took us to meet the eight others in our tour group. Our English-speaking tour guide first led us on a hike through Rose Valley. The valley is named for the rosehips that grow here; we also saw apricot, quince, plums and pear trees, and grape vines. They use the grapes for molasses here. Most notably we saw the pigeonholes. Pigeon droppings were once commonly used for fertilizer, and today the holes still exist high up in the rocks.

Post hiking we were driven to Pasabag valley, where we walked through the fairy chimneys. They look like huge mushrooms. Next we headed to Avanos, which is famous for its pottery. There are three families in the area that make the pottery and we visited the workshop of one. We saw a demonstration of the kick wheel, were served çay, of course, and walked around their store. The hand painted Ottoman designs were beautiful.

The group ate lunch in a village called Ibrahimpasa. It was a wonderful taste of home cooked food- lentil soup, salad meze, some sort of bean chili, and an eggplant dish. This was followed by aside (ah-see-deh) for dessert, which was made with the local grape molasses.

Next we visited Kaymakli, one of the World Heritage Site Underground cities. These underground ‘cities’ were actually well planned shelters used by the locals when attacked by invaders. The rooms are connected by tunnel like halls, some of which required crawling. According to our guide these tunnels were kept small to prevent enemies from carrying weapons if they discovered the shelters.

Before heading back to Göreme we stopped at a local winery and one last viewpoint.

Day 3: A few of us walked over to the Göreme Open Air museum. The medieval cave churches were swarming with tourists. The Byzantine frescoes were my favorite; this is probably because of the numerous art history essays I have done on this period- I noticed the procession of male virgin martyrs right away and other Byzantine characteristics in images of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. It was nice to see the art in person. The frescoes in the Buckle Church, or Tokali Kilise, are noticeably restored and tell the stories of Christ’s life.

Day 4: After a packed weekend we headed back to Ankara via bus. A friend we made at the hostel wanted to buy a ticket on the same bus. However, the only seats left were next to women. They do not sell men seats next to women, unless they are family. And so our friend was left to catch a bus the next day. I found this interesting, but don't particularly mind it myself.

Safranbolu ve Amasra

For our first weekend all of us CSIs (Communication Skills Instructors) were taken out to Safranbolu and Amasra.

Safranbolu, a small town to the north, is a declared World Heritage Sight. Much of the town has been beautifully restored. It is home to restored Ottoman dwellings and narrow cobblestone streets. We stayed at Havuzlu Konagi, which included courtyards of roses, huge marigolds, grapevines, and a decorative pool in the breakfast room. I stayed in the annex, which had decorative ceramics and creaky wooden floors. The breakfasts were exquisite- bread, an array of jams, eggs, watermelon, cucumber, halva, tea, coffee, and so much more.

In the Çarçi (bazaar) area was a saffron shop owned by a sweet old man. He invited a couple of us in for a free taste of saffron tea. He had us each take pictures with him and insisted we promise to send them to him. He has pictures in his store of himself with customers from all over the world. And of course, I bought saffron for Ba. We also visited the Köprülü Mehmet Paşa Mosque.

In the afternoon we drove out to Amasra, a small town on the Black Sea. There are ruins of two fortresses built by the Genoese in the 14th century, and a bridge from the Romans.  

We headed back to Safranbolu after dinner. A few of us headed to the Cinci Hamamı, a Turkish bath built in the 17th century and still in use today. It was an interesting experience, I'd recommend it.