Category: Turkey

Do you recognize the above song lyric?  If so, be the first to post the answer (the name of the band) to my Facebook page and I’ll bring you a little present from Turkey.

Today we traveled from Ankara to Cappadocia. The trip was a couple of hours and there were some interesting sites along the way.
 
There is a salt lake(Tuz Golu) in Turkey which is clearly visible from the road.  At times during the year, you don’t see the salt because of the water, we saw just the opposite, all of this salt and next to no water.  I want to say that 1/3 of Turkey’s salt comes from this lake, but I might just have made that up.

Yes, that is a picture of pigeons. Don’t you take photos of pigeons when you’re on vacation?    Pigeons have  historically been important to the Turks; the bird droppings are used for fuel, the pigeons carry messages and they are edible.  The reason I have a photo of pigeons is not to elevate this lowly winged rat to an unreasonable status, but to show that pigeons can be interesting.  For example, here’s a sign for a pigeon scenic overlook.  .
Because of the need for pigeons in everyday life in the past, there were a great number of pigeon coops – but they are pigeon coops of a natural sort. Notice the rock has been hewn away for pigeon roosts.  I counted about 1 bazillion roosts in Pigeon Valley. All kidding aside, the valley was beautiful.  

Today many families in Cappadocia keep pigeons – a cultural standard. 

 At Pigeon Valley there were a few vendors.  Mary is standing in front of a tree decorated by hanging mavi boncuk. This is a blue bead amulet that protects the wearer from the ‘evil eye’. Wherever good luck is needed, you’ll see this pretty bead – they are everywhere.
 This one apparently worked because Mary did not get pooped on by a pigeon.

We continued traveling in our big bus along the highway.  I promised myself I wouldn’t talk about food, but I have to show you this wonderful chocolate bunny I bought at a roadside restaurant. The five of us ate the little fellow and were delighted to find he was filled with a date paste. Yum!  

After several hours we arrived in Cappadocia. Ender took us to a Turkish rug shop which was fascinating.  We learned the process that this company takes in creating their rugs, beginning with the silk worm cocoon.   The cocoons are put into hot water which loosens the silk strands. The strands are then combed/brushed until individual strands can be pulled. A single silk strand from the cocoon can stretch a mile.  The winding out of the cocoon is done by machine – a very loud machine! There are, of course, other steps involved. Below is some silk from that process.  
Not all Turkish rugs are made from silk, of course. (The silk ones are the most expensive). Many are made from wool which can be left in it’s natural shade or dyed. here are some spindles of dyed wool.  

Women follow a pattern pinned at the top of their loom. They weave, cut the excess thread and do that over and over and over and over. I hope you’re able to watch this short video. 
   This company had a sign that says all of their female workers are 15 or older and are not mistreated.  I think I understood the speaker correctly when he said that 84% of the money garnered from the sale of a rug goes to the weaver. Turkish rug weaving is a dying art…so women are trained and given looms and spend the long, cold winters making rugs. The rugs are sold at this market.  These rugs are all double knotted, which apparently if you’re into rugs that’s very important. What I was amazed at was the number of knots per inch – that is what sets the subprice. The more knots, the longer the rug takes to make (probably also affected by the number of knots)  the more expensive the rug. And, of course, the fabric whether it’s silk or wool or cotton affects the price as well because can you get a whole lot more knots into a silk rug because of the very fine strands than a cotton or wool rug.  Some of the rugs we saw were created by two women sitting side by side and the rugs took about 2 years.  I think I’d be pretty sick of that pattern..
The salesmen showed us a wide variety of rugs, some were beautiful and some (like a dog’s head that looked like a cross-stitch project gone bad) were “not to my taste.”  

 And, yes, I did try to buy a rug, this rug, in fact, but we could not agree upon a price. Oh well. 

It was a long day of travelling, but it was not close to over! We arrived at our hotel and several of us made for the swimming pool. The first pool of our trip. I got in the water, screeched and got OUT! The water was about 40 degrees…I swear I saw an iceberg as I tried to levitate out. Finally I did get into the water. I stood on the stairs until my feet were numb; moved down another step until my thighs were numb, on up my body. Finally I was brave enough to strike out and swim a few laps.  Of course everyone around the pool was cackling and carrying on when they tried to get in. So, we decided that I would stay in (which wasn’t too bad once I was swimming) and the next person who came down we would tell the water was quite nice and just jump right in. She did.  

I see my post is getting a little long, so I’ll continue it with a part 2. There was an optional tour this evening and this was what I was looking forward to most in the trip.  You’ll never guess what it was… stay tuned.

I apologize for missing my post last night…the need for sleep was greater than my need to write!

Let’s start by announcing who were the first to correctly answer my contest questions.  The first question asked the source of the “posh, posh traveling” song posted on September 3^rd –the song is from that classic musical “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and the winner is my sister-in-law, Janet. She was the first respondent and had the correct answer.  The second challenge was to name the book and author that had the line “Please sir, I want some more”.  Several folks answered very quickly and accurately, but the winner was my cousin Lawson. Of course that quotation is from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

“The wheels on the bus go ’round and ‘round, ‘round and ‘round, ‘round and ‘round…”  Now that you have that annoying children’s song in your head (you can thank me later) let’s see if I can make yesterday’s 6+ hour bus ride interesting.
 
Our travels from Istanbul to Ankara was not only relaxing but also wonderfully informative. Our guide, whom I’ve completely neglected to mention, is Ender. 
Ender is incredible! His information about his country, the sights, culture, the history (which, in Turkey, borders on eons of history) is amazing. But, even more impressive is his ability to relay this information in an understandable way. My favorite aspect of Ender’s openness is his ability to draw us into dialogue and provide thought provoking discussions. In my guided tour experiences, this has proven a rare quality and is one in which he excels.

Along our route we stopped for tea (and to pee) and for lunch (and to pee) – you get the idea.  Below is a photo of a Turkish rest area    – totally modern and not a camel in sight.

Upon reaching Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey, we visited the Ataturk Mausoleum. General Ataturk was the founder and first president of Turkey and was the dynamic force that designed Turkey more as a European, as opposed to Islamic, city-state.  Ataturk is very highly revered in Turkey. His emphasis on the secular state, on Turkey becoming a multi-party democracy. In an effort to distance Turkey from the Islamic influence he not only designed a new language, he eliminated the Ottoman script and adopted the Latin alphabet, and also changed the calendar from the Islamic calendar to the Julian. Can you imagine attempting any of these changes, much less accomplishing them??

The Ataturk Mausoleum is imposing to say the least. It sits on a high hill and the walkway up to the structure is flanked by 24 stone lions.The building sits on a vast courtyard that enhances the feeling of grandeur.  
 
When we were visiting, a short ceremony took place and if I could remember how to use the video on my camera I would have had some great footage for you. I have 3 cameras and never seem to have the right one at the right time. Alas.

A small group  began in the center of the courtyard and walked toward and into the mausoleum carrying a large flower wreath. There were swarms of people on the courtyard and not much notice was taken with this procession. But, a short while later, the sound of two bugles playing Taps floated over the expanse and to my incredible amazement the hordes of people fell completely silent and everyone stood straight up, statue-like with their arms down at their sides. It was one of the most powerful things I’ve experienced. 

The tribute paid to and respect garnered by this past leader was moving. I think those wishing for Ataturk’s secular vision to continue and to thrive may be worried about the growing Islamic influence in law that is creeping into their society.  Next year’s elections may signal a new future for this young Turkish girl. 

Today was the first day of our “official” Turkey tour – and I promise not to talk about food!  There are 27 people in our tour group and we are traveling in one of those huge tour buses – lots and lots of room to spread out and everyone gets a window seat. 🙂

Did you notice the new photo that is the cover for this blog? That is the Turkish flag and I thought it would add pizzazz to the blog.
 
I’m a little afraid today’s post is going to sound too traveloguey. Tonight I’m not physically tired, but my brain is exhausted. I learned so much and really wish I could share it with you. Information about architecture, religion, commerce, politics and more. For instance, did you know that Istanbul is the meeting point of Europe and Asia? The Bosphorus  (more on it later) runs through Istanbul…one shore is in Europe…one shore is in Asia.  And at one point the two shores are only 800 yards apart. The city is an amazing blend of East and West – hence today’s title “Betwixt and Between.”

This morning we started  by visiting Hagia Sophia (Greek for “church of holy wisdom”).  Hagia Sophia is about 14 centuries old, built at the height of the Byzantine empire. Think about that…1,400 years ago the building I was standing in, was walking around in was built. I stopped once and  put my hand on the wall just to try and feel the past. To feel marble and the wooden door that represents those years and years of humankind, of faith and of politics.
 It was initially built as an Orthodox Christian basilica and was the largest cathedral in the world for 1,000 years.   Interestingly,during the Ottoman conquest Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque (in like 3 days). Their takeover of Hagia Sophia was political rather than religious…with Hagia Sophia  a mosque, the Christian dominance in the world ended. Today, Hagia Sophia is a museum.

I could go on and on about the amazing 6th century ceiling decorations. I took this photo of one.
 
I thought it might make a nice quilt pattern. Anyone interested in trying that? I have a couple of photos of closer details.  
Hagia Sophia is known for it’s incredible mosaics…and trust me, it was tough to get a decent photo of those. I might go back through my pictures tomorrow and see if I can find a halfway decent one to pop in.

After Hagia Sophia, we traveled to the Grand Bazaar. This is a VERY famous shopping mall that was set up in 1453…so 30 some years before Christopher Columbus set sail and discovered America.
There are 21 gates (entrances) to the Grand Bazaar, 12 inns and 66 streets.  Over 30,000 people work in the (4,000!) shops – and they all want you to shop in their store!
“Gate 1” is considered the front door of the Grand Bazaar. Look at the huge entrance and that amazing door.  And here is a shot of one of the 66 halls inside.
                      

 Unfortunately for all those vendors none of the five of us was interested in shopping, but we were interested in lunch!  We wander outside through a madhouse of sidewalk restaurants and street stall food and pick the restaurant with the comfy-ist seats!  I said I’m not going to talk about food today, so…after lunch we made our way back to our bus getting lost only once or twice.

This afternoon was at our leisure or we could take a Bosphorous  cruise…hey, when will I be in Turkey again?  And anyone who knows me, knows I love cruises! hahaha!  Mary and I had a discussion on what exactly the Bosphorus is – a river? a strait? We have no idea, but decided it is a strait.
Out of the 27 tour participants, 9 took the river excursion and we were 5 of the 9. The tour boat sat probably 150-200 people, and we had it all to ourselves.   
 
 The weather was gorgeous, the river goes all the way to the Black Sea, though we didn’t go that far. On either side of the river there is a fortress. The Fortress of Europe in on the narrowest part of the Bosphorus and was built in 1452. This was right before the invasion of Constantinople. The Fortress of Asia was built 50 years earlier just before the Ottomans tried to seize Constantinople in 1396 – I didn’t get a very good photo of those ruins.  Poor Constantinople…under siege over and over again.
 
 
It’s amazing to me that these fortresses still stand!

There were a bunch of palaces along the Bosphorus…those sultans and such liked their beachfront properties.  I can’t remember the name of this palace, but do remember that it was designed to look like Versailles…and it was completed about 3 years (or maybe months?) before WWI and the palace person never really got to live in it.   
While the history of Turkey goes back before Christ, there is equally interesting history in the present as well.  In fact, last week several Russian warships sailed down the Bosphorus through Istanbul on their way to stand off in the waters by Syria.  This river was important in the past and may be more so now.
Can you see why my brain hurts?

After the cruise, which was so relaxing and wonderful, we headed back to the hotel. We decided to skip dinner, though Elaine, Eve, Leroy and I walked out to find a grocery store. We’re leaving on a long bus ride to Ankara tomorrow and wanted to stock up on provisions. We leave at 7am and I am going to be grumpy. (Not really).  We got some fruit, bread, water, tomatoes and yogurt. Mary napped while we were gone.  As I started to relax on my bed, Mary headed for the shower, when Eve and Leroy knocked to come in. They came in toting stuff…Eve sat on my bed and Leroy on the chair. A little puzzled, I asked “what are you guys doing?”.  Turns out we were having a picnic dinner in our room! Elaine showed up shortly afterwards and we sliced apples, peeled bananas, washed grapes, sliced the loaf of crusty bread and topped it with fresh tomatoes and talked about our wonderful day.
Yikes! I’m talking about food – a sign that it’s time for me to stop.

Here, one last thing, is a photo of the five of us on the Bosphorus. From your left: me, in the sari, Elaine, Eve, Leroy and Mary.

  
Cheers,
Jane

“This is livin’, this is style, this is elegance by the mile
Oh the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me
Whenever I’m bored I travel abroad but ever so properly….”

Yes, indeed, we are traveling the posh life. Eve and Leroy Measner were very generous with their frequent flier miles and Mary and I are traveling first class from Denver to Istanbul (and back). Here’s a photo of us in our roomy spots on United Airlines.

Now, for a short hop to Washington DC (Dulles) and onward for a nice 10 hour nap…

During our short (3+ hour) flight to Dulles, Mary napped. She missed the hot towels and complimentary toasted almonds and cashews…oh, and she missed our “snack” but I ordered for her and when she awoke they delivered hers. Here’s a photo of our snack

…a very tasty chicken/cheese soup; a shrimp salad; dinner roll and wine.  It was more that I usually eat at a meal!

Later in the flight, hot chocolate chip cookies were delivered to our seats.  Oh, we’re going to be spoiled…

CONTEST! If you can tell me  where the lyrics of the song quoted in this post are from, I’ll bring you a little gift from Turkey. Winner is whoever posts first to my Facebook account with the correct answer.

“I’m on my way to far away tah tah and toodle-oo
And fare thee well, and Bon Voyage, Arrivederci too.
Oh the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me!”