Since this is a reflection, this post is L.O.N.G. but I hope you enjoy visiting TURKEY through our experiences.
This year, JPE & I traveled to TURKEY!!! to document this trip, my photos for MDR 2014 were pulled from our photo archives.
Trip dates: October 22-November 8, 2014 & here's a map of our travels...
We started our trip by arriving in Istanbul four days before our "Best of Turkey in 13 Days" tour. Our tour guide, Mert Taner, was exceptional! in addition to tour guiding for Rick Steve's, Mert has also worked for Smithsonian, Rhodes Scholars, Tauck Tours & conducts private tours.
ME - checking an item off my "bucket list"... (ride in a hot air balloon). Initially, we were to take a balloon (near Mustafapasa) in the Cappadocia area. Our ride was canceled due to rain... but, Mert (our tour guide) arranged for a short trip over the Pamukkale travertine terraces, near Hierapolis.
LOVE YOU! My traveling partner, JPE... celebrating our 10th anniversary! YES, we hiked in the R-A-I-N in the Goreme Open-Air Museum (Cappadocia) when our hot air balloon trip was canceled!
Following a busy day at the Mevlana Museum (Konya), JPE & I decided to "venture on our own" for dinner. After checking several restaurants, we ended up eating chicken sandwiches & fries at a Burger King. Don't know if we should be embarrassed? but, we're definitely STILL LAUGHING about how great the fries tasted. BTW, we don't eat at Burger King in the US... which made this even funnier!
Saturday, November 1st - it felt like WINTER had arrived in Turkey... the skies were filled with angry, gray clouds that sputtered a constant "drizzle" BUT that didn't stop us from taking in the sights. The Musalla Mosque (Camii) in Urgup had slick, shiny domes w/two minarets. The "call to prayer" is broadcast from the balcony of the minarets five times a day! We enjoyed seeing two children swinging outside the mosque fence... oblivious to the chilly rain and "call to prayer"...
TOURING = NEW FRIENDS! Our tour began in Istanbul (Monday, October 27th) with two+ days of walking before meeting our bus driver, Rafet. Skilled at maneuvering the bus on narrow streets & hairpin turns, Rafet was exceptional! Although he was quiet, he was learning some English and hoped to visit his son's family in the US. I had a difficult time mastering Turkish words, so I can imagine Rafet felt the same about practicing his English.
October 29th is Republic Day (a national holiday & sort of a BIRTHDAY) in Turkey. The day is celebrated with bands and parades, the flying of Turkish flags, and public speeches in the larger cities. At Taksim Square (New District, Istanbul) Mert handed out small Turkish flags, so we'd feel like a part of the celebration...
Near Mustafapasa, our guide took us to the Guray Studio to see a demonstration of ceramic plates, bowls, & teapots from start to finish. I was really INSPIRED BY the process used to hand paint the plates!
SPRING weather? We were near Antalya (along the southern coast of Turkey)... the weather was a pleasant 70 degrees... perfect for a November afternoon. Cell phones are a critical tool for tour guides. Mert spent a fair amount of time confirming tour, meal and hotel arrangements whenever he had a spare moment.
TRAVEL is good for my soul! ordering a meal without reading or speaking the language! walking through a town where people look different than you (& look at YOU differently)! seeing buildings & artifacts that are hundreds-to-thousands of years old & wondering how they were built!
The Hagia Sophia ("church of the holy wisdom") is over 1,400 years old... it was first built as a church, changed to a mosque & is now a museum. This structure is enormous!!! The NYC Statue of Liberty could do jumping jacks and NOT hit the ceiling of the dome.
Although every travel day included a "new" adventure... a DAY IN MY LIFE included taking photos (Aphrodisias "wall of faces"), drinking tea, walking (lots of walking) and hand-washing a few clothes (plus keeping our fingers crossed they would dry before our bus took us to our next city)!
We enjoyed SUMMER like weather conditions in Antalya... after a boat ride, a swim in the ocean, we watched two men playing backgammon... a photographer capture pics of a new bride... and walked the cobblestone streets.
In each city or town, our tour would visit a farmer's market to check the local HARVEST! Vegetables were H.U.G.E. (check out the cauliflower - it's almost the size of a human head). As in most foreign countries, people shop every few days - generally because refrigeration is limited or non-existent.
ALL SMILES... Mert joking with our Cappadocia hostess. A SMILING (?) pirate ship carving in Antalya. I don't care for having my picture taken, but JPE snapped this pic of me outside Suleyman, the Magnificent Mosque (with the Istanbul horizon in the background).
Enjoying lunch prepared by our Cappadocia hostess (mid-60's), her 93 year old mother, & daughter (mid-30's, wearing the white sweatshirt). The youngest female in this family was at school. Four generations in one house!!! Farming grapes & working their gardens. An incredible FAMILY! Seated on benches around the parameter of the room, we ate a hearty lunch, listened to the rain & thunder, and asked questions about life in rural Urgup. The two older women cover their heads, while the younger two are more Westernized in their appearance.
We spent an afternoon in Ankara, the capital
of Turkey. As I mentioned before, Republic Day is Turkey's National Holiday, so
our group stopped by Ataturk's Mausoleum to witness the CELEBRATION.
Children stood outside the Mausoleum singing songs & waving flags.
Inside, people left flags in celebration of their favorite leader, Mustafa
Kemal, better known as Ataturk (Turkey's first President).
DO
IT AGAIN... we spent an hour visiting with an imam
(Muslim prayer leader). He is considered a leader for the community, and is
responsible for leading Islamic worship services (five times a day). He recited
one of the calls to prayer & Mert translated his response. Another
highlight was our visit with carpet weaver(s). I actually took a turn at
"tying" several threads on a carpet. The yarn is broken, instead of
being cut. The weaving process was similar to following a needlepoint pattern.
In modern cities & rural areas, these crystal blue eyes
were prominently displayed at the entrances to stores, restaurants, found in
vehicles or being worn. It's the custom to give a blue eye to newborn babies,
children and to couples getting married. When Mert's son was born, everyone who
visited the baby safety-pinned a small blue eye to the front of his "onsie"...
given to offer good luck and protect his baby from any evil spirits. JPE
& I bought several gifts & found the store owners often wrapped
an eye around the packaging. A pleasant MEMORY of our trip to Turkey.
Watching the
Whirling Dervishes was a unique experience. It's believed music & dance
produced a meditative state for the dervishes to connect with the earth and
relieve them from the stresses & anxiety of everyday living. The
mosaics were located in Konya (our hotel lobby) & near the Blue Mosque-Istanbul. BEAUTIFUL!
Being clean shaven
is part of getting DRESSED UP... we ran short of
time, so JPE missed getting a Turkish shave... but we both had a Turkish bath
(in an Antalya hamam). Ninety minutes of heavenly pampering!
Visiting Aphrodisias
at the end of the day was incredible! Ancient farmers visited this site
believing it had magical powers to ensure prosperous crops. I think I took 150
pics in a two hour period... of course, many were trashed, but I was pretty
satisfied with these two MACRO shots.
Doesn't this look
festive? We didn't dare come home without some "Turkish Delight" (lokum in
Turkish) for gifts! MB & SLE requested pistachio and pomegranate
flavored delights! At first taste, JPE said, "it's just gummy candy with
powdered sugar"... But, when we tasted the high-end delight, we realized
why it's a treat people bring as gifts for the HOLIDAYS!
FAVORITES... turquoise-tiled
mosque with Arabic writing (Konya); wooden door with a scalloped mailbox trim
(Guray); and beautiful writing (Aphrodisias).
JUST BECAUSE... love the rusty
discolored look of the marble carvings & how can you not love the
sunlight setting on the stone building? the southern part of Turkey was
stunning.
JPE... DON'T EVER CHANGE!...
you push me when I need an extra boost! you let me research & keep
track of travel details! And, you are always ready to make plans for another
trip. Thanks for an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. anniversary.
Of course my HOPES & DREAMS are
to continue to add stamps in our passports. Next trip? Ireland? Scotland?
renting a place in Florence, Italy? Russia? ummmm. Lots to
consider!
This post took way longer than I wanted to spend on it. Perhaps I should figure out how to read & write HTML. I had several glitches, adding to my writing time. BUT, it's completed & now I can get back to "regular posting". Yeah!
Please come back for a visit!!
