Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Cappadochia
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Bienvenido a Miami, Turkey
Becky and I just got into Kusadasi on the western coast of Turkey. We flew into Izmir and had a lovely hour drive through mostly houseless, pineforested hills and cliffs overlooking the sea. I tried to think of a place to compare it to, but nothing has come to mind as of yet. Suffice it to say, it was beautiful. Where we are staying overlooks the Aegean Sea is also beautiful, but doesn't, in my opinion, have a lot of character. Our hotel, and the many that flank it, are very Miami-esque. Our room has two plain beds, a bathroom, a television, and an unimpressive balcony; it's hard to believe that people pay a hundred dollars a night to stay here. Becky and I got in much earlier to Kusadasi then we had planned so we have just walked to an internet cafe about ten minutes from our hotel. We noticed there are hardly any tourists. Becky asked a shopkeeper if there are a lot of tourists now and she said, "yes." They must all be on tour. This is why we are here. Tomorrow we are going to see some of the best ruins in the world.
I don't think I would be so hard on our accomadations if we hadn't just come from the most amazing hotel in which I think I've ever stayed. Our cave hotel was simply incomparable. The walls and roads are all made of stone and the whole time I felt like I should be wearing a Bible costume. The hotel has all sorts of narrow passageways; Becky and I got lost more than once the first day we were there. Our second night we bought pizza from the little center town and brought it up to the terrace outside our room. I enjoyed looking down from the hill our hotel is on and admiring the beautiful homes carved out of the earth below us. Last night Becky was ill so the owner and one of his workers set up a DVD player for us--they borrowed it from a neighbor--and we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding in their little office/television/computer room. I couldn't believe they went through so much trouble for us. No wonder they are every travelguide author's favorite hotel in the area.
Cappadochia was much more than just our hotel. We had three busy days of siteseeing. As I mentioned before, the first day Becky and I went biking to some fairy chimneys and then had tea with some Turkish ladies. The second day we went on a tour. The first place we stopped was an underground city. The people of that time had above ground houses, but during wartime they would enter through a trapdoor to the underground to hide from the enemy. Cappadochia was not a big area for enemies to attack, so most would pass by. If they did decide, however, to attack, the people would close the city with a stone and live underground for quite a while. They used millstones for protection; they could shove their swords through a hole in them if an enemy entered the tunnels. For religious purposes the city had chapels in the shape of a cross. Their livestock lived on the first floor and they dug out feeding troughs for them. With the help of a large airpassageway and small windows, air was able to flow through the eight-plus levels of the city.
After this fascinating experience, our group had tea at a local cafe. We sat with our two guides and I discovered that one guide, Zaim, spoke Spanish--much better than English--and had studied Spanish literature. After discovering that he was guiding for a lovely Argentine couple, Anna and Boris, I spent a significant amount of the rest of the day talking and touring with them.
Our next stop was at a beautiful valley which Anna told me reminded her of Cordoba, Argentina. We walked down a mountain and then alongside a stream dotted on the banks by hundreds of wildflowers. Zaim told me we had come at a really good time of year because the wildflowers would be blooming for just a few more weeks.
Along our hiking path, we stopped in various churches from the 9-11th century. Many of their frescos are still visible, although the majority have been defaced in some way. The most prominent damage was done to the eyes, because a certain people believed they bring bad luck. Zaim did an excellent job of explaining the various frescos' meanings and pointed out unusual aspects that I would not have understood. For example, on one wall a fresco depicted a man--I think it was Jesus--holding scales with a Bible on one side and man on the other. The Bible tipped the scales more than man, showing that the law is stronger than man. To the right of this picture depicted a long snake, representing hell, eating men and women. It was very vivid.
We continued our walk, Zaim and me talking about literature, tourism, our universites, etc. until we reached a restaurant. We ate at a restaurant with picnic tables alongside the stream. Pieces of the tree kept falling down on us and a herd of sheep ran across the bridge beside us. I felt like I was living in some sort of rural Romantic piece of literature. We ate the typical citruslike soup, fresh salad, and then Becky and I had "pizza." In reality, the latter was goat cheese rolled up in bread. Although there were probably eleven or so people on our tour, we continued to hang out and sit with the guides and our two extremely enthusiastic Austrailian busmates; I'm almost positive they were gay. Most of the time we were riding on the bus between sites we'd be talking about various places in the world. The Aussies would wide-eyedly exclaim that they were "brilliant." Becky and I missed seeing a lot of the countryside, but we were definitely entertained.
Thankfully we stopped to see one of the "brilliant" view of Mt. Aegeous and then near some cave homes to take pictures before our next stop to Salime. Salime is a small village carved in the tufta stone. Our guides explained how people that lived here would cook their food in tandeer clay holes in the ground, the same manner in which our food had been cooked at lunch. The various houses were at various steep inclinations and I was regretting my decision to wear a skirt. I had to "gird my loins" as Kim would say.
While exploring the various chapels--Salime was a central church for the various chapels in the area--and rooms, we met two cute little boys. They let us take their picture and Becky gave them two balloons each. Suddenly out from the mountainside sprang forth ten to fifteen cute little boys asking for balloons. Unfortunately, we had to leave for our final destination, an ancient canvassarie. Zaim explained that Cappadochia was a central stopping point on the Silk Road. Canvassaries were placed a day's walk from each other and were protected by the Sultan. Inside were places to store goods, shelter livestock, sleep and bathe. Most importantly, there was a central mosque for travellers to worship. I enjoyed imagining the life of the bustling canvassarie.
Our final day tour was with a different guide who took us first to imagination valley. Hundreds of tufa and basalt formations spring up the valley and envoke the mind images from Homer Simpson to Queen Elizabeth.
Probably the most famous Cappadochia site was next on our tour: the Monk Valley. More tufa/basalt formations rise from the ground, but they are the largest of the area and look unmistakenly like...well...circumcised penises. This is not why it is called Monk Valley. Turks claim that Saint Simon lived in this valley. We saw what is said to be the tufa he lived in.
If I were to claim a certain saint it would have to be Saint Simon. I had so much fun utilizing my climbing skills chimneying up a small, vertical tube up to his bathroom and then up another tube to his bedroom. He's religion's saint of climbing...woo hoo.
After inching back down, we explored a few more chapels and houses, then had time to do a little shopping. Becky and I haggled for some stone heads and carvings reminiscent of the Hitites that lived in Capadochia long ago.
We next went to a pottery place where a man explained how ancient peoples up till now make and paint pottery. I got to be a volunteer, wear large muddy pants, and "make" a piece of pottery with the help of the craftsman.
We ate lunch back in Urgup, where our hotel is located, with a honeymooning couple from our tour group. We then went on to Goreme Open Air Museum in which monks lived, ate, and studied.
Finally we ended at a carpet co-op. Having already been taken to a carpet shop on our first tour of Turkey, Becky and I opted to accompany an older man of our group to find jewelry for his wife back in the States. He had been a priest in Uruguay for three years, so I enjoyed talking to him about their politics in the 1960's and how things have changed. While he was looking around at the wares, Becky and I had fun joking around with a salesman. When we were leaving he told us to wait a minute because he had something for us. Becky called that it would be his phone number. She was right.
The honeymooning couple was trying to decide if they wanted to buy a carpet, so Becky and I had some time to learn about how they extract silk from the cocoons. It was actually quite interesting and more informative than our first carpet shop experience.
Bienvenido a Miami, Turkey
Becky and I just got into Kusadasi on the western coast of Turkey. We flew into Izmir and had a lovely hour drive through mostly houseless, pineforested hills and cliffs overlooking the sea. I tried to think of a place to compare it to, but nothing has come to mind as of yet. Suffice it to say, it was beautiful. Where we are staying overlooks the Aegean Sea is also beautiful, but doesn't, in my opinion, have a lot of character. Our hotel, and the many that flank it, are very Miami-esque. Our room has two plain beds, a bathroom, a television, and an unimpressive balcony; it's hard to believe that people pay a hundred dollars a night to stay here. Becky and I got in much earlier to Kusadasi then we had planned so we have just walked to an internet cafe about ten minutes from our hotel. We noticed there are hardly any tourists. Becky asked a shopkeeper if there are a lot of tourists now and she said, "yes." They must all be on tour. This is why we are here. Tomorrow we are going to see some of the best ruins in the world.
I don't think I would be so hard on our accomadations if we hadn't just come from the most amazing hotel in which I think I've ever stayed. Our cave hotel was simply incomparable. The walls and roads are all made of stone and the whole time I felt like I should be wearing a Bible costume. The hotel has all sorts of narrow passageways; Becky and I got lost more than once the first day we were there. Our second night we bought pizza from the little center town and brought it up to the terrace outside our room. I enjoyed looking down from the hill our hotel is on and admiring the beautiful homes carved out of the earth below us. Last night Becky was ill so the owner and one of his workers set up a DVD player for us--they borrowed it from a neighbor--and we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding in their little office/television/computer room. I couldn't believe they went through so much trouble for us. No wonder they are every travelguide author's favorite hotel in the area.
Cappadochia was much more than just our hotel. We had three busy days of siteseeing. As I mentioned before, the first day Becky and I went biking to some fairy chimneys and then had tea with some Turkish ladies. The second day we went on a tour. The first place we stopped was an underground city. The people of that time had above ground houses, but during wartime they would enter through a trapdoor to the underground to hide from the enemy. Cappadochia was not a big area for enemies to attack, so most would pass by. If they did decide, however, to attack, the people would close the city with a stone and live underground for quite a while. They used millstones for protection; they could shove their swords through a hole in them if an enemy entered the tunnels. For religious purposes the city had chapels in the shape of a cross. Their livestock lived on the first floor and they dug out feeding troughs for them. With the help of a large airpassageway and small windows, air was able to flow through the eight-plus levels of the city.
After this fascinating experience, our group had tea at a local cafe. We sat with our two guides and I discovered that one guide, Zaim, spoke Spanish--much better than English--and had studied Spanish literature. After discovering that he was guiding for a lovely Argentine couple, Anna and Boris, I spent a significant amount of the rest of the day talking and touring with them.
Our next stop was at a beautiful valley which Anna told me reminded her of Cordoba, Argentina. We walked down a mountain and then alongside a stream dotted on the banks by hundreds of wildflowers. Zaim told me we had come at a really good time of year because the wildflowers would be blooming for just a few more weeks.
Along our hiking path, we stopped in various churches from the 9-11th century. Many of their frescos are still visible, although the majority have been defaced in some way. The most prominent damage was done to the eyes, because a certain people believed they bring bad luck. Zaim did an excellent job of explaining the various frescos' meanings and pointed out unusual aspects that I would not have understood. For example, on one wall a fresco depicted a man--I think it was Jesus--holding scales with a Bible on one side and man on the other. The Bible tipped the scales more than man, showing that the law is stronger than man. To the right of this picture depicted a long snake, representing hell, eating men and women. It was very vivid.
We continued our walk, Zaim and me talking about literature, tourism, our universites, etc. until we reached a restaurant. We ate at a restaurant with picnic tables alongside the stream. Pieces of the tree kept falling down on us and a herd of sheep ran across the bridge beside us. I felt like I was living in some sort of rural Romantic piece of literature. We ate the typical citruslike soup, fresh salad, and then Becky and I had "pizza." In reality, the latter was goat cheese rolled up in bread. Although there were probably eleven or so people on our tour, we continued to hang out and sit with the guides and our two extremely enthusiastic Austrailian busmates; I'm almost positive they were gay. Most of the time we were riding on the bus between sites we'd be talking about various places in the world. The Aussies would wide-eyedly exclaim that they were "brilliant." Becky and I missed seeing a lot of the countryside, but we were definitely entertained.
Thankfully we stopped to see one of the "brilliant" view of Mt. Aegeous and then near some cave homes to take pictures before our next stop to Salime. Salime is a small village carved in the tufta stone. Our guides explained how people that lived here would cook their food in tandeer clay holes in the ground, the same manner in which our food had been cooked at lunch. The various houses were at various steep inclinations and I was regretting my decision to wear a skirt. I had to "gird my loins" as Kim would say.
While exploring the various chapels--Salime was a central church for the various chapels in the area--and rooms, we met two cute little boys. They let us take their picture and Becky gave them two balloons each. Suddenly out from the mountainside sprang forth ten to fifteen cute little boys asking for balloons. Unfortunately, we had to leave for our final destination, an ancient canvassarie. Zaim explained that Cappadochia was a central stopping point on the Silk Road. Canvassaries were placed a day's walk from each other and were protected by the Sultan. Inside were places to store goods, shelter livestock, sleep and bathe. Most importantly, there was a central mosque for travellers to worship. I enjoyed imagining the life of the bustling canvassarie.
Our final day tour was with a different guide who took us first to imagination valley. Hundreds of tufa and basalt formations spring up the valley and envoke the mind images from Homer Simpson to Queen Elizabeth.
Probably the most famous Cappadochia site was next on our tour: the Monk Valley. More tufa/basalt formations rise from the ground, but they are the largest of the area and look unmistakenly like...well...circumcised penises. This is not why it is called Monk Valley. Turks claim that Saint Simon lived in this valley. We saw what is said to be the tufa he lived in.
If I were to claim a certain saint it would have to be Saint Simon. I had so much fun utilizing my climbing skills chimneying up a small, vertical tube up to his bathroom and then up another tube to his bedroom. He's religion's saint of climbing...woo hoo.
After inching back down, we explored a few more chapels and houses, then had time to do a little shopping. Becky and I haggled for some stone heads and carvings reminiscent of the Hitites that lived in Capadochia long ago.
We next went to a pottery place where a man explained how ancient peoples up till now make and paint pottery. I got to be a volunteer, wear large muddy pants, and "make" a piece of pottery with the help of the craftsman.We ate lunch back in Urgup, where our hotel is located, with a honeymooning couple from our tour group. We then went on to Goreme Open Air Museum in which monks lived, ate, and studied.
Finally we ended at a carpet co-op. Having already been taken to a carpet shop on our first tour of Turkey, Becky and I opted to accompany an older man of our group to find jewelry for his wife back in the States. He had been a priest in Uruguay for three years, so I enjoyed talking to him about their politics in the 1960's and how things have changed. While he was looking around at the wares, Becky and I had fun joking around with a salesman. When we were leaving he told us to wait a minute because he had something for us. Becky called that it would be his phone number. She was right.
The honeymooning couple was trying to decide if they wanted to buy a carpet, so Becky and I had some time to learn about how they extract silk from the cocoons. It was actually quite interesting and more informative than our first carpet shop experience.
Istanbul was Constanta...alright, I won't type it
Becky and I have had a glorious two days in Istanbul. Our second tour was MUCH better than that of our first day.
Saturday
We toured group of about six-eight English folk along with their beautiful English accents and a fluent English speaking guide. He took us to Dolmabache Palace. From what I gathered from my guidebook and from viewing the place, the Dolmabache Palace is like an adolescent case of trying to make oneself look better so everyone else won't realize how messed up things are. The Turkish sultan at the time, Sultan Abdulmecid II, built the palace during the 19th century (I think) when Turkey was called "The Sick Man of Europe." Many people died because he taxed he spent so much of the country's wealth on the edifice. Ironically the massive rooms and high ceilings built with this money probably had a hand in Abdulmecid's early death--I believe he was in his 30's.
Even though the palace is beautiful, it made me a little sad because of the hardship it caused, but also because of its lack of Turkish art and arquitecture (which I love!). A man from France designed it and mostly everthing in and outside of the palace is from France or Italy. The only areas that seem purely Turkish are the haman (Turkish bath) the harem, and the Turkish soldiers guarding outside the main gate. The latter did a very strange changing of the guard. One sauntered off the little pedestal he was standing on and then, after chatting a bit, switched places with another soldier.
After the palace, we went on a boat tour of the Bosphorus. The weather was much sunnier then the previous day but still quite cold, so half the trip we spent inside with Turkish tea I bought to warm our hands. We heard a mysterious tourguide shout through the loudspeaker--who openly admited she was drunk--about various buildings along the way. We passed beautiful 19th century houses and palaces, but equally interesting fishermen and women. We also passed the Turkish hillsides which looked like upscale Brazilian favelas or Tennessee hills covered in Redbud-like trees. Mixed with the various sailboats with yellow or red rainsuited crew members made for an interesting juxtaposition. Eventually we glided underneath the Bosphorus Bridge. It was built in the 1970's and is one of the longest bridges in the world.
Discovering that the weather was not so intense, we sat outside to get a more authentic view of the Bosphorus. The highlight of the tour was Rumeli Fortress. The tour guide belted over the loudspeaker that it is built in the shape of the Arabic M for the man who had it built, Mehemet the Conquerer. He took Istanbul in something like 500 days from the Christians by using this fortress to block the Bosphorus. He surprised the Christians by hauling his boats across land and by attacking them from a place they weren't expecting. What a feat!
When our boat ride was finished, Becky, me, and our English mates got back on our tour van to drive across to Anatolia--the Asian side of Turkey. We ate a yummy lunch of salad, soup, and--mom, don't freak out--lamb. And, yes, even the lamb was delicious.
After taking in the view of the Bosphorus, we climbed back in the van and drove to Rumeli Fortress. Becky and I explored its winding passageways and walls. We even attempted to boulder, but decided the Turkish wouldn't like us to chip off chunks of their ancient historic edifice.
Our final tour stop was the Egyptian Bazaar or Spice Bazaar (many spices came from Egypt, so that is why it has that name). Becky and I purchased dried kiwis, strawberries, pineapples, coconut, and ginger along with chocolate and hazelnut Turkish delight.
The tour van let us off at our hotel and we took our provisions to a bench situated between the Blue Mosque and Haggai Sophia. On the way we watched two older men play Backgammon. They let us take pictures and tried to teach us the rules, but we were completely lost.
At the Mosques, men tried to sell us tea, kids tried to sell us Kleenex, but we concentrated on our dried fruits and trailmix we brought from the hotel. As we munched, a young man wanting to practice his English chatted with us for a long time. Eventually we left him and spent some more time in the Blue Mosque courtyard. We met a young family who let us take their pictures. Becky gave the three little children stickers. We also met a man who showed us around town for a little while, but we eventually parted from him saying we needed to go back to the hotel. I think Becky said, "I don't want a short, sunburned man walking around with us all night." Becky!
We went back out again to look around the shops. We spent most of our time in a music/book store and then called it a night.
Okay, I need to hurry up my writing, so here is a quick summary of the next couple days.
Sunday we took the train and bus to the local bazaar (lots of junk, but interesting new food), walked back stopping at a fruit market (I got a HUGE bag of strawberries for one lyra--less than a dollar) and at a soccer stadium (they were having a game, but I just bought a jersey). Becky and I ate all the strawberries and dried fruit we could handle while watching Turkish MTV and then went back out to the shops. I bought some sweet Turkish paintings. Becky was audacious with the bargaining. She was quite fantasic, really. They said all prices are fixed for the paintings, but Becky got more than half off her painting and I saved about twenty dollars on mine, and everyone was still smiling in the end. They even asked us out for coffee, tea, and free wine--we declined all offers and made our way home.
Today we flew to Cappadochia, a city known for its tuftas and cave houses. We are staying in a fantastic cave hotel. Yes, we are living for three days in a CAVE! And, everybody is so nice here! I can't emphasize this more. The hotel workers gave us free bread, cheese, Nutella, the works. We also have free laundry. But best of all, they let us use mt. bikes for free. We had had a little mix up with our tour company this morning and had spent about an hour trying to fix our tours with mt. biking plans we had made with a different tour guide. That's probably confusing, because it was.
Anyhoo, we were delighted to not pay the money we would have paid either tour service and were plenty happy gliding up and down the mountains by ourselves. Just after about five to ten minutes we came upon magical fairy chimneys, volcanic rock towers that have all sorts of holes poked and carved in them. Becky's bicycle became flat due to all the glass strewn all over the ground, so we spent our time climbing a large tower and taking pictures. We asked for help at some tourist stands, but nobody had an air pump. We ended up spending more than two hours sitting with three older shopkeeper ladies drinking tea, eating homeade feta cheese on bread, and learning words in our respective languages. They wrapped us up in Turkish blankets and head coverings to keep us warm. They are definitely our Turkish "mamas."
Saturday
We toured group of about six-eight English folk along with their beautiful English accents and a fluent English speaking guide. He took us to Dolmabache Palace. From what I gathered from my guidebook and from viewing the place, the Dolmabache Palace is like an adolescent case of trying to make oneself look better so everyone else won't realize how messed up things are. The Turkish sultan at the time, Sultan Abdulmecid II, built the palace during the 19th century (I think) when Turkey was called "The Sick Man of Europe." Many people died because he taxed he spent so much of the country's wealth on the edifice. Ironically the massive rooms and high ceilings built with this money probably had a hand in Abdulmecid's early death--I believe he was in his 30's.
Even though the palace is beautiful, it made me a little sad because of the hardship it caused, but also because of its lack of Turkish art and arquitecture (which I love!). A man from France designed it and mostly everthing in and outside of the palace is from France or Italy. The only areas that seem purely Turkish are the haman (Turkish bath) the harem, and the Turkish soldiers guarding outside the main gate. The latter did a very strange changing of the guard. One sauntered off the little pedestal he was standing on and then, after chatting a bit, switched places with another soldier.
After the palace, we went on a boat tour of the Bosphorus. The weather was much sunnier then the previous day but still quite cold, so half the trip we spent inside with Turkish tea I bought to warm our hands. We heard a mysterious tourguide shout through the loudspeaker--who openly admited she was drunk--about various buildings along the way. We passed beautiful 19th century houses and palaces, but equally interesting fishermen and women. We also passed the Turkish hillsides which looked like upscale Brazilian favelas or Tennessee hills covered in Redbud-like trees. Mixed with the various sailboats with yellow or red rainsuited crew members made for an interesting juxtaposition. Eventually we glided underneath the Bosphorus Bridge. It was built in the 1970's and is one of the longest bridges in the world.
Discovering that the weather was not so intense, we sat outside to get a more authentic view of the Bosphorus. The highlight of the tour was Rumeli Fortress. The tour guide belted over the loudspeaker that it is built in the shape of the Arabic M for the man who had it built, Mehemet the Conquerer. He took Istanbul in something like 500 days from the Christians by using this fortress to block the Bosphorus. He surprised the Christians by hauling his boats across land and by attacking them from a place they weren't expecting. What a feat!
When our boat ride was finished, Becky, me, and our English mates got back on our tour van to drive across to Anatolia--the Asian side of Turkey. We ate a yummy lunch of salad, soup, and--mom, don't freak out--lamb. And, yes, even the lamb was delicious.
After taking in the view of the Bosphorus, we climbed back in the van and drove to Rumeli Fortress. Becky and I explored its winding passageways and walls. We even attempted to boulder, but decided the Turkish wouldn't like us to chip off chunks of their ancient historic edifice.
Our final tour stop was the Egyptian Bazaar or Spice Bazaar (many spices came from Egypt, so that is why it has that name). Becky and I purchased dried kiwis, strawberries, pineapples, coconut, and ginger along with chocolate and hazelnut Turkish delight. The tour van let us off at our hotel and we took our provisions to a bench situated between the Blue Mosque and Haggai Sophia. On the way we watched two older men play Backgammon. They let us take pictures and tried to teach us the rules, but we were completely lost.
At the Mosques, men tried to sell us tea, kids tried to sell us Kleenex, but we concentrated on our dried fruits and trailmix we brought from the hotel. As we munched, a young man wanting to practice his English chatted with us for a long time. Eventually we left him and spent some more time in the Blue Mosque courtyard. We met a young family who let us take their pictures. Becky gave the three little children stickers. We also met a man who showed us around town for a little while, but we eventually parted from him saying we needed to go back to the hotel. I think Becky said, "I don't want a short, sunburned man walking around with us all night." Becky!
We went back out again to look around the shops. We spent most of our time in a music/book store and then called it a night.
Okay, I need to hurry up my writing, so here is a quick summary of the next couple days.
Sunday we took the train and bus to the local bazaar (lots of junk, but interesting new food), walked back stopping at a fruit market (I got a HUGE bag of strawberries for one lyra--less than a dollar) and at a soccer stadium (they were having a game, but I just bought a jersey). Becky and I ate all the strawberries and dried fruit we could handle while watching Turkish MTV and then went back out to the shops. I bought some sweet Turkish paintings. Becky was audacious with the bargaining. She was quite fantasic, really. They said all prices are fixed for the paintings, but Becky got more than half off her painting and I saved about twenty dollars on mine, and everyone was still smiling in the end. They even asked us out for coffee, tea, and free wine--we declined all offers and made our way home.
Today we flew to Cappadochia, a city known for its tuftas and cave houses. We are staying in a fantastic cave hotel. Yes, we are living for three days in a CAVE! And, everybody is so nice here! I can't emphasize this more. The hotel workers gave us free bread, cheese, Nutella, the works. We also have free laundry. But best of all, they let us use mt. bikes for free. We had had a little mix up with our tour company this morning and had spent about an hour trying to fix our tours with mt. biking plans we had made with a different tour guide. That's probably confusing, because it was.
Anyhoo, we were delighted to not pay the money we would have paid either tour service and were plenty happy gliding up and down the mountains by ourselves. Just after about five to ten minutes we came upon magical fairy chimneys, volcanic rock towers that have all sorts of holes poked and carved in them. Becky's bicycle became flat due to all the glass strewn all over the ground, so we spent our time climbing a large tower and taking pictures. We asked for help at some tourist stands, but nobody had an air pump. We ended up spending more than two hours sitting with three older shopkeeper ladies drinking tea, eating homeade feta cheese on bread, and learning words in our respective languages. They wrapped us up in Turkish blankets and head coverings to keep us warm. They are definitely our Turkish "mamas."
You are my designer??
Yesterday Becky and I went on a tour of the big sites of Istanbul. the begýnnýng of the day we were a liýttle perturbed because our tour started an hour late, but there was nothing we could really do to remedy the situation except make a complaiýnt to the tour office...which we did. Today they are currently about 40 miýnutes late, so we are just relaxing and doiýng email. our hotel has free internet, but the computer we are using ýs at the front desk. we have already had people try to ask us for rooms and such, which ýs amusiýng.
Anyhoo, we started our tour wýth an Austrailian, a couple from Mississippi, and a guy from Yemen. We looked at the hýppodrome where ancýent people used to have chariot races. now ýt ýs cýrcled by cars and has a patýo ýn the mýddle wýth three obelýscs. next we went to the blue mosque, one of the býggest mosques ýn Istanbul and definitely the most well known. It has six turrets as apposed to the normal four turrets of other mosques. According to our guýde, the arquitect was supposed to layer the whole mosque with gold. The word gold ýn theýr language is very similar to sýx, so he built sýx turrets. Thankfully for hým, the sultan liked the six turrets and did not kýll the aquýtect.
The last place of the morniýng we výsiýted was the Ayasofiýa Museum. Ýt ýs a juxtaposition of christian and islamic art. ýt was a church built by the christians, but taken over by the muslims and turned into a mosque. after the turkish government became a democracy, the structure was converted into a museum. thankfully, the muslims did not destroy anythýng of the christians and we were able to look at amazýng mosaýcs from the byzantine era (ý love byzantine art). becky and i were furýously tryýng to take pictures, but our gal tourguide was rushýng us around. it was a little annoying because she allowed plenty of týme to look at carpets ýn a store she took us to.
after lunch, we visited the topkapi palace and looked at a lot of bejeweled knives and thrones (michael jackson visýted a few years back and wanted to sit on one of them, but the museum would not let him). we also saw Muhammads foot prýnt, pýeces of hýs beard, and even one of the letters he wrote. a man ýn the corner was readýng contýnually from the Koran. My guýdebook says that someone has been reading from it for the last 500 years. Amazing!
we fýnished our tour after a trip to a ceramics store (which we breezed through) with more apple tea and then a trip to Suleymans mosque. i enjoyed the latter because Muslims were just finýshing their prayer týme. we say the Holy Man and various people finýshing theýr prayers towards Mecca.
The rýde back to our hotel took quite awhýle due to Istanbuls crazy traffic. our guýde was quite entertainýng not for information, but for her desire to be a proffessional singer. she had more songs on her cell phone (she owns three cell phones!) than mandy has on her karoke cds (okay, i am exaggeratýng...nobody could have more) and boy was she busting a groove. she got really excited when we came to the music section of istabul where musicýans are discovered--istanbuls version of Nashville. around this time she screamed, oh thýs ýs You are My Designer! You are My Desýgner? Okay, I think she said desire, but becky and I were still crackýng up.
IstanBOOYA!
fýrst of all, turkýsh keyboards are really funky so thýs wýll be short. just wanted to let everyone know that i am safe and sound ýn turkey. ý was a lýttle afraid noone was going to pick me up at the airport, but everything worked out okay. becky and i have already done some looking around at shops and she had bought two awesome paintýngs. we had a great vegetable casserole for supper, played wýth a lot of cats (they are everywhere!), heard the call to prayer, and talked wýth a lot of nýce turkish men (ý do not know where the women are).
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