Today we are in Trabzon, Turkey, on the southern shores of the Black Sea. The internet isn't steady and strong here, so this might be sent to you a couple times.
On Sunday 8/18/19 Anne and I flew to Frankfort from Detroit, then to Istanbul, then arrived in Ankara, the capital city on 8/19. We should've spent a day in Istanbul to adjust, because we were exhausted when we arrived in Ankara. But we're fine now except for a little stomach distress, and we've been on the move since our arrival. Our time is 7 hours ahead of Detroit. The first leg of our travels was arranged by Abdylla, Jill and Ihab of Spiekerman Travel Service. Our guide here is Orhan, who lives in Eastern Turkey, and our driver is Murat, who lives in Van. Turkey straddles eastern Europe and western Asia. It is not yet a member of the EU.
On 8/20, we visited Ankara, the capital city after WWI, when Turkey was established under the guidance of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The weather is comfortable, with a temp of 60° overnight. Ankara is an old city, and it was an important Roman city. We visited the large mausoleum complex of this leader and see beautiful stone, tile and etching work. We watched the changing of the guards. Also on display are two old American cars used by the founder! My photographer may have gotten photos of them. We lunched at the Ankara Aspava restaurant and enjoyed lentil soup, tasty filled pancakes, salad, tea and honeyed dessert. No hummus!, which surprises us. When the waiter learned we were Americans, he thanked us Americans for our kindness of aid supplies provided post-WWII by the Marshall Plan. You may recall that we were thanked years ago by an Italian waiter for the Marshall Plan aid.
8/21 We travel toward Cappadocia. Along the way we stop at the huge Salt Lake, which provides much of the country's needs. The water was down, so we walked atop the salt lake bottom. Continuing along, we visited a renovated original centuries-old caravanesari. Inside, you can just imagine the carcaphony and riot of noise and smells and colors when it was filled with traders from all along the 7,000 km Silk Road with their wares born by so many camels. Turkey uses nuclear and coal to produce electricity. There are coal mines near the Iraq and Syria borders. Lots of produce is grown here: wheat, barley, lentils, melons, pumpkins, sugar beets, potatoes, sunflowers. We see quite a few Chinese tourists. We see hills and mountains as we approach Cappadocia. Our hotel is in Urgup, and it is up 35+ outside stairs. The room is large, we have several terraces where we can enjoy the view of the surrounding rock caves. These caves were homes to early Christians centuries ago. Hot air ballooning is very popular here. Anne now wishes she had arranged a tour on one. I think I see plenty from here on the ground. A curious thing: there appears to be a camera on every TV in our rooms since we got here. We both have given them a show before we realized it was a camera.
8/22 We visit underground caves of the early Christians. They generally placed livestock on the first floor below ground, with other lower floors for kitchen, church, living quarters. Can't imagine how many broken bones resulted from those caves. A little ways away, we see unusual rock sculpture, like ferry chimneys with basalt caps, created by over 5,000 years of water and wind erosion. We see a rock resembling a camel, and we smile to see one look like a rabbit. We learn this year's grape harvest is just a couple weeks away. We drink award-winning Blush tonight on our terrace. I had thought I would see only dark-haired people here, but we see natural blondes and redheads also.
8/23 We leave early for the Kapadokia Airport. We are flying to Istanbul, and from there to Trabzon, while Murat and Orhan take a long road trip through the mountains to meet us here. After flights with crying babies and men smothered with cologne, we were wishing we had made the car trip instead. We fly along the coast when arriving here. We are met at the airport by a woman and a driver. She is so glad to see Americans again coming to Trabzon. We were hoping for a beautiful view of the Sea from our room. Not sure, but it might be right beyond the brick wall across from our window. We both sleep well tonight after our $14 dinner of stuffed grape leaves, vegetable soup, salad with tuna . The guys arrive at 10 this night.
8/24 We tour Trabzon today. It's a big city with lots of people, narrow roads and lots of traffic. This region is surrounded by the Kacka mountains. They have begun harvesting hazelnuts. I nod and say hello to an older woman, and she smiles and taps my arm. We visit Ataturk Koscu (cottage) up on a hill. Built by Greeks and obtained during the 1920's population exchange, it became a favorite getaway spot for the founder Ataturk. Cool and breezy while it's hot in the city. We enjoy tea on a terrace at a park overlooking the sea. Because we had long shorts on, we couldn't visit a mosque in town. We visit a reconstructed/renovated monastery. Anne and Orhan take all the stairs up for great views of the sea and city. We enjoy sea bass at lunch two blocks from our hotel. For dessert, there is baklava made with hazelnuts. Anne loves it. We have discussions regarding wars and religions, rulers and dynasties.
