The sun is bright, the wind is calm and the Sox are now just 1/2 game out of first place!  I actually do miss following the simulated game on the computer which I could do when we were 12 hours ahead of the East Coast.  Now that it’s 9 hours, the games come on at 4 am rather than at 7 am so I just get up and find the final score.  But something feels missing.  We’re getting some boat chores finished and planning our next bike trip which will be to Datca (pronounced Datcha because of the little squiggle under the c which I can’t make with this keyboard.)  Datca is about 60 kilometers or 36 miles from Marmaris according to the Lonely Planet guide but it’s also about 4 times further than Turgut and that took us longer than an hour so we’ll see.  We’ll take socks and underwear and we’ve looked up hotels.  We’ll probably go Monday if the weather looks good. 

But now, back to Bodrum………

When we left Marmaris Wednesday morning our goal was to visit Milas, look at carpets, and return to Marmaris. It would have been a long day, but doable. But just in case, we took extra socks and underwear. So at 4 pm Wednesday afternoon, while standing in the center of Milas, we decided to head south east to Bodrum rather than return to Marmaris. We were so close to the seaside town of Bodrum that it would have been a shame to just turn around and go home without visiting. And we were having too good of a time to go back. So with the weather forecast was for a sunny Thursday; and with clean underwear for Thursday, we decided why not? It was a good decision and off we went.

About half way to Bodrum we saw a sign CARPET FARM so stopped to have a look. www.eracarpets.com is the website. It was a lovely compound which included the family’s home, offices and showroom. The showroom was on the other side of the garden and when I stopped to smell some of the roses the gardener motioned for me to come onto the lawn to smell the more fragrant wild roses. Everywhere there are flowers and vine covered trestles. And many of the roses are the more traditional variety with the fragrance you expect from a rose. So I was a bit surprised some of the roses here were beautiful but fragrance free. I guess the gardener knew that so wanted me to smell a “real rose.”

Closely inspecting a “dowry” carpet.

Iskender (Alexander) Ildiz took a great deal of time showing us carpets and teaching us about them too. After university in Norfolk, VA ! where he’d studied information technology, Iskender had returned home to Turkey to help run the family business. He told us more about dowry carpets. Not only do they attract possible suitors, but if need be, they are sold to raise money for the needs of married life. This carpet had a small, not very noticeable flaw which bothered Randal but not me. It just showed that it was truly made by human hand. Iskender said it wouldn’t be repaired as it was part of the carpet’s history and story and not really seen as a flaw. To reweave the small flawed part would have ruined it. The flaw was reflected in the price.

In the showroom there were special framed carpets on the walls. I thought I’d heard Iskender say his grandfather had done them but Randal thinks that his grandfather had them commissioned. Maybe it’s some of both. I should have stood next to them to give you an idea of the size.

My two favorites

Iskender said the Mona Lisa was his grandfather’s inspiration which made me think that he did make the carpet. I look at it and see a woman reading or lighting Sabbath candles.

This colorful one was Randal’s favorite and it’s unusual for the number of different colored yarns used. It represents “mother nature” and there are deer and birds and flowers woven into the picture.

Iskender said that the “Jewish theme” carpets that were often made for Bar Mitzvahs though I don’t think they still have them to sell. ( I really need to take notes, have said that for years, and hopefully will start one of these days. But it’s hard to take photos, look at carpets, and take good notes all at the same time.)

A repaired carpet and one of the men who repairs them.

Iskender showed us this carpet and then told us why it was unique. It had been a larger carpet but the outer parts had been ruined beyond repair so they cut it down and refinished the edges. He said that you would never see a carpet with this pattern in this size without more outer boarders. It was the outer borders that had been cut away. We would never have known, but he wanted us to know the truth about the carpet. We appreciated him telling us, but though we liked the carpet, it didn’t say “Turkey” to us or call our names. We are learning to broaden our horizons about the different motifs and colors of Turkish carpets. Motifs and colors depend on the region where they are made. Many are wool woven on cotton but the Nomad carpets are wool on wool. It’s all very interesting and we are starting to learn what we like.

Though we really enjoyed talking with and learning from Iskender no carpet called that fit our size requirements so it was back on the bike and off to Bodrum

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