More blue caps.  If I didn’t already say, we drank enough water during over our 7 days to collect almost 90 caps.

Randal loves these light weight construction blocks.  We have a North Cyprus photo just like this.

The date on the sign says 1661!

We were doing our group thing at this point, so as we passed I took photos of the traditional coffee making, but didn’t stop to sample any. 

Lonely Planet review for Arasta Lonca Kahvesi

This is one of the town’s most congenial places for a coffee, but it’s in the thick of the arasta action, so you pay for the atmosphere (çay TL2.50); head to the backstreets for a quieter, cheaper cuppa.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

  (I have paid both less and more for Çay (tea) other places.)

Arasta: Row of shops near a mosque, the rent from which supports the mosque.

Lonca: Dictionary definition is “guild.”

Kahvesi: Kahve is coffee and the si makes it a possessive. 

So maybe Coffee of the Arasta Guild

Traditional coffee making; but the woman is in very western dress with no head scarf.

I’m not leaving Turkey without one of these long handled “coffee makers.”

I think these small Ottoman house models were becoming lamps

Pinocchio is alive and well in Turkey; we see puppets everywhere.

Randal times 2.

Soon the vines will be leaf covered and providing shade.

The Izzet Mehmet Pasha Mosque (I think)

Built in 1796 by Izzet Mehmet Pasha  entirely of cut stone.

Kazdaḡli Mosque 1778

It was built by Kazdagli Mehmet Aga in 1779. The mosque was constructed from stone and brick. Its brick minaret has one balcony (serefe). The mosque, which was sold to private person in 1930’s, was donated to Safranbolu Municipality by Müezzinoglu Family (Nuri – Meliha Isitan) in 1975. Ownership of the mosque passed from the Municipality to General Directorate of Foundation in 2004 and its restoration was accomplished in the same year.   http://www.waymarking.com/

I like this photo, and hope these historic building will always be protected.

But from my experiences Turkey is really very much more modern than this photo would imply. 

Safranbolu Baglar Saray Hotel where we spent the night.

White walls, wood furniture, lace curtains…all features of Ottoman houses.

This painting in the lobby reminded me of the carpet restorers we saw on our Cappadocia trip.

I got up early to walk for about an hour into the newer part of Safranbolu.

Typical Turkish breakfast spread very welcome after my walk down and up the hill from the hotel.

I love these and had bought some during our trip which I shared with everyone and a few stray dogs.  They are a less buttery, more confectionary sugary, and dryer than shortbread.  They are very crumbly and light and I’ll have to buy some again just to find read the ingredients.

“Deep in the Gὕrleyik hills 10km northwest of Safranbolu, this impressive cave network opened to the public a decade ago, although troglodytes may have lived here many millennia before that.  You can walk through 400 meters of the 6km-long network, enough to reveal a fine array of stalactites and stalagmites with inevitable anthropomorphic nicknames.”  Lonely Planet Turkey Guide

Starting up the stairs that led up to the cave

The rest of the way up

Entering the cave

It’s actually pretty dark, but I used my photo program to add light so you could see what we saw.

There were lights along the way but this is still a “light-enhanced” photo

There was a metal walkway part of the way and dirt part of the way

Beautiful and fanciful, think Arthur Rackham illustrations.

Complimentary tea from the Cave Guard.

When we had arrived at 9, opening time, the wooden cave door was locked tight.  Taṣ called the posted number and was told there had been car problems.  But by 9:15 we were walking through the cave, so all was well.

At the base of the hill near the parking area…

There is a small underground river, waterfall and some lakes but we didn’t see them or even if access is still available.

“At Byzantine and Ottoman times a branch of this cave was the source or waterway leading to the city center. “  Safranbolu Museum City Travel Guide from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Dave had wanted a photo of this small, stone/timber “vacation” home that we had seen on our way to the cave.

I wanted to walk the path, but the cave was only our first stop of the day, so we had to move along.

The cat outside and the dog inside were having a verbal battle.  Both ignored the chicken.

Çamaşır means underwear or laundry.  Adding hane makes it “laundry building.”   I can’t say it was an old time Laundromat, because there was nothing “automatic” about it. 

In Cemil Ipeҫi Spkaḡi is the 300 year old çamaşırhane (laundry) with arched hearths where the water was heated in caldrons.  Taller women scrubbed at one end of the tilted stone table, shorter ones at the other;  the dirty water drained in the center.  The table’s 12 sides are a clue to the villages Bektaṣi origins (like modern Shi’a Muslims, the Bektaṣi  believed in 12 imams, the last of whom had been hidden by Allah.)  Older women would sit at the edges sizing up  the grandchildren-producing potential  of their younger counterparts, whose bodies would be revealed by their wet clothes.   Lonely Planet Turkey Guide.

The 16th-century hamam is in ruins, but the old communal washing hall, or çamaşırhane, where village woman meet over laundry to share gossip and sing songs, was restored in 1996. It is a popular meeting place, a club for women. http://www.cornucopia.net/

Sink and cauldron

Stick to beat the laundry.  The stick was worn smooth as were all of the stone surfaces.

I’ve told Randal if our washing machine ever stops working, we get a new one or I’m going home.  I had to hand wash our dirty laundry while we were on the hard at Bodrum for 5 days.  Many cruisers have no washing machine and always have to hand launder their clothes, towels, etc. or take them to a çamaşırhane if the marina has no coin op facility.  I’m definitely spoiled.

Visiting an old Ottoman home.

Sipahioḡlu Konaḡi Gezi  Evi is one of the villages enormous old houses.  The builders warring sons divided the mansion in two and you tour the selamlik and the haremlik separately.  Lonely Planet

The one unmissable site is the Sipahioğlu Konağı Gezi Evi, the local museum. This mansion is so enormous that the tour has to be offered in two parts, by far the livelier of the two being offered by an apple-cheeked countrywoman who speaks not a word of English but doesn’t let that stand in the way of communicating with her guests. As you wander round the house you will be able to inspect the same sort of built-in wooden furnishings that are commonplace in Safranbolu: revolving cupboard doors, built-in mouse traps and purpose-designed wooden niches to accommodate all life’s necessities. Here, however, you will also be treated to a sign-language explanation of how hot water running behind the walls acted as central heating and of how the primitive toilets worked. Perhaps the highlight of the visit is just sitting in the little wooden gazebo on the roof, which would have been used as a smoking retreat-with-a-view by male members of the family. The fez-stand against the wall serves as a reminder of an item of headgear that was once ubiquitous but which Atatürk rendered as illegal as the Bektaşı dervishes.  http://www.todayszaman.com

The first floor was a “gift shop.”      

Beautiful wood and painted ceiling with a mirror-like ceiling fixture.

Reflection in the ceiling fixture.

Somavar   Room heater, geometric nomad carpet pattern and lovely decorative painted panel and around the walls .

The same pattern of the stool is the one on the wall design.

A trunk

The “library” with the owner’s red fez

A display case with vintage luggage and some decorative needlework

A close-up shows that King Edward is in the photo with Atatὕrk.

4 September, 1935. Visit of King Edward VIII to Ataturk in Istanbul.

Family Tree

The “other house next door” also had a gift shop we visited.

They also had a gift shop.

Our Yὄrὕk Kὄyὕ guide with Taṣ, not the apple-cheeked woman, but a very knowledgeable man.

“..village’s only coffee house is still the men’s club, untouched, a place for elders to reflect on the old days, on country matters and affairs of state, or to play backgammon. “

http://www.cornucopia.net/

When we walked in most of the men went outside to sit in the garden which was too bad. 

Bar keep who never cracked a smile and served us all Turkish tea.

The eldest elder, reportedly over 100 years old.   (I snuck his photo as he really didn’t want to pose.)

Ayden and Taṣ play backgammon while Dorothy and Mark look on.

Tinker to Evers to Chance….Anton David Randal

I have no idea why I thought of those 3 looking at these 3.

Our intrepid leader Gwen and her sidekick, Taṣ

Our lunch stop restaurant……and souvenir shops…

Randal had lentil soup; I had grilled chicken.  Tazeena bought 2 ceramic pots that made for lots of laughs and one interesting airport security story. 

Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ  villagers greet you upon arrival

A small bakery/cafe

This “house of”  advertises Yörük style pancakes, yogurt drink and baklava

Notice the table to the left with layers of rolled dough and the giant bag of flour in the corner.

I think it must take lots of practice to do this so perfectly.

The dough was being rolled out for the next batch of baklava, though Gὂzleme dough is rolled out in a similar manner.

* The name Gὂzleme originates from the word "eye" (in Turkish gὂz means eye). When you start to cook it, you will see some little brown round shaped spots on it, which gives Gὂzleme its name:)

http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2007/03/gozleme.php  gives a recipe for Gὂzleme.

Finished baklava: we only got a photo and not a taste.

http://www.karakoygulluoglu.com/eng/index.asp?page=baklava1.asp is a great website discussing the history of baklava in Turkey.

Ottoman house model

The double teapot set up on the heater and a gὂzleme cooker on the right.  At least that’s what I think it is.  The gὂzleme are cooked on the top part of the top sort of like an inverted wok.

A fixer upper for someone.

Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ streets

I believe the lady with the rolling pin                                      A local gentleman      

Decorative bits and Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ Gothic

This next bit is really interesting…..I think especially for our Roanoke friends Jane and Peter.

Ropes on the door indicate if the family is at home.

If it is hanging straight down, the family is home.  If the rope is pulled across with one knot, they’ll be home soon.  The more knots, the longer the family would be away.  I don’t remember if locks are ever used. 

Even in Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ they collect blue caps.

Our lunch stop restaurant……and souvenir shops…

Randal had lentil soup; I had grilled chicken.  Tazeena bought 2 ceramic pots that made for lots of laughs and one interesting airport security story. 

Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ  villagers greet you upon arrival

A small bakery/cafe

This “house of”  advertises Yörük style pancakes, yogurt drink and baklava

Notice the table to the left with layers of rolled dough and the giant bag of flour in the corner.

I think it must take lots of practice to do this so perfectly.

The dough was being rolled out for the next batch of baklava, though Gὂzleme dough is rolled out in a similar manner.

* The name Gὂzleme originates from the word "eye" (in Turkish gὂz means eye). When you start to cook it, you will see some little brown round shaped spots on it, which gives Gὂzleme its name:)

http://www.turkishcookbook.com/  gives a recipe for Gὂzleme.

Finished baklava: we only got a photo and not a taste.

http://www.karakoygulluoglu.com/ is a great website discussing the history of baklava in Turkey.

Ottoman house model

The double teapot set up on the heater and a gὂzleme cooker on the right.  At least that’s what I think it is.  The gὂzleme are cooked on the top part of the top sort of like an inverted wok.

A fixer upper for someone.

Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ streets

I believe the lady with the rolling pin                                      A local gentleman      

Decorative bits and Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ Gothic

This next bit is really interesting…..I think especially for our Roanoke friends Jane and Peter.

Ropes on the door indicate if the family is at home.

If it is hanging straight down, the family is home.  If the rope is pulled across with one knot, they’ll be home soon.  The more knots, the longer the family would be away.  I don’t remember if locks are ever used. 

Even in Yὂrὕk Kὂyὕ they collect blue caps.

“Let’s start with the castle. Kastamonu sits in a valley between two steep hills, which means that the best vantage point from which to view the castle is from the hill on the opposite side where a tiered tea garden fronts a clock tower dating back to 1885. Sitting here you will be able to appreciate how neatly the castle hugs the contours of the other hill. The existing building is not as ancient as some of Anatolia’s real oldies, having started life as a Byzantine work of the 12th century. Everyone has heard of the Byzantines, but the dynasty who went on to rebuild the castle, the Candaroğlus, is more of a mystery. In 1292 their first significant leader, Temür Yaman Candar, took advantage of the chaos that followed the collapse of the Selçuk Empire to establish his own dynasty (beylik) around Kastamonu. Not surprisingly he liked the look of the old castle and had it refortified.

Candar’s descendants dominated the area immediately north of Ankara and west along the Black Sea to Bolu right through 1462 when, inevitably, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror came galloping through to establish Ottoman control. In the last few years restoration work has made the castle a focal point for the burgeoning domestic tourism industry, which means that visitors must run a gauntlet of tablecloth-selling shopkeepers on the steep path leading up to it. Disappointingly, there’s not that much to see inside — although you do get a great view of the clock tower.”

http://www.todayszaman.com/

Sad Legend of the Clock Tower

   Behind the Governorship building high above the Sarayüstü Hill rests an important focal point of the city, the Clock Tower.  It was built in 1885 while Abdurrahman Pasha vas the governor of Kastamonu. There is a legend surround this tower that this clock once was in Istanbul.  In the late 1800s its bell made such a loud noise that the sultan princess who was living near it at the time got scared and resulted a miscarriage of her baby. Therefore as punishment to the clock it was sent to Kastamonu far away from Istanbul.  However, never minding the legend, the tea you will sip in its gardens will provide you the best view of Kastamonu. http://www.pbase.com/osmantanidik/kastamonu_clock_tower

This is our friend Patricia posing outside the Tabaksons’ locally made helva ( halva) shop.

On a whim I bought a box of the helva and it was the best stuff.  Randal thought it was dry, but I thought it just melted in your mouth reminiscent of really good cotton candy.  Looking for info about Çekme Helva I found other comments comparing it to cotton candy.  I also read that Turks had to learn about “sweets” from other cultures, many introduced from the Middle East.

Kastamonu producing traditional palace dish

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News | 7/27/2005 12:00:00 AM |

The traditional ‘palace halva’ of Kastamonu, historically made by specially trained cooks in Seljuk and Ottoman palaces for centuries, is now being reproduced for residents of and visitors to Kastamonu, reported the Anatolia news agency.  The traditional “palace halva” of Kastamonu, historically made by specially trained cooks in Seljuk and Ottoman palaces for centuries, is now being reproduced for residents of and visitors to Kastamonu, reported the Anatolia news agency.

    Nearly 10 tons of palace halva are produced daily, and Turkish Airlines serves this special dessert to its foreign guests on their flights. In fact, many tourists have visited Kastamonu after enjoying this tasty treat on a plane.

The Bülbül brothers, Hayri and Erdem, specialize in palace halva and serve their products in stores located in Istanbul, İzmir, Ankara, Bursa and Antalya. They say foreign tourists like this traditional concoction as much as Turks. Hayri says it is quite difficult to make real palace halva, adding that it takes five specially trained cooks. He said the cooks pray before preparing the dessert. Bülbül said halva ingredients consist of plain flour, sugar, quality butter and water, and requires much manual pulling and kneading of the mixture. It is customarily served on Muslim holy days and at weddings, circumcision parties and funerals.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

The next door actually did sell Bülbül brothers Helva

I took this photo to show the helva sold in boxes made to look like Ottoman houses.  But I noticed the lettering on the yellow box and the name Bülbül.

Before praying, one must wash.  It was cold but those who went to pray had stopped to wash.

There are many times, before beginning to pray that Jews are also supposed to wash their hands.  It’s interesting to me to see so many customs that I think of as Jewish that are common among countries of the Middle East.

Entrance to the small bazaar/tea garden

Too chilly to sit and have tea and too many shops to hunt for a “treasure.”

Randal couldn’t resist this set of wooden bowls which were turned on a lathe and hand carved.

The bath’s boiler of a Dervish Lodge is what the sign near it said.

I’m guessing it was to heat water for the hamam (bath.)

I’m always attracted to the little cute ladies, and this one sent me on a tangent looking into services to the elderly in Turkey.  I gave her a few TL.   Later we saw her again Taṣ, good-hearted person that he is, collected some money for her from our group.  I have no idea how old she was; harder lives make people look older.  But it did make me wonder how hard the life is for elder women in Turkey where once, like most societies, families cared for elderly or infirm members.  I came across the following document published in 2007: The Situation of Elderly People in Turkey and National Plan of Action on Ageing

“However, in Turkey, the number of people benefiting from social security programs

who are insured in the literal sense has not reached the adequate level and a comprehensive social security network could not be built as of yet. …….

        Entitlement of the elderly person to some kind of an income becomes important in terms of economic sustainability of his or her living. Survey results indicate that 56 per cent of the elderly population is entitled for some kind of income. On the other hand, there are significant differences between male and female elderly population in terms of being entitled to income. While 75 per cent of men are entitled for an income, the percentage drops down to 38 per cent for women. Looking at the

analyses on the source of income, 46 per cent of elderly men cited their pension, while other sources cited were old-age pension and rental/interest income. Only 10 per cent of elderly men work. While only 6 per cent of elderly women are entitled for pension of their own, percentage of women who cited indirect pension as their source of income was 16 per cent. 10 per cent of elderly women are entitled for old-age pension and only 1 per cent still work.

The state offers its services to elderly people through accepting them to the nursing homes it opens and looking after them until they die. The private sector, on the other hand, offers its services through opening nursing homes or sending care providers to those who live by themselves or with their families. Especially in rural areas, someone from the family cares for the elderly individual unofficially. This person is usually the spouse, daughter, daughter-in-law, niece or granddaughter of the elderly

individual, which means that most of the time women assume the responsibility for caring for elderly people. Women who in particular have concerns about ageing and believe that they would not be able to care for themselves when they get old consider staying in homes planned specially for elderly people more positively compared to men who count on their wives in this respect.”

The Situation of Elderly People in Turkey and National Plan of Action on Ageing

http://ekutup.dpt.gov.tr

Ataturk’s Hat

Ataturk encouraged the Turks to wear modern European attire. . After most civil servants had adopted the western hat with their own free will, in 1925 Mustafa Kemal wore his "Panama hat" during a public appearance in Kastamonu, one of the most conservative towns in Anatolia, to demonstrate that the hat was the headgear of civilized nations.

http://pinterest.com/pin/22869910579281444/

The following article about the Polish Jew who made Ataturk’s Kastamonu hat especially caught my attention because my mother’s father was a cap maker and his father made caps for the Czar’s special guard…or so family lore has it. 

Granddaughter recalls the Polish Jew who designed Atatürk’s hats

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News | 5/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

    Polish Jew Adolf Loker was the designer of the revolutionary hats of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic.  Documents and photos about Atatürk that Loker was keeping in his safe were destroyed during the Sept 6-7, 1955 events.  Loker’s granddaughter Mari Loker-Gormezano, a deputy candidate from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, says: ‘I grew up as an admirer of Atatürk; this is not a thing that was imposed’

     The switch from the fez to Western-style hats was one of the most visible changes brought by the foundation of the Turkish Republic after the destruction of the Ottoman Empire.  As for the architect of this “dress code revolution,” Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, he had his hats designed by Adolf Loker, a Polish Jew from a long line of hat makers.

     The best known of these hats was the one Atatürk wore during his visit to the Black Sea city of Kastamonu in 1925 – a hat that today is on display at the former assembly building in Ankara, according to Loker’s granddaughter, Mari Loker-Gormezano.

     A deputy candidate for the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, in the upcoming elections, Loker-Gormezano spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News about her grandfather’s relation with Atatürk, the story of her family and her own political adventure.

      In addition to Adolf Loker, all the family members admired Atatürk, Loker-Gormezano said, adding that her grandfather was very sad when the founder of the Turkish Republic died. “He [Adolf] was keeping all documents and photos about Atatürk. But the safe in his hat store in Istanbul’s  Karaköy district was destroyed during the Sept. 6-7, 1955, [events] with all the materials in the store,” she said. “Newspaper clippings and the hat at the former assembly building are the only things that remain from the friendship between Atatürk and Loker.”

The events of September 1955, among the painful in Turkey’s recent history, occurred when daily Istanbul Express published news that the house where Atatürk was born in Thessalonica had been bombed. The response to this saw the houses and business places of many Greeks, Armenians and Jews destroyed.

     Loker-Gormezano defined these unhappy events as temporary. “It is necessary to understand the sincerity and feeling of the Anatolian people. They react against anything rapidly but calm down,” she said. “Those who know about this feature of Anatolian people make use of it. The future concerns me, not the past.”

      The closeness of the Loker family, which moved to Istanbul 600 years ago, to Atatürk is not only limited to his relationship with the hat maker. According to Loker-Gormezano, her older aunt İlda Berkoviç was the future Turkish leader’s French teacher. “I grew up with admiration for Atatürk, it was not a thing imposed later,” she said, adding that she has now become a candidate for the CHP, a party founded by Atatürk.

“I follow in the footsteps of my grandfather,” she said.

] Rejected as TRT presenter

Loker-Gormezano said she had applied to the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or TRT, to become a presenter, but this dream of hers did not come true, something she claimed was because of her Jewish background. “Yes, I could not become a presenter but I did not give up. Now I am a deputy candidate [for Parliament]. If I am wanted, I will become successful,” she said.

If she is successful in entering Parliament after the June 12 general elections, Loker-Gormezano will become the second Jewish deputy in Turkey’s recent history after Cefi Kamhi, an Istanbul deputy from the True Path Party, or DYP, in 1995.

    “I believe that people are born and live equally. My views will not change if I enter Parliament or not,” she said. “People should not be discriminated against because of ethnic identities. Unfortunately, the word ‘minority’ is highlighted all the time but we are all citizens of the Turkish Republic. That’s why all citizens should have the same rights. I am for human rights and equality.”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

Fashion history was made in Kastamonu; Men’s headwear : Turban to Fez to Western style hats.

    These days when it comes to the argument over modernity the focus may be all on women and the headscarf, but once upon a time the tables were turned in the other direction, and it was what men wore on their heads that drew all the attention.  Even in the 19th century the sultans found time to worry about what their male subjects were wearing, and it was the reformer Mahmut II (1803-39) who decreed that they should drop the turban in favor of the fez, the cylindrical, maroon-colored head covering that still graces many souvenir shops today.  For the best part of a century the fez reigned unchallenged, but then Mustafa Kemal Atatürk took against it. Growing up as a youth in Thessaloniki, he believed that people had mocked his fez as a symbol of backwardness, so no sooner had he proclaimed the new republic than he was scheming to replace it with more modern Western-style hats with brims. His plans came to fruition with the Hat Law of 1925, which made it compulsory for men to discard their fezes.  And it was in Kastamonu — "Atatürk’s catwalk," as Jeremy Seal described it in his travelogue "A Fez of the Heart" — that he first stepped out in public wearing a hat, and surrounded by an entourage who look as if they’re not quite sure what they’ve let themselves in for, a scene which is immortalized in photographs contained in the town’s small museum.  http://www.todayszaman.com/

http://gezimanya.com/ good site also if you travel to Kastamonu

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/ foods of Kastamonu

This was the bit of manti I stole from Randal’s plate while waiting for my “chicken wrap.”

“We’re manti (Turkish ‘ravioli’) lovers from way back, so when Mert told us about the local version made with walnuts we made straight for his recommended source. Imagine a huge plate of minced lamb-stuffed ravioli (small portions are not found, it seems, in your average Turkish restaurant) tossed in soupspoon fulls of rich freshly churned butter. Add handfuls of crushed walnuts so fresh that they’re fairly oozing oil. This meal, our last in Sinop before we hit the road for Kastamonu, nearly put us over the top. But it was well worth the physical discomfort.” http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2011/01/sinop-turkey-off-season-specialties-nokul-cevizli-mantisi.html  which is a great site for learning about food and travel in Turkey.   We also went to Kastamonu so you’ll read about that from me later.  Unfortunately I can’t find any info about my luscious dish, a sort of chicken wrap.

Half of us ordered the manti and half the “chicken wrap.”  This was very different from the chicken wrap we’re used to but it was great.  Light dough was rolled with bits of chicken, and walnuts, and there was chicken broth in the plate just to keep it all moist.  I ate about 1/3 of mine and the rest was boxed up for the stray dog  and several folks did the same.  If we’d known how huge the portions were going to be, we would have shared though Randal wanted manti and I wanted the wrap.  But the prices were unbeatable, and when you see the photos of the happy dogs, it was worth having the extra food for them.

Randal looks like some kind of strange dervish.

It was definitely chilly enough for 2 hats (his red, my brown) until the heater behind us was turned on and we warmed up.  I’m not sure he ever took off his jacket or scarf.

After lunch, because of the icky weather, plans changed from more walking around town or a boat trip along the coast.  Taṣ suggested that we take a drive along the coast to Ince Burunu (Thin Nose) or Cape Ince, the northernmost point of Turkey.  Ayden left the restaurant to get our mini-bus parked at the fortification lot at the edge of town.  I jumped up and told Randal I was walking with Ayden, but Randal came too and so did Patricia.  As we’d all told each other and not someone who was actually remaining at the restaurant, Ayden got a call from Taṣ checking if we were with him.  Our bad for not telling Taṣ, but he’s so easy going, so no problem.  And the walk after the meal felt good, even in the drizzle.

Taṣ walked in to check out the WW 1 bunkers, but this shepherd escorted him out; in a hurry.  Most dogs are very friendly, but this one had a job to do.

Dogs we fed our left over lunch food.

This one had recently had puppies.  The dogs look healthy enough, but it’s still sad that they have no homes.

Inceburun

The Black Sea

“JOURNEY TO THE FAR NORTH

One of the most interesting spots at Sinop is the lighthouse that stands at the northern tip of the country. Some 22 kilometers from the city center, the lighthouse can be reached by following the signs that say, ‘See Turkey’s northernmost point’. Settlement thins out significantly in the last five kilometers, giving way to pastoral landscapes. Green hills and herds of goats surrounded by wooden fences and a sense of solitude as far as the eye can see will accompany you all along the way as you wind down to the shore where a spectacular view awaits you at the end of the road: basalt rocks pounded by tempestuous waves and rising immediately above them the slim elegance of İnceburun Lighthouse, guardian angel of the local people who have made their living from the sea for centuries.”

http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/skylife/2009/october/articles/sinop.aspx

Sinop Light  (Ince Burun) was built in 1863.

1863. Active; focal plane 26 m (85 ft); four white flashes every 20 s. 12 m (39 ft) masonry tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story masonry keeper’s house. The upper portion of the tower is octagonal and the lower portion is square. Entire lighthouse painted white. Three additional keeper’s houses or other light station buildings.  http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/tur1.htm

I don’t know if these are the other keeper’s houses; I just raced around the landscape wanting to hike off in all directions.

The sign says Tea and Ayran available here….once upon a time

A lovely place to spend forever…

“If we had but world enough and time.” I’d have hiked the path that follows the coast. 

(“Poem of the week: To His Coy Mistress    Marvell’s great poem manages to be serious and light, epic and personal, as aware of the pleasures of the flesh as the transience of life.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/poemoftheweek

All too soon it was time to return to Sinop and time to “do your own thing.”    Some folks returned to the hotel, but several of us wanted to visit Sinop center and see the model ship shops.  We would have an hour to tour around.  We started as a group, but then somehow I lost everyone which was fine; we all had our own agendas.  I wanted some covered elastic bands for my hair.  Not very exotic except when you have to do it in another language.  By the time I’d found a shop selling this and that and covered elastic bands, I’d lost everyone else.  No problem.  I had my phone, my money and I knew where we’d meet up.

Hello Everyone, My name is Ayhan Demir. I was born in Sinop in 1950. I have developed this art inspired by the man called the ‘Master’ then serving a sentence in Sinop Prison. The master then got out of the prison and opened a small workshop to produce small models. He used to sell these models at the harbour. I was very impressed by a model that I saw in his workshop and decided to improve this art. I was continuing my education at the Art School opened in Sinop in 1950 when I started production at home. I was selling my models to the boat passengers to pay for my tuition. My carelessness caused me to lose my right small finger to the cutting machine. After my graduation at 15, I opened a small shop to build model ships. These models got the attention of American officers working in the American Radar Station during 1952 (this date can’t be correct, the base wasn’t open then, so maybe 1972) in Sinop, my ships were known in the States because of the officers working in Turkey. During those years I guess I sold around 8, 000 models to America. If you add all the models I have made during the 50+ years end to end, it would reach from Sinop to Istanbul (nearly 630 km) In years, Sinop found its place in Turkish tourism and this art of modelling remained a symbol of this beautiful city. This subject found its way in the written and visual media, I have great pride in introducing this art to my city. I have trained my son from his youth for modelling and he is going to take the flag from me to carry us further. The material I use in my models is 2mm over the walnut trees. We use auto paints to give color as desired. Each model is made by hand and takes a lot of time

http://www.tradekey.com/product-free/Model-Fishing-Boat-947634.html

I don’t know if this story is true or not.   I’ve read other blogs that say prisoners started the model culture in Sinop.  And there is a Turkish-American Radar Base in Sinop. 

This fellow might or might not be Ayhan Demir, but he is making models in Sinop and he could be 62. Too bad we can’t see his right hand to check for the missing finger.

I would have bought the one with the green boat, but we have no place to put a magnet in the boat and there was no clerk in the shop anyway. 

I really wasn’t so interested in buying any boat model souvenirs so I just took a walk over to the harbor and then around town.  I bought some Coke Zero and some snacks to take back to our room; dinner was at 7:30 and my huge lunch was actually wearing off.  Then I took myself off to the meeting spot and along came the van, full of everyone else.  They had run into Taṣ and Ayden a bit earlier. 

I have spent way too long making myself crazy trying to find the exact name of my lunch dish; if Ayhan Demir is a real person, and the date the Radar Station opened/closed in Sinop.  Researching with only Google is just not good enough.  But I found some interesting bits of information; at least interesting to me.  They’re at the end so you can skip them if you want.

“….an American Cold War intelligence-gathering radar base that provided most of the civilian jobs of the city. Mr. Ergul’s father worked as a handyman at the base, which shuttered in 1992.”

http://www.dunya.com/power-plants-will-turn-sinops-paradise-into-hell-mayor-179321h.htm

Sinop ‘The Hill’ (closed)  Former Sinop TUSLOG Det (1957-1993) manned up a US radar station and listening post a.k.a.Diogenes Station or "the Hill" to monitor the USSR. http://wikimapia.org/24902390/Sinop-The-Hill-closed

http://www.goturkey.com/images/brochure/pdf/sinop_eng.pdf  guide to Sinop to read before you go.

Sinop, Turkey – The Lonely Life On The Hill

(from the June 1973 edition of The Hallmark)

Courtesy of Dave Shively

——————————————————————————–

——————————————————————————–

In the fall and winter bone-numbing winds lash the Turkish-American radar site that stands like a beacon high above the ancient Black Sea port of Sinop, Turkey."The Hill," as it is known to the changing contingents of troops stationed here, was created centuries before the arrival of man – the product of a geologic convulsion that left a slender promontory jutting into the sea.Although a thriving Greek settlement at the time of Diogenes,the salty iconoclast born there during the fourth century B.C., the city today is on the remote fringe of NATO’s southeastern flank.

The physical ruggedness of the site, and its off-the-beaten track location 900 feet above the sea, leave impressions that men who work here carry with them the rest of their lives.

"They tell me you always remember a tour on ‘The Hill.’ After a winter here I know why. The wind howls incessantly. Half the time we’re squatting in a cloud bank. When it snows the flakes fly horizontally," said a junior officer who has developed an appreciation for the neat, snug little base and the rough-hewn beauty of the surrounding terrain. "In the summer it’s quite pleasant. On a clear night we see the lights of Sinop twinkling below us."

Not everyone shares his enthusiasm, but a surprising number of men seem to be philosophical about a tour at Sinop and many acquire a strange fascination for the assignment, once they become accustomed to the isolation and the unusual setting. The remoteness is something that is sensed from the day the new arrival flies into the Black Sea port of Samsun aboard a two-engine Turkish Airlines (THY) plane. From Samsun he has time to savor the rugged beauty of the coastal terrain, as he rides the base bus on the lone road to Sinop,a rough and winding three-hour trip on a route that never strays far from the sea.

To make up for the isolation, the base has been equipped with many of the amenities found back home. During the summer, Ataturk Field is lighted for evening baseball and softball.The gymnasium, handball courts, bowling alleys and steam bath are open year round.

For men who wish to indulge in pursuits of the mind, the education office schedules university and high school courses and the library offers 10,000 volumes – a larger selection than normal for a base the size of Sinop.

The biweekly newspaper, "The Diogenes," (handset by Turkish printers who do not read English) chronicles on-base and off-base activities.

The theatre, now receiving the latest movies from the Armed Forces Motion Picture Service, is one of the most popular places on base.

Regularly scheduled chapel tours are run to Trabazon, an ancient community on the Black Sea, and to Izmir, the historic city on the Aegean. The "White Boat," a Turkish cruise ship that travels between Sinop and Istanbul twice a week, is particularly inviting to men on "The Hill," with its reasonable $25 round-trip tab for military personnel.

Most men on leave take the bus as far as Samsun, where they book flights on THY to Ankara, Istanbul and Europe.During the one-year tour many personnel manage to make at least one trip home via chartered air – round-trip fare that usually runs less than $250.

Two four-place U8 aircraft maintained at a nearby field are used for limited runs to Samsun and Istanbul.In Sinop, a city of 16,000, the Yeni (New) Hotel restaurant is a popular rendezvous for Americans who order donner kebab, roast lamb built up from thin layers on a thick spike.

Next to eating, souvenir hunting in Sinop shops and boar hunting in the region around Sinop are favored diversions.

But it was Diogenes, born about 320 B.C., who put Sinop on the map with his wit and showmanship, the most famous act being his search with a lantern in broad daylight for an honest man. It gets lonely. Only a handful of servicemen, (204), are assigned to the site from TUSLOG, Det 4. One hundred and sixty nine live off post and most of them do so because they paid to transport their families overseas.

Because there are no family quarters and no dependent school on base, a tour to Sinop is unaccompanied. As a result, servicemen who choose to be accompanied must pay their wives’ transportation from the United States. Most men consider the separation from their homes and their families the most undesirable aspect of duty on "The Hill."

"It wouldn’t be bad at all if we could have our families with us," said a junior NCO. "It’s okay. You eventually get used to it. But the winter really drags. Especially during the bad weather, when the roads become a quagmire, and we don’t get mail for a week," said a single soldier with a girlfriend back home.

Army Lieutenant Colonel C.D. Crowell, former commanding officer of TUSLOG, Det 4 and installation commander, urges men to get off "The Hill" as often as possible. "The biggest problem here is providing something for the individual to do when he’s off duty," another officer said.

Summer is the most pleasant season in Sinop and it’s during summer that most men take leave for travel in Turkey and Europe. The base bus, departing daily at 5:30 a.m., offers the quickest link toEurope via Turkish Airlines at Samsun.

Throughout the 120 miles it’s a thrilling ride along the rugged coast where birds of prey soar from steep cliffs. Conspicuous by their absence are the resort hotels which now mark similar coastal regions across much of the globe. Reactions vary. Going to or coming from Sinop, individuals’ reactions run the gamut.

Although his outlook is hardly typical, Specialist 5 Philip B. Bird, en route to Atlanta to visit his pregnant wife, offered an appraisal of his tour at Sinop which may be food for thought. "Duty on the Hill isn’t bad at all. I’ve traveled to a number of small towns in the vicinity of Sinop and I’ve grown very fond of the Turkish people," Bird said. "In the summer there are plenty of things to occupy your off-duty time. The beach rented by Special Services on the isthmus is delightful." "A lot of guys complain. But a tour on the Hill makes them learn to live by themselves. In this sense an assignment such as this helps them grow up."

Reality check from Dave Shively:

Handball courts = 1

Bowling alleys = 2 lanes

Steam bath = 0

Library = 0

Newspaper = 0

Modern movies = Mary Poppins; Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang; etc.

169 living off base = maybe 5

Taking a trip home = ????????

Diner at the hotel restaurant = only available Saturday night

I’ve never seen such a bunch of caca del toro in my life!

– Dave Shively

http://www.asalives.org/ASAONLINE/hmsinop.htm

Sinop (Dunya) – Since he was elected mayor of this Black Sea coastal city in 2009, Baki Ergul, 60, a civil engineer and town boy, has done his utmost to transform his financially ailing municipality into a tourism mecca with the limited financial resources available.

"We inherited a TL 35 million debt. The city had neither a real drinking water system nor a sewage network. There was no zoning plan for the municipality," Mr. Ergul, mayor of Sinop, Turkey’s northernmost city, recalled in an interview. "The ship was sunk. We have refloated it."

Founded in 7th century

A resort city of 50,000 inhabitants that balloons to 200,000 during the summer months, Sinop is located on a narrow peninsula and faces the Black Sea on both sides. Turkey’s northernmost point, Inceburun (Cape Ince), is only 30 km to the northwest. The city, which has an airport, is located 697 km east of Istanbul and 434 km, northeast of Ankara.

Founded in the 7th century BC as a Greek colony of the ancient city of Miletus, Sinop is a major fishing port with hundreds of fishing boats docked in its boat shelter and marina. It is also a port of call for liners touring the Black Sea.

The town has a prison that once held the country’s leading political prisoners, including the novelist Sabahattin Ali (1907-1948), but which has since been turned into a museum.

Sinop is best known as the birth place of Diogenes (412 BC- 323BC), the ancient Greek philosopher and founder of the School of Cynicism. A statue of Diogenes with a lantern can be seen in the center of town.

The city was also the birthplace of Necmettin Erbakan (1925-2011), Turkey’s first Islamist Prime Minister.

City upgraded

In a short span, Mr. Ergul, began building a new drinking water system for the city, started constructing a sewage system and preparing a new zoning plan for the city drawn, using his old ties as a former regional manager of the State Hydraulics Works Administration (DSI).

Much of the financing for the projects have come from donations of companies that did work for Mr. Ergul at DSI, and from wealthy donors in the city, as well as municipal taxes and other revenues.

"The municipality is paying TL 5 million to TL 6 million a month to pay off its debts," says Mr. Ergul, a Gene Kelly lookalike, in the interview in the municipal park, facing the city’s 7th century B.C. castle that was revamped by the Romans, the Byzantines and the Turks. 

The new TL 26 million drinking water system for the city is expected to be completed at the end of this year. Work is continuing on a new pre-treatment sewage system that will be completed in 2013, and a zoning plan for the city is expected to be finished next month, he says.

Additionally, a new covered vegetable market place is in the works. New parks, with outdoor cafes and tea houses, have been constructed. Some 5 km of roads in the city have been paved.

Thermal power plant

But now, a plan by Istanbul’s powerful Anadolu Group to build a 1,200 MW coal-fired power plant in Gerze, a town 25 km east of Sinop, and the government’s aim to build a nuclear power plant at Inceburun, have Mr. Ergul and tens of thousands of citizens roiled.

"The power plants will turn our tourism paradise city into hell," he says. "No one has the right to put hell inside paradise."

Air and water pollution from the coal-fired site, he says, will devastate Sinop and the surrounding areas, and destroy fish feeding and breeding grounds along the coast.

He also warned that the plant could be a cause of acid rain that could ruin the nearby Plains of Bafra, a major a farming area with wetlands where the Kizilirmak, Turkey’s longest river, empties into the Black Sea.

The Plains of Bafra are located only 50 km east of Sinop, in the neighboring Samsun province.

"The power plant will finish off the plains of Bafra and the wilderness country around Sinop," he says.

He believes tourism is the only hope for Sinop after the closure 20 years ago of a major glass factory and an American Cold War intelligence-gathering radar base that provided most of the civilian jobs of the city. Mr. Ergul’s father worked as a handyman at the base, which shuttered in 1992.

But he says new hotels have to be built.

"If 20 tourist buses were come to Sinop, I would have trouble finding accommodations for all the guests," he stressed.”  http://www.dunya.com/power-plants-will-turn-sinops-paradise-into-hell-mayor-179321h.htm

Our lovely little room at the Sinop Antique Place Hotel had a balcony overlooking the Black Sea. 

The first night I could leave the doors open for the breeze.  The second night there was too much wind and several bright lights from the huge cargo ships out at anchor.

Kumkapi ( Sand Gate)

“Sinop has been fortified since 2,000 BC, but the existing walls are developments of those originally erected in 72 BC by King Mithridates VI.”  Lonely Planet Turkey Guide

It was far too damp and windy to walk the ramparts, but we did brave the elements to take some photos of the sea behind.

Looking right towards the city center

Looking left

Sinop was the birth place of Diogenes the Cynic: this statue is in front of the fortification.

Diogenes, as the story goes, moved to Athens where the promise of lodging fell through so he lived in a huge ceramic tub!

The lower part of the monument depicts Diogenes in his tub which looks like a huge ceramic urn.

“When Plato is asked what sort of man Diogenes is, he responds, “A Socrates gone mad” (Diogenes Laertius, Book 6, Chapter 54).”   http://www.iep.utm.edu/diogsino/

“Alexander the Great was reported to have said, "Had I not been Alexander, I should have liked to be Diogenes." Once, while Diogenes was sunning himself, Alexander came up to him and offered to grant him any request. "Stand out of my light," he replied (also Arrian, VII.2; indeed, there are dozens of references to this incident]. When asked why he went about with a lamp in broad daylight, Diogenes confessed, "I am looking for a [honest] man." Seeing a young man blush, he remarked that it was the complexion of virtue.”

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/

Across the road is Tarihi Cezaevi (Sinop Prison) which was a strange sort of tour.

Recycled  Greek or Roman columns were used to build the outer walls.

Sinop Prison whose fame surely emanates from these lines by the 20th century Turkish writer Sabahattin Ali: “Outside the wild waves / Come to lick the walls / These sounds will distract you / Pay no heed, my heart, pay no heed.” But its reputation was further enhanced by other ‘guests’ such as Refik Halit Karay, Burhan Felek, Kerim Korcan, Zekeriya Sertel and a host of other prominent Turkish literary and political figures. The prison, actually built as a fortress, was originally constructed by a native Sumerian tribe. It was subsequently enlarged by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Seljuks and the Ottomans. The Sinop citadel gazes down on the sea and is protected by walls too delicate for a penal institution. In the 1970’s it ceased to be a prison and was turned over to the Ministry of Culture. http://www.turkishairlines.com/

Taṣ translated the words of the poet who Sabahattin Ali.

Sabahattin Ali: “Outside the wild waves / Come to lick the walls / These sounds will distract you / Pay no heed, my heart, pay no heed.”

10 February 2012 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has admitted that the CHP was behind the 1948 killing of renowned Turkish poet and writer Sabahattin Ali.

Kılıçdaroğlu, who recently spoke in critical terms of several acts committed by the CHP during its 27 years of single-party rule in the early years of the Turkish Republic, said during a television program on Thursday that it was the CHP that killed Ali and that imprisoned renowned Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet for his political ideas. “Who sent Nazım Hikmet to jail? Who killed Sabahattin Ali? The CHP. We will always admit the reality but it is not correct to abuse the wrongdoings of the CHP,” he said.

Ali, known for his strong opposition to the state, was convicted of insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in one of his poems in 1932. He served time in the Konya and Sinop prisons but was released after a general amnesty granted on the 10th anniversary of the republic in 1933. Ali was murdered while trying to flee the country on April 1, 1948. His body was found on June 16. It became evident that Ali Ertekin, a smuggler, was the killer; however, the motive behind the murder had remained a mystery.

As for Hikmet, he was one of the greatest international poets of the 20th century. He used to be seen as a controversial figure in Turkey due to his communist and “romantic” revolutionary ideas. He was repeatedly arrested for his political beliefs and spent much of his adult life in prison or exile. He died of a heart attack in Moscow on June 3, 1963.

This was not the first time that Kılıçdaroğlu criticized the period of single-party rule. Kılıçdaroğlu said last month that he does not find right some of the acts carried out by the CHP during that period.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has often criticized the actions of the CHP during the single-party period and says the CHP should face its history, but the CHP leadership has always defended the period by pointing to the conditions in the country at the time. Kılıçdaroğlu’s admission was the first time a high-ranking CHP official voiced criticism of the CHP over its actions during the single-party period.

Arguing that seeing the single-party period as solely a CHP period is not right either, he said social democracy did not exist in Turkey at the time and so the CHP was not yet a social democrat party.

http://www.todayszaman.com/

There was also some Shakespeare on prison walls.

Blood, blood is not washed with water. There is no end to get revenge. Or something along those lines…maybe from Macbeth, though maybe not this exact translation.

On a lighter note, Taṣ actually did several chin-up as we all fumbled with our cameras.

I think we all left the prison with a shudder, and a slightly more realistic image of Atatὕrk.  Of course in the US we did have McCarthyism with the black listing of artists/writers/actors. Turkey still has issues with censorship and there is a museum in Istanbul dedicated to all of the journalists who have been killed for their views.

We re-boarded our mini-bus for the short drive to the Sinop Archeological Museum for a visit before lunch.

“One of the earliest attempts at building museums in modern Turkey was the Sinop Archaeology Museum in 1921. The museum moved to its current building in 1970.

Found in the surroundings of Sinop, particularly during the excavations in the Demirci Village / Kocagöz Höyük in 1953, the earthenware with or without handles, vases with or without stands, other artifacts such as axes and spearheads and jewelry pertinent to the Bronze Age are on display.

In the first exhibition hall and on the gallery, various coins from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljukid and Ottoman periods accompany the shipwreck found in the Black Sea and the amphorae that are among the unique assets of the museum.

In the Icons sections, a rich collection of icons from the Byzantine Empire is on display. In various heights and sizes, the icons depicting scenes from the lives of Jesus Christ, Mary and Evangelicals attract much attention of the visitors.” http://www.goturkey.com/en/pages/content/854

Randal had lots of mosaics to examine

Deer savaging lions or Lions savaging deer.  Which should it be?  Maybe both are correct.  I instantly thought the sign wrong but now I’m not so sure.  Yuck anyway.  Why would anyone want these kinds of images on anything?

I found the icons interesting but the “no flash” rule made it hard to get good photos.  They did remind me of the icon museum we saw in Iskele, North Cyprus.

Woman reading some form of a book caught my attention.

A museum guard speaking with Ayden, David Murphy and Taṣ.  I think they were making lunch plans as we had lunch at the guard’s favorite place which he actually lead us to.  Really good food with portions enough for everyone and several stray dogs we fed with the left-overs.  Left-overs just go to waste anyway, so on our trips we box them up to feed the stray dogs.

Enough for now, lunch photos next email.

A last minute sign indicating the location change.

David Murphy, event organizer /auctioneer.

Connie in the white New England Patriots shirt and Collin in his button down pink.

    I had met Connie once, years ago, when we were both in Langkawi, Malaysia.  She is a friend of a friend of a friend.  It was actually her voice I recognized first before I remembered her face.  Connie sounds like our New Bedford friends because she’s from eastern Massachusetts.  She hardly looks it, but she’s been cruising for years.  Collin, who had been recruited to lead some “games” came prepared with two dozen eggs for some kind of toss. That lead to a discussion of who would, and how would the ensuing mess be cleaned up.  The games part of the morning never did happen, a good news/bad news kind of thing.  Collins and his dog Buttons hopefully like omelets..

Early arrivals

Muffins, scones, marmalade, and some art cards for sale too. 

Very popular stop.

Local police stopped by; but just for a visit to make sure we were following some official’s rules.

David and his Turkish interpreter.

There was a brief bidding war for these speakers which finally sold for 10 TL.

Do I hear 5 TL ?

Sold for 10 TL !

This TV was offered.

Joanne and Gwen, such colorful spectators.

Several cruisers had given Gwen “stuff to sell.”  I bought a black and white scarf for 1TL

Returning home with the “left-overs.”

The final take for the Rotary was between 200 and 300 TL; all for a good cause.  Some folks sold their “treasurers,” some folks bought some “treasures,” and some folks went home exactly as they had come.

The towers on the hill

Starting up

Marina on the bottom left, Marmaris harbor and town in the middle and Iҫmeler off in the distance.

Looking down on the town fountain and clock tower.

DoraMac in the middle of the first two docks on the right

There she is though now we’re moved up into the space in front of us as a stage was set up on the walkway just next to us here in the photo for a private LOUD musical night.  The marina felt it would be better for us and the event if we weren’t so close to the stage and the crowd. 

Master and student

Duck in a drawer

It kept opening and closing its beak as if trying to say something.

The rest of the ducks were just doing normal duck things.

This morning at 8 am Randal took me on the motorbike to meet Patricia in Iҫmeler where she lives and where we would start hiking.  To start hiking any later would have made most of the hike in the heat of the day.  As it was we finished about 12:45.

Patricia told me the sign prohibited bee keeping along the trail; you see hives lots of places when you hike, but not here so I guess the sign worked.

A hazy view as Patricia and I started hiking.

A tortoise nest and some hatched eggshells.  I’d never see that before but Patricia has several tortoises in her yard so she knows.  They keep making more tortoises so one day she will round up most of them and take them to a safe place in the woods. 

Patricia had asked him if he would mind giving us a ride across the stream and he offered to drive us across all of the streams.

We sat behind the driver. After climbing up it was tricky trying to figure out what to do with my backpack as the seat is pretty narrow.  I would have loved a photo of us on the tractor, but didn’t want to hold him up mucking about for my camera.  I’d buried it deep in my pack for the walk across the stream in case I slipped and landed in the water.

It was ankle deep and wide with no stepping stones, even if I had the balance so a ride across was nice.

This was the third stream?  I can’t remember how many we crossed.

Our pal was waiting for his cousin with a backhoe who was delivering a load of rubble stuff to take to a house/olive farm/goat farm we’d passed just before arriving at the first stream.  I learned all about it because after the tractor man had his load, he drove off and Patricia and the man driving the backhoe had a lengthy conversation about his life and that he would soon be retired at age 50 something and he had 3 grandkids who had named all of the goats on the farm we’d passed.  He also lived in Iҫmeler.

Patricia’s command of Turkish is really very impressive.

We actually met friends of Patricia’s.

Patricia is the blond in pink and it would have been nice if I’d taken a photo of her face rather than her back.  The woman in blue had been in Patricia’s Turkish class several years ago but had moved back to England.  So she was just here visiting.  She and her friend were serious runners.  They had to be to bike from Beldibi up the hill to where the hike started in Armutalan and then hike an additional piece before hiking down to Siteler or Iҫmeler, I can’t remember which.  Strong women!

We did the barefoot thing here for the second time.  When we got to the next stream we just walked through it.  I was tired of doing the shoes on and off thing and it was not as deep or as wide.  Patricia and I finished our hike and caught a dolmus back to Marmaris where we had lunch and a drink and by then it was 2:30 and time for her hair appointment.  If there’s time next week we’ll do another hike.

Running parallel with the Amasya-Tokat road is the water course that inspired the legend of Ferhat and Shirin; the Ferhat Water Channel, nearly six kilometres long.  But concerning the origins of this magnificent engineering, it is, of course, a matter of choice whether we believe the legend, or the archaeologists: who inform us it was built by the Romans.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/1e7b82/

It’s hard to make it out but between the dark stone and light stone there is a channel. 

Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 5(12): 2109-2116, 2009

© 2009, INSInet Publication

Corresponding Author: Yasemin KUSLU, Assistant Professor Dr. Atatürk University Faculty of Agriculture Department of

Agricultural Structures and Irrigation 25240 Erzurum, TURKEY

Phone: +90 442 231 3466 Fax: +90 442 236 0958

E-mail: ykuslu@atauni.edu.tr or ykuslu@hotmail.com

2109

Water Structures in Anatolia from Past to Present

http://www.aensiweb.com/jasr/jasr/2009/2109-2116.pdf can probably answer any question you have about the Ferhat water channel or any in Anatolia

We saw similar channels in Petra, Jordan.

After stopping for photos at the Ferhat Water Channel we moved right along to the Amasya Museum. 

It would be a quickish visit as we had a long drive to Sinop and some stops to make.  We also had to do a wine, corkscrew, and snacks run to the Migros across the road.  Migros looks like Kroger or Shaws so no photos necessary.

Amasya Museum……

A number of archaeological findings were collected in 1925 in two rooms inside the madrasa of Sultan Bayazid II Kulliye, which, together with the mummies from the Ilkhanate, were initially placed in a “museum warehouse”. As the number of items to be displayed grew, it became evident that new locations were needed. Thus, all the items were moved in 1962 to the Gökmedrese Mosque, a building that dates back to the Seljuk Era.

The museum moved to its current modern building on 22 March 1977. Following a detailed work for rearrangement, all items were classified according to a chronology-based listing and the museum officially opened in 1980.

The Archaeological Museum of Amasya consists of three sections: the Hall of Archaeological Artifacts, where items from 13 civilizations are on display; the Hall of Ethnographical Artifacts, where items from regional handicrafts and life culture are on display; and the Hall of Mummies inside the Sultan Mesud I Tomb in the museum yard, where mummies from the Ilkhanate period are displayed.

Amasya Museum consists of Şehzadeler Museum, Milli Mücadele Museum, and Hazeranlar Konağı Museum   http://www.yesilirmakbasinmuseums.org.tr/amasya/mn1.html

http://www.yesilirmakbasinmuseums.org.tr/amasya/mn1.html is a virtual tour of the museum.

Painting in the lobby of the Amasya museum.

I wish I could do this, capture the idea of a place and leave off everything else.  I’m still trying to do that with Marmaris harbor, but so far no luck. 

Embalmed rulers a draw in Amasya

HDN | 8/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | AMASYA – İhlas News Agency

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=mummy-returns—2009-08-12

Mummification, a practice usually associated with the culture of ancient Egypt, was also known and used in the territories that today comprise modern Turkey.

The concept of mummification, a practice usually associated with the culture of ancient Egypt, was also known and used in the territories that today comprise modern Turkey.

A local museum in the 7,500-year-old central Anatolian city of Amasya contains one of the world’s most impressive mummy collections, one that could easily compete with better-known groupings.

Among the first bodies mummified in that area was Amasya Governor Sehzade Cumudar, along with members of his family, including his wife and children. They are believed to have been poisoned or garroted by Mongol invaders, who attacked in the 14th century.

Two other Amasya rulers, İşbuğa Noyina and Pervane, were also mummified after their deaths, however, in these cases a method different from the Egyptian one was used. The mummified bodies still contain internal organs, in contrast to the Egyptian method, in which the entrails are removed.

The 17th century Turkish traveler and writer Evliya Celebi mentioned the Amasya mummies in his journals.

The mummies were kept in the depot of the old Amasya Museum after it was established in 1925. Before they had a chance to be exhibited, however, the mummies were partially damaged by flooding in the city center.

In 1962, the mummies were transferred to another location, the Gokmedrese Mosque, which was turned into a museum. Later, they were moved again, this time for exhibition in the tomb of Sultan Mesut, located in the garden of the contemporary Amasya Museum, right after the institution was established in 1976.

Amasya Museum researcher Muzaffer Doğanbaş considers mummification, also known in Turkish as “tahnit,” as a kind of art.

“Turks have their own special mummification tradition that is different from the Egyptian or Russian methods,” Doğanbaş said. “However, today we do not have mummification experts in Turkey.”

According to the researcher, there are nearly 40 different chemicals and medicines used for mummification in Turkey.

“[The methods] were mentioned in Hacı Paşa’s book ‘Şifa-ül Eksan,’ written in 1380,” Doğanbaş said, “For example, the salt we use for cooking is a material used in mummification, as is the onion.”

Doğanbaş said that tahnit experts were also educated in the medical sciences. “The Ottoman Empire had assigned officers who attended the mummification of sultans and princes,” he said. “Excepting Osman Gazi, Orhan Gazi, Yavuz Sultan Selim and Bayezid II, almost all of the Ottoman sultans were mummified.”

Currently, there are seven museums in Turkey with mummies in their collections, along with known mummy samples in some of the country’s Ottoman and Seljuk tombs.

The mummies of the children are just so sad, and I hesitated to include this but it was mentioned in the Hurriyet article above and the one below mentions that Nat Geo Researchers could still identify diseases in the children caused by their diet.

http://www.trt.net.tr/trtworld/en/newsdetail.aspx?haberkodu=1d7001ac-dcf9-4009-91a6-cfa547f59e51 is another story: “The National Geographic researchers came to Amasya for the mummies in 2002 and conducted some endoscopic examination on the mummies and saw that the internal organs were still in the mummies, Özdemir points out , adding that even the diseases the children in particular suffered from because of the things they had eaten were diagnosed.”

On a “lighter” note, lovely Turkish oil lamps.

Ceramics

And more examples of Turkish copper samovars.

Museum Garden

Sarcophagus Material: Limestone Dimensions: l:2.15cm w:85cm h:60cm Period: Roman Place: Merzifon

“In the museum yard, big stone pieces from the Hittite, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ilkhanate and Ottoman periods are displayed in open air.”

http://www.yesilirmakbasinmuseums.org.tr/amasya/mn2_en.aspx

From that rather gruesome stop we went on to lunch: by the lake at the foot of the mountain with the castle somewhere between Amasya and Sinop.

Though pide was a specialty of the house, I was full of Migros snacks so just had some soup and a bit of the wonderful round bread.