Turkey Wrap Up

All,

Time is just zipping by!  Here's a re-cap of our trip to Turkey.  Learned that Cappadocia means "Land of the Thoroughbred Horses."  Stopped where the Dervishes were established and visited the Runi Museum.  What an interesting place and philosophy.  Runi thought that everything turns in harmony and in order to find harmony with God, one must be in harmony with everything by turning or spinning.  Discovered that Borek in Turkish means pastry shop.  

Visited Perge which has been inhabited since the 3rd Century BC!  Perge is still being excavated.  Two Greek towers are still standing!  As we walked, we saw a grinding stone used to fill in a section of a wall - the ultimate in recycling!  Don't waste any good material!  

The ancient site of Aspendos is mind blowing!  The theater is pretty intact but the rest of the city has not been excavated yet.  Surround sound was done mathematically with bronze jars filled with water for the re-verb and amplification. Alexander the Great was here in 333 BC.  This theater is still being used today for many concerts.

  

On the way to Fetiyah, we stopped in Myrna (Lycia). The tombs here are hewn into rock walls and look like Greco-Roman architecture.  At the church of St. Nicholas, we saw an interesting fresco.  Usually, Mary is depicted on the left side of Jesus, however, the painting here has her on the right hand side, which is considered to be unusual. During one of the many crusades, the bones of St Nicholas were "taken" to Italy as "holy" relics.  One quick story about St Nicholas; he overheard a father and daughter discussing her lack of a dowry.  Without a dowry, she could not marry.  So, one evening, St Nicholas climbed up on the roof of their house and dropped a small bag of coins down the chimney.  The young girl found the small bag of coins when she cleaned the hearth the next morning. Took a short walk in the town of Fetiyah, which is named for a pilot, who crashed while attempting a flight record.

We boarded the Pinar III for our Turquoise Coast Cruise.  One place we visited was Kayakoy, which is the inspiration for the novel, Birds Without Wings.  The village is now deserted due to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.  Such a sad story; families were uprooted and had to learn a new language and culture.  

Spent some time at Cleopatra's Sunken Bath.  Cleopatra was never here but the name draws boaters and other visitors.  It's an old building half submerged.  Makes for an interesting story though.  All too soon we departed our ship.  

While visiting St. John's Basilica, we saw storks flying and nesting!  Spring is here!  

Easter Sunday we visited Ephesus - what an experience!  Thought we had seen some pretty amazing things but this takes the cake thus far!  The site has been excavated but only 15 percent of it.  Celsus' Library is probably our favorite building there.  It appears to have 2 stories/floors; however, it has only one ground floor.  It was built for pure show.  What a way to end our travels in Turkey!  Next up is Greece!

Cappadocia

March 25th, 2015

Up at 3 am for our flight to Kersari - nothing like a cup of Turkish coffee to clear a bad case of bleary eyes!  Our hotel is partially dug into the hills that are everywhere here.  Hotel Alfina rooms are huge and are dug into the hillside.  Wonderful cavern feeling with really weak wi-fi signal!  Visited Goreme (UNESCO World Heritage Site) where churches and dwellings were dug into the tufa.  No photographs inside in order to preserve the paintings inside.  Went into the Dark Church which contains amazing paintings that look like they were just completed.  There are no windows in the church, hence the name.

Had lunch at Han Ciragan, where they cook a traditional meat stew in pottery.  When the stew is done, they break the neck of the pot and pour the stew into a serving dish.  Fabulous flavors!

Next stop was at the Fairy Chimneys.  Think of the hoo-doos of the southwest, these are very similar.
Such whimsical shapes of Mother Nature.

March 26th, 2015

One of the highlights of today was visiting a school for girls in Ilijk.  The school started in 1964.  It offers free boarding and meals to girls of low income families.  There are 4 different areas of studies; children's education, computing, graphic arts and elder care.  This is a vocational school in which the girls receive a certificate and are ready to enter the job market.  We visited the children's education, elder care and computing classes.  The girls were all charming!

After the school visit, we had lunch with a village farming family.  What great hosts!  We ate like kings and queens! It was a bit challenging trying to communicate but we managed.  After our feast, we all gathered on the porch where our guide, Ridvan, played the saz and the farmer sang a couple of folk songs.  On our return trip, we stopped at the village community hall and talked with the elected head of the village.  Interesting that this small village has the same concerns that we have!

Just a great day to experience life in a village!