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!

Days 3 and 4 in Instanbul

March 22, 2015

After breakfast, we walked across the street to the Istanbul Mosaic Museum.  Beautiful mosaic tile is being preserved for the future.  The tiles were recovered from the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors.  The palace had hundreds of rooms, many with gold mosaics.  What they have recovered is about 2,000 square feet, which makes it one of the larges preserved mosaics in Europe.  The craftsmanship is just mind boggling!  Each tile is about 5 mm and the effect is very similar to oil painting.  There is still a lot of color in the tiles so they must have been very vibrant when first laid.

We wandered through the shopping area.  We decided that if it remains warm and sunny this afternoon, we'll have lunch at one of the side walk cafes.  The only remains of the Hippodrome are some of the columns.  Most of the Hippodrome is underground, buried by today's buildings.  However, the columns are reminders of the biggest sporting complex of that time.  The Obelisk of Theodosius (Egyptian Column) was erected in 390 AD and the Serpentine Column is from Delphi.  Our wanderings took us to the Fountain of Kaiser Wilhelm II erected in 1898.  It looks rather out of place among all the "older" ruins.  The fountain is still being used today.

Our next stop was at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art.  The building used to be the palace of Ibrahim Pasa.  One of the ministers to the King/Emperor of the Ottoman Empire.  He was executed because he thought himself equal to the King.  One of the many treasures in the museum is a boat shaped Beggar's Bowl.  It is from the Safaved Period, early 17th century.  There was a room dedicated to the Relics of the Prophet, whiskers of his beard, footprint, plus the keys to Kaaba.

There is also an impressive collection of carpets/rugs from the 13th Century Seljuk to the Ottoman Empire.  Some are fragments while others are whole and only slightly worn.

Lunch at a sidewalk cafe!  Had a lentil soup and rocket (AKA arugula) salad - yummy!

March 23, 2015

Met up with our small group of intrepid travelers.  Visited the Blue Mosque and learned about the history of the mosque.  There are thousands of tiles inside that were made by master craftsmen.  The patterns are unique to the mosque and cannot be replaced as no one today knows how the tiles were originally made.

The entry fountain to the Topkapi Palace is representative of Turkish Rococo/Baroque art.  It is a combination of Islamic, European, and Turkish art.  Very interesting blend and pleasing to the eye.  Started raining by mid-afternoon.  Saw the Baghdad Pavilion - beautiful wood doors with inlay of mother of pearl.

Brain is on over-load!  More to come.

Day 2 in Istanbul, Turkey

After a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we wandered over to the Archaeology Museum.  The museum is really 3 museums in several different buildings.  The majority was closed for renovations, but we were fascinated by what we were able to see.  We started in the Ancient Oriental Museum which was initiated by Osman Hamdi Bey.  There are thousands of artifacts from pre-islamic Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Anatolia.  Here's an interesting side note:  on a sign about the Late Hittite period (9th Century BC), one of the words caught my eye, "aslan," which translates to "lion" in English.  So, did C.S. Lewis "borrow" this name?  Things that make you ponder!  One of the gems we saw was the earliest known parity peace treaty, the Kadesh Treaty (1269 BC).  The cuneiform script is very tiny!

We did learn that the Neanderthal culture did burials.  A cave was discovered in Anatolia that contained bones and articles for the Afterlife.  From this amazing place, we went to the Tiled Kiosk Museum.  The building is the only sample of Civic Ottoman Architecture built with Seljukian impression in Istanbul.  Inside were many exhibits displaying the unique styles of Seljuk and Ottoman tile and pottery.  There was a sherbet strainer from the late 18th to 19th century.  Sherbet is Turkish for a drink prepared from fruits or flower petals.  So, one needs to strain out the bits before drinking!  After admiring the tile and pottery, we ventured over to the Archaeology Museum.  We lost several hours inside!  Saw exhibits on pre-historic era, Greek Roman era, Byzantine era, Troia, Anatolia during the Troia age, Phrygia, plus "Surrounding Cultures of Anatolia:  Syria, Palestine and Cyprus."  We left the museums about 2 pm with brains overloaded.  Paula did a bit of shopping; bought a scarf to cover her head while visiting a mosque.  After the quick purchase, we had lunch at a kebab shop.  Very yummy!  Feeling a bit refreshed from our meal, we decided to do a quick walk through the Blue Mosque.

  Paula donned the head scarf and removed shoes and in we went.  The interior has the most magnificent blue mosaic tiles!  Time to head back to the hotel for a respite from crowds and the cold wind.  Another side note:  everyone wants to sell us carpets!  "Don't worry, I'm not a tour guide.  Please come to my shop and look at my carpets!"  We just smile and "No, thank you" and we keep moving on!  We did meet one carpet salesman whose fiancee is attending Seattle University law school!

First Night in Istanbul, Turkey

March 19, 2015

Well, had quite the adventure already!  At 3 am on the 18th, Lufthansa cancelled our flight due to a pilots' strike.  Overseas Adventure within 30 minutes of our call, had booked us on Delta to Paris, then Paris to Istanbul.  Checked in at SeaTac and the Delta agents booked us all the way through to Istanbul first class!  Yahoo!  Made for a very long day anyway.  Arrived in Paris, actually just the airport, on the 19th and left late for Istanbul, Turkey.

Arrived at Istanbul without any incidents!  Unpacked, took a much needed shower, which revitalized us just enough to walk to the restaurant for dinner.  Wonderful lamb dinner with great service!  The pillows are calling my name....time for some real sleep!  Note:  This hotel is really quite beautiful.  Rick is also tired - more photos to come.  Another note:  We're not in Kansas, Toto!  The call to prayers is real, real loud!!!  Our hotel is directly across the street from the Blue Mosque!

More later.

Here we go!

Just waiting to board our flight.  Lufthansa cancelled our flight early this morning and now we're flying Delta into Paris, then Paris to Istanbul.  It's an adventure!!

Summer in the Pacific Northwest

Wow!  Summer sure has flown by this year!  August was spent mostly with Paula's parents as her father recovered from colon surgery.

Dad up and smiling on the day after surgery!  He stayed only 6 days in the hospital.  All is going well at the moment.  He is now driving (short trips) and walking up and down stairs.











Here's a shot of the full moon:

Can't you just hear the howling??












We were able to sneak a hike in the Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest.  The rugged trail took us up to Barlow Point.



Lots of colors, textures, and the wonderful smell of moss and pines along the trail!












 Lots of fungi, too!





           Catch the color of these guys!!

There used to be a fire lookout at the top but no more; just the footings are left.  They made handy seats for our picnic.  Great scenery all around us.

We've certainly enjoyed our stay at Lake Pleasant; watching ducks, osprey, belted kingfisher, black capped chickadees, etc.

We took a quick trip over to Sequim to check on our rental house.  One of the footings in the back of the house settled down and unfortunately, pulled on the house.  This action created a crack down the house.  So, we're having new footings put into place plus replacing both decks and a portion of the sidewalk.




Lower deck removed.






                     Close up of one of the footings.

Upper deck removed

Major work needs to be done in the front of the house, too.  Removal of one large cedar tree (encroaching on neighbor's property), clean up of bushes, re-doing the driveway island to something very low maintenance (river rock and trees only) and trimming the hedges so they are the same height.  Hopefully that will be less work for the renters and keep the Home Owners Association happy.

"Before" picture

That about sums up August!  September will be bring more adventures....