In the morning my father and I walk over the beach again before it’s open and have a quick swim and then head back to wake up the rest as we are leaving early. It’s a long sail back past the Seven Capes and the weather forecast is a bit iffy. When Randy is up we talk about the mutiny and about Fethiye versus Coldwater Bay. He really want to see Fethiye and the Lycian Tombs so we prepare to sail to Fethiye. We all leave in opposite order from which we arrived to avoid crossed anchor chains and we got off smoothly. We set oue main with one reef in as it looks windy outside. We get out and around the corner and the wind is steadily dropping so we soon shake out the reef and have a rousing sail along the Seven Capes.
We are beating up wind in about 18 knots of wind in a fairly choppy sea. I am lying in my under the stern of the boat. We have the jib shortened but are still heeling over pretty far. I have a small window and I am seeing mountains and sky alternating with dark blue water as my port occasionally goes below the surface when we get a strong puff of wind. My bunk is almost as wide as a full sized bed but the ceiling is too low to sit straight up with out hitting my head.
I am lying against the curve of the hull and I can feel the water rushing past and hear the creaking of the steering gear and I smell a little diesel fuel so I have my other little port that leads into the cockpit open and I can hear the rest of the crew in the cockpit above talking and walking around. It takes a little bit of getting used to before you are comfortable lying below the surface of the water in a fairly small space. I enjoy feeling the motion of the ocean! We have now rounded point and are not heading so much up wind so the boat is closer to level now so we must be on a broad reach instead of close hauled. That means we are sailing into the bay and closing in on the town of Fethiye.
There are Lycian tombs carved into the mountain above town that we are interested in seeing. There is also a tour to learn about carpet weaving. My father and I went on such a tour last time. It is very interesting to see the women hand weaving the carpets of big looms. But I am sure there will be a hard sell at the end. There was last time. They weave incredible beautiful carpets. I think Martha is interested in seeing the weavers.
I am looking forward to a swim. Sailing with the boat is heeling over a steep angle is hard work as you are always holding on with one hand and your body is working against the angle. Moving around the boat is hard is everything is at an angle. We were heeling over enough that all the clean clothes and bedding of Estill and Winfree have fallen on the floor in the main cabin.
We finally get up and turn the corner and onto an easier point of sail as we head into the Fethiye harbor. The wind is still blowing hard and when we call the lead about about docking Will says to pick him up on the way in as he wants to help us dock into this wind. We pick up and then execute a perfect landing on the dock! Nice!
We get the lines stowed and cockpit straightened out and then all head ashore for hot showers. We are docked at a pretty fancy resort. It has showers and a fancy hammam. I get all scrubbed and head back to the boat. I make dinner for my father and I out of all the leftovers. Bread, lentils and sauce. After dinner he and I head to our cabins to read. It has been another exciting sail and we are tired. Good night!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Kas to Kalkan
I was awake right at dawn and got up and walked onto the shore to use the land bathroom and looked at all the boats. When I got back my father was up.
We started breakfast and everyone else got up and we had cereal and cherry juice. Then Martha and Randy went with Nellie and some others into town for a Hamam ( Turkish bath) I read my book and wrote in my log and as it heated up I went ashore and took another cold shower. In the afternoon we weighted anchor and headed back to Kalkan. It was windy enough for a nice sail. I steered for a while and then Randy took the helm and I headed below for a read and a nap in my bunk. It was a nice sail and soon Winfree comes down below to tell me that I am needed on deck as we are about to enter the harbor. It’s hot again so we must be in Kalkan. Randy says he is buying cold drinks at the “beach”. We drop and anchor and back to the dock but when I pull in the slack it doesn’t hold so we go forward again and drop it and this time it grabs nicely. We grab our suits and head for the beach. My father and I swim and then Randy and crew show up and they sit on the lounge chairs and the guys comes and asks for 6 lira each.
Randy pays and we ask Nellie why the charge as it was free last time. She explains it’s extra for the lounge chairs. Oh! Father doesn’t want to stay so he heads back to the boat. I soon go back and he and I walk to the store for supplies. When I get back I start making supper and Randy and his family have gone for a walk. Nellie comes by to say there is a captains meeting in a few minutes and where is Randy? We don’t know but I have dinner in the oven so I go over in his stead. I am offered a gin and tonic by Neil which I accept. All the Brits have been drinking and are having a rousing time. We have the captains meeting and then I walk back to Silver Lightning and serve dinner to my father and I. Eventually the rest all get themselves off for dinner. After we have finished our pasta with lamb meatballs and cucumber salad I head back to the café with internet and get a cold beer and load some pics on the web and then Connie is on so we talk on Skype for a while.
I see Will, Nellie and Josh stop for a drink in the next café so I cash out and go next door to join them. I buy a round of Raki which is a Turkish favorite. It’s a harsher version of ouzo. I enjoyed it on my last trip and wanted to have another on this one. It’s is just as I remember and we are talking and all of a sudden some of the other crews show up and present Will with a notice of mutiny. They don’t want to go to Fethiye but back to Cold Water Bay which is just around the corner. It is presented with lots of laughter and more drinks. My father and I were talking earlier with Sarah about maybe skipping Fethiye but we haven’t talked to Randy and company yet. I have a beer with Sarah and then bid all a goodnight and head back down to the harbor. The temperature has finally cooled and I roll into my bunk with the fan on full and soon am fast asleep.
We started breakfast and everyone else got up and we had cereal and cherry juice. Then Martha and Randy went with Nellie and some others into town for a Hamam ( Turkish bath) I read my book and wrote in my log and as it heated up I went ashore and took another cold shower. In the afternoon we weighted anchor and headed back to Kalkan. It was windy enough for a nice sail. I steered for a while and then Randy took the helm and I headed below for a read and a nap in my bunk. It was a nice sail and soon Winfree comes down below to tell me that I am needed on deck as we are about to enter the harbor. It’s hot again so we must be in Kalkan. Randy says he is buying cold drinks at the “beach”. We drop and anchor and back to the dock but when I pull in the slack it doesn’t hold so we go forward again and drop it and this time it grabs nicely. We grab our suits and head for the beach. My father and I swim and then Randy and crew show up and they sit on the lounge chairs and the guys comes and asks for 6 lira each.
Randy pays and we ask Nellie why the charge as it was free last time. She explains it’s extra for the lounge chairs. Oh! Father doesn’t want to stay so he heads back to the boat. I soon go back and he and I walk to the store for supplies. When I get back I start making supper and Randy and his family have gone for a walk. Nellie comes by to say there is a captains meeting in a few minutes and where is Randy? We don’t know but I have dinner in the oven so I go over in his stead. I am offered a gin and tonic by Neil which I accept. All the Brits have been drinking and are having a rousing time. We have the captains meeting and then I walk back to Silver Lightning and serve dinner to my father and I. Eventually the rest all get themselves off for dinner. After we have finished our pasta with lamb meatballs and cucumber salad I head back to the café with internet and get a cold beer and load some pics on the web and then Connie is on so we talk on Skype for a while.
I see Will, Nellie and Josh stop for a drink in the next café so I cash out and go next door to join them. I buy a round of Raki which is a Turkish favorite. It’s a harsher version of ouzo. I enjoyed it on my last trip and wanted to have another on this one. It’s is just as I remember and we are talking and all of a sudden some of the other crews show up and present Will with a notice of mutiny. They don’t want to go to Fethiye but back to Cold Water Bay which is just around the corner. It is presented with lots of laughter and more drinks. My father and I were talking earlier with Sarah about maybe skipping Fethiye but we haven’t talked to Randy and company yet. I have a beer with Sarah and then bid all a goodnight and head back down to the harbor. The temperature has finally cooled and I roll into my bunk with the fan on full and soon am fast asleep.
Polemos Boku to Kas
After a nice early swim and breakfast my father and I paddled our poorly inflated dinghy over to the Innes boat and borrowed their pump and was able to get our dingy correctly inflated. It really paddles much better at the proper air pressure. We agreed to meet on shore in an hour for our walk. So we paddled back and got everyone started on getting ready for a hike. When all our great we packed we eased all six of us into the dinghy. (Now just possible with the extra inflation)
And Randy and I paddled us to shore. The restaurant owner’s son came out to greet us and helped us tie off our craft. The other group landed right behind us and the restaurant owner showed us the trail head. We headed out and the sun was getting but there was a nice breeze and when we stopped in the shade it was not bad. We walked across a flat plain and into the compound of a small pensyion where owner was sitting in the shade with his tiny daughter. We greeted them and headed out the other side. I notice that the trail markers her the same as in Beycik. So we are probably on another section of the Lycian Way. We walked until we could see ruins up ahead and the trail started up hill.
My father, Sarah and Winfree wanted to look for the sunken city so they headed down to the shore and the rest headed up into the ruins. I found a place to get up onto the ruin wall and was able to get a great view out into the next bay. The other joined me and then we all headed back by different paths but eventually finding the swimmers and joining them for a cooling swim. There was not much to see of the sunken city so half the group headed back across. My father and I arrive first and were greeted by the restaurant owner with a bucket of cold fresh water from his well which he proceeded to pour over our feet and heads. Man! Did that feel awesome!
We sat in the shade of the café and had a cold drink. The Innes family ordered dinner but we carefully piled back into the dinghy and paddled back to Silver Lightning and had more leftovers for lunch. Then we set sail for Kas. It was blowing nicely so we had a nice sail most of the way but then had to motor into the wind into a huge new marina which was on the other side of the hill from Kas. It had fancy showers which was very welcome as my father and I were salty from a week of salty bathing in the ocean and Randy plugged us in and I filled the water tanks. I ogt my computer plugged in and charging again.
But it was a long walk to the grocery so my father and I decided to join the others for dinner. We gathered for the half hour walk to see another ancient theater and then to the restaurant. Kas was hopping as there was a big Turkish Greek Festival going on with a stage we could see from the restaurant which was called Smiley’s. There was live music and dancing. My father and I sat with a group we had really spoken to and I enjoyed Neil and his wife and Alan and his wife. They were lots of fun. I ordered a shrimp casserole that was excellent and I saved the three fresh bay leaves that were in it as garnish and took the with me for later use. My father got a kick out of that. We decided that I had taken the Loyd’s to a new low of taking food home form dinner out! We were shown an old cistern which was under the restaurant. It was nice and cool down there but the roof was sagging way down in a couple of places. There were some beautiful old pots on a shelf in the corner.
After dinner my father and I headed out and the restaurant owner offered to have someone drive us home which was really nice. We ran into the shop next door for milk, bread and cherry juice and then were chauffeured back to the Marina. We put the milk away and headed for bed. We were both very tired after all the walking and sailing! I long but good day. Night!
And Randy and I paddled us to shore. The restaurant owner’s son came out to greet us and helped us tie off our craft. The other group landed right behind us and the restaurant owner showed us the trail head. We headed out and the sun was getting but there was a nice breeze and when we stopped in the shade it was not bad. We walked across a flat plain and into the compound of a small pensyion where owner was sitting in the shade with his tiny daughter. We greeted them and headed out the other side. I notice that the trail markers her the same as in Beycik. So we are probably on another section of the Lycian Way. We walked until we could see ruins up ahead and the trail started up hill.
My father, Sarah and Winfree wanted to look for the sunken city so they headed down to the shore and the rest headed up into the ruins. I found a place to get up onto the ruin wall and was able to get a great view out into the next bay. The other joined me and then we all headed back by different paths but eventually finding the swimmers and joining them for a cooling swim. There was not much to see of the sunken city so half the group headed back across. My father and I arrive first and were greeted by the restaurant owner with a bucket of cold fresh water from his well which he proceeded to pour over our feet and heads. Man! Did that feel awesome!
We sat in the shade of the café and had a cold drink. The Innes family ordered dinner but we carefully piled back into the dinghy and paddled back to Silver Lightning and had more leftovers for lunch. Then we set sail for Kas. It was blowing nicely so we had a nice sail most of the way but then had to motor into the wind into a huge new marina which was on the other side of the hill from Kas. It had fancy showers which was very welcome as my father and I were salty from a week of salty bathing in the ocean and Randy plugged us in and I filled the water tanks. I ogt my computer plugged in and charging again.
But it was a long walk to the grocery so my father and I decided to join the others for dinner. We gathered for the half hour walk to see another ancient theater and then to the restaurant. Kas was hopping as there was a big Turkish Greek Festival going on with a stage we could see from the restaurant which was called Smiley’s. There was live music and dancing. My father and I sat with a group we had really spoken to and I enjoyed Neil and his wife and Alan and his wife. They were lots of fun. I ordered a shrimp casserole that was excellent and I saved the three fresh bay leaves that were in it as garnish and took the with me for later use. My father got a kick out of that. We decided that I had taken the Loyd’s to a new low of taking food home form dinner out! We were shown an old cistern which was under the restaurant. It was nice and cool down there but the roof was sagging way down in a couple of places. There were some beautiful old pots on a shelf in the corner.
After dinner my father and I headed out and the restaurant owner offered to have someone drive us home which was really nice. We ran into the shop next door for milk, bread and cherry juice and then were chauffeured back to the Marina. We put the milk away and headed for bed. We were both very tired after all the walking and sailing! I long but good day. Night!
Fokkaya Limani to Polemos Boku
My father and I woke up early and went for a swim and then sat on deck and watched the other boats rise as the sun warmed. We watched the Innes family get picked up by Nellie and a local guy in a speedboat to go to an ancient site. We were going to go but the fee was 50 TL a person for a boat and car ride. We decided that was too much so we begged off. Sarah and David’s kids Jamie and Louisa looked very hung over, but made it into the boat and off the y went at high speed. I hope they have a good time.
We lazed around, swam and read or books. It was afternoon when we saw The Innes clan return. We lazed around some more and then finally good ourselves organized and raised the anchor and headed out of the sheltered bay. The wind was blowing hard so we put a reef in the main and headed out. We had an exciting sail up wind and around the headland and into the bay of Polemos Boku where we found a space with good swinging room and dropped our anchor. We again reversed it hard to set the hook and when it felt good let out some more chain secured the engines and jumped over the side for a swim. Just as we finished our swim Sarah swan over to tell us that we were wise to skip Nellie’s expedition. It was way to expensive for the transportation. The ruins were good but not worth the cost.
We offered her a gin and tonic and had a nice conversation in the cockpit. Sarah proposed that we all get together in the morning and walk across to the ruins on the other side of the isthmus. Sounds like fun so agreed to meet on shoe after breakfast and Sarah swam back across to her boat. Martha had cooked up some lentils to go with the leftovers from last night and we all squeezed around the table in the cockpit for dinner.
Lentils, sauce, salad, bread and olives. Plain noodles for the girls. I played some uno with Winfree and then headed to my cabin to read. I am now reading Enders Game which I bought for Estill at Christmas and she has just finished. So far it’s off to good start. Good night.
We lazed around, swam and read or books. It was afternoon when we saw The Innes clan return. We lazed around some more and then finally good ourselves organized and raised the anchor and headed out of the sheltered bay. The wind was blowing hard so we put a reef in the main and headed out. We had an exciting sail up wind and around the headland and into the bay of Polemos Boku where we found a space with good swinging room and dropped our anchor. We again reversed it hard to set the hook and when it felt good let out some more chain secured the engines and jumped over the side for a swim. Just as we finished our swim Sarah swan over to tell us that we were wise to skip Nellie’s expedition. It was way to expensive for the transportation. The ruins were good but not worth the cost.
We offered her a gin and tonic and had a nice conversation in the cockpit. Sarah proposed that we all get together in the morning and walk across to the ruins on the other side of the isthmus. Sounds like fun so agreed to meet on shoe after breakfast and Sarah swam back across to her boat. Martha had cooked up some lentils to go with the leftovers from last night and we all squeezed around the table in the cockpit for dinner.
Lentils, sauce, salad, bread and olives. Plain noodles for the girls. I played some uno with Winfree and then headed to my cabin to read. I am now reading Enders Game which I bought for Estill at Christmas and she has just finished. So far it’s off to good start. Good night.
Kaleüçağız to Fokkaya Limani
I have an early swim and sit reading in the sun on deck with my father while we wait for the girls to stir. We have our breakfast and gather walking shoes, hats, sun screen and snorkeling gear. We are going on an expedition this morning first to see and old Fort and then to a sunken ancient city.
A local woman in a small boat picks us up and transfers us to one of the local Gulets, which are the local sailboats that have been converted to tourist boats. We are joined by a few of the other crews and head for Kaleüçağız which is a village of about 400 people. We were anchored at a small town in the next bay and we can see the Kalekoy Fort up on the hill above the town. We are soon backing into and old concrete pier at the town of Kaleüçağız. We wind our way up the tiny streets of the town through a series of booths and people selling food drinks, scarves and bags of fresh herbs and teas. We hit the ticket booth as all important ancient sites are controlled but the government now. We pay and walk through the ticket booth. It’s a funny feeling as there is no fence. You could just as easily walk around!
Up into the fort and up a long stairway to the top of the hill. The view is magnificent! You can see all up and down the long bay that skirts this area. This would have been a very defensible position with the view and the steep approach to the fort. After we have looked around for a while we are herded back down the hill towards the boat by Nellie. The Loyd clan stops for ice cream and then wander back down. We end up in a different alley from the one we started up but I can see the boat and am able to work my way there along the waterfront over people’s porches.
Soon we shove off and head to the other side of the bay to see the sunken ruins of Kekova. The Gulet coasts right along the shore and through a glass port in the bottom of the boat we can see the ruins and piles of amphora and pieces of broken pottery. Amphora are the ceramic jugs the Greeks used to transport wine, oils and other products. We were not allowed to snorkel on the ancient city but so our gulet anchored with a bunch of other gulets in the next bay and we snorkeled there. Mustapha who own the gulet was fascinated by my underwater camera and had me take a series of photos of him, which I emailed to him later.
Then we were returned to our boat and the wind began to blow hard. We had a bite of lunch and watched a big catamaran drag it’s anchor down on another boat. Luckily they were on board and got the engine started before they hit another boat! After lunch we were getting ready to leave when I realized that our anchor was dragging and we were getting close to the boat down wind of us. We quickly started the engine and wound in the anchor and headed out for a sail. We put a reef in the main and let out the full jib and headed out into the open Mediterranean.
We were roaring along close hauled and the wind was building to the point where our jib was over powering the main. So we put a reef in the jib and stabilize the boat and tack west along the coast. We get past the island and head into in the another bay that is known for it’s coldwater springs that feed up into the bay. We circle around and drop our anchor once but are too close to another boat so we reel it in and try again and settle into a good spot. We get the anchor down on a good length of chain and give her full reverse to make sure it’s well dug in.
Then we have a swim and explore the rocky shore off our stern. You can fell the cold spring water welling up there and see the wavy water were the fresh and salt water are mixing. As usual there is not much in the way of fish to look at. Most of the sea creatures in the Mediterranean have been eaten. There were a few small fish but not many. I returned to the boat and dried in the sun and then we all are dinner. Martha made lentils and veggies over rice. We ate some olives with it. It was pretty tasty and plenty of it. The girls helped my father wash dishes after dinner. Then we all headed for bed. It’s been another busy day.
A local woman in a small boat picks us up and transfers us to one of the local Gulets, which are the local sailboats that have been converted to tourist boats. We are joined by a few of the other crews and head for Kaleüçağız which is a village of about 400 people. We were anchored at a small town in the next bay and we can see the Kalekoy Fort up on the hill above the town. We are soon backing into and old concrete pier at the town of Kaleüçağız. We wind our way up the tiny streets of the town through a series of booths and people selling food drinks, scarves and bags of fresh herbs and teas. We hit the ticket booth as all important ancient sites are controlled but the government now. We pay and walk through the ticket booth. It’s a funny feeling as there is no fence. You could just as easily walk around!
Up into the fort and up a long stairway to the top of the hill. The view is magnificent! You can see all up and down the long bay that skirts this area. This would have been a very defensible position with the view and the steep approach to the fort. After we have looked around for a while we are herded back down the hill towards the boat by Nellie. The Loyd clan stops for ice cream and then wander back down. We end up in a different alley from the one we started up but I can see the boat and am able to work my way there along the waterfront over people’s porches.
Soon we shove off and head to the other side of the bay to see the sunken ruins of Kekova. The Gulet coasts right along the shore and through a glass port in the bottom of the boat we can see the ruins and piles of amphora and pieces of broken pottery. Amphora are the ceramic jugs the Greeks used to transport wine, oils and other products. We were not allowed to snorkel on the ancient city but so our gulet anchored with a bunch of other gulets in the next bay and we snorkeled there. Mustapha who own the gulet was fascinated by my underwater camera and had me take a series of photos of him, which I emailed to him later.
Then we were returned to our boat and the wind began to blow hard. We had a bite of lunch and watched a big catamaran drag it’s anchor down on another boat. Luckily they were on board and got the engine started before they hit another boat! After lunch we were getting ready to leave when I realized that our anchor was dragging and we were getting close to the boat down wind of us. We quickly started the engine and wound in the anchor and headed out for a sail. We put a reef in the main and let out the full jib and headed out into the open Mediterranean.
We were roaring along close hauled and the wind was building to the point where our jib was over powering the main. So we put a reef in the jib and stabilize the boat and tack west along the coast. We get past the island and head into in the another bay that is known for it’s coldwater springs that feed up into the bay. We circle around and drop our anchor once but are too close to another boat so we reel it in and try again and settle into a good spot. We get the anchor down on a good length of chain and give her full reverse to make sure it’s well dug in.
Then we have a swim and explore the rocky shore off our stern. You can fell the cold spring water welling up there and see the wavy water were the fresh and salt water are mixing. As usual there is not much in the way of fish to look at. Most of the sea creatures in the Mediterranean have been eaten. There were a few small fish but not many. I returned to the boat and dried in the sun and then we all are dinner. Martha made lentils and veggies over rice. We ate some olives with it. It was pretty tasty and plenty of it. The girls helped my father wash dishes after dinner. Then we all headed for bed. It’s been another busy day.
Kalkan to Kaleüçağız
Kalkan to Kaleüçağız
Soon all the crews are up and about as we are leaving early this morning. We determine that some of our anchor chains are crossed so we carefully leave in the opposite order from that of which we arrived we there are no snarls. Thanks for that! Unsnarling anchor chains is no fun. And we are all off heading east again. There is a very light wind so we motor for a while until it picks up and then hoist some sails and drift along. We have to navigate carefully today as there is an island a few miles off shore which belongs to Greece and we have to stay in Turkish waters as the Greeks and Turks are not friendly neighbors!
I assign the girls to keep a look out for the Greek navy! We have our sighting compass out and we reach the first marker island in our route and as we pass it we sight through the compass and set out heading for the next small Turkish island. We zig zag our way along island to island until we are clear of the Greek waters. We have had some wind to sail and now it begins to pick up and we have a nice wind for our leg towards the town of Kaleucagiz. But the nice sailing leg was way to short and we drop our sails and head into harbor. We find a nice spot and drop our anchor. This will be our first night free swinging on an anchor. The girls and I don our swimming suit and do a soda pop. (jump off the bow of the boat and flop your arms around in the bubbles and yell soda pop) And feel almost instantly refreshed.
We start a game where the girls are try to get past me to the ladder and I am defending myself as the Kung Fu Tickle Master! Lots of giggling and splashing around. When we are tired and cool we climb back aboard and read in the shade of the cock pit. Soon Josh comes by in the dinghy and invites the girls to go with him to visit the other boats. I go below and start dinner. I bought chicken breast and thighs frozen last night but they are already defrosted. The refrigerator is crap on this boat. So I get out the onions, eggplant, garlic, olives and tomatoes and chop them while I am browning all the chicken. I put all the veggies and tomato paste and some pepper spread in a casserole dish and after a few attempts I get the top of the oven lit and in goes the casserole. After a while the chicken goes in on top.
Soon dinner is smelling fine and the chicken is nice and crispy so I go to turn off the oven and the knob won’t turn! Hmm… this is a new one. Got it. All boats have an electric solenoid which turns off the gas when flame is not present. Keeps the propane from flowing accidently into the bilges and blowing up the boat. I turn off the solenoid and the oven goes off. Later when it has cooled off I am able to turn the knob off. I sit in the cockpit with a gin and tonic and let the casserole coast. Then make a cucumber and tomato salad and cut some bread. As soon as the rest of the crew leaves for sinner ashore (their choice). I break out the plates and my father and I eat a nice dinner in the cockpit and watch the sun go down and feel the heat flow out of the air and the breeze is so lovely. A few stars begin to show as dishes are washed and we head into our cabins to read and work on the log. I am fast asleep when the other crew returns. We are hoping for better wind tomorrow.
Soon all the crews are up and about as we are leaving early this morning. We determine that some of our anchor chains are crossed so we carefully leave in the opposite order from that of which we arrived we there are no snarls. Thanks for that! Unsnarling anchor chains is no fun. And we are all off heading east again. There is a very light wind so we motor for a while until it picks up and then hoist some sails and drift along. We have to navigate carefully today as there is an island a few miles off shore which belongs to Greece and we have to stay in Turkish waters as the Greeks and Turks are not friendly neighbors!
I assign the girls to keep a look out for the Greek navy! We have our sighting compass out and we reach the first marker island in our route and as we pass it we sight through the compass and set out heading for the next small Turkish island. We zig zag our way along island to island until we are clear of the Greek waters. We have had some wind to sail and now it begins to pick up and we have a nice wind for our leg towards the town of Kaleucagiz. But the nice sailing leg was way to short and we drop our sails and head into harbor. We find a nice spot and drop our anchor. This will be our first night free swinging on an anchor. The girls and I don our swimming suit and do a soda pop. (jump off the bow of the boat and flop your arms around in the bubbles and yell soda pop) And feel almost instantly refreshed.
We start a game where the girls are try to get past me to the ladder and I am defending myself as the Kung Fu Tickle Master! Lots of giggling and splashing around. When we are tired and cool we climb back aboard and read in the shade of the cock pit. Soon Josh comes by in the dinghy and invites the girls to go with him to visit the other boats. I go below and start dinner. I bought chicken breast and thighs frozen last night but they are already defrosted. The refrigerator is crap on this boat. So I get out the onions, eggplant, garlic, olives and tomatoes and chop them while I am browning all the chicken. I put all the veggies and tomato paste and some pepper spread in a casserole dish and after a few attempts I get the top of the oven lit and in goes the casserole. After a while the chicken goes in on top.
Soon dinner is smelling fine and the chicken is nice and crispy so I go to turn off the oven and the knob won’t turn! Hmm… this is a new one. Got it. All boats have an electric solenoid which turns off the gas when flame is not present. Keeps the propane from flowing accidently into the bilges and blowing up the boat. I turn off the solenoid and the oven goes off. Later when it has cooled off I am able to turn the knob off. I sit in the cockpit with a gin and tonic and let the casserole coast. Then make a cucumber and tomato salad and cut some bread. As soon as the rest of the crew leaves for sinner ashore (their choice). I break out the plates and my father and I eat a nice dinner in the cockpit and watch the sun go down and feel the heat flow out of the air and the breeze is so lovely. A few stars begin to show as dishes are washed and we head into our cabins to read and work on the log. I am fast asleep when the other crew returns. We are hoping for better wind tomorrow.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay) to Kalkan
Kalkan
My father and I were up early and had a nice swim in the cool clear water around our boat. The water is very deep right up to the shore here. It can be 30 feet deep 10 feet off shore. So that is why we stop in these bays and we drop a lot of anchor and tie the stern to the shore. The water is too deep to rely on just the anchor and it the wind shifts around your boat would swing into the rocks, because you are anchored so close to shore where the water is shallow enough.
Just the opposite of Florida were you are always looking out for shallow water!
After breakfast of tea, cereal, yogurt and fruit we all headed out of the bay and east around the seven capes towards the town of Kalkan. Almost no wind today so we motored and a few hours of watching the steep mountains above the seven capes roll by were were still using the “iron jenny” motor. I mase some more sandwiches and fruit and after lunch I went down below and reclined in my berth with a book. Soon the rolling of the boat sent me off to dreamland. I was awakened by Winfree, yelling that I was needed on deck. We were approaching the harbor. We dropped the anchor and backed into the key and tied off our stern. It is truly hot here this afternoon. This has been our first really hot day.
My computer battery is flat so I decide to go looking for café where I can get a cool drink, Charge my battery and a wifi connection in that order. I am successful! Soon I am seated on a comfortable couch under a shade tree with a fanta and my computer up and running. They even plugged in a fan for me! It’s almost heaven. I am able to check my email and do some work on the Black Bear Festival. I find that Connie is online and we exchange some email. She encourages me to connect with her on Skype so I find the download and in about 10 minutes we were having a video call! What a world.
It’s great to see and speak with her in almost real time. Martha come past and I put her on with Connie for a minute. My waiter comes over to see what we are doing and he gets involved. After catching up Connie and I wind up our call and I speak briefly with Christopher Spatafora who is staying in my house while I am gone. He gives me a report on some work he is doing for me and then we are cut off. I guess if you are talking to someone on a phone the time is limited. Now I know!
The sun is dropping and my shade is gone. I have had two fantas and an Efes beer and it’s getting close to dinner time, so I wander back down to the boat. Everyone is gathering so I change quickly and join the group. We return to almost the same spot I was at and find our seats at a long table. (We are 25 tonight.) This place is supposed to be really tasty. I hope so as it’s also the most expensive place we have seen all trip! I order a lamb stew and we eat some bread and mezzes while we are waiting. The sun has gone down behind the mountains and the temperature is dropping and the sea breeze is soothing on hot skin. The beer is crisp and cold and the lamb stew turns out very tasty and a huge portion.
I share some with the human vacuum (my father) and there is stil stew left so the waiter makes me a doggy bag. Funny to hear a waiter offer one in Turkey! We discover that the food shopping never was done and the market is just across the street. So we send Randy and the girls to bed, and father and I do some provisioning. It’s a small shop but they have most of what we want. We add an ice cream each and head back to the Silver Lightning. Then girls are asleep so we stow the cold stuff and leave the rest for the morning and retire to our cabins. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for some wind to blow the heat away! I am truly glad for a fan in my cabin tonight!
My father and I were up early and had a nice swim in the cool clear water around our boat. The water is very deep right up to the shore here. It can be 30 feet deep 10 feet off shore. So that is why we stop in these bays and we drop a lot of anchor and tie the stern to the shore. The water is too deep to rely on just the anchor and it the wind shifts around your boat would swing into the rocks, because you are anchored so close to shore where the water is shallow enough.
Just the opposite of Florida were you are always looking out for shallow water!
After breakfast of tea, cereal, yogurt and fruit we all headed out of the bay and east around the seven capes towards the town of Kalkan. Almost no wind today so we motored and a few hours of watching the steep mountains above the seven capes roll by were were still using the “iron jenny” motor. I mase some more sandwiches and fruit and after lunch I went down below and reclined in my berth with a book. Soon the rolling of the boat sent me off to dreamland. I was awakened by Winfree, yelling that I was needed on deck. We were approaching the harbor. We dropped the anchor and backed into the key and tied off our stern. It is truly hot here this afternoon. This has been our first really hot day.
My computer battery is flat so I decide to go looking for café where I can get a cool drink, Charge my battery and a wifi connection in that order. I am successful! Soon I am seated on a comfortable couch under a shade tree with a fanta and my computer up and running. They even plugged in a fan for me! It’s almost heaven. I am able to check my email and do some work on the Black Bear Festival. I find that Connie is online and we exchange some email. She encourages me to connect with her on Skype so I find the download and in about 10 minutes we were having a video call! What a world.
It’s great to see and speak with her in almost real time. Martha come past and I put her on with Connie for a minute. My waiter comes over to see what we are doing and he gets involved. After catching up Connie and I wind up our call and I speak briefly with Christopher Spatafora who is staying in my house while I am gone. He gives me a report on some work he is doing for me and then we are cut off. I guess if you are talking to someone on a phone the time is limited. Now I know!
The sun is dropping and my shade is gone. I have had two fantas and an Efes beer and it’s getting close to dinner time, so I wander back down to the boat. Everyone is gathering so I change quickly and join the group. We return to almost the same spot I was at and find our seats at a long table. (We are 25 tonight.) This place is supposed to be really tasty. I hope so as it’s also the most expensive place we have seen all trip! I order a lamb stew and we eat some bread and mezzes while we are waiting. The sun has gone down behind the mountains and the temperature is dropping and the sea breeze is soothing on hot skin. The beer is crisp and cold and the lamb stew turns out very tasty and a huge portion.
I share some with the human vacuum (my father) and there is stil stew left so the waiter makes me a doggy bag. Funny to hear a waiter offer one in Turkey! We discover that the food shopping never was done and the market is just across the street. So we send Randy and the girls to bed, and father and I do some provisioning. It’s a small shop but they have most of what we want. We add an ice cream each and head back to the Silver Lightning. Then girls are asleep so we stow the cold stuff and leave the rest for the morning and retire to our cabins. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for some wind to blow the heat away! I am truly glad for a fan in my cabin tonight!
Cappy Creek to Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay)
Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay)
We had some nice wind yesterday and are off to a good start and having a lovely sail today. There are eight boats in our flotilla. We have nice wind and we head east. We make some sandwiches with the local bread a cheese and have lunch in the cockpit under way.
In the afternoon just outside our destination harbor Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay) the wind died so we hove-to and jumped over the side and swam in 300 feet of cool deep blue water. It was so terrific!
We rafted up in the harbor by dropping our anchors and backing towards the shore where Ali the local restaurant owner directed us and a one handed guy took a long line off our stern and tied it to a rock on the shore and then we tied all the boats together. The one armed guys was a really good rope handler. He was amazing to watch. We found out later that he lost his one hand and three fingers off the other when he was young fishing with dynamite! He has adapted amazingly well.
When the work was done I swam to the beach where Estill and I hunted for sea glass. We are hoping to find enough to fill two old bottles as a memento of our trip. After the swim a hiking expedition headed for the ruins at the top of the mountain. It was quite steep hike and Pop didn't have on his hiking shoes and didn't get all the way up. I scrambled up and took a few pics of the abandoned Greek town. It was built in medieval times but abandoned in the 1920's when there was a big exchange of people between Greece and Turkey.
Now the roofs have fallen in but mostly it looks just like an empty town. Randy noticed that my father was starting back down by himself so I scrambled back down to walk with him.
On the way down we passed Pavarotti, the donkey owned by Ali. Later while I was making dinner he began to bray. It was an amazingly musical and ultra loud bray. Which echoed all around the bay. He was a tenor like Luciano his namesake and he could sustain his call for a long time. He was amazing. (I didn’t eat in the restaurant but my brother recalls it was one of his favorites.) It was up on the cliff with a great view, a cool breeze and wonderful food.
Then I made dinner for he and I while the rest ate ashore. I made pasta with eggplant, onions, black olives in tomato sauce. The only oddity was instead of canned tomatoes I bought 2 large cans of tomato paste but I made it work. And with it a cucumber, yogurt and garlic salad. And of course I served fresh bread. All the restaurants sell bread that is baked fresh and delivered every morning. And we finished off with banana and nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread).
It was nice to have a quiet dinner and after while father clean-up I went skinny dipping off the stern. All the boats in the raft we empty except for the one at the far end where a couple were cozying up in the cockpit and listening to one of my favorite Roxy Music albums. For some reason the water cool on top and warm underneath except for a few warm patches. I found a warm one and floated and looked a sky full of stars and listened to Love is the Drug"
After the song was over and I was chilly I got out and dried off in the cockpit and settled in my bunk and started The Oracle of Stambul which Connie sent me from San Francisco for my trip. It’s a recently written novel about Istanbul during the time of the Sultans and looks very interesting. Good night!
The others came back late from the restaurant and I was already in dreamland.
We had some nice wind yesterday and are off to a good start and having a lovely sail today. There are eight boats in our flotilla. We have nice wind and we head east. We make some sandwiches with the local bread a cheese and have lunch in the cockpit under way.
In the afternoon just outside our destination harbor Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay) the wind died so we hove-to and jumped over the side and swam in 300 feet of cool deep blue water. It was so terrific!
We rafted up in the harbor by dropping our anchors and backing towards the shore where Ali the local restaurant owner directed us and a one handed guy took a long line off our stern and tied it to a rock on the shore and then we tied all the boats together. The one armed guys was a really good rope handler. He was amazing to watch. We found out later that he lost his one hand and three fingers off the other when he was young fishing with dynamite! He has adapted amazingly well.
When the work was done I swam to the beach where Estill and I hunted for sea glass. We are hoping to find enough to fill two old bottles as a memento of our trip. After the swim a hiking expedition headed for the ruins at the top of the mountain. It was quite steep hike and Pop didn't have on his hiking shoes and didn't get all the way up. I scrambled up and took a few pics of the abandoned Greek town. It was built in medieval times but abandoned in the 1920's when there was a big exchange of people between Greece and Turkey.
Now the roofs have fallen in but mostly it looks just like an empty town. Randy noticed that my father was starting back down by himself so I scrambled back down to walk with him.
On the way down we passed Pavarotti, the donkey owned by Ali. Later while I was making dinner he began to bray. It was an amazingly musical and ultra loud bray. Which echoed all around the bay. He was a tenor like Luciano his namesake and he could sustain his call for a long time. He was amazing. (I didn’t eat in the restaurant but my brother recalls it was one of his favorites.) It was up on the cliff with a great view, a cool breeze and wonderful food.
Then I made dinner for he and I while the rest ate ashore. I made pasta with eggplant, onions, black olives in tomato sauce. The only oddity was instead of canned tomatoes I bought 2 large cans of tomato paste but I made it work. And with it a cucumber, yogurt and garlic salad. And of course I served fresh bread. All the restaurants sell bread that is baked fresh and delivered every morning. And we finished off with banana and nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread).
It was nice to have a quiet dinner and after while father clean-up I went skinny dipping off the stern. All the boats in the raft we empty except for the one at the far end where a couple were cozying up in the cockpit and listening to one of my favorite Roxy Music albums. For some reason the water cool on top and warm underneath except for a few warm patches. I found a warm one and floated and looked a sky full of stars and listened to Love is the Drug"
After the song was over and I was chilly I got out and dried off in the cockpit and settled in my bunk and started The Oracle of Stambul which Connie sent me from San Francisco for my trip. It’s a recently written novel about Istanbul during the time of the Sultans and looks very interesting. Good night!
The others came back late from the restaurant and I was already in dreamland.
Sailing from Gocek to Cappy Creek
Gocek was nice and quiet where we are docked and my cabin has a nice fan in it So I slept well. There was a big breakfast for all the crews in the flotilla and a briefing afterwards. Then my father and I walked down the waterfront to the shops and bought a few more supplies and got some Turkish Lira. We went back to the boat and had our boat checkout with Will the flotilla captain. We discovered that our anchor windlass had a jammed clutch. Will got a repairman to come and un-jam and grease the clutch.
Meanwhile Martha went for a walk and we were given permission to sail soon after, but had to wait a couple of hours for Martha to return. Then we cast of and motored out of the harbor and set sail for Cappy Creek. We tacked our way between the rocky headlands in some flukey wind. Our boat sails much better on port tack so we tried to gain as much ground as possible on port tack. We had Estill giving us advice on sail trim and when to tack since she has been racing sailboats for a few years now.
It took us a few hours of tacking up wind but soon we were reaching into Cappy Creek. We took down our sails, started the engine and radioed to the lead crew that we were coming into harbor. They had us put out fenders on both sides of the boat, rig two stern lines and prepare to drop the anchor. We spun around and backed into the harbor and when we were about four boat lengths from the dock we dropped the anchor and let out chain until we were at the dock. Then we tied our stern lines to the dock and cranked in the anchor chain until it was tight. We put our boarding plank over the space between the stern of the boat and the dock and we were set for the night. We put on our swimsuits and jumped into 12 feet of clear blue water and swam until we were refreshed.
There are a few people who live in Cappy creek and run a restaurant for the boating crowd. If you eat in the restaurant they don’t charge you to dock your boat.
My father and I went for a walk to the top of the hill and we could see where one family was still living in the old stone house except they had plastic sheeting on the roof and the electric cables were just strung through the trees from house to house. We cam back down just as the punch party was starting. We drank punch and introduced ourselves to the other crews and had a nice chat before dinner. There are 8 total boats in out flotilla including the lead boat on which Will is the flotilla captain, Nellie is the entertainment director and Josh is the repairman.
Most of the other boats are crewed by couples and there is another boat with a family of four with kids in their 20s. No kids Estill and Winfree’s age. Too bad! ☹ We ordered fresh fish and calamari for dinner. It was all cooked by the family in a bid wood fired oven behind the restaurant and was very tasty. After dinner I had a couple more beers with the lead crew and then went to bed. I crawled into bed and was lulled to sleep but the gentle rocking of the boat.
Meanwhile Martha went for a walk and we were given permission to sail soon after, but had to wait a couple of hours for Martha to return. Then we cast of and motored out of the harbor and set sail for Cappy Creek. We tacked our way between the rocky headlands in some flukey wind. Our boat sails much better on port tack so we tried to gain as much ground as possible on port tack. We had Estill giving us advice on sail trim and when to tack since she has been racing sailboats for a few years now.
It took us a few hours of tacking up wind but soon we were reaching into Cappy Creek. We took down our sails, started the engine and radioed to the lead crew that we were coming into harbor. They had us put out fenders on both sides of the boat, rig two stern lines and prepare to drop the anchor. We spun around and backed into the harbor and when we were about four boat lengths from the dock we dropped the anchor and let out chain until we were at the dock. Then we tied our stern lines to the dock and cranked in the anchor chain until it was tight. We put our boarding plank over the space between the stern of the boat and the dock and we were set for the night. We put on our swimsuits and jumped into 12 feet of clear blue water and swam until we were refreshed.
There are a few people who live in Cappy creek and run a restaurant for the boating crowd. If you eat in the restaurant they don’t charge you to dock your boat.
My father and I went for a walk to the top of the hill and we could see where one family was still living in the old stone house except they had plastic sheeting on the roof and the electric cables were just strung through the trees from house to house. We cam back down just as the punch party was starting. We drank punch and introduced ourselves to the other crews and had a nice chat before dinner. There are 8 total boats in out flotilla including the lead boat on which Will is the flotilla captain, Nellie is the entertainment director and Josh is the repairman.
Most of the other boats are crewed by couples and there is another boat with a family of four with kids in their 20s. No kids Estill and Winfree’s age. Too bad! ☹ We ordered fresh fish and calamari for dinner. It was all cooked by the family in a bid wood fired oven behind the restaurant and was very tasty. After dinner I had a couple more beers with the lead crew and then went to bed. I crawled into bed and was lulled to sleep but the gentle rocking of the boat.
Off to Gocek
Off to Gocek
My father and I were up at first light as usual and sat out on the porch until the chef had breakfast ready. It was a big Turkish breakfast and featured a few special items like the chefs own homemade bread and a sweet olive jam. Which was interesting but not as good as the cherry jam. My father and I have fallen in love with the sour cherry juice that is often served with breakfast. It has just the right combination of sweet and tart! Delish.
After breakfast my father brother and walked up the road and though we found the side road that led to the Lycian Way but it was not quite right. We got up a ways to were there was a nature preserve and headed back as we had to be in Gocek at 6pm to turn off the rental van and board out boat. Ur hosts gathered and waited around while we loaded the family circus and they send of in traditional Turkish fashion with a pan of water thrown onto our car as a blessing for a safe journey! I crept back down twisty one lane road to the twisty highway and drove four + hours of very twisty hairpin and rather hair raising two lane mostly coastal highway to Gocek. We stopped for gas at one town and at a restaurant on a cliff over looking the sea for a fresh fish lunch. Then we rolled the rest of the way into Gocek, found the correct marina and moved all our gear on to a Beanneteau 39 named Silver Lightning. I waited around for the rental car guy and after an hour finally called the office in Istanbul and they said he would come to tomorrow and when I said we would be gone tomorrow he hung up on me!
There was a supermarket right there so we did our provisioning for the boat. On the way back I noticed a marina office and the young woman behinf the counter spoke pretty good English and I got her to call the rental car office again and she determined that the guy was here in Gocek and waiting at the next marina! She gave him directions and I asked if I could buy her an ice cream. She said not but she would like a peach ice tea. I went to the store again and all they had were large bottles of mango ice tea so I bought one. She said it was much too big and asked me to share it with her. I accepted and she found two cups and we sat and drank tea and had a great conversation until after a few phone calls back and forth the rentaI guy appeared riding on the back of a moped. I was happy to turn in the rental car as we (in true Loyd fashion) took the long way from Istanbul to Gocek! I was done with driving and ready to do some sailing.
We had dinner at the marina restaurant. very pricey but not too tasty, took showers and headed for the boat and my cabin under the stern starboard side. I up packed my gear, made my bed and dived into it for the night! See you tomorrow as we prepare to go to sea! I was awakened before dawn by a horrible squeaking sound and finally realized that it was our boarding plank squeaking as the boat rolled. I pulled it on board and went back to sleep. A little while later my father got up and put the plank back ashore and went to the bathroom and the squeaking started again. He didn’t realize it until after he got back and moved the plank again but I was already awake for the day.
My father and I were up at first light as usual and sat out on the porch until the chef had breakfast ready. It was a big Turkish breakfast and featured a few special items like the chefs own homemade bread and a sweet olive jam. Which was interesting but not as good as the cherry jam. My father and I have fallen in love with the sour cherry juice that is often served with breakfast. It has just the right combination of sweet and tart! Delish.
After breakfast my father brother and walked up the road and though we found the side road that led to the Lycian Way but it was not quite right. We got up a ways to were there was a nature preserve and headed back as we had to be in Gocek at 6pm to turn off the rental van and board out boat. Ur hosts gathered and waited around while we loaded the family circus and they send of in traditional Turkish fashion with a pan of water thrown onto our car as a blessing for a safe journey! I crept back down twisty one lane road to the twisty highway and drove four + hours of very twisty hairpin and rather hair raising two lane mostly coastal highway to Gocek. We stopped for gas at one town and at a restaurant on a cliff over looking the sea for a fresh fish lunch. Then we rolled the rest of the way into Gocek, found the correct marina and moved all our gear on to a Beanneteau 39 named Silver Lightning. I waited around for the rental car guy and after an hour finally called the office in Istanbul and they said he would come to tomorrow and when I said we would be gone tomorrow he hung up on me!
There was a supermarket right there so we did our provisioning for the boat. On the way back I noticed a marina office and the young woman behinf the counter spoke pretty good English and I got her to call the rental car office again and she determined that the guy was here in Gocek and waiting at the next marina! She gave him directions and I asked if I could buy her an ice cream. She said not but she would like a peach ice tea. I went to the store again and all they had were large bottles of mango ice tea so I bought one. She said it was much too big and asked me to share it with her. I accepted and she found two cups and we sat and drank tea and had a great conversation until after a few phone calls back and forth the rentaI guy appeared riding on the back of a moped. I was happy to turn in the rental car as we (in true Loyd fashion) took the long way from Istanbul to Gocek! I was done with driving and ready to do some sailing.
We had dinner at the marina restaurant. very pricey but not too tasty, took showers and headed for the boat and my cabin under the stern starboard side. I up packed my gear, made my bed and dived into it for the night! See you tomorrow as we prepare to go to sea! I was awakened before dawn by a horrible squeaking sound and finally realized that it was our boarding plank squeaking as the boat rolled. I pulled it on board and went back to sleep. A little while later my father got up and put the plank back ashore and went to the bathroom and the squeaking started again. He didn’t realize it until after he got back and moved the plank again but I was already awake for the day.
Antalya to Beycik
Father and I were up fairly early and walked back out the restaurant to enjoy the view some more. We had a spectacular view of the nearby mountains which look very tall and steep. I have to go back into the lobby to get a solid wifi signal but then we do a little research about Antalya. I start back looking at map of the best way to get back out of this warren on little streets! Then we look up directions to the Antalya History Museum. It’s only about 200 meters away but there are lots of one way streets going the wrong directions so we are going to have to circle around. The Museum is very close to the road we want to take out of town so we decide it’s worth moving the car. We have our breakfast, check out and load the van. We find our way out of the warren and onto the main road where we instantly lose our way and spend about 45 minutes driving around until finally with guidance from Randy’s phone GPS we recognize were we are and soon are at the Museum.
We head in and view a wonderful collection of local and regional artifacts, statuary, coins, clothing, jewelry, weapons and carpets. It really was a good overview of the history of the region from a nearby stone age cave right up to contemporary times. Those who finished early toured the gift shop and then gathered under a huge arbor in the courtyard. There was a nice breeze blowing and Grandpa and the girls had ice cream while we waited for Martha to finish. Then we got on the road out of town and were soon driving in the steep mountains were had viewed at breakfast. We saw what looked like a pull off with a picnic area. We didn’t have time stop as were went right into three tunnels under the mountain.
We pulled off at the first town and bought picnic supplies an drove on looking for another picnic pull off but we were out of the nature preserve and there weren’t any more. We picked a turn off by a dry riverbed and headed up river until we found a bit of a pulloff and ate our picnic in the van. This was the least clean area I had seen to date and it was quite trashed so we didn’t stay long. We went up into the mountains and were started to look for a place to stop for the night when I realized that we were low on diesel. I slowed down and we decided it was better to forge ahead as we had not seen a station for a while. I saw the sign for the town of Olympus and headed down but didn’t see much and it 15 km down to the town. We stopped at a roadside teahouse and the old man owner who was heating water on a charcoal fire said to go back to the main road and 3 km further would be a station. We thanked him a drove slow and sure enough there it was.
I bought petrol while my brother called a nearby mountain inn which was on the Lycian Way. Which is a hiking trail that runs for 500 km (300 miles) along the coast Antalya to Fethiye. We wanted to walk on it so we headed backtracked about 15 minutes to the tiny hamlet of Beycik and ground our way up a very narrow twisty road to the Olympia Mountain Lodge. We had to pass some tiny local houses with goats, cows and chickens in the yard and up a steep hill to a gate. Behind the gate was the lodge set in a nice garden with a swimming pool. The owners were a semi-retired attorney from Anatoliya and his architect wife. They got settled in and we all headed for the pool for a swim. It seemed very clean but tHe bottom very extremely slippery! We were safe as long as we floated.
We had gained a lot of altitude and were up on the side of Mt. Olympia. The air was much cooler that Antalya and the pool water was bracing. We were out pretty quickly as the sun was dropping towards the mountain tops. I pulled out long pants and a fleece shirt and was still a bit chilly. Soon our host noticed and started a fire in the fireplace. We all huddled around and had a drink while the chef scrounged us up some dinner. He didn’t know we were coming so he hadn’t prepared a special meal Soon we were ushered out to the porch and served a very tasty chicken and eggplant dish with bread, salad and ice cream for dessert as we watched a huge yellow moon rise over the mountains down by the sea.
Our host, his wife, mother-in –law, and brother all sat around the fire and chatted with us after dinner. The mother-in-law was German but the wife grew up in Turkey and now worked for an architectural firm the worked in both countries. They built the lodge themselves and during the hiking seasons had about 2000 guest hikers from the Lycian Way stay each year. We inquired about climbing the mountain but were told is was 11 hours both ways. Our you can hike 5 to the top and take tram down the other side. We didn’t have that much time to spare. Soon my eyes were drooping and I headed my room and crawled under a pile of blankets was almost instantly sleep. It was quite a day. Until anon. Peace.
We head in and view a wonderful collection of local and regional artifacts, statuary, coins, clothing, jewelry, weapons and carpets. It really was a good overview of the history of the region from a nearby stone age cave right up to contemporary times. Those who finished early toured the gift shop and then gathered under a huge arbor in the courtyard. There was a nice breeze blowing and Grandpa and the girls had ice cream while we waited for Martha to finish. Then we got on the road out of town and were soon driving in the steep mountains were had viewed at breakfast. We saw what looked like a pull off with a picnic area. We didn’t have time stop as were went right into three tunnels under the mountain.
We pulled off at the first town and bought picnic supplies an drove on looking for another picnic pull off but we were out of the nature preserve and there weren’t any more. We picked a turn off by a dry riverbed and headed up river until we found a bit of a pulloff and ate our picnic in the van. This was the least clean area I had seen to date and it was quite trashed so we didn’t stay long. We went up into the mountains and were started to look for a place to stop for the night when I realized that we were low on diesel. I slowed down and we decided it was better to forge ahead as we had not seen a station for a while. I saw the sign for the town of Olympus and headed down but didn’t see much and it 15 km down to the town. We stopped at a roadside teahouse and the old man owner who was heating water on a charcoal fire said to go back to the main road and 3 km further would be a station. We thanked him a drove slow and sure enough there it was.
I bought petrol while my brother called a nearby mountain inn which was on the Lycian Way. Which is a hiking trail that runs for 500 km (300 miles) along the coast Antalya to Fethiye. We wanted to walk on it so we headed backtracked about 15 minutes to the tiny hamlet of Beycik and ground our way up a very narrow twisty road to the Olympia Mountain Lodge. We had to pass some tiny local houses with goats, cows and chickens in the yard and up a steep hill to a gate. Behind the gate was the lodge set in a nice garden with a swimming pool. The owners were a semi-retired attorney from Anatoliya and his architect wife. They got settled in and we all headed for the pool for a swim. It seemed very clean but tHe bottom very extremely slippery! We were safe as long as we floated.
We had gained a lot of altitude and were up on the side of Mt. Olympia. The air was much cooler that Antalya and the pool water was bracing. We were out pretty quickly as the sun was dropping towards the mountain tops. I pulled out long pants and a fleece shirt and was still a bit chilly. Soon our host noticed and started a fire in the fireplace. We all huddled around and had a drink while the chef scrounged us up some dinner. He didn’t know we were coming so he hadn’t prepared a special meal Soon we were ushered out to the porch and served a very tasty chicken and eggplant dish with bread, salad and ice cream for dessert as we watched a huge yellow moon rise over the mountains down by the sea.
Our host, his wife, mother-in –law, and brother all sat around the fire and chatted with us after dinner. The mother-in-law was German but the wife grew up in Turkey and now worked for an architectural firm the worked in both countries. They built the lodge themselves and during the hiking seasons had about 2000 guest hikers from the Lycian Way stay each year. We inquired about climbing the mountain but were told is was 11 hours both ways. Our you can hike 5 to the top and take tram down the other side. We didn’t have that much time to spare. Soon my eyes were drooping and I headed my room and crawled under a pile of blankets was almost instantly sleep. It was quite a day. Until anon. Peace.
Pammukkale and Hieropolis to Antalya
My father and I were up early and had a swim before breakfast. When we were finished we checked out and the owner of the hotel drove us up to the top gate by Heiropolis. Winfree was not feeling well so she and Martha stayed back at the hotel.
The hotel folks let Winfree swim in the pool while Randy, Estill, my father and I explored the ancient city. We started out in an extensive necropolis, or city of the dead, full of carved tombs. There was a long paved street with buildings on either side. We also walked up to see the theater which was probably one of the best preserved I have ever seen. It was huge and the seats were very steep. It would have been a fun place to see a concert.
We walked back down the hill to the famous pool of Thermopolis. It is a natural hot spring that has been used by people since ancient times. There is a modern café built around it now but the floor of the pool is littered with ancient columns and carved pieces from he time of the ancient Greeks. We paid our admission and went in for a dip. It was pretty warm and full of people from all of Europe. The bottom is covered with a gravel that we would see later on the beaches that is composed of beautiful small stones. Estill had fun diving and picking up pretty stones. When we finished swimming we sat in the café and had lunch. We didn’t pay to have small fish “pedicure” our feet like some people were. I guess the fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet! Sounds pretty freaky to me!
We went into the Heiropolis Museum and look at more wonderful carvings and then took off our shoes and walked down the travertines. It looked like the heavens were going to open up so were hurried to the bottom and were headed back to our hotel when a heard a little voice calling Uncle B. I looked over there was Winfree up in a treehouse. We walked over and it was part of a flatbread restaurant. It was decorated with the same low tables and carpet covered benches. They had just ordered lunch. We climbed up to join them but the rain drove us down and back into the main part of the restaurant. Too bad as it was cool up in the tree! We order some food and drinks and sat until the rain ended.
Then we got in the car and I drove us back through Denizili, over the mountains and over some even higher mountains and through some very heavy rain and finally back down to the seaside town of Antalya. After driving around through heavy city traffic my brother directed me down a series of side streets and alleys that got narrower and narrower. In one spot we had to fold in the side mirrors to get through. Finally we found a place we could park and he and my father went further down the alley and found out hotel. The rest of us were waiting in the van and a local shop keeper called Winfree over and gave her a glass of apple tea. He came back with her and spoke to us while we waited. He said it was okay to park there but when my brother came back he said there was parking on the other side of another narrow arch. So I squeezed the van through the arch between two shops and then backed into a tiny spot across from our hotel, which was built into the wall of the old fortress above the harbor.
We cleaned up and then walked into the restaurant, which looked out over the wall into the harbor. The sun had recently set and the mountains on the other side of the harbor had fiery crowns. It was a truly beautiful view!
It was pricey but I had excellent sea bass and enjoyed every minute if the view. After dinner it was off to bed as I was exhausted from all of the hiking and driving. Again I was sharing a room with my father and I were both soon fast asleep. See you tomorrow!
The hotel folks let Winfree swim in the pool while Randy, Estill, my father and I explored the ancient city. We started out in an extensive necropolis, or city of the dead, full of carved tombs. There was a long paved street with buildings on either side. We also walked up to see the theater which was probably one of the best preserved I have ever seen. It was huge and the seats were very steep. It would have been a fun place to see a concert.
We walked back down the hill to the famous pool of Thermopolis. It is a natural hot spring that has been used by people since ancient times. There is a modern café built around it now but the floor of the pool is littered with ancient columns and carved pieces from he time of the ancient Greeks. We paid our admission and went in for a dip. It was pretty warm and full of people from all of Europe. The bottom is covered with a gravel that we would see later on the beaches that is composed of beautiful small stones. Estill had fun diving and picking up pretty stones. When we finished swimming we sat in the café and had lunch. We didn’t pay to have small fish “pedicure” our feet like some people were. I guess the fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet! Sounds pretty freaky to me!
We went into the Heiropolis Museum and look at more wonderful carvings and then took off our shoes and walked down the travertines. It looked like the heavens were going to open up so were hurried to the bottom and were headed back to our hotel when a heard a little voice calling Uncle B. I looked over there was Winfree up in a treehouse. We walked over and it was part of a flatbread restaurant. It was decorated with the same low tables and carpet covered benches. They had just ordered lunch. We climbed up to join them but the rain drove us down and back into the main part of the restaurant. Too bad as it was cool up in the tree! We order some food and drinks and sat until the rain ended.
Then we got in the car and I drove us back through Denizili, over the mountains and over some even higher mountains and through some very heavy rain and finally back down to the seaside town of Antalya. After driving around through heavy city traffic my brother directed me down a series of side streets and alleys that got narrower and narrower. In one spot we had to fold in the side mirrors to get through. Finally we found a place we could park and he and my father went further down the alley and found out hotel. The rest of us were waiting in the van and a local shop keeper called Winfree over and gave her a glass of apple tea. He came back with her and spoke to us while we waited. He said it was okay to park there but when my brother came back he said there was parking on the other side of another narrow arch. So I squeezed the van through the arch between two shops and then backed into a tiny spot across from our hotel, which was built into the wall of the old fortress above the harbor.
We cleaned up and then walked into the restaurant, which looked out over the wall into the harbor. The sun had recently set and the mountains on the other side of the harbor had fiery crowns. It was a truly beautiful view!
It was pricey but I had excellent sea bass and enjoyed every minute if the view. After dinner it was off to bed as I was exhausted from all of the hiking and driving. Again I was sharing a room with my father and I were both soon fast asleep. See you tomorrow!
Selczuk to Afrodesia and Pamukkale
Afrodesia and Pamukkale
My father and Pippa and I got on the road at 6:15 am to drive to the Izmir airport because Pippa is flying home today. We have really enjoyed having here with us this trip. She usually doesn’t come as she is uncomfortable with the motion of boats. We get back on the same toll road and our toll card seems to work again. So off we go at 120 KPH north. It takes about 30 minutes then we are off on a side road and soon we drive into a very modern airport. The police at right there so I say a quick goodbye and stay with the minibus while my father walks Pippa in. Is back very quickly because in Turkish airports security screening is right at the door. We talk the alternate route back that goes through a few small towns which are just waking up. We are arrive back in Selczuk just as our hostess is beginning to set out breakfast. I get my computer and write about Istanbul as all the accoutrements of Turkish breakfast appear. Soon everyone else appears and we dig in.
After breakfast we load up the van and bid our lovely hostess and the men from the shop and restaurant next door adieu and head down the road towards Afrodesia and Pamukkale. Soon we are zipping along through small towns and past roadside stands selling fruit, vegetables, and sometimes jars of what looks like honey. They must e selling the produce they are growing right there because the stands will all be selling tomatoes, then it will be fruit and then change again to what looks like jars of honey. We can see rain clouds ahead and off to the south in the direction of Afrodesia. Soon we see the brown tourist sign for out turn off and we are on a very narrow twisty road through rolling hills and the through some small mountains. You have to get right on to the shoulder when another vehicle comes from the other direction. It’s very exciting driving. Soon the rain starts and we drive through some very small villages and just before Afrodesia we spy a restaurant off to the left and come to a flying stop in a cloud of dust. The owner is out in the parking lot and waves us in. It has a big out door terrace and there is a group off a tourbus at the far end being serenaded by a man playing a Turkish stringed instrument. The wind is bowing a little rain around in the bright orange blooms of the pomegranate trees. It’s a very pretty spot. We order sour cherry juice, Aryan, two chopped salads, beef, meatball shish kebaps and a broiled fish. We end up with a lot of delicious food and leave fully nourished and ready to tour the ancient city of Aphrodesia and the temple of Aphrodite.
We drive into one more rain burst and we try to park right at the gate but we are waved back up the road by a Turkish soldier. We go back up to the main road and park in the lot across the street. We pay a few TL to park and are driven down in a trolley pulled by a farm tractor. Almost like Disney world! We pay our admission and wander past the Museum, café and gift shop. The rain must have scared the tour busses away so we are almost alone. We can see the remains of a two story stone structure with some lovely statues ahead. But then I see a long line of carved capitals off of the tops of columns that are carved with faces. They are stacked four high and fifteen long under an over hanging roof. All the faces are different and carved with quite fine detail. They are really cool all stacked there like that. Across the walk is a field full of odd bits and pieces of carved stone. We walk along and soon come to the theater. It is a large one and pretty well preserved. There are some men working on the stage house. I get pics of the family sitting on the seats.
We walk one into the public buildings. Unlike Ephesus here you can really get the felling of how an ancient Greek city was laid out. There are still a lot of walls and columns standing and fountains, pools and a few statues. There was another workman rebuilding a wall and he smiled and motioned me over and handed me a bunch of plums had had just picked off a nearby tree. I thanked him and motioned that I was going to wash them and he nodded and smiled and are a few plums and went back to his work.
We walked through a smaller theater, where the city councils may have met. It had a pool of water and frogs at the base of the seats. Winfree was trying to catch a frog and we watched from the seats then walked over and were in the remains of the Temple of Aphrodite ( she who wears the see thru nightie!) Most of the columns are still standing and even some of the capitals are on their tops. It’s quite a place. Then we walking into another temple that still had the façade intact and it was covered with amazing carvings. We walked out and toured the museum were they now store most of the statues and a whole room full of carved capitals from the temple. Really intricate carving, and so much of it! It’s really amazing how much carving the Greeks did.
After the museum we walked through a display of the archeologists and photos of the site over the years. There were even pictures of the Turks in the nearby town and the odd pieces of carved stones they were using to hold of columns for porches or to hold water for their animals. There were more photos of parts of the dig over the years. It was amazing to see the original site pictures. You can that amazing temple poking up out of a grove of trees. Then I hit the bathroom and used the Turkish toilet which is a ceramic hole in the floor with foot grips and water spigot. Then I washed my hands and the plums very thoroughly with lots of soap. We ate some of the plums which were a bit sour. We decided they weren’t quite ripe yet so we switched to ice cream bars.
Then we walked back to the trolley where the drivers were shaking white mulberries out of a tree and eating them. I have never had a white mulberry so I ge them a taste. Not as flavorful as the red ones but interesting. We rode the trolley back to our minibus and drove off towards Pamukkale.
We headed further down that narrow twisty road until it meet up with another main road. We turned on to the larger road and were soon headed up into the mountains. We went up and over and then wound our way down the other side and into the city of Denizili. The traffic was thick but we eventually popped out the other side and followed the brown signs to the village of Pamukkale. It’s not a very big community and it mostly caters to tourists as it is right on the edge of a huge cliff of of white travertine which has been deposited there by centuries of water flowing down the cliffs from hot mineral springs. They form pools that people love to bathe in. It is now a world heritage site and they are trying to protect the travertine. The local hotels have diverted a lot of the water into their pools and through their bars and thousands of people walk up and down the cliffs every month. It is very spectacular. We arrived in the evening anf drove to the edge of town and found a quiet hotel with a pool and settled in for a swim and a late dinner.
When we were eating our dinner we could se lots of people walking up the travertines. People are limited to just one path now and it looked like an army of ants. When darkness fell searchlights light up he sky from the top. Our hosts explained to us that a big concert was being held that night in the ancient greek theater at Heiropolis on the top past the travertines. It was being broadcast on the television. Looked like fun. My brother considered walking up there but we were all pretty tired from the days explorations. So we relaxed and then headed for bed. I shared a room with my father instead of Winfree for the first time on the trip. It was nice not having to wade through her stuff to ge to my bed for a change.
My father and Pippa and I got on the road at 6:15 am to drive to the Izmir airport because Pippa is flying home today. We have really enjoyed having here with us this trip. She usually doesn’t come as she is uncomfortable with the motion of boats. We get back on the same toll road and our toll card seems to work again. So off we go at 120 KPH north. It takes about 30 minutes then we are off on a side road and soon we drive into a very modern airport. The police at right there so I say a quick goodbye and stay with the minibus while my father walks Pippa in. Is back very quickly because in Turkish airports security screening is right at the door. We talk the alternate route back that goes through a few small towns which are just waking up. We are arrive back in Selczuk just as our hostess is beginning to set out breakfast. I get my computer and write about Istanbul as all the accoutrements of Turkish breakfast appear. Soon everyone else appears and we dig in.
After breakfast we load up the van and bid our lovely hostess and the men from the shop and restaurant next door adieu and head down the road towards Afrodesia and Pamukkale. Soon we are zipping along through small towns and past roadside stands selling fruit, vegetables, and sometimes jars of what looks like honey. They must e selling the produce they are growing right there because the stands will all be selling tomatoes, then it will be fruit and then change again to what looks like jars of honey. We can see rain clouds ahead and off to the south in the direction of Afrodesia. Soon we see the brown tourist sign for out turn off and we are on a very narrow twisty road through rolling hills and the through some small mountains. You have to get right on to the shoulder when another vehicle comes from the other direction. It’s very exciting driving. Soon the rain starts and we drive through some very small villages and just before Afrodesia we spy a restaurant off to the left and come to a flying stop in a cloud of dust. The owner is out in the parking lot and waves us in. It has a big out door terrace and there is a group off a tourbus at the far end being serenaded by a man playing a Turkish stringed instrument. The wind is bowing a little rain around in the bright orange blooms of the pomegranate trees. It’s a very pretty spot. We order sour cherry juice, Aryan, two chopped salads, beef, meatball shish kebaps and a broiled fish. We end up with a lot of delicious food and leave fully nourished and ready to tour the ancient city of Aphrodesia and the temple of Aphrodite.
We drive into one more rain burst and we try to park right at the gate but we are waved back up the road by a Turkish soldier. We go back up to the main road and park in the lot across the street. We pay a few TL to park and are driven down in a trolley pulled by a farm tractor. Almost like Disney world! We pay our admission and wander past the Museum, café and gift shop. The rain must have scared the tour busses away so we are almost alone. We can see the remains of a two story stone structure with some lovely statues ahead. But then I see a long line of carved capitals off of the tops of columns that are carved with faces. They are stacked four high and fifteen long under an over hanging roof. All the faces are different and carved with quite fine detail. They are really cool all stacked there like that. Across the walk is a field full of odd bits and pieces of carved stone. We walk along and soon come to the theater. It is a large one and pretty well preserved. There are some men working on the stage house. I get pics of the family sitting on the seats.
We walk one into the public buildings. Unlike Ephesus here you can really get the felling of how an ancient Greek city was laid out. There are still a lot of walls and columns standing and fountains, pools and a few statues. There was another workman rebuilding a wall and he smiled and motioned me over and handed me a bunch of plums had had just picked off a nearby tree. I thanked him and motioned that I was going to wash them and he nodded and smiled and are a few plums and went back to his work.
We walked through a smaller theater, where the city councils may have met. It had a pool of water and frogs at the base of the seats. Winfree was trying to catch a frog and we watched from the seats then walked over and were in the remains of the Temple of Aphrodite ( she who wears the see thru nightie!) Most of the columns are still standing and even some of the capitals are on their tops. It’s quite a place. Then we walking into another temple that still had the façade intact and it was covered with amazing carvings. We walked out and toured the museum were they now store most of the statues and a whole room full of carved capitals from the temple. Really intricate carving, and so much of it! It’s really amazing how much carving the Greeks did.
After the museum we walked through a display of the archeologists and photos of the site over the years. There were even pictures of the Turks in the nearby town and the odd pieces of carved stones they were using to hold of columns for porches or to hold water for their animals. There were more photos of parts of the dig over the years. It was amazing to see the original site pictures. You can that amazing temple poking up out of a grove of trees. Then I hit the bathroom and used the Turkish toilet which is a ceramic hole in the floor with foot grips and water spigot. Then I washed my hands and the plums very thoroughly with lots of soap. We ate some of the plums which were a bit sour. We decided they weren’t quite ripe yet so we switched to ice cream bars.
Then we walked back to the trolley where the drivers were shaking white mulberries out of a tree and eating them. I have never had a white mulberry so I ge them a taste. Not as flavorful as the red ones but interesting. We rode the trolley back to our minibus and drove off towards Pamukkale.
We headed further down that narrow twisty road until it meet up with another main road. We turned on to the larger road and were soon headed up into the mountains. We went up and over and then wound our way down the other side and into the city of Denizili. The traffic was thick but we eventually popped out the other side and followed the brown signs to the village of Pamukkale. It’s not a very big community and it mostly caters to tourists as it is right on the edge of a huge cliff of of white travertine which has been deposited there by centuries of water flowing down the cliffs from hot mineral springs. They form pools that people love to bathe in. It is now a world heritage site and they are trying to protect the travertine. The local hotels have diverted a lot of the water into their pools and through their bars and thousands of people walk up and down the cliffs every month. It is very spectacular. We arrived in the evening anf drove to the edge of town and found a quiet hotel with a pool and settled in for a swim and a late dinner.
When we were eating our dinner we could se lots of people walking up the travertines. People are limited to just one path now and it looked like an army of ants. When darkness fell searchlights light up he sky from the top. Our hosts explained to us that a big concert was being held that night in the ancient greek theater at Heiropolis on the top past the travertines. It was being broadcast on the television. Looked like fun. My brother considered walking up there but we were all pretty tired from the days explorations. So we relaxed and then headed for bed. I shared a room with my father instead of Winfree for the first time on the trip. It was nice not having to wade through her stuff to ge to my bed for a change.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Bursa to Selczuk and Ephesus
Monday
Bursa is the home of the Turkish shadow puppet and there is a Museum. We were trying to get directions but were told that Turkish Museums close on Mondays. Too bad. We walked around this small church and found stairs leading down the wall in the direction of the mosque, which is famous for it’s calligraphy. We walked though a backstreet where a fresh market was being set-up. Down an alley and out onto the main street and there was the Mosque.
We found the walkway under the street and made our way to the Mosque and removed our shoes and covered hair and headed inside. The calligraphy was amazing. This certainly one of the most fabulous masques I have ever visited. There were some lovely stained glass windows as well. Islamic temples don’t have any images of people or animals so all the stained glass was abstract patterns or calligraphy.
Afterwards we walked around the covered markets. Bursa is a famous center for weaving and fabric. There were people buying fabric, dresses and scarves. I walked around and took pictures. There were some men sitting on a terrace near the mosque drinking tea. I took their picture and then showed it around. They invited me to have tea with them. I would loved to have join them but I had to rendezvous with the rest of the family in a few minutes. I managed to explain that to them and they shook my hand wished me luck and I was on my way. The girls had found a scarf shop and took me there so I could buy one. Then we met up with a young couple Huseyin and Rabia Tuluk who were staying in our same hotel and they invited us to have Kebaps with them.
Bursa is the home the Kebap. They were celebrating their one year anniversary at the hotel but lived in Istanbul. The husband Huseyin worked in the family business furnishing hotels. We walked off in the direction of the restaurant and he would periodically stop and ask directions. Finally we found it. It is either the actual first kepab restaurant or part of the first chain as it is named after the inventor of the kebap, Iskenedar. It had marble floors and beautiful wooden tables and wonderful lamb kebap. Huseyin and his wife Rabia don’t drink alcohol so we all had Ayran and Fanta with plates of really tasty meat over eggplant with a tomato sauce and browned butter poured over it. Wonderfully tender and flavorful! I was glad I ordered a small as it was a lot of food. Mehamet insisted on paying for the meal. So we insisted that he bring his family to florida to stay in our house!
We said our goodbyes to our new friends and walked back to the hotel and jumped in the car and fought our way out of Bursa to the main highway and I drove six hours south to Selczuk a small town next to Efes (Ephesus) We pulled over for a bathroom break at one point and just happened to be at a roadside mall with another Iskander kebap place and right next door an Iskander fast food place. They must be all over. There was also a Starbucks and a MacDonalds. The girls got French fries, Pippa, Randy and Martha coffee drinks and my father I went for the Magnums ( Turkish ice cream bars)
There was a candy place and I noticed they had candies shaped like fried eggs, which was a new one for me. We drove on and went over some very steep mountains with some very sharp turns with lots of crs and buses. Found the bypass around Izmir and then onto a toll road south towards Selczuk. The first toll booth had no place to pay but a big red button so I punched it and drove on.
We finally got to the Selczuk exit and there was another toll booth. We saw a man standing there and tried to hand him money but would wouldn’t take it and pointed to a building off to the side so we backed up and drove over there. Randy went inside and they sold him a card for 20 TL. We drove back to the man and he showed us how to swipe it. We did and as we drove through an alarm went off. We kept going and soon were right outside the village. I pulled over right as it was getting dark. Randy called a promising pensyione and soon we were parking outside and dragging our baggage through a beautiful courtyard and up and outside staircase to our rooms.
There was a rooftop restaurant next door and we walked through a rug and plate shop, up the stairs and sat down on carpet padded benches with pillows and ordered cold beer and mezzzes. There was a nest of storks with fledgling chicks on a pole across the street right at eye level. We ate some different eggplant, lamb and spinach dishes and then wandered back to the hotel and once again I fell exhausted from all the driving into bed!!! GOOD NIGHT!
I sleep until breakfast and then walk down the staircase into a pool of purple bougainvillea that covers the courtyard. There is a big circular wooden table with a bench on one side and chairs around. I settle on the bench and download photos while our hostess assembles breakfast. Cucumbers and tomtoes, bread, butter and jam, cheese and salami, black and green olives, boiled eggs and finally a cup of chair (tea) for me! It’s beautiful sitting in the purple shade in this wonderful country! Today we are off to Efes (Ephesus) which is a very large ancient Greek city. I saw when I was here last time and it was very cool. I hear there is a new section they have uncovered. I am very excited to see it.
After breakfast the owner of the restaurant next door loaded us into his van and drove us to the upper gate at Ephesus. The tour buses were rolling in and lots of people were milling around the vendors and the ticket booth. Half our group headed into the shops and I fought through the crowd and bought tickets. We gather our group, water, sunscreen and plunged into Ephesus. It is a huge site with a main street that runs downhill. People have been living and building here since at least 2000 BC. There are the remains of two theaters a large library and a public toilet with 44 seat and platform for a musician to cover all the noise! Now some of the walls remain and the marble benches with the seat holes cut in them.
There were lots of people speaking in many languages all trying to take pictures at once. My stepmother and Martha were absolutely entranced with the site. It really is amazing the first time you see it. Soon we came to the new section that runs up the hill and paid our 15 TL and headed in under a really amazing truss fabric roof structure that run up the hill and protected the new dig from weather. It was cool and quiet inside. There were only a few people inside which was a relief from the press of humanity outside. This section is incredible! They have uncovered a wealthy persons house or houses with beautiful mosaics on the floors an indoor fountain, marble wainscoting on the walls and frescos painted on the upper walls and ceilings. You could see the remains of indoor plumbing and one huge arched ceiling remains. It was truly fabulous to walk along on a glass walkway over the top and look down into the different rooms. There are sections were different archeologists and restorers are working. They had their tables and tools set-up. There were none working at the time but it was fun to see what their set-ups.
As we walked around I was leaning way over one of the rails to take a picture of a mosaic and one of the guards saw me and came over and took us off the walkway onto the top of a wall so I we could get better pictures. We were the only people in there at the time and the guard saw how thrilled we were and was about to take us down onto the floor but another group of people came along so he took Pippa’s camera and walked inside and took a whole series of pictures for her. He allowed me take a picture of him. We thanked him profusely and headed back up to the top and eventually out and down the side of the tent back to the main street. Amazingly the crowds were gone! We had the place almost to ourselves. So we wandered on down to the library, which was three stories tall and still has some wonderful carved statues in place. They had the walkway to the large theater blocked off as there was a huge crane lifting scaffolding up to a work site on one side.
We headed for the exit and I noticed people walking up into the theater from the other side. Pippa and my father headed for the shade while I ran up for a quick look. It is a very large theater that is still used occasionally for concerts. You can really fell the presence of actors and singers from the ages standing there gazing up at you from the stage. It’s fun to imagine what their performances were like. One the other hill next to the library I notice a Turkish soldier armed with a machine gun watching over the site. The Turks are very serious about guarding their antiquities!
As a I walked towards the exit I noticed lots of re poppies were blooming in the grass along side the ruins. It was very pretty. I found Pippa and my father relaxing in a shady breezy spot. We were in no hurry as my brother and his family, were just heading into the new section. We wandered down to the lower gate and Pippa convinced one of the guards to let her out the gate to buy ice cream and then return. We sat on the wall by the lavs under huge pine trees and listened to the wind singing in the trees and ate double chocolate magnums. Chocolate ice cream with a soft dark chocolate coating dipped in hard milk chocolate on a stick! What a great invention ice cream with a handle! After we finished our ice cream we watched some birds chasing on the many stray cats around. Pippa headed out the gate to shop and my father and I lay down on top f the wall and promptly dozed off.
I was awakened by Winfree talking about the stray cats. We grouped up and bought water and walked to the bookshop on the left. The proprietor called the restaurant and the owner picked us up and took us to the base of the Seven Sisters were he ushered us into the tent covered kitchen of a tent restaurant. There was a whole family busy cutting onions, eggplants, spinach and rolling out very thin dough with which they were making stuff flatbread and cooking them in a stone wood fired oven. We ordered some meat, some veggies and some dessert flatbreads and were ushered into another tent and asked to remove our shoes and were seated one low benches covered the Turkish carpets and pillows at a big low table under another tent. The people running the place looked like they were one step from nomadic or gypsy people. The flatbreads were excellent. One with veggies, anterh with lamb and veggies and two desserts on with banana and honey and another with peanut butter and Nutella ) chocolate hazelnut spread).
After we finished we walk up the hill to the Seven Sisters, which was a small ruin were people obviously lived and maybe were buried at some point. Soon the van appeared and we were driven back to the hotel. We headed to our rooms for a rest. Winfree and I played a couple of games of Boggle and then read for awhile. Soon it was 7 pm when we expected next door for dinner so we straggled over the and up to the rooftop restaurant and watched the stork babies practicing their flying on the edge of the nest while our food was delivered. We ordered a bunch of mezzes which came with bread and drank beer and water. Spinach, eggplant, chicken with veggies and yogurt. It was all tasty. After dinner Randy and family browsed in the ceramic and rug shop under the restaurant and Pippa and my father and I wandered up to the Church of St. Jean and walked around to the side to the see the sunset. There were two Turkish men who were just settling on the wall with half a roast chicken, salad, beer and raki for the dinner. When we appeared they smiled and asked us to share their meal. I explained that we had just eaten but thanked them and we watched the sunset and left them to their meal.
We walked up toward the fort on the hill but some young turks on a moped explain the fort is closed for repair. We headed back to our hotel and off to sleep. I am finally feeling like I am catching up on my rest! See you in the morning!
Bursa is the home of the Turkish shadow puppet and there is a Museum. We were trying to get directions but were told that Turkish Museums close on Mondays. Too bad. We walked around this small church and found stairs leading down the wall in the direction of the mosque, which is famous for it’s calligraphy. We walked though a backstreet where a fresh market was being set-up. Down an alley and out onto the main street and there was the Mosque.
We found the walkway under the street and made our way to the Mosque and removed our shoes and covered hair and headed inside. The calligraphy was amazing. This certainly one of the most fabulous masques I have ever visited. There were some lovely stained glass windows as well. Islamic temples don’t have any images of people or animals so all the stained glass was abstract patterns or calligraphy.
Afterwards we walked around the covered markets. Bursa is a famous center for weaving and fabric. There were people buying fabric, dresses and scarves. I walked around and took pictures. There were some men sitting on a terrace near the mosque drinking tea. I took their picture and then showed it around. They invited me to have tea with them. I would loved to have join them but I had to rendezvous with the rest of the family in a few minutes. I managed to explain that to them and they shook my hand wished me luck and I was on my way. The girls had found a scarf shop and took me there so I could buy one. Then we met up with a young couple Huseyin and Rabia Tuluk who were staying in our same hotel and they invited us to have Kebaps with them.
Bursa is the home the Kebap. They were celebrating their one year anniversary at the hotel but lived in Istanbul. The husband Huseyin worked in the family business furnishing hotels. We walked off in the direction of the restaurant and he would periodically stop and ask directions. Finally we found it. It is either the actual first kepab restaurant or part of the first chain as it is named after the inventor of the kebap, Iskenedar. It had marble floors and beautiful wooden tables and wonderful lamb kebap. Huseyin and his wife Rabia don’t drink alcohol so we all had Ayran and Fanta with plates of really tasty meat over eggplant with a tomato sauce and browned butter poured over it. Wonderfully tender and flavorful! I was glad I ordered a small as it was a lot of food. Mehamet insisted on paying for the meal. So we insisted that he bring his family to florida to stay in our house!
We said our goodbyes to our new friends and walked back to the hotel and jumped in the car and fought our way out of Bursa to the main highway and I drove six hours south to Selczuk a small town next to Efes (Ephesus) We pulled over for a bathroom break at one point and just happened to be at a roadside mall with another Iskander kebap place and right next door an Iskander fast food place. They must be all over. There was also a Starbucks and a MacDonalds. The girls got French fries, Pippa, Randy and Martha coffee drinks and my father I went for the Magnums ( Turkish ice cream bars)
There was a candy place and I noticed they had candies shaped like fried eggs, which was a new one for me. We drove on and went over some very steep mountains with some very sharp turns with lots of crs and buses. Found the bypass around Izmir and then onto a toll road south towards Selczuk. The first toll booth had no place to pay but a big red button so I punched it and drove on.
We finally got to the Selczuk exit and there was another toll booth. We saw a man standing there and tried to hand him money but would wouldn’t take it and pointed to a building off to the side so we backed up and drove over there. Randy went inside and they sold him a card for 20 TL. We drove back to the man and he showed us how to swipe it. We did and as we drove through an alarm went off. We kept going and soon were right outside the village. I pulled over right as it was getting dark. Randy called a promising pensyione and soon we were parking outside and dragging our baggage through a beautiful courtyard and up and outside staircase to our rooms.
There was a rooftop restaurant next door and we walked through a rug and plate shop, up the stairs and sat down on carpet padded benches with pillows and ordered cold beer and mezzzes. There was a nest of storks with fledgling chicks on a pole across the street right at eye level. We ate some different eggplant, lamb and spinach dishes and then wandered back to the hotel and once again I fell exhausted from all the driving into bed!!! GOOD NIGHT!
I sleep until breakfast and then walk down the staircase into a pool of purple bougainvillea that covers the courtyard. There is a big circular wooden table with a bench on one side and chairs around. I settle on the bench and download photos while our hostess assembles breakfast. Cucumbers and tomtoes, bread, butter and jam, cheese and salami, black and green olives, boiled eggs and finally a cup of chair (tea) for me! It’s beautiful sitting in the purple shade in this wonderful country! Today we are off to Efes (Ephesus) which is a very large ancient Greek city. I saw when I was here last time and it was very cool. I hear there is a new section they have uncovered. I am very excited to see it.
After breakfast the owner of the restaurant next door loaded us into his van and drove us to the upper gate at Ephesus. The tour buses were rolling in and lots of people were milling around the vendors and the ticket booth. Half our group headed into the shops and I fought through the crowd and bought tickets. We gather our group, water, sunscreen and plunged into Ephesus. It is a huge site with a main street that runs downhill. People have been living and building here since at least 2000 BC. There are the remains of two theaters a large library and a public toilet with 44 seat and platform for a musician to cover all the noise! Now some of the walls remain and the marble benches with the seat holes cut in them.
There were lots of people speaking in many languages all trying to take pictures at once. My stepmother and Martha were absolutely entranced with the site. It really is amazing the first time you see it. Soon we came to the new section that runs up the hill and paid our 15 TL and headed in under a really amazing truss fabric roof structure that run up the hill and protected the new dig from weather. It was cool and quiet inside. There were only a few people inside which was a relief from the press of humanity outside. This section is incredible! They have uncovered a wealthy persons house or houses with beautiful mosaics on the floors an indoor fountain, marble wainscoting on the walls and frescos painted on the upper walls and ceilings. You could see the remains of indoor plumbing and one huge arched ceiling remains. It was truly fabulous to walk along on a glass walkway over the top and look down into the different rooms. There are sections were different archeologists and restorers are working. They had their tables and tools set-up. There were none working at the time but it was fun to see what their set-ups.
As we walked around I was leaning way over one of the rails to take a picture of a mosaic and one of the guards saw me and came over and took us off the walkway onto the top of a wall so I we could get better pictures. We were the only people in there at the time and the guard saw how thrilled we were and was about to take us down onto the floor but another group of people came along so he took Pippa’s camera and walked inside and took a whole series of pictures for her. He allowed me take a picture of him. We thanked him profusely and headed back up to the top and eventually out and down the side of the tent back to the main street. Amazingly the crowds were gone! We had the place almost to ourselves. So we wandered on down to the library, which was three stories tall and still has some wonderful carved statues in place. They had the walkway to the large theater blocked off as there was a huge crane lifting scaffolding up to a work site on one side.
We headed for the exit and I noticed people walking up into the theater from the other side. Pippa and my father headed for the shade while I ran up for a quick look. It is a very large theater that is still used occasionally for concerts. You can really fell the presence of actors and singers from the ages standing there gazing up at you from the stage. It’s fun to imagine what their performances were like. One the other hill next to the library I notice a Turkish soldier armed with a machine gun watching over the site. The Turks are very serious about guarding their antiquities!
As a I walked towards the exit I noticed lots of re poppies were blooming in the grass along side the ruins. It was very pretty. I found Pippa and my father relaxing in a shady breezy spot. We were in no hurry as my brother and his family, were just heading into the new section. We wandered down to the lower gate and Pippa convinced one of the guards to let her out the gate to buy ice cream and then return. We sat on the wall by the lavs under huge pine trees and listened to the wind singing in the trees and ate double chocolate magnums. Chocolate ice cream with a soft dark chocolate coating dipped in hard milk chocolate on a stick! What a great invention ice cream with a handle! After we finished our ice cream we watched some birds chasing on the many stray cats around. Pippa headed out the gate to shop and my father and I lay down on top f the wall and promptly dozed off.
I was awakened by Winfree talking about the stray cats. We grouped up and bought water and walked to the bookshop on the left. The proprietor called the restaurant and the owner picked us up and took us to the base of the Seven Sisters were he ushered us into the tent covered kitchen of a tent restaurant. There was a whole family busy cutting onions, eggplants, spinach and rolling out very thin dough with which they were making stuff flatbread and cooking them in a stone wood fired oven. We ordered some meat, some veggies and some dessert flatbreads and were ushered into another tent and asked to remove our shoes and were seated one low benches covered the Turkish carpets and pillows at a big low table under another tent. The people running the place looked like they were one step from nomadic or gypsy people. The flatbreads were excellent. One with veggies, anterh with lamb and veggies and two desserts on with banana and honey and another with peanut butter and Nutella ) chocolate hazelnut spread).
After we finished we walk up the hill to the Seven Sisters, which was a small ruin were people obviously lived and maybe were buried at some point. Soon the van appeared and we were driven back to the hotel. We headed to our rooms for a rest. Winfree and I played a couple of games of Boggle and then read for awhile. Soon it was 7 pm when we expected next door for dinner so we straggled over the and up to the rooftop restaurant and watched the stork babies practicing their flying on the edge of the nest while our food was delivered. We ordered a bunch of mezzes which came with bread and drank beer and water. Spinach, eggplant, chicken with veggies and yogurt. It was all tasty. After dinner Randy and family browsed in the ceramic and rug shop under the restaurant and Pippa and my father and I wandered up to the Church of St. Jean and walked around to the side to the see the sunset. There were two Turkish men who were just settling on the wall with half a roast chicken, salad, beer and raki for the dinner. When we appeared they smiled and asked us to share their meal. I explained that we had just eaten but thanked them and we watched the sunset and left them to their meal.
We walked up toward the fort on the hill but some young turks on a moped explain the fort is closed for repair. We headed back to our hotel and off to sleep. I am finally feeling like I am catching up on my rest! See you in the morning!
Istanbul to Bursa
Today we receive a rental van delivered to our hotel. But it has no map. I finally convince the driver to go and buy a map for me. There is no way we will get to Gocek with out one. After looking at the map and the route out of Istanbul the day before I booked passage on a car ferry across the Sea of Marmara to Yalova. So after we settled our hotel bill with a combination of Euros, Turkish Lira and Dollars (they didn’t accept credit cards) we loaded up the van (minibus) and found our way down the twisty side streets to the highway that runs along the shore and along to the ferry terminal. There were cash machines so we loaded up on Turkish lira since few people were accepting Euros. Only my bank wouldn’t give me money. Hmmm! Not good. Then I remembered that these are the days they are turning the last of Wachovia into Wells Fargo. I hope it works in a few days!!!
Winfree had a small Turkish coin she found and wanted to spend it. We walked over to the snack bar and with some help from my pocket book she was able to buy what turned out to be a chocolate granola bar type thingy. She enjoyed it and a guy started talking to us. He is Turkish but lived in Norfolk, Virginia for a while. He also drove through Florida all the way south to Key West. He was one of the ferry captains but unfortunately not for our ferry.
Too bad, as it would have been fun to get Winfree and Estill up on the bridge during the crossing. His bat came in so we said goodbye and walked back to the van and soon we were loaded on the ferry and grabbed a table on the first deck. But we soon realized that contrary to what I had been told people were sitting in their reserved seats. We were displaced by a family and their two daughters spent a lot of effort helping us find our seats which were scattered all about. They were fairly devout Muslim women in scarves and long coats and so the girls had a long conversation with Martha, Pippa and the girls. Winfree, Randy and I went out on deck to take some pics but a rain squall ran us back inside. So I sat and dozed and soon the announcement came to return to our vehicles. So we made or way below to the van and the two gals were waiting for us with a gift of wonderful thin sesame bread sticks.
We worked our way off the ferry in Turkish style pushing our way into the traffic and decided to drive to Termal which is a little town famous for it’s hot springs. It must be a tourist favorite as it was marked with big brown tourist site road signs. In about 30 minutes we arrived and the parking man let us park free and showed us were we could swim. Randy, Father the girls and I paid and were issued towels and
keys to two changing cabanas and told to shower well when we got out. They pool was in a very pretty little valley surrounded by trees next to a nice hotel. The pool was pretty warm and there were pipes along the sides that were jetting very hot water from the springs into the pool. We had a nice swim and sat in the sun for a while then showered and turned in our towels. We realized towards the end that everyone else was walking around in blue crocs from a rack by the entrance. The pool deck was marble and quite slippery. So I think the shoes would have helped with slipping.
After our swim we met up with Pippa and Martha and walk up to café on the hill for lunch. We ordered some yogurt with cucumber and Turkish pizzas and bread with melted cheese and salad. Turned out to be a lot of food. The bread with melted cheese was excellent and the pizza had ground meat, salami, tomatoes on them and were really tasty. We left stuffed and got back in the minibus and headed south to Bursa. The turks don’t post a top speed limit so people pretty much drive as fast as they can. They as a rule pass on the left and will false their headlights at you to get you to move over if they are in a big hurry. We drove back out of Termal and found a highway. Fill the tank with diesel and were on our way. They road was divided two lane most of the way except where they were working and they would send the traffic to the other side. There you had to watch carefully for vehicles passing in your face. They did on occasion and the vehicles on our side would move over as far as possible. It was about 4 hours to Bursa over some pretty mountainous terrain with some good curves with the turks moving at high speed. Took a bit of getting used to. It began to rain just outside of Bursa but stopped as we entered the inner city. We had a hotel but no directions on how to get there. Bursa is a large city with lots of traffic going every which way. I pulled off the road and luckily my brother was able to get the GPS to work on his phone and after driving around for a while we found our hotel on the hill inside the wall of the old city. Ketap Evi is a beautiful boutique hotel. We got settled and had a cup of apple tea.
I read online that Bursa had a large community of the Mevlevi Order which is small sect of Islamists who worship love and a better know as whirling dervishes because the men wear long full skirts and they spin as they pray. I was hoping to see them in action but was unable to find an address and really didn’t want to get back in the car and fight through the traffic!
Then we walked around and looked over the wall and dodged thunderstorms and walked down what seemed like a thousand stairs until we found a café at the base of the wall. They didn’t serve alcohol so we ordered Fanta (orange drink) and Aryan which is a salted yogurt drink and a couple of big cucumber and tomato salads. Followed by a bunch of desserts. Tiaramisu, chocolate pudding, and pistachio ice cream. I was so tired that I kept falling asleep at the table so when dessert was finished and the bill was paid, I staggered up the stairs and fell right into bed. I finally slept a full night and woke after dawn and felt fresher than in many days.
Winfree had a small Turkish coin she found and wanted to spend it. We walked over to the snack bar and with some help from my pocket book she was able to buy what turned out to be a chocolate granola bar type thingy. She enjoyed it and a guy started talking to us. He is Turkish but lived in Norfolk, Virginia for a while. He also drove through Florida all the way south to Key West. He was one of the ferry captains but unfortunately not for our ferry.
Too bad, as it would have been fun to get Winfree and Estill up on the bridge during the crossing. His bat came in so we said goodbye and walked back to the van and soon we were loaded on the ferry and grabbed a table on the first deck. But we soon realized that contrary to what I had been told people were sitting in their reserved seats. We were displaced by a family and their two daughters spent a lot of effort helping us find our seats which were scattered all about. They were fairly devout Muslim women in scarves and long coats and so the girls had a long conversation with Martha, Pippa and the girls. Winfree, Randy and I went out on deck to take some pics but a rain squall ran us back inside. So I sat and dozed and soon the announcement came to return to our vehicles. So we made or way below to the van and the two gals were waiting for us with a gift of wonderful thin sesame bread sticks.
We worked our way off the ferry in Turkish style pushing our way into the traffic and decided to drive to Termal which is a little town famous for it’s hot springs. It must be a tourist favorite as it was marked with big brown tourist site road signs. In about 30 minutes we arrived and the parking man let us park free and showed us were we could swim. Randy, Father the girls and I paid and were issued towels and
keys to two changing cabanas and told to shower well when we got out. They pool was in a very pretty little valley surrounded by trees next to a nice hotel. The pool was pretty warm and there were pipes along the sides that were jetting very hot water from the springs into the pool. We had a nice swim and sat in the sun for a while then showered and turned in our towels. We realized towards the end that everyone else was walking around in blue crocs from a rack by the entrance. The pool deck was marble and quite slippery. So I think the shoes would have helped with slipping.
After our swim we met up with Pippa and Martha and walk up to café on the hill for lunch. We ordered some yogurt with cucumber and Turkish pizzas and bread with melted cheese and salad. Turned out to be a lot of food. The bread with melted cheese was excellent and the pizza had ground meat, salami, tomatoes on them and were really tasty. We left stuffed and got back in the minibus and headed south to Bursa. The turks don’t post a top speed limit so people pretty much drive as fast as they can. They as a rule pass on the left and will false their headlights at you to get you to move over if they are in a big hurry. We drove back out of Termal and found a highway. Fill the tank with diesel and were on our way. They road was divided two lane most of the way except where they were working and they would send the traffic to the other side. There you had to watch carefully for vehicles passing in your face. They did on occasion and the vehicles on our side would move over as far as possible. It was about 4 hours to Bursa over some pretty mountainous terrain with some good curves with the turks moving at high speed. Took a bit of getting used to. It began to rain just outside of Bursa but stopped as we entered the inner city. We had a hotel but no directions on how to get there. Bursa is a large city with lots of traffic going every which way. I pulled off the road and luckily my brother was able to get the GPS to work on his phone and after driving around for a while we found our hotel on the hill inside the wall of the old city. Ketap Evi is a beautiful boutique hotel. We got settled and had a cup of apple tea.
I read online that Bursa had a large community of the Mevlevi Order which is small sect of Islamists who worship love and a better know as whirling dervishes because the men wear long full skirts and they spin as they pray. I was hoping to see them in action but was unable to find an address and really didn’t want to get back in the car and fight through the traffic!
Then we walked around and looked over the wall and dodged thunderstorms and walked down what seemed like a thousand stairs until we found a café at the base of the wall. They didn’t serve alcohol so we ordered Fanta (orange drink) and Aryan which is a salted yogurt drink and a couple of big cucumber and tomato salads. Followed by a bunch of desserts. Tiaramisu, chocolate pudding, and pistachio ice cream. I was so tired that I kept falling asleep at the table so when dessert was finished and the bill was paid, I staggered up the stairs and fell right into bed. I finally slept a full night and woke after dawn and felt fresher than in many days.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sights and Sounds of istanbul
Morning comes early in Istanbul. I am deeply asleep when there is a sound like a finger tap on your shoulder. It is the first syllable of the morning call to worship from the Blue Mosque. The syllable grows and and ululates. Then dies away. You fall back into sleep. Then the call comes again with a vengence. It begins louder and and grows in volume and voice wails and ululates. You can hear it echoing off buildings. Then it falls away and you hear the answering calls from other mosques. It comes again and again until you are completely awake. Then silence. It’s 4:45 am and still dark and I am awake… Istanbul is waking up. Soon you hear the rumble of the first commuter train. Soon the light begins to color the sky rose and the sound of sweeping brooms as the street cleaners come through. The calls of the bread sellers begin to echo along the street.
It’s full light and I am up and ready for breakfast.
As you walk along the streets of Istanbul the shopkeepers stand in front of their shops and invite you in. They call “are you French?” “are you English?” “Hello English!” “Come have a tea with me.” They all want to sell something. You have to get used to politely saying no and walking on past. Some are more aggressive and will follow you down the sidewalk. There is always conversation in Turkish which is a little bit more guttural than Spanish or French but more musical that German. People smile and nod. If you greet them they will smile and return your greeting.
There are always street vendors. They have carts of bottled water and juices. You smell chestnuts and corn roasting on grills. Oranges and other fruit. There are always young boys walking around with trays of small glasses of tea. Tea is offered everywhere. If you go into a bank or a rug shop the owner will send a boy running for tea. They will offer you tea while they show you rugs. If you engage a Turk in conversation before they will offer you tea.
As you walk you can smell hints of spices from shops, roasting meats from the kebapi (kebab shops) little hints of sewage here and there, perfume and diesel exhaust, and scents from flowering trees and plants.
If you get off the main streets the side streets twist, turn, rise and fall and the houses and shops are packed cheek to jowl. They are full of people sitting on chairs and in cafes, kids playing on the sidewalks and people calling to each other. There are very few street signs so it’s easy to get lost. But if you look up you can usually spot the minarets (towers) of a nearby mosque and head for it. Mosques are always easy to find on the town maps and make good navigation points.
Turkey has Islamic, Christian and Jewish people living happily side by side. It has been a democracy since about 1926 when then President Attaturk declared it so. Turks are very proud of their democracy and their heritage and tke voting seriously. We are arrived during an election and their were polling stations set –up in the airport arrival areas. Many Turks are Islamic in faith but they are not Arabs. Like all Islamic peoples they are very clean. They before praying and the very faithful pray 6 times a day.
I love walking in Istanbul. People call out hello and smile and the men mostly dress in grey or blue slacks and short sleeve button down shirts. The women are dressed in a huge variety from very Western wear. Too black dresses with shawls so only their noses stick out. Women as a rule keep their shoulders covered and don’t wear blouses with revealing necklines. They wear a wonderful variety of scarves in any color and pattern you can image.
There were a few people begging on the street in Istanbul but not nearly as many as we saw in Athens. Here they seemed to be Turks where as in Greece they all seemed to be gypsies or North Africans.
Istanbul is quite clean for such a big city. There is not much trash lying around. There are people who pick up trash and you see them dragging huge containers of trash that are constructed of fabric on a PVC frame built around a hand truck. They stuff them as full as possible. It is amazing how much they can fit into their containers. At one place back in an alley I could see a bunch of these guys sorting out what they had collected. They seemed to be separating the metal from plastics etc.
We had some rain storms roll through and people pulled out umbrellas or put newspapers on their heads and continued on. They didn’t seem to mind the rain and luckily it never lasted too long.
We walked and rode the trolley, but not the buses this time. Turkey has a very extensive bus system around the country. Istanbul is such on old city that there are antiquities everywhere you look. People have been living here since before recorded time. I love the layers of the City. There are buildings of different styles and time periods all mixed together into a wonderful mosaic that Istanbul. If you look at older walls and buildings you can see bits and pieces of even older buildings that were used in their construction.
We walk and look until we are tired and hungry and then choose a café and sit down for a drink and a meal. One of my favorite drinks is Aryan, which is yogurt that has been mixed with water and salt. It is very tasty and refreshing. Especially on a hot day. You almost never see pork on a menu. Though one place that caters to Enlish and German tourists had swine frankfurters on the menu. They have wonderful lamb, beef and eggplant dishes. Also fresh grilled fish.
When the evening comes you see some Turks having alcohol with a meal but mostly after dinner. They make a tasty beer Efes (Ephesus) which comes as a pilsner or a dark. I prefer the pilsner. If they are going to drink hard liquor it will be Raki which is anise flavored like licorice and very strong. It is served like greek ouzo with a glass of water which is dripped into the raki which turns milky. When you have diluted it to your satisfaction it is then sipped. All is quiet save the low rumble of a large sleeping city. Turks as a rule don’t really drink to excess so Turkish cities are pretty quiet at night. Sometimes you hear some roosters giving their last calls as the last light falls away. At about 9:45 at night you hear the evening call to prayer and soon after Istanbul sleeps. As much as any major city ever sleeps. So I read a few sentences and drift off. Good night!
It’s full light and I am up and ready for breakfast.
As you walk along the streets of Istanbul the shopkeepers stand in front of their shops and invite you in. They call “are you French?” “are you English?” “Hello English!” “Come have a tea with me.” They all want to sell something. You have to get used to politely saying no and walking on past. Some are more aggressive and will follow you down the sidewalk. There is always conversation in Turkish which is a little bit more guttural than Spanish or French but more musical that German. People smile and nod. If you greet them they will smile and return your greeting.
There are always street vendors. They have carts of bottled water and juices. You smell chestnuts and corn roasting on grills. Oranges and other fruit. There are always young boys walking around with trays of small glasses of tea. Tea is offered everywhere. If you go into a bank or a rug shop the owner will send a boy running for tea. They will offer you tea while they show you rugs. If you engage a Turk in conversation before they will offer you tea.
As you walk you can smell hints of spices from shops, roasting meats from the kebapi (kebab shops) little hints of sewage here and there, perfume and diesel exhaust, and scents from flowering trees and plants.
If you get off the main streets the side streets twist, turn, rise and fall and the houses and shops are packed cheek to jowl. They are full of people sitting on chairs and in cafes, kids playing on the sidewalks and people calling to each other. There are very few street signs so it’s easy to get lost. But if you look up you can usually spot the minarets (towers) of a nearby mosque and head for it. Mosques are always easy to find on the town maps and make good navigation points.
Turkey has Islamic, Christian and Jewish people living happily side by side. It has been a democracy since about 1926 when then President Attaturk declared it so. Turks are very proud of their democracy and their heritage and tke voting seriously. We are arrived during an election and their were polling stations set –up in the airport arrival areas. Many Turks are Islamic in faith but they are not Arabs. Like all Islamic peoples they are very clean. They before praying and the very faithful pray 6 times a day.
I love walking in Istanbul. People call out hello and smile and the men mostly dress in grey or blue slacks and short sleeve button down shirts. The women are dressed in a huge variety from very Western wear. Too black dresses with shawls so only their noses stick out. Women as a rule keep their shoulders covered and don’t wear blouses with revealing necklines. They wear a wonderful variety of scarves in any color and pattern you can image.
There were a few people begging on the street in Istanbul but not nearly as many as we saw in Athens. Here they seemed to be Turks where as in Greece they all seemed to be gypsies or North Africans.
Istanbul is quite clean for such a big city. There is not much trash lying around. There are people who pick up trash and you see them dragging huge containers of trash that are constructed of fabric on a PVC frame built around a hand truck. They stuff them as full as possible. It is amazing how much they can fit into their containers. At one place back in an alley I could see a bunch of these guys sorting out what they had collected. They seemed to be separating the metal from plastics etc.
We had some rain storms roll through and people pulled out umbrellas or put newspapers on their heads and continued on. They didn’t seem to mind the rain and luckily it never lasted too long.
We walked and rode the trolley, but not the buses this time. Turkey has a very extensive bus system around the country. Istanbul is such on old city that there are antiquities everywhere you look. People have been living here since before recorded time. I love the layers of the City. There are buildings of different styles and time periods all mixed together into a wonderful mosaic that Istanbul. If you look at older walls and buildings you can see bits and pieces of even older buildings that were used in their construction.
We walk and look until we are tired and hungry and then choose a café and sit down for a drink and a meal. One of my favorite drinks is Aryan, which is yogurt that has been mixed with water and salt. It is very tasty and refreshing. Especially on a hot day. You almost never see pork on a menu. Though one place that caters to Enlish and German tourists had swine frankfurters on the menu. They have wonderful lamb, beef and eggplant dishes. Also fresh grilled fish.
When the evening comes you see some Turks having alcohol with a meal but mostly after dinner. They make a tasty beer Efes (Ephesus) which comes as a pilsner or a dark. I prefer the pilsner. If they are going to drink hard liquor it will be Raki which is anise flavored like licorice and very strong. It is served like greek ouzo with a glass of water which is dripped into the raki which turns milky. When you have diluted it to your satisfaction it is then sipped. All is quiet save the low rumble of a large sleeping city. Turks as a rule don’t really drink to excess so Turkish cities are pretty quiet at night. Sometimes you hear some roosters giving their last calls as the last light falls away. At about 9:45 at night you hear the evening call to prayer and soon after Istanbul sleeps. As much as any major city ever sleeps. So I read a few sentences and drift off. Good night!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Trip To Istanbul and western Turkey
Istanbul or Bust!
6/9/11
Well we finally made it!
After months of planning, changing plans, booking minibuses(vans) for 7 hotels, boats and planes the departure day has arrived.
I have a friend staying in my house so I didn’t have to shut it completely down this time, which was nice. A shout out to Christopher! Enjoy the treehouse.
As of bedtime last night I didn’t know exactly how we were all getting to the airport. I was thinking we would leave at 9:30 but at 8:38 a text came in from my neice Estill that a limo is picking me up at 9:05! I ran around like a nut for 40 minutes and got dressed and took care of the last chores. I was just taking the trash to the alley when this party bus rounds the corner and stops out front. My nieces Estill and Winfree jump out and run up to my front door. They help me with my suitcase. The limo has two drivers and my sister-in-law Martha is onboard. We olad up and head for my father house for he and my step-mother Pippa. Then off to Space Machine for my brother. And finally we unload at Tampa International Airport and haul and drag our Family Circus through Security and onto a Delta Flight to NY. We heave time for A slice of Pizza for lunch and then onto another Delta Flight to Istanbul. Then we sit…. And sit.. and sit….
We had to sit on the plane at the gate in NY for 7 hours as departures were backed up and a bad lightening storm rolled through.
At one point they let us back off the plane for a while. My father and I got gelato Dutch Chocolate yummy even at $5+ for a smallI got to chatting with to women on the flight and they wanted gelato so I walked them down there and the server gave me a free scoop for bringing more business. Nice!
Then back on the plane to wait some more…
Finally we got wheels up and arrived in Istanbul at Attaturk International Airport at 5:30 pm instead of 10:30 am. It is so nice to finally be in Turkey. We bought our visas and got out passports stamped and hit the cash points for Euros and Turkish lira and found our taxi to the hotel and off we went in a light drizzle to the Hotel Ahmet Efendi Evi.
The Hotel Ahmet is a cozy hotel with wonderfully helpful staff. They greeted us in English with tea in the living, dining room kitchen and told us some helpful facts and assisted me with booking a car ferry for Sunday to Yavlova so I won’t have to drive out of Istanbul the long way around which can be very difficult. Plus that will put us near the hot springs at Thermal. And near to Bursa where we have a hotel reserved for Sunday night.
We sorted out the rooms and settled in for a few minutes then gathered for a stroll and to look for a place dinner. Just down the street we found a place with a display full of fresh fish that smelled great. We ate wonderful fresh fish (sea bass, shrimp, swordfish and calamari for dinner and toured the Blue Mosque It is an amazing building with huge columns holding up an immense dome.
Pictures can be seen https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish:Sultanahmet Camii) is a historical mosque inIstanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as theBlue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, amadrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.
More info at:: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque
After we got back to the hotel I had a shower and then Winfree and I played Boggle and wrote in our logs before bed. She snores like the cutest little buzz saw! Buzz… snork Buzz snork snort!
She slept pretty soundly through the night. I didn't sleep much and was wide awake for the dawn call to morning prayers at about 4:30 am. Which are projected very loudly off the towers around the minarets. Now is 7:30 and Winfree is in the shower as it's almost time for brekkie.
6/10/11
I love the Turkish breakfast. We had a huge selection this time. Museli, yogurt, grape syrup, sesame oil, fresh bread and sesame ring bread, honeydew melon, raisins, dried figs, yellow cheese, salami and a feta like cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, French toast, honey, cherry jam, tea and coffee.
After breakfast we gathered and we head off in the direction of the Hagia Sophia but get sidetracked by the goodies in the windows of a shopping street. A few scarves, towels and blankets were bought many more intems like, rugs, shoes and lights were lusted after.
Then we worked our way over to the Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia;Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchalbasilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedralof Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[1]
More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
I was in it last time I was here 15 years ago but the line was too long today so we walked over to the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Saray) which was built in 525 AD and toured this huge underground water storage room that is lit with theatrical lights. It is very cool!
This cathedral-sized cistern is an underground chamber approximately 143 metres (470 ft) by 65 metres (210 ft) - about 9,800 square metres (105,000 sq ft) in area - capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 metres (30 ft) high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns spaced 4.9 metres (16 ft) apart. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception of a few Doric styles with no engravings.
Readmore: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Turkey/Istanbul_Ili/Istanbul-1837624/Things_To_Do-Istanbul-Palace_Cistern_Yerebatan_Saray-BR-1.html#ixzz1P1SNilNF
. A couple of which have Medusa’s face carved on them. One is upside down. There is a lot of speculation as to why as the reason is forgotten in time. There is also a café down there. It would be a great place to hang out on a hot day or Halloween!
Then we went looking for the Mosaics Museum and stopped in a café for lunch. Eggplant with souce (as written in the menu Eggplant with yogurt, hummus and lots of very fine pita bread almost a thin a crepes. The girls had a pancake each. Winfree Cheese and Estill potato. They were also crepe –like and very tasty. My brother had yogurt and cucumber and an eggplant- ground lamb kebab. It was all very tasty.
We found the Mosaics Museum and I realized I had seen it before so I walked around a bit in a light rain and looked at more shops while the others toured the Museum. It is full of beautiful tile pictures.
The museum hosts the mosaics used to decorate the pavement of a peristyle court, dating possibly to the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565). It was uncovered by Turkeyarchaeologists from the University of St Andrews in Scotlandduring extensive excavations at the Arasta Bazaar in Sultan Ahmet Square in 1935-1938 and 1951-1954. The area formed part of the south-western Great Palace, and the excavations discovered a large peristyle courtyard, with a surface of 1872 m², entirely decorated with mosaics
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Palace_Mosaic_Museum
Then we hiked around through some of the crazy winding streets over to the Sultanahmet area with the Egyptian Obelisk and bought tickets for the tram and rode it around to beside the Golden Horn which is the famous harbor of Istanbul. From there we walked to the Spice market. It was very crowded but we fought our way in and tried some Turkish Delight which is a sweet sticky candy and I bought a tasty spice mix. It was too crowded for my taste so I headed back out.
While I was waiting for the others to finish shopping I peered through some barred windows into a garden with beautiful old carved headstones. It was a beautiful, peaceful spot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
We got back on the tram and rode it across the bridge over the Golden Horn and we could see Asian Istanbul on the other side of the Bosporus. It was rush hour and the tram was full so we stood. At the end of the line the driver switched ends and drove the tram back the other direction. The others got off to take a boat ride up the Bosporus which I have also done and I went in search of the Cagaloglu Hammam or Turkish bath. It took a bit of wandering around but I finally found it.
The Cagaloglu Hammam located just near the Underground Cistern in Cagaloglu. In 1741, Sultan Mahmut ordered for construction of this hamam so as to generate revenue for his library and the famous monument of the time, Hagia Sofia. This hamam happens to be the last hamams built in the city before Sultan Mustafa III gave orders for banning construction of any hamams in 1768 to meet the city’s increasing demand for wood and water.
More info at: http://www.sultanahmet1.com/ahmet/cagaloglu-bath/
A bath with a scrub was more expensive than I remember 66 Turk Lira ($.65-$1) I was given room to change a towel, key and a pair of Crocs. Stripped down, toweled and Croced I walked into the hot seamy marble room and lay on the hot marble slab. I relaxed until an attendant came along and took me to an alcove in the side with a bench, a large water basin with hot and cold taps. He poured a pitcher of hot water on me and scrubbed me to within a inch of my life with a luffa glove and rinsed me down then scrubbed my hair and then washed everywhere but my privates with a soapy towel and rubbed me down a bit. Then a good rinse with the pitcher. Wow! Was I clean. I washed a bit more, then poured many bowls of cold water on myself and then lay abck on the hot slab in the center until I was done. Rinsed again and back to my clothes. A tip for the scrubber and I wandered back towards my hotel. I found a nice Indian restaurant (DUBB) on a side street and had stuff grape leaves (dolmas), lamb in spicy tomato sauce and garlic nan for dinner with a dark beer and sat and watched people for awhile.
I walked back to the hotel to discover that Pippa didn’t go on the boast ride. She got on bit it was rocking against the dock so she got off and got a sandwich and went back to the hotel to read. The rest of the gang came back in a few minutes later. After the boat ride my father walked back to the hotel to eat with Pippa and got lost for while. The rest found him after they ate on the way home. He was just around the corner from the hotel. Since he hadn’t eaten I walked him back to the Indian place and he order dolmas and we each got a dark beer. They said they had one last dolmas, but the dish that was delivered was completely different from what I had eaten. He said they were very tasty and the perfect amount. We spoke for a few minutes with a young couple at the next table who were from Buenos Aries and they told us a bit about their wonderful trip and some places we might stop. They were leaving for London the next day. We bit them bon voyage and headed back to the hotel where I shaved brush my teeth wand was too tired to play Boggle with Winfree before bed. Goodnight!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
6/9/11
Well we finally made it!
After months of planning, changing plans, booking minibuses(vans) for 7 hotels, boats and planes the departure day has arrived.
I have a friend staying in my house so I didn’t have to shut it completely down this time, which was nice. A shout out to Christopher! Enjoy the treehouse.
As of bedtime last night I didn’t know exactly how we were all getting to the airport. I was thinking we would leave at 9:30 but at 8:38 a text came in from my neice Estill that a limo is picking me up at 9:05! I ran around like a nut for 40 minutes and got dressed and took care of the last chores. I was just taking the trash to the alley when this party bus rounds the corner and stops out front. My nieces Estill and Winfree jump out and run up to my front door. They help me with my suitcase. The limo has two drivers and my sister-in-law Martha is onboard. We olad up and head for my father house for he and my step-mother Pippa. Then off to Space Machine for my brother. And finally we unload at Tampa International Airport and haul and drag our Family Circus through Security and onto a Delta Flight to NY. We heave time for A slice of Pizza for lunch and then onto another Delta Flight to Istanbul. Then we sit…. And sit.. and sit….
We had to sit on the plane at the gate in NY for 7 hours as departures were backed up and a bad lightening storm rolled through.
At one point they let us back off the plane for a while. My father and I got gelato Dutch Chocolate yummy even at $5+ for a smallI got to chatting with to women on the flight and they wanted gelato so I walked them down there and the server gave me a free scoop for bringing more business. Nice!
Then back on the plane to wait some more…
Finally we got wheels up and arrived in Istanbul at Attaturk International Airport at 5:30 pm instead of 10:30 am. It is so nice to finally be in Turkey. We bought our visas and got out passports stamped and hit the cash points for Euros and Turkish lira and found our taxi to the hotel and off we went in a light drizzle to the Hotel Ahmet Efendi Evi.
The Hotel Ahmet is a cozy hotel with wonderfully helpful staff. They greeted us in English with tea in the living, dining room kitchen and told us some helpful facts and assisted me with booking a car ferry for Sunday to Yavlova so I won’t have to drive out of Istanbul the long way around which can be very difficult. Plus that will put us near the hot springs at Thermal. And near to Bursa where we have a hotel reserved for Sunday night.
We sorted out the rooms and settled in for a few minutes then gathered for a stroll and to look for a place dinner. Just down the street we found a place with a display full of fresh fish that smelled great. We ate wonderful fresh fish (sea bass, shrimp, swordfish and calamari for dinner and toured the Blue Mosque It is an amazing building with huge columns holding up an immense dome.
Pictures can be seen https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish:Sultanahmet Camii) is a historical mosque inIstanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as theBlue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, amadrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.
More info at:: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque
After we got back to the hotel I had a shower and then Winfree and I played Boggle and wrote in our logs before bed. She snores like the cutest little buzz saw! Buzz… snork Buzz snork snort!
She slept pretty soundly through the night. I didn't sleep much and was wide awake for the dawn call to morning prayers at about 4:30 am. Which are projected very loudly off the towers around the minarets. Now is 7:30 and Winfree is in the shower as it's almost time for brekkie.
6/10/11
I love the Turkish breakfast. We had a huge selection this time. Museli, yogurt, grape syrup, sesame oil, fresh bread and sesame ring bread, honeydew melon, raisins, dried figs, yellow cheese, salami and a feta like cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, French toast, honey, cherry jam, tea and coffee.
After breakfast we gathered and we head off in the direction of the Hagia Sophia but get sidetracked by the goodies in the windows of a shopping street. A few scarves, towels and blankets were bought many more intems like, rugs, shoes and lights were lusted after.
Then we worked our way over to the Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia;Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchalbasilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedralof Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[1]
More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
I was in it last time I was here 15 years ago but the line was too long today so we walked over to the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Saray) which was built in 525 AD and toured this huge underground water storage room that is lit with theatrical lights. It is very cool!
This cathedral-sized cistern is an underground chamber approximately 143 metres (470 ft) by 65 metres (210 ft) - about 9,800 square metres (105,000 sq ft) in area - capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 metres (30 ft) high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns spaced 4.9 metres (16 ft) apart. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception of a few Doric styles with no engravings.
Readmore: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Turkey/Istanbul_Ili/Istanbul-1837624/Things_To_Do-Istanbul-Palace_Cistern_Yerebatan_Saray-BR-1.html#ixzz1P1SNilNF
. A couple of which have Medusa’s face carved on them. One is upside down. There is a lot of speculation as to why as the reason is forgotten in time. There is also a café down there. It would be a great place to hang out on a hot day or Halloween!
Then we went looking for the Mosaics Museum and stopped in a café for lunch. Eggplant with souce (as written in the menu Eggplant with yogurt, hummus and lots of very fine pita bread almost a thin a crepes. The girls had a pancake each. Winfree Cheese and Estill potato. They were also crepe –like and very tasty. My brother had yogurt and cucumber and an eggplant- ground lamb kebab. It was all very tasty.
We found the Mosaics Museum and I realized I had seen it before so I walked around a bit in a light rain and looked at more shops while the others toured the Museum. It is full of beautiful tile pictures.
The museum hosts the mosaics used to decorate the pavement of a peristyle court, dating possibly to the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565). It was uncovered by Turkeyarchaeologists from the University of St Andrews in Scotlandduring extensive excavations at the Arasta Bazaar in Sultan Ahmet Square in 1935-1938 and 1951-1954. The area formed part of the south-western Great Palace, and the excavations discovered a large peristyle courtyard, with a surface of 1872 m², entirely decorated with mosaics
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Palace_Mosaic_Museum
Then we hiked around through some of the crazy winding streets over to the Sultanahmet area with the Egyptian Obelisk and bought tickets for the tram and rode it around to beside the Golden Horn which is the famous harbor of Istanbul. From there we walked to the Spice market. It was very crowded but we fought our way in and tried some Turkish Delight which is a sweet sticky candy and I bought a tasty spice mix. It was too crowded for my taste so I headed back out.
While I was waiting for the others to finish shopping I peered through some barred windows into a garden with beautiful old carved headstones. It was a beautiful, peaceful spot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
We got back on the tram and rode it across the bridge over the Golden Horn and we could see Asian Istanbul on the other side of the Bosporus. It was rush hour and the tram was full so we stood. At the end of the line the driver switched ends and drove the tram back the other direction. The others got off to take a boat ride up the Bosporus which I have also done and I went in search of the Cagaloglu Hammam or Turkish bath. It took a bit of wandering around but I finally found it.
The Cagaloglu Hammam located just near the Underground Cistern in Cagaloglu. In 1741, Sultan Mahmut ordered for construction of this hamam so as to generate revenue for his library and the famous monument of the time, Hagia Sofia. This hamam happens to be the last hamams built in the city before Sultan Mustafa III gave orders for banning construction of any hamams in 1768 to meet the city’s increasing demand for wood and water.
More info at: http://www.sultanahmet1.com/ahmet/cagaloglu-bath/
A bath with a scrub was more expensive than I remember 66 Turk Lira ($.65-$1) I was given room to change a towel, key and a pair of Crocs. Stripped down, toweled and Croced I walked into the hot seamy marble room and lay on the hot marble slab. I relaxed until an attendant came along and took me to an alcove in the side with a bench, a large water basin with hot and cold taps. He poured a pitcher of hot water on me and scrubbed me to within a inch of my life with a luffa glove and rinsed me down then scrubbed my hair and then washed everywhere but my privates with a soapy towel and rubbed me down a bit. Then a good rinse with the pitcher. Wow! Was I clean. I washed a bit more, then poured many bowls of cold water on myself and then lay abck on the hot slab in the center until I was done. Rinsed again and back to my clothes. A tip for the scrubber and I wandered back towards my hotel. I found a nice Indian restaurant (DUBB) on a side street and had stuff grape leaves (dolmas), lamb in spicy tomato sauce and garlic nan for dinner with a dark beer and sat and watched people for awhile.
I walked back to the hotel to discover that Pippa didn’t go on the boast ride. She got on bit it was rocking against the dock so she got off and got a sandwich and went back to the hotel to read. The rest of the gang came back in a few minutes later. After the boat ride my father walked back to the hotel to eat with Pippa and got lost for while. The rest found him after they ate on the way home. He was just around the corner from the hotel. Since he hadn’t eaten I walked him back to the Indian place and he order dolmas and we each got a dark beer. They said they had one last dolmas, but the dish that was delivered was completely different from what I had eaten. He said they were very tasty and the perfect amount. We spoke for a few minutes with a young couple at the next table who were from Buenos Aries and they told us a bit about their wonderful trip and some places we might stop. They were leaving for London the next day. We bit them bon voyage and headed back to the hotel where I shaved brush my teeth wand was too tired to play Boggle with Winfree before bed. Goodnight!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Big Bend of Florida Trip
Wed March 23 2011
I loaded up my van BEYOND and left St. Pete and driving north.
Stopped for a swim at City Park in Crystal River. Beautiful sun and refreshing water. Not too cold. Warmed in sun and drove to Cedar Key.
CI get a camp at Sunset RV Park. I get the last one, next to Basketball court. Kids played until truck backed over basketball well after dark. I was sad for the kids but happy for the silence. I drank a couple beers and made Porcini stuffed ravioli with clam sauce for dinner and girl scout cookies. Tasty! Then I enjoyed the very clean bathroom with hot shower not to bad for $20.
Thurs. March 24 2011
Made tea and drove to City Park and met Gale Lawrence, a nature writer from Vt. who winters in Cedar Key.
I bicycled around and attended free coffee lecture about the history of Cedar Key High School. It was closed in 1981 and student were bused 35 miles to Chiefland. Parents and students protested and petitioned and school was reinstated a yr later.
Homemade with cake with pecan coconut icing delish!
Biked to History Museum 1.5 miles. $2 some interesting displays of historical items and maps. Early railroad ran Cedar Key. It was an important port to Caribbean and Central and South America.
Also the local naturalist St. Clair Whitman’s house. Cool collection of shells in Cigar boxes. Also some preserved alligator and wild native cat skulls.
Rode to historic cemetery and out the marsh boardwalk. Cemetary had graves with lots of fake flowers and ceramic items and some were next to blooming azaleas. Such a contrast!
Biked all over and took lots of pics of fun and interesting houses.
Back to city Park went for a swim in knee-deep water. Not as nice as Crystal River but great view of the gulf.
Had an apple and beach showered. I was just leaving when I ran into Gale again. What coincidence! Mush be fate for us to meet twice in the same day upon arriving and as I was leaving.
Drove off island and over to a Shell Mound in the Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge and took a hike. There is a nice small campround there. Wish I had stayed there! Was eating some nuts when Fish and Wild life officer came by. He told me about some back roads to Chiefland, FL and a remote campsite on Shired Island. There drive was wonderful lots of single lane dirt road thru the swamp. Beautiful flowers. Lots of wild irises. Huge purple. Butterflies everywhere. Fiddler crabs in the road. Trying to drive around them. One crab with a 2 inch claw is standing middle of road in front of my van challenging me! Come on sucka! I can take you! What a fierce crab! I carefully drive around him. You can’t mess with courage like that!
Drove thru Fowlers Bluff and past Manatee Springs. $6 so no swim. On to Chiefland and US 19 around to Old Town , FL I gassed up and drove to Suwanee and turned onto Mainline Rd. Single Lane dirt road through swamp. Sooo beautiful! Like the Fakahtchee Strand with half the road. Not enough room for two cars to place in places. Past 3 cars on mainline.
Out onto a two lane paved and down to Shired Island. Found campsite wind is blowing very fierce! Backed BEYOND to quarter the wind and popped the top and opened windows. Can feel her rocking! Temp is dropping fast. Is going to be a cool night. Cooked scallops in Thai sesame noodles and watched sun go down. Very beautiful place but no potable water. Glad I put a few gallons in my tank back in Cedar Key! This is my kind of place. Only a few other people here. Very remote and beautiful. I am camped 15 feet from the surfline. Hope there is no storm surge tonight! Am so glad to be on the road.
Am hoping to find back roads to Steinhatchee tomorrow. I got a beautiful picture of the sunset over the gulf tonight. The wind has blown away all the clouds and the sky is crystal clear! I can see a million, billion stars. Orions belt looks like it’s right over my head. I can almost grab it! The lights on the bathroom are too bright but once I walk around the corner on the beach and my eyes adjust I see a few lights from Horsehoe Beach but the rest of the sky is dark. This is a good place for star gazing! Oops out of electrons! Goodnight!
You can see photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd/BigBendTrip?pli=1&gsessionid=JyhJC0hrMe2sW4BiqfpT3Q#
Friday 3/25/11
I got up to absolutely no wind. It felt strange after feeling the wind rock the van all night. I paid Hubert $20 for the site. He said St. Pete is not close enough o get the rate for locals. Oh well. It’s still beautiful here. I made tea and did some cleaning and organizing in BEYOND then some guys asked if I was using the pavilion. I said no I was leaving in a while. He asked me to move my van I said no and went for a walk. Those guys started building a virtual house in that pavilion. They even had a refrigerator and a huge pile of firewood. I asked how long they are staying. They said Monday. Wow they brought a lot of stuff! I am glad I am leaving as lots of people are coming in.
Hubert told me how to find the backroad to Horseshoe Beach and Steinhatchee. So I can continue to take back roads up the coast. Cool! So I head out and get back on the mainline. This section is not quite as pretty as the last but still nice. I come out near the water tower and cruise into Horseshoe Beach. I look around but there is no beach. I ask and find out there is not much here but some crazy houses all on stilts. There is one like a sailing ship and another that is a cluster of circular metal huts. Pretty funny! I drive around a little more and go back to the Mainline. It goes out a ways to a big house that looks out onto the grass flats. I park past the house and there are paths out on the flats but too wet for BEYOND so I get on my bike and ride a couple miles out.
The roads skirts the edge of the flats. I am dodging fiddler crabs and try to stay out of the really soft spots. Finally I get close to a hammock and try to walk out to it through the grass but there is a creek in between and I don’t feel like swimming. I walk and bike back to BEYOND, load up and drive until I see the Fire tower and take the turn over to Steinhatchee. Another dirt road but very wide. A redneck super highway! Soon I am parked down a little road by the marsh and I am back in cell range so I check messages and email. I eat and snack and get back on the road. I am on 351 just out of town and there is a turn off for the Big Bend Preserve. Here is another nice dirt road for biking. I drive down to the canoe launch and hike the nature trail. It’s a 1.5 mile loop through the scrub. Not too exciting. I see an armadillo.
Then I drive on and read about how it was logged it with trams. Pretty wild. Then back out onto 351. I take it past Bird. Island, Dark Creek and then onto Perry. I hit the grocery store for fresh veggies ice and beer then onto to Medart where I gas up. All the ditches are filled with flowers and the dogwoods, azaleas and wisteria are in full bloom. It’s stunning here. I drive through Sopchoppy where they have a worm grunting festival in April. Too bad I am about 2 weeks early. Sounds like fun! I cruise into the Ochlockanee River State Park and my campsite right as darkness settles in. It’s nice to sit back with a cold beer and write in my log. Captains log earth date 3.25.11. I hope there is a shower here. I am pretty sweaty and stinky after biking on the flats.
Well I am off to cook and dinner and tomorrow we have Appalatchicola Art Festival to check out. Supposed to be a nice day.
Hope the race is not getting on the nerves off all you St. Pete folks! It’s nice a quiet here!
You can see photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd/BigBendTrip?pli=1&gsessionid=JyhJC0hrMe2sW4BiqfpT3Q#
Peace All.
Sat. 3/26/11
It was a nice campground until dawn when the 300 or so birds (they looked like a small corvid maybe a martin) burst into song! I thought an alarm had gone of in my van. I jumped out of bed to see what all the fuss was about! They were in the tree right above my van. They kept up the singing for a few hours. I made tea and then went for a bike ride down to the Ochlockanee River. It was misty with sunbeams peeking through the clouds. A couple from Colorado pointed out the white squirrels that live near the picnic area. They were a first for me. Pretty cool. There was no one on the river so I stripped down and went for a very quick dip. I could hear the alligators grunting out in the river so I made it a very quick dip! I
biked back and pack up and drove into Carrabelle to see my friend Janice’s store. She wasn’t there yet but so I had a nice chat with her mother and drove on into Appalachicola for the Gallery Walk. There were lots of artists set-up on the sidewalks and in front of stores. Some very cool work. I ran into my friend Joe and found out where his set-up was then walked around to see all the work and stopped into Appalach Outfitters to see where gear was 45% off. I found some nice Patagnia and Mountain Hardware winter gear that I purchased along with some fishing lures.
I visited my friend in the bookstore. She sold me a wonderful book called Flotsam and Jetsom by local boat builder and character Robb White. It was a wonderful book and I hoping she had some others but no such luck. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys boats. Later I found a cheap fishing rod and spinning reel in a junk shop.
In the afternoon I ate a bagel with cheddar cheese and then went to see what Joe was doing. He was selling drinks o raising money to buy art supplies for the kids art program so I had one and meet some of his friends and we drank some beer and then pack up his stuff and moved to the Garden Shop to listen to guitar and imbibe a bit more. Joe headed home to his wife but hooked my up with Lynda who is a local nurse and is interested in arts in healthcare and Clarisse who is a local artist. They were going out to dinner.
We found Clarrisse’s husband Jerry ( nickname Merril) the Wildman and headed to Verandah’s restaurant. We had some wonderful fried oysters ( for those of you not familiar with Appalachicola some of best oysters in the world grow around here) Then a big plate of jambalaya. It was a tasty meal. Jerry is a hoot. This is one of the only places he is allowed to eat in because he is loud and rambunctious. He used to be a ship captain and has sailed all kinds of boats and run all kinds of boat charter businesses and fixes old motorcycles. We hit it off right away. We had some beer and good food. Told some stories and some lies and laughed a lot. After dinner Lynda showed me a place near Jerry’s boat where I could park and sleep undisturbed.
When we got back to my van Jerry was there and he want to see the inside of BEYOND. I gave him the tour and we settled in with a beer and talked sailing. He told me about a guy who had a boat built in Australia that he wanted Jerry to captain on it’s voyage back to the states. Built the boat was built with all kinds of extra gear and crazy stuff. So much that it would barely float. Jerry got there and tried to talk the owner into getting rid of a lot of weight to no avail. Jerry wisely refused to sail it and last he heard it barely made it’s first crossing and that captain quit. It’s staggered through it’s second leg and went no further. It was built like a tank with way to much stuff on it. Soon he needed to run his dogs and my eyes were drooping so we parted ways and I parked near his boat and took a look at her before I pulled the shades and went to sleep.
Sunday March 27
Even though it was Sunday the dredge is was parked near started up it’s cranes and I was up at first light again. I jumped on my bike to see if there was a bathroom in the park nearby. No such luck so I drove back downtown and Tamara’s Restaurant was open to I hit the john and scrubbed up. Then I settled in for blueberry pancakes and ham. I drank tea and read a Spanish cookbook while I waited and soon two huge pancakes with sauage patties arrived. Pancakes were good but too big. Sausage was fine but I would rather have had the ham or bacon. After I finished I headed back to the park and rode my bike all around town. I stopped at the gas station for fishing weights and went back for my pole. I cast some from the end of the boat pier but no bites. I was biking to another spot when I ran into Jerry again. He told me about a couple of interesting spots and invited me over later in the afternoon.
I rode to another Pier and fished some more to no avail. But I had a nice conversation with a man from Macon, GA. I rode back to the van and drove out to the river and had an apple and check my email then drove over to Jerry’s. Clarisse was making a cool birdhouse in her studio and Jerry and a bunch of dogs were working on a motorcycle. We sat on the back porch and Clarisse made us a mojito and Jerry pulled out the plans and photos of the crazy sail boat from Austrailia. It was just as much of a horror show as he described. I would never have left the dock on that craft! We looked at all the crazy stuff on that boat and told more stories and they invited me to stay for dinner.
I bought some drinks and they got some excellent fried chicken from AJ’s and Lynda showed up with AJ’s banana pudding. It was all very fine. Good southern fried chicken. Like Chattaways in St. Pete. We feasted and then Jerry and I took the dogmobile full of dogs down to the harbor and they ran and chased sticks and rocks and had a fine time. We went back and sat on the porch and told more lies and had a last drink. Then I drove to a quiet spot in the back of the cemetery and crashed. I always enjoy myself in Appalach! Good night.
Monday 3/28/11
I am early again and make a pot of tea and drive west out to the St. Joe Peninsula. I stop at San Blast Peninsula, which is owned by Eglin Air force base but you can see the lighthouse and walk the beach. I put on my swim suit and grabbed my pack and fishing pole. There is a storm blowing in and it could get rough. The waves are pretty big and I go for a quick swim and then cast in the waves but I don’t have enough weight on my line so I walk down to the end of the point. There are only a few people on the beach it’s pretty wild with lots of dirft wood, fallen trees and birds. I like I very much.
I walk back and take some pics of the lighthouse and then drive on down to the T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph’s Peninsula State Park. It’s a wonderful Park with sand dunes and a beautiful beach! I stop and get a snack and am going to cast my line but the rain come petty hard so I sneak into the campground for a quick shower. Boy does it feel good to be clean again!
The rain continues so I drive back to Appalach and tour the Orman house. It gives a nice feel of Appalch at the time of the railroad and during the Civil War.
I gas up and head East. I drive along keeping just ahead of the rain and followed 98 all the way back almost to Sopchoppy (love that name!) In Medea I turn off and drive to Wakulla Springs State Park. My map shows camping but there none. Darn and I’m tired. I have a nice swim in the springs and relax. There is a historic hotel and I walk around and check it out and read my book. One of the rangers has her eye on my so I go back out to BEYOND and move her to the hotel parking lot and cook some pad thai noodles with hardboiled egg and almonds. Sure enough I see the ranger looking around for me. I stay very still and she walks past me a couple of times. The park is closed and I am not supposed to be here. She never spots me and it gets dark so I pull out the bed and crash. I wake up about midnight to rain so I close the hatch and sleep again.
Tuesday 3/29/11
You can see photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd/BigBendTrip?pli=1&gsessionid=JyhJC0hrMe2sW4BiqfpT3Q#
I am up and packed just before the rangers arrive. I drink tea until I see guests walking around. Then I jump out of BEYOND and walk to the hotel just as another ranger is pulling up. I keep walking and head for the bathroom. That was close! I walk around and it’s chilly. I put on the new winter vest I bought and it keeps me warm as I walk a few miles out the rail into forest and through a swamp. It’s a nice trail and I enjoy my walk until it starts to rain pretty steadily and head back. I jnmp in BEYOND pour a hot cup of tea, turn on the heat ( yes, it’ that cold!) and head back to and then south towards home. I stop and treat myself to Pizza Hut buffet for lunch in Cross City. I eat a bit too much and have to stop for a nap and swim in Crystal River again. The temp is much warmer and the sun almost comes out. I watch a man on a Rube Goldberg boat scooping up all the floating weed. It’s a cool machine and I wonder if he built it? It looks home made!
About 3:30 I pack up and make it onto the bridge before the rush hour traffic and am home again by 5:30.
Until next trip be safe.
Allen
I loaded up my van BEYOND and left St. Pete and driving north.
Stopped for a swim at City Park in Crystal River. Beautiful sun and refreshing water. Not too cold. Warmed in sun and drove to Cedar Key.
CI get a camp at Sunset RV Park. I get the last one, next to Basketball court. Kids played until truck backed over basketball well after dark. I was sad for the kids but happy for the silence. I drank a couple beers and made Porcini stuffed ravioli with clam sauce for dinner and girl scout cookies. Tasty! Then I enjoyed the very clean bathroom with hot shower not to bad for $20.
Thurs. March 24 2011
Made tea and drove to City Park and met Gale Lawrence, a nature writer from Vt. who winters in Cedar Key.
I bicycled around and attended free coffee lecture about the history of Cedar Key High School. It was closed in 1981 and student were bused 35 miles to Chiefland. Parents and students protested and petitioned and school was reinstated a yr later.
Homemade with cake with pecan coconut icing delish!
Biked to History Museum 1.5 miles. $2 some interesting displays of historical items and maps. Early railroad ran Cedar Key. It was an important port to Caribbean and Central and South America.
Also the local naturalist St. Clair Whitman’s house. Cool collection of shells in Cigar boxes. Also some preserved alligator and wild native cat skulls.
Rode to historic cemetery and out the marsh boardwalk. Cemetary had graves with lots of fake flowers and ceramic items and some were next to blooming azaleas. Such a contrast!
Biked all over and took lots of pics of fun and interesting houses.
Back to city Park went for a swim in knee-deep water. Not as nice as Crystal River but great view of the gulf.
Had an apple and beach showered. I was just leaving when I ran into Gale again. What coincidence! Mush be fate for us to meet twice in the same day upon arriving and as I was leaving.
Drove off island and over to a Shell Mound in the Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge and took a hike. There is a nice small campround there. Wish I had stayed there! Was eating some nuts when Fish and Wild life officer came by. He told me about some back roads to Chiefland, FL and a remote campsite on Shired Island. There drive was wonderful lots of single lane dirt road thru the swamp. Beautiful flowers. Lots of wild irises. Huge purple. Butterflies everywhere. Fiddler crabs in the road. Trying to drive around them. One crab with a 2 inch claw is standing middle of road in front of my van challenging me! Come on sucka! I can take you! What a fierce crab! I carefully drive around him. You can’t mess with courage like that!
Drove thru Fowlers Bluff and past Manatee Springs. $6 so no swim. On to Chiefland and US 19 around to Old Town , FL I gassed up and drove to Suwanee and turned onto Mainline Rd. Single Lane dirt road through swamp. Sooo beautiful! Like the Fakahtchee Strand with half the road. Not enough room for two cars to place in places. Past 3 cars on mainline.
Out onto a two lane paved and down to Shired Island. Found campsite wind is blowing very fierce! Backed BEYOND to quarter the wind and popped the top and opened windows. Can feel her rocking! Temp is dropping fast. Is going to be a cool night. Cooked scallops in Thai sesame noodles and watched sun go down. Very beautiful place but no potable water. Glad I put a few gallons in my tank back in Cedar Key! This is my kind of place. Only a few other people here. Very remote and beautiful. I am camped 15 feet from the surfline. Hope there is no storm surge tonight! Am so glad to be on the road.
Am hoping to find back roads to Steinhatchee tomorrow. I got a beautiful picture of the sunset over the gulf tonight. The wind has blown away all the clouds and the sky is crystal clear! I can see a million, billion stars. Orions belt looks like it’s right over my head. I can almost grab it! The lights on the bathroom are too bright but once I walk around the corner on the beach and my eyes adjust I see a few lights from Horsehoe Beach but the rest of the sky is dark. This is a good place for star gazing! Oops out of electrons! Goodnight!
You can see photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd/BigBendTrip?pli=1&gsessionid=JyhJC0hrMe2sW4BiqfpT3Q#
Friday 3/25/11
I got up to absolutely no wind. It felt strange after feeling the wind rock the van all night. I paid Hubert $20 for the site. He said St. Pete is not close enough o get the rate for locals. Oh well. It’s still beautiful here. I made tea and did some cleaning and organizing in BEYOND then some guys asked if I was using the pavilion. I said no I was leaving in a while. He asked me to move my van I said no and went for a walk. Those guys started building a virtual house in that pavilion. They even had a refrigerator and a huge pile of firewood. I asked how long they are staying. They said Monday. Wow they brought a lot of stuff! I am glad I am leaving as lots of people are coming in.
Hubert told me how to find the backroad to Horseshoe Beach and Steinhatchee. So I can continue to take back roads up the coast. Cool! So I head out and get back on the mainline. This section is not quite as pretty as the last but still nice. I come out near the water tower and cruise into Horseshoe Beach. I look around but there is no beach. I ask and find out there is not much here but some crazy houses all on stilts. There is one like a sailing ship and another that is a cluster of circular metal huts. Pretty funny! I drive around a little more and go back to the Mainline. It goes out a ways to a big house that looks out onto the grass flats. I park past the house and there are paths out on the flats but too wet for BEYOND so I get on my bike and ride a couple miles out.
The roads skirts the edge of the flats. I am dodging fiddler crabs and try to stay out of the really soft spots. Finally I get close to a hammock and try to walk out to it through the grass but there is a creek in between and I don’t feel like swimming. I walk and bike back to BEYOND, load up and drive until I see the Fire tower and take the turn over to Steinhatchee. Another dirt road but very wide. A redneck super highway! Soon I am parked down a little road by the marsh and I am back in cell range so I check messages and email. I eat and snack and get back on the road. I am on 351 just out of town and there is a turn off for the Big Bend Preserve. Here is another nice dirt road for biking. I drive down to the canoe launch and hike the nature trail. It’s a 1.5 mile loop through the scrub. Not too exciting. I see an armadillo.
Then I drive on and read about how it was logged it with trams. Pretty wild. Then back out onto 351. I take it past Bird. Island, Dark Creek and then onto Perry. I hit the grocery store for fresh veggies ice and beer then onto to Medart where I gas up. All the ditches are filled with flowers and the dogwoods, azaleas and wisteria are in full bloom. It’s stunning here. I drive through Sopchoppy where they have a worm grunting festival in April. Too bad I am about 2 weeks early. Sounds like fun! I cruise into the Ochlockanee River State Park and my campsite right as darkness settles in. It’s nice to sit back with a cold beer and write in my log. Captains log earth date 3.25.11. I hope there is a shower here. I am pretty sweaty and stinky after biking on the flats.
Well I am off to cook and dinner and tomorrow we have Appalatchicola Art Festival to check out. Supposed to be a nice day.
Hope the race is not getting on the nerves off all you St. Pete folks! It’s nice a quiet here!
You can see photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd/BigBendTrip?pli=1&gsessionid=JyhJC0hrMe2sW4BiqfpT3Q#
Peace All.
Sat. 3/26/11
It was a nice campground until dawn when the 300 or so birds (they looked like a small corvid maybe a martin) burst into song! I thought an alarm had gone of in my van. I jumped out of bed to see what all the fuss was about! They were in the tree right above my van. They kept up the singing for a few hours. I made tea and then went for a bike ride down to the Ochlockanee River. It was misty with sunbeams peeking through the clouds. A couple from Colorado pointed out the white squirrels that live near the picnic area. They were a first for me. Pretty cool. There was no one on the river so I stripped down and went for a very quick dip. I could hear the alligators grunting out in the river so I made it a very quick dip! I
biked back and pack up and drove into Carrabelle to see my friend Janice’s store. She wasn’t there yet but so I had a nice chat with her mother and drove on into Appalachicola for the Gallery Walk. There were lots of artists set-up on the sidewalks and in front of stores. Some very cool work. I ran into my friend Joe and found out where his set-up was then walked around to see all the work and stopped into Appalach Outfitters to see where gear was 45% off. I found some nice Patagnia and Mountain Hardware winter gear that I purchased along with some fishing lures.
I visited my friend in the bookstore. She sold me a wonderful book called Flotsam and Jetsom by local boat builder and character Robb White. It was a wonderful book and I hoping she had some others but no such luck. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys boats. Later I found a cheap fishing rod and spinning reel in a junk shop.
In the afternoon I ate a bagel with cheddar cheese and then went to see what Joe was doing. He was selling drinks o raising money to buy art supplies for the kids art program so I had one and meet some of his friends and we drank some beer and then pack up his stuff and moved to the Garden Shop to listen to guitar and imbibe a bit more. Joe headed home to his wife but hooked my up with Lynda who is a local nurse and is interested in arts in healthcare and Clarisse who is a local artist. They were going out to dinner.
We found Clarrisse’s husband Jerry ( nickname Merril) the Wildman and headed to Verandah’s restaurant. We had some wonderful fried oysters ( for those of you not familiar with Appalachicola some of best oysters in the world grow around here) Then a big plate of jambalaya. It was a tasty meal. Jerry is a hoot. This is one of the only places he is allowed to eat in because he is loud and rambunctious. He used to be a ship captain and has sailed all kinds of boats and run all kinds of boat charter businesses and fixes old motorcycles. We hit it off right away. We had some beer and good food. Told some stories and some lies and laughed a lot. After dinner Lynda showed me a place near Jerry’s boat where I could park and sleep undisturbed.
When we got back to my van Jerry was there and he want to see the inside of BEYOND. I gave him the tour and we settled in with a beer and talked sailing. He told me about a guy who had a boat built in Australia that he wanted Jerry to captain on it’s voyage back to the states. Built the boat was built with all kinds of extra gear and crazy stuff. So much that it would barely float. Jerry got there and tried to talk the owner into getting rid of a lot of weight to no avail. Jerry wisely refused to sail it and last he heard it barely made it’s first crossing and that captain quit. It’s staggered through it’s second leg and went no further. It was built like a tank with way to much stuff on it. Soon he needed to run his dogs and my eyes were drooping so we parted ways and I parked near his boat and took a look at her before I pulled the shades and went to sleep.
Sunday March 27
Even though it was Sunday the dredge is was parked near started up it’s cranes and I was up at first light again. I jumped on my bike to see if there was a bathroom in the park nearby. No such luck so I drove back downtown and Tamara’s Restaurant was open to I hit the john and scrubbed up. Then I settled in for blueberry pancakes and ham. I drank tea and read a Spanish cookbook while I waited and soon two huge pancakes with sauage patties arrived. Pancakes were good but too big. Sausage was fine but I would rather have had the ham or bacon. After I finished I headed back to the park and rode my bike all around town. I stopped at the gas station for fishing weights and went back for my pole. I cast some from the end of the boat pier but no bites. I was biking to another spot when I ran into Jerry again. He told me about a couple of interesting spots and invited me over later in the afternoon.
I rode to another Pier and fished some more to no avail. But I had a nice conversation with a man from Macon, GA. I rode back to the van and drove out to the river and had an apple and check my email then drove over to Jerry’s. Clarisse was making a cool birdhouse in her studio and Jerry and a bunch of dogs were working on a motorcycle. We sat on the back porch and Clarisse made us a mojito and Jerry pulled out the plans and photos of the crazy sail boat from Austrailia. It was just as much of a horror show as he described. I would never have left the dock on that craft! We looked at all the crazy stuff on that boat and told more stories and they invited me to stay for dinner.
I bought some drinks and they got some excellent fried chicken from AJ’s and Lynda showed up with AJ’s banana pudding. It was all very fine. Good southern fried chicken. Like Chattaways in St. Pete. We feasted and then Jerry and I took the dogmobile full of dogs down to the harbor and they ran and chased sticks and rocks and had a fine time. We went back and sat on the porch and told more lies and had a last drink. Then I drove to a quiet spot in the back of the cemetery and crashed. I always enjoy myself in Appalach! Good night.
Monday 3/28/11
I am early again and make a pot of tea and drive west out to the St. Joe Peninsula. I stop at San Blast Peninsula, which is owned by Eglin Air force base but you can see the lighthouse and walk the beach. I put on my swim suit and grabbed my pack and fishing pole. There is a storm blowing in and it could get rough. The waves are pretty big and I go for a quick swim and then cast in the waves but I don’t have enough weight on my line so I walk down to the end of the point. There are only a few people on the beach it’s pretty wild with lots of dirft wood, fallen trees and birds. I like I very much.
I walk back and take some pics of the lighthouse and then drive on down to the T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph’s Peninsula State Park. It’s a wonderful Park with sand dunes and a beautiful beach! I stop and get a snack and am going to cast my line but the rain come petty hard so I sneak into the campground for a quick shower. Boy does it feel good to be clean again!
The rain continues so I drive back to Appalach and tour the Orman house. It gives a nice feel of Appalch at the time of the railroad and during the Civil War.
I gas up and head East. I drive along keeping just ahead of the rain and followed 98 all the way back almost to Sopchoppy (love that name!) In Medea I turn off and drive to Wakulla Springs State Park. My map shows camping but there none. Darn and I’m tired. I have a nice swim in the springs and relax. There is a historic hotel and I walk around and check it out and read my book. One of the rangers has her eye on my so I go back out to BEYOND and move her to the hotel parking lot and cook some pad thai noodles with hardboiled egg and almonds. Sure enough I see the ranger looking around for me. I stay very still and she walks past me a couple of times. The park is closed and I am not supposed to be here. She never spots me and it gets dark so I pull out the bed and crash. I wake up about midnight to rain so I close the hatch and sleep again.
Tuesday 3/29/11
You can see photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd/BigBendTrip?pli=1&gsessionid=JyhJC0hrMe2sW4BiqfpT3Q#
I am up and packed just before the rangers arrive. I drink tea until I see guests walking around. Then I jump out of BEYOND and walk to the hotel just as another ranger is pulling up. I keep walking and head for the bathroom. That was close! I walk around and it’s chilly. I put on the new winter vest I bought and it keeps me warm as I walk a few miles out the rail into forest and through a swamp. It’s a nice trail and I enjoy my walk until it starts to rain pretty steadily and head back. I jnmp in BEYOND pour a hot cup of tea, turn on the heat ( yes, it’ that cold!) and head back to and then south towards home. I stop and treat myself to Pizza Hut buffet for lunch in Cross City. I eat a bit too much and have to stop for a nap and swim in Crystal River again. The temp is much warmer and the sun almost comes out. I watch a man on a Rube Goldberg boat scooping up all the floating weed. It’s a cool machine and I wonder if he built it? It looks home made!
About 3:30 I pack up and make it onto the bridge before the rush hour traffic and am home again by 5:30.
Until next trip be safe.
Allen
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