Month: May 2022

Oh, the amazing people we meet

There are many reasons to travel, but the best is local people I’ve met along the way. These interactions are rich experiences that I will never, ever forget. From now on, I plan on posting pictures people and will include how we ate together, laughed, reached out beyond our differences to find a common core. I hope to catch the glitter in their eyes or perhaps a tear. Look for passion in their faces. These are a few of the people I met in Turkey.

From upper left: Near Cat Village, Irfan Yuzer and his family grow grapes for wine in a hostile environment. They had us over for the best homemade breakfast and shared their dreams, hopes for their 3 daughters and talked about the difficulty for farmers across the globe. Since Covid, Mrs. Yuzer is back in school working on a degree. The next 3 are artists who hand glaze pottery using tiny brushes. The next two are from a women’s coop (NGO) for rug weavers, which is becoming a lost art. I learned so much about wool and silk, to dyes used, to knot counts for quality rugs. This coop kept the women working all through COVID and the government supplemented their craft.

In the Trabzon area there is “an ocean of Hazelnut trees” that cling to every steep hillside. We met this local man who explained about growing and harvest. The next picture is a cheeky employee at a tourist shop who had fun posing for me. Negotiating is an art that works better when you have fun ! 3rd: Artist Ebru Kursu. Right: Chef Necati Yilmaz in Istanbul ( near Hagia Sofia). This is one of his special dishes, duck encased in salt. After flaming, the salt case is hammered away exposing the cooked meat. Necati owns Deralliye Cuisine where he replicates meals served in the palace to the sultans. bottom left: We ate a homecooked lunch in Ceceva Village, high in the mountains where this family grows tea. Upper right: What a fantastic crew on our Gulet ( traditional boat) named Sadri Usta. Bottom right: We stopped for a great lunch here. Ladies were making grilled flatbread with spinach and cheese. Dish is called Gozleme.

On the upper left: Ismail is the 5th generation to be living in a fairy house in the Cappadocia region. In the middle is a picture of his wife. Bottom left is our fearless exceptional tour guide, Aykut. He stopped at a roadside fruit stand to buy us some Turkish bananas. Next is Somatci Restaurant owner who just won an award for this book containing ancient recipes. Ismail’s wife is far right

Last is Galip pottery’s 5th generation master. He trains new potters from around the world in his studio in the Cappadocia region. Yes, he does look like Einstein! Check out Chez Galip.

Trabzon, Turkey

Trabzon is nestled in a lush green valley hemmed between mountains and the sea. Flags were draped everywhere for their football team, Trabzon Spor. Even though we visited during Ramadan, there was an undercurrent of excitement for the upcoming final game where they cinched the National title.

Typical of anywhere in Turkey, Trabzon has a long, distinguished history starting as a Greek settlement in 756 BC. Justinian expanded the Roman defenses in the 6th century and the fortress walls still stand. Today, they form a backdrop for the beautiful Zagnos Valley Park.

When Istanbul and #1 Hagia Sophia (Aka: Holy Wisdom Church) fell to the Muslims, the Orthodox faithful escaped to Trabzon and built #2 Hagia (out of 3 total) in the year 1260 AD. The beautiful frescos remain, even though this is a mosque ( and has been on and off since 1584) where depictions of spiritual faces are not tolerated during prayer . It’s a miracle that this survives today. I love the painting of Jesus without a beard, which would have put him at the age of 12 when He was teaching in the Temple.

DRIVE TO SUMELA MONASTERY

The 4th century Sumela Monastery is about an hour drive from Trabzon through dark green forests that rise up the Zigana mountains to snowy peaks. It’s May and waterfalls thunder with ice melt. The spray catches rainbows in the afternoon sunshine.

Sumela means virgin of the black mountains and was built into a cave decorated with frescoes. It was already an important Orthodox center when Selim Grim invaded in 1461. He was wounded and the monks healed him which was great– because the monastery was spared. The larger buildings were added in the 17th century. We could not tour inside due to a dangerous rockfall and reinforcement work on the mountain. Still impressive, and the walk in is lovely. Don’t miss the mini chapel and ruins of monk quarters to the right.

We had a lovely fresh trout lunch at Sumer Restaurant near a rushing creek. One of the dishes we ate was Kuymak which is melted butter, cheese and grain. Kind of like macaroni and cheese with a deconstructed noodle.

Back in Trabzon, wander the old town to see mosques and old wood buildings, visit the silver workshop of Saray Gumus, and wander the pedestrian walkway (Uzun Sokak). Try some Kome ( mulberry paste with walnuts) and Cig Kofte ( bulgur wheat and spicy tomato paste balls served on lettuce). Some impressions of Trabzon below:

We had a lovely stay at Grand Zorlu Hotel and it’s convenient for restaurants and shopping.