Wednesday, September 1, 2004 Istanbul

Midnight last night, we arrived at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey.  We left Phoenix on a noon flight Monday.  We had the opportunity to visit Atlanta's and Paris' airports in the process.  While we had hoped to spend the 6+ hours between flights in Paris visiting something we ended up tired and couldn't find any place to leave our carry-on bags, so we spent the time resting and reading. We figured it might be the last time to do either for a while! Incidentally, the Air France arrival lounge had a special room for resting-with leather lounge chairs that had massage rollers built in!  That was a great treat for my weary body.

We were greeted at midnight by our guide and friend, Iffit who had a bouquet of lilies and babies breath for us.  She met us in the van we will be traveling in later this week as we travel around the
country.  With our small group, we will have plenty of room to stretch out.  Even though it was dark out, Iffit couldn't help herself as she described the ancient walls we saw, the new shopping mall (actually quite attractive architecture).  She is so knowledgeable and loves to share her knowledge and pride in Turkey with everyone.  She brought us to our home for the next few days, the Anemon Galata Hotel, a charming hotel immediately next to the Galata Tower.  It was supposedly built by the Genoese as a watch tower in 1348.  It rises 62  meters above the area (referred to as the Golden Horn.  It serves as a great landmark to find our way home. The room is furnished simply, but has elaborate molding with sculpted figures  surrounding leaf figures and a painted ceiling (that also has modern smoke detectors). 

This morning we arose to a bright day with a few clouds and headed to the top floor where we had breakfast and looked out over the sea of Marmor  and the Bosphorous behind us.  What a view! We could see Topkapi Palace and several large mosques, along with traffic on the water.  The breakfast buffet included a variety of breads, many with sesame seeds, vegetables and fruit (including quite a selection of olives) goat cheeses, Borek (a pastry made on this occasion with spinach) eggs, served almost like a crepe, and cereals.  Juices included orange and cherry! Not your typical US breakfast.
 

After some calls to figure out my work schedule (I'm meeting with the Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Association), we headed out to explore.  We wondered around Galata-finding groupings of stores-electronics, musical instruments, lighting, etc.  We noticed in tact buildings interspersed with the skeletons of old brick buildings.  Finally, we found our way down to the Karakoy area and went across the Galata Bridge from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side of the City.  What an incredible phenomenon--going from  one continent to another via a bridge!  Jack and I found our way to the ferry dock and

neighborhood and he kept up the reputation of Turkish cab drivers who are wild! U-turns into congestion, merging into non-existing lanes and arguing when I gave him small bills instead of bigger bills in payment of his fare.  So we will meet up with our friend  Emmy and our hostess Iffit for dinner in a short while.  Tomorrow, we'll do some more exploring in the morning, I'll have a meeting with a woman business leader here and then attend and address a reception with the Association of Turkish Women Entrepreneurs. 

Once we crossed into Asia, we saw a great bit of industrial development and new apartment complexes (large, like high rise complexes in NY). There are many unfinished buildings as inflation was so high (at one point up to 80%; now l0%) and so people would run out of money and start up again after they save up enough money.

Bursa is mostly a commercial center with mountains around that have skiing in the winter.  Much furniture is produced here (out of walnut and pine).  Tofas, the Turkish cars and Fiat are manufactured here. We past a large military base as well.   The mountain, in ancient times, was covered with Christian Monastaries. The buildings are mostly brick and stucco and many have red tile roofs.  Many of the buildings are simple rectangular and pastel colored.  They are sometimes reminiscent of commercial areas of Mexico.  the population of Bursa is 1.2 million.  Osman Gizi, who set up the Ottoman empire is buried here as is his son who extended the borders of the Ottoman era.  We visited the area of Bursa referred to the  Muradiye Complex:  the green mosque and

Tile from Green mosque

Jack sitting in the Cumalıkızık home

Now we are driving through hills and villages on our way to Safronbolu (where saffron is grown) and we pass pastures, sunflowers and around Iznik Lake.  Iznic is a Hellenistic village with walls dating back to 4th century BC.  Nicodemia was the king and the city was named after his wife.  This is where the famous tiles came from. The production of tiles was introduced by Persians who were expelled from their homeland and were welcomed by Ottomans.  But they were expelled to Rhodes in the 17th century, but did not leave their formula for locals. In the 20th century, artisans are trying to reproduce the Iznik tiles. As we approach Iznik, we see many fruit trees and learn that the fruit is exported to Istanbul.

Safranbolu was a beautiful old town with homes from the 17th Century.  We visited a house/museum Kaymakamlar Konak, which was the  home of a wealthy military man.  It showed how several generations lived together; the bride of the first son to be married ("first bride") got a room with her children, including a small anteroom that is her room and in which her husband may  not enter without permission.  There was a

Karabuk Iron Factory

Safranbolu from Acropolis

Turkey only open to Europe in 1985.  which has created more European influence (rather than Asian) since then.  in 1918, a military coup wrenched power from the Ottomans (the young Turks) from then to l985, there was more military control and trade and travel was very limited.  Turgut Ozal was prime minister and then president and had good relationship with Europe and George Bush the first so  he gave Turks the opportunity to have

 

Monday, September 6th If you recall, in the last message I mentioned that in the old mansion/museum we visited they had a cupboard where women would put the food in and it would then be turned so that men couldn't see them...here is the picture:

We left Safranbola and traveled a short ways to Yoruk, a nomad village of the same era (3-500 years old).  While it is less popular than the bigger city, it is better preserved in terms of the old architecture.  We visited a large home which was owned by a family who was related to one of the original Ottomon tribes.  As the Ottomans came to power, they contracted with these families to be traders and move to Istanbul to increase the number of Turks versus Europeans.  So the family worked in Istanbul and would send money back to Yoruk to enhance the homes.  The building we visited has been divided into two homes now and we toured each house, one with a more western-dressed  woman, the other with a

woman who was dressed in country clothing.  The second woman was a character who developed a big crush on  Jack and had great fun putting him into the scenes she was describing about how the house was used. From her, I purchased an iron pan which is of the type used to make the flat bread we ate yesterday.

We  also visited a communal laundry which was created by the merchant sometime in the 17-19th century.  It has a huge stone platform on which the clothing was scrubbed and the hot water is heated by a nearby fireplace.  It was a magnificent circular platform divided into 12 pie shape form supposedly after the 12 Imans. Naturally I have many pictures of this village and ancient laundry. We traveled to Kastomonu, a town of 65,000 people and visited a wonderful school for weavers of fine cloth.  We watched women do a combination of weaving with embroidery on the loom.  Something none of us has seen (naturally, my camera malfunctioned at that point).

They spin the wool and make the thread they use there and use a flour and water mixture to soak and strengthen the thread. We all had fun in the shop where they sell the goods. One of the cuisine specialties of the region is a pita like bread used as a base for something resembling a pizza.  One version came with goat cheese; another with meat and tomatoes, etc. They made for a great lunch with salad! Our hostess thought of theses courses as first courses and was about to order other meat or chicken when we put a halt to the process! No more room.We looked at the wood carving of the region which is quite beautiful and checked into our "konak" (mansion) which was converted into a hotel.  It had 3 floors and on each floor were only 3 rooms--large for a house, small for a hotel.The  rooms had beautiful wood paneling and ceilings and the best news were the bountiful bathrooms!  (the night before most of our bathrooms were so small we had to sit sideways on the toilets)!

In our room, we had a separate luxurious bath and a large shower with a strong flow of water, a seat with a carved stone basin which was the traditional way of cleaning (with polished tin bowls to use to pour water over one's self). We went for a 30 minute drive to Iffits favorite Mosque: in Kasaba köy.The Mosque,Mahmut Bey, is from 1336. It is a   masterpiece building from the Emiratesperiod.The ceiling which must be 40-50 feet high is made of wood and several of the 12-metre tall pillars of carved timber are all original and no nails were used in the construction. It was painted in rich colors of red, blue, green.  Much of it has faded and the plaster walls  have cracked in the several earthquakes, letting water in.  It is a sweet, small mosque with two balconies for the women which is ascended to by steep ladders. The two small

Kastamonu Sunset

daughters of the Iman ran over to open the Mosque for us.  They were so cute and animated and curious about us. Getting to thisvillage, a farming village, was not something anyone would be able to find.  In fact, Iffit said we may have been the first Americans to see it. We saw cows, sheep, goat, chickens and a few turkeys here (finally! A turkey in Turkey).

Kastamonu Shower

We went back to city center to do some errands.  For instance, I had downloaded pictures from my new smart card (camera disc) onto my computer and emptied the card so I'd have more room for pictures--and when I put it back in the camera it registered "0" pictures--no matter what I tried, I was out of disc...so we went all over town trying to find a disc and finally found one for a pretty penny (or lira).  We would never have accomplished that without the language and negotiating ability of our guide!  Met a copper smith and bought a small serving dish and retired to our hotel for a lovely dinner of stuffed eggplant.  Oh! Before that, we had our first "happy hour"....Emmy had been given a l/2 bottle of wine for some inconvenience in Istanbul, so we

bought nuts in a wonderful herb and nut shop to have as hors d'oeuvres with our l/2 bottle of wine.  She finally decided that l/2 bottle was not enough for 5 of us and we found a little tiny shop with sodas, beer and wine and she bought a bottle of red wine for 3 million lira.  That might sound like an expensive bottle of wine-but it was actually 2 dollars and tasted like it was worse than that!  So we had our few sips of warm white wine from the 1/2 bottle before dinner.  We had the Turkish version of ouzo (Greek) at dinner (anise flavored liquor) which did give us a buzz...one drink and we were all laughing and making even stupider puns in two languages than before...great fun. The liquor is called Rakis.

Tuesday, September 7th, We woke up this morning to breakfast with rose jam--a delicacy of the area..very lovely. Then we boarded our bus to head to Amasya and climbed into the mountains of Pine forests and roads made of rock mosaics (to create more friction when the roads are wet or icy).  The altitude is over 1800 meters,surrounded by mountains of 2000 meters (~6000feet tall).  The ground is green, there are lovely wild flowers of pink and purple.

We climbed over the mountain and down into a river valley that is surrounded by fields of rice.  The fields are a bright yellow-green now and are surrounded by stands of poplar trees, Acacia trees and Olyester trees.  In the background are craggy mountains dotted with what looks like scrub pine and other bush.  Periodically there are small houses or huts with red tile roofs.  We are following along the banks of

We had lunch at a restaurant right on the water

a branch of the Green River. This area of the country is famous for its rice.  Amasya is city dating back to the roman times, but still has great buildings from the mid-15th century.The Green River goes through the city and the houses are built right along the river. Around us are fairly steep mountains, very rocky and form a "v" with the river at the bottom.  It is a majestic site!  At the top of the mountains on one side are the ruins of the Roman fortress and Hellenistic era tombs built into the side of the mountain.

 

Amasya residential area

Alexander the great arrived in Anatolia (beginnning the Hellenistic period 330 BC  and continued to 30 BC when Romans arrived).  64 BC Strabos, the great geographer, was born in Amasya.  He travelled a lot and studied astronomy in Egypt and Antioch (the centers of education).   After the Romans, the Arabs took over the city 7,8th century.  Then Byzantines took over. Later the Selcukians Turks

took over in 11th century.  The Immerates (group of turks) took over, then Danishmend, then Mongolians in 13th century and 1326, Ottomons took over.  18-20th century the city suffered from many earthquakes and lost much of its importance as a trade center.  Peach and Apple crops are important. (Our hotel is the "Apple Palace").  There are 5 bridges on the green river as well. We visited a house museum which was from the 17th century- what is referred to as the transition time.  Once again the same set up as other homes of Ottoman period with separation of women from men's quarters, beautiful woodwork and rugs.In the 19th century, the Ottoman began having some contact with some western society.  Their clothing and thinking became a bit more western, while there lifestyle stayed traditional.  Also, this city is an example of the transitional period from Selcuk to Ottoman.

The mosque there has a bird house built in the structure since the Ottomons loved and liked to protect birds.As we approached the Mosque, we noticed that a green coffin was placed near the mosque and covered with a textile. I had read about and heard from Iffit about the burial customs.  When someone dies, the doctors do the medical examination and then and Iman comes to prepare the body by cleansing it and covering it with a shroud. It is placed in the coffin for transport to the Mosque for prayers and then is buried within a day.  However, unlike our traditions, the body is placed directly in the dirt, not buried in a coffin.

Black eunuchs served in the harem("harem" means forbidden to men); White Eunuchs served in administration of the palace and could attain important positions.  One of these white eunuchs built a Medresi (school) in Amasya. The building is unique as it was built in the shape of an Octagon with a central courtyard and a dome over the room used for prayers.  We visited and found that it is still a school used by students who are studying the Koran.  One of the most interesting aspects of the trip occurred when we went to an old Medrisi (school) which is now teaching post secondary skills such as book binding, etc. In their archives, we saw an original Koran handwritten by one of the 4 caliphs of the Prophet Mohammed, Osmon, in the 7th Century. This was one of only 4 such documents in existence this archive was under special temperature and security control and should be in one of the major cities for restoration and protection and study, but the governor of the area would not release it. Iffit was so excited that they let us see this document.

We also visited a building which was a 14th century insane asylum.  What is fascinating is that the treatment of the time including music therapy and water therapy!  It is now used as a school of music for the community.  It is free to citizens and they come from 7 or 8 through adult life.  We heard a group of middle aged men rehearsing music for a performance tonight

of traditional Turkish music which included an instrument which looked like an autoharp, a lute and a clarinet looking instrument.  One of the teachers came over to us as we got up to leave and invited us into several classrooms, one containing an interesting display of their instruments.

Our hotel sits high on a mountain over looking the city in the valley below and across to the roman ruins and tombs built into the side of the mountain.  Very spectacular!

September 8,9  2004 Unfortunately, I wrote an entire, lengthy e-mail while traveling this route and somehow it won't open so I am trying to recreate this portion of the trip.  My computer/electrical challenges have continued this trip! ( I looked back at notes from two years ago and seems I had similar issues then).

The route from Amasya went through the beautiful mountains surrounding the town and then for many miles through the plains and farmlands of central Anatolia. We drove on the ancient caravan route and via the Seljukian trade centers such as Tokat, Sivas and Kayseri (ancient Ceasear), which linked the trade centers of the Black Sea Region and Central

Anatolia  We passed many fields of "pumpkins" (looked like yellow squash to us), potatoes, onions, beets, etc. Our stop for lunch was Kayseri which is a large city of l/2 million with much congestion and creates confusion in getting around.  It is a commercial center that has been very successful since it has a very central location from east and west, north and south.

 

After a lunch of the local foods (which we learned about at each stop) including pastrami, monti (a small ravioli-like pastry in a white sauce), etc., we headed off for the Kayseri Museum which contains many of the artifacts of the Kultepe/Kanesh site.The primary importance of Kültepe is it’s being the site of the earliest Anatolian written documents. The

clay tablets were written in an ancient Assyrian dialect, using the cuneiform script. We saw examples of these at the museum. After our visit to Kayseri, we headed for Cappadocia and stopped first at the city of potters, Avanos.Iffit and I had visited this town 2 years ago and it seemed to have grown a bit.  This town is on the Red River which is a one of the longer rivers in Turkey. From there we headed into the amazing heart of Cappadocia through the towns of Uchisar, Goreme and Urgup where our hotel was.  The incredible landscape was created by a combination of volcano dust and other limestone and basalt such that much if it could be carved over the years making the unusual forms

Emmy in Cappadocia

What an adventure entering this "fairyland" of geology.  We stopped for a view views and headed to our hotel.  We were greeted by the manager in their sitting room where we registered while having a glass of local wine (made here in Cappadocia) which was much better than the other "local" wines we experienced!  We sat in a room that looked much like those we saw in the house museums.  The room was made from the local "tufa" (volcanic stone) taken from the quarry only short distance from where we sat.  We then retired to our caves which were luxuriously appointed.  After a short time to clean up, we had dinner in their dining room.

The next day was a long day exploring the region.  We went to the town and mountain called Uchisar which has a fortress from which one can see the entire region.  At the foot of it is an antique shop I also visited two years ago and found some interesting treasures including an old bird whistle with fur-the likes of which I doubt any of you have seen (but hopefully will see when you next visit me).

Fairy Chimneys

Uchisar

We stopped for coffee at a lovely spot. On the way, we were accosted by some camel owners so Jack and I took a ride on a camel...

This region was dominated by Christians in the early AD days and was visited by several of the disciples of Christ including Peter.  In order to hide from the Romans, they built monasteries and churches in the rocks that we have shown in these pictures.  In addition, there were entire cities built underground. Some of them had 10 stories of caves underground! It was also recently found that two of these

cities were connected by a tunnel and it is thought that many other cities were developed underground and have yet to be discovered.  The frescoes in some of the above ground caves were amazing.  Not only were the caves used in the first centuries AD but during the 11-13th centuries when the Arab Turks were chasing the Christians again.

 

Emmy, Jack, Carole and Iffet underground

 

We also visited the valley of Zelve, which were cave homes (rather than churches and monasteries). We had a picnic lunch before hiking up and down the steps to see these sites!

We went then to a town that had been home to many Greeks called Mustafapasha where 2 years ago I bought two wonderful wall hangings right off of the walls of the restaurant in the little hotel.  A movie had been made here and it made the town and hotel famous.  I met the owners this time and they told me the pieces I purchased were from eastern Anatolia and they had not seen any since.  I have not seen anything like them on this trip either! In the 1920s, when the Turks had just founded their republic, they forced the Greeks who lived in Anatolia to move back to Greece and the Greeks sent home the Turks.  This devastated this town as many of the people had lived here several generations and had built

Tokali; the largest cave church

wonderful lives.  The correspondence has continued for 70 years and many of the grandchildren of those who left have visited their ancestral homes.  The town is almost a ghost town now.

Zelve cave dwellings

Well, the day was hardly over yet.  Now, after 5PM we headed for the carpet weaving school, collection and sales center of Cappadocia! We had a wonderful 2-3 hour visit there where we were treated to an education on everything from taking silk from cocoons, to dying wool from plant materials to the double knot technique for Turkish rugs to the difference between the techniques used in rugs vs. kilims to the different

designs, colors and techniques used in region to region to the number of knots used in the finest silk rugs (over 1000 knots/sq inch!).  This and tea or coffee and viewing of dozens of rugs demonstrating all of the above! We each bought a rug before the evening was over.

"Pile" Rug demonstration

 

Creating silk threads from cocoons

Oh, did I say evening over? Hardly! It was just beginning.  We went to dinner near to the weaving center at a very trendy restaurant and sat outside enjoying the mild weather and had more local specialties of lamb, eggplant, etc., we must have tasted 40 different recipes for eggplant during our trip! Even Jack (who was not a big eggplant fan) has come to enjoy some of the dishes! Then, we went to a demonstration of the whirling dervishes which you will hear about in our next installment. A very long and full day!!

 

Friday in Konya/Saturday in Ankara and Sunday in Istanbul We visited Melvana Tekke, the former school and current tomb of Melvana (Celaladdin) Rumi, the founder and spiritual leader of the Sufi Sect.  The site was more congested than anything we visited but the bazaars! This was a testament to the importance of this figure in the history of Turkey.

 

Rumi's Tomb

He believed in a mystical tradition, that is a direct connection with god (Allah) and his students (Dervishes) whirled in order to create a trance in which they created this direct connection.  He wanted a simple grave next to his father, a great religious teacher, but later followers built a beautiful tomb for them (and others associated with him) and this site included several buildings, the school and rooms where the students studied, etc.  His poetry and philosophy which were written originally in Persian, have been translated into many languages. Amazing experience.

We saw a performance of the whirling dervishes last night in a 13th century han (like a caravanserai-travelers stop) which was conducted in the same manner it has for 8 centuries! the music, the ritual, the actual dance movements of the dervishes all were conducted with great reverence and discipline. Which is ironic, because they apparently go into trance at some point and have a spiritual connection with Allah (god) and are moving unconsciously.  Given that it was being performed for an audience, rather than as part of the December commemoration of Rumi's ascension (death and reconnection with god), it was not as intense a spiritual experience as it might otherwise have been.

Whirling Dervishes

 

Catal Hoyuk Excavation

Before that, we visited Çatal Höyük, probably the most important archaeological site in Turkey, dating back 9000 years-one of the oldest known settlements on earth. Discovered by James Mellaart and excavated in the 1960’s, it has revealed that the Neolithic and Bronze Age culture located here was remarkably advanced The site has recently been worked on again. there is evidence of over 370 generations having lived there-13 levels of buildings and amazing

wall paintings. Tomorrow we will go to the Anatolian Civilization Museum in Ankara and see many of the relics excavated there. Interestingly, the evidence from these excavations show adobe/plaster/latilla/viga construction much like that of the ancient native Americans. During this trip, we have been traveling on ancient roman roads and routes that were used by the Seljukians as well.  The Seljuks built the caravanserai to assure the safe and comfortable travels of merchants from all over Asia and the Middle East which contributed to the wealth of Konya, the capital of the Seljuk empire.  As far back as 1900 BC, the Assyrians used this road as well.

 

Another of our stops in Konya was the Medrisi or school which has become a museum of ceramics of the 13th century-the main hall itself has many beautiful tiles, but they also have a collection of tiles from other castles, etc. which were amazing.  See photo below.  We drove on to a small town half way to Ankara since our reserved hotel rooms in Konya were taken over by a conference of military people from NATO.  Saturday, we went on to Ankara.  Ankara was a town of 50,000 when Ataturk made it the capital of Turkey.  He

Jack crossing street from  Han note carpets!

wanted to have a capital separate from Istanbul which was the center of Ottoman empire.  It is now the second largest city in Turkey with 4-5 million people.  It is in the middle of a valley surrounded by gentle hills.  There are very few ruins from Roman times there.  It was overlooked for much of history in favor of Istanbul, other than being close to Hittite and Phrygian capitals. It was taken over by the Mongols and later the ottomans. But they didn't pay much attention to it, unlike the other places we visited.  The first national assembly was established here in April of 1920. In 1923, Turkey became a republic with this as its capital.  This has become the political heart of the republic and Ataturk is buried here.  The museum here has the best examples of ancient Anatolia civilizations.  There is state theatre, symphony, opera, etc. The museum was unbelievable! We focused on the relics found in the Catal Hoyuk and Kayseri excavations, but saw a great deal of ancient materials made from gold, bronze stone, wood-dating back to the 9000 BC.  We were so impressed with the exquisite artistry of ancient times.  The museum was well designed and had great descriptions of the items and the era.  One could spend days there.  We didn't. Only a few hours.  Then we walked to the hill top overlooking Ankara (within Roman ruins) and had lunch at the Washington Restaurant (so named because people from the US Embassy come there frequently).  We passed some interesting pillow covers in front of a store so I made a quick detour (I needed them for the kitchen) and found a couple to bring home.  After lunch of many wonderful vegetable dishes (and Jack had Hungarian goulash), we drove around the city to see the beautiful monuments (to Ataturk) the embassies, etc.  Ankara, while a large city, was less overwhelming than Istanbul.  It has many beautiful parks, tree-lined streets and broad roadways.  The "old town" was more chaotic, since it was built before the 20s when the town was planned to be a capital and grew in a more planful manner. We flew home back to Istanbul from Ankara and since it was late, we changed plans from going to a restaurant on the Bosphorous to go across the street from our charming hotel to the 4 Seasons hotel (which was the former prison, featured in the movie "Midnight Express").  This was all in the Sultanahmet section of Istanbul.  Our room looked out over a small street that was a short distance from an outdoor cafe that always had music in the evenings-which we got to enjoy without even asking! The hotel, Yesıl Ev, was renovated from a very old building and furnished with elegant furnishings with a European flair.

Our tour was completed on Saturday and Carole left Sunday morning.  I had appointments to meet with several women in family businesses on Sunday. I lunched with one of the women at a small restaurant near Ortokoy overlooking the Bosphorous. It was a beautiful day to sit out in the sun and enjoy the water.  We saw boats of all types go by, including a replica recently built of the type of boat the Sultan would use to cruise the BOsphorous.  In

those days, it was rowed by many slaves.  Today, it has an outboard engine! On return, the traffic was so bad that I left the taxi at the Spice Market (which was closed) and walked several miles back to the hotel. The streets were filled in that area with people selling clothes, suitcases, etc. to Turks and later, near the tourist areas, the shops were open with items for westerners.  That night, we dined quite early with Emmy as we had to leave for the airport by 6:30 a.m. So--Monday morning we were picked up by Iffet who took us to the airport with our friendly driver, Hassan and said our sad goodbyes.  What an amazing adventure.  Now, to really change gears, we are off to Paris!