Beypazari-Old Ottoman Town

During our break, we had a day without plans so we rode along for a day trip to Beypazari 
(bay piz ara) which is about 120 kilometers northwest of Ankara.  Our high school drama teacher, Katy, has a car so we were invited to squeeze in with she and another couple, Jake and Jenny, (middle school science and high school college counselor).  We actually decided this would be a good idea on Monday night while having dinner together at a new restaurant opened by a person Katy knew. Well, in the light on Tuesday morning, it was a bit different.  

Katy owns a 1990ish Opel hatchback.  Jake and Katy have started a band, so we insisted Jake sit in the front seat so they could work on their music selections, and Peggy, Jenny, and I would squeeze into the two door's back seat. (and I mean SQUEEZE) Even with the front seats slid way forward, when the hatch was closed, I couldn't sit up, as the glass from the hatch was where the top 5 inches of my head belonged.  I sat with my head held at an angle against my shoulder, leaned forward curled against the front seat, or with my face craning up and my nose plastered against the glass of the hatch.  Of course, I took up about half of the back, so I suppose it was no easier for Peggy or Jenny! (I just walked up to Katy's logman to get a picture of the car but it's not there!) Of course we got lost, adding an additional 20 minutes onto the supposed 1:30 trip, and it took me a few minutes of stretching and walking to unkink upon arrival.

Jenny, Peggy, and I enjoying the ride

Beypazari is an old Ottoman town, that was refurbished into a tourist attraction, with many of the Ankara residents who want to get out of Dodge going there.  Right off the main highway is a new and modern park and center, with shopping and commerce on wide streets.  There is a major silver jewelry business in Beypazari, with several shops in the new part of town.  What it is really known for is it's carrots-the "best in the world," as I was told by one of the merchants, and a bottled, sparkling water "Beypazari" which I think is bottled elsewhere but uses the name.  

Gathering at the park.  We've noticed this in Ankara as well, much like the piazzas in Italy

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Modern and old on the same streets.  Notice the sign above her head

Up the hill beyond the modern city is the old town.  It is a tourist destination, much like Ulus in Ankara.  There are many shops and small cafes, with jewelry makers and fruit shops making up many businesses.  Of course there are shops dedicated to making you fresh carrot juice.  With the old town atmosphere, one might enjoy watching an old woman tediously working the pedals of an old press, slowly squeezing and extracting the juice from a dozen carrots to get you a small bottle of the precious liquid.  Instead, Jack LaLanne would be proud, as electric juice machines are set up and roaring in front of the shops on the street, and just 5 big carrots are mashed, crushed, chopped,and pulped into juice in a matter of seconds.  Only Katy, a vegetarian,  was interested, but after sampling the juice, we all bought bottles as it was truly great, for I think 5 TL.

Making juice for Katy

A young merchant telling of the fertile farmland of Beypazari and why it grows the "best" carrots

Now I have to admit, we've bought carrots here in Ankara, and they really do taste much sweeter than those we are accustomed to eating in the US.  The carrots aren't harvested all at once.  They are left in the ground, and hopefully a small snowfall will insulate them and keep them fresh, but not frozen in the ground "for up to 6 months," I was told.  Every day some are taken from the fields.  We passed a load tied up in giant plastic sacks heading to Ankara on our way home.  So, I'm on the band wagon now.  Come and try the world's best carrots.  

We wondered around town and went into a restaurant, which was really upstairs above the bakery/kitchen.  We had some great food.  Most restaurants start out with lots of bread and different dipping/spreads, and their bread was fantastic.  You just grab hold a a loaf and rip off chunks!  Jenny had the best meal, as it was served in a small ceramic pot, with a kind of stew bubbling in the scorching hot pot.  They had a variation of traditional baklava, with layers rolled instead of stacked, which we actually liked better because it wasn't quite as sweet.  

Lunch with Jenny, Jake, and Katy

They must package this and sell it elsewhere.  I don't think they served enough people upstairs in the restaurant to eat it all!

After lunch we walked around town some more.  We hiked to the top of town and Peggy, Katy and Jake climbed up some rocks to see the view of town on the other side.  They saw more rocks-just like hiking in Colorado-what you think you'll see over the horizon as a pleasant valley is usually another incline.  So, we wondered back down, bought some jewelry, and broke down and bought some baklava to take back home with us-about $2.00 for four pieces!

This is a different shop with traditional baklava

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen a carrot statue in the middle of any town, any where.  Mitchell South Dakota's Corn Palace has nothing on Beypazari!!   (I didn't find out if their high school mascot is the Carrot Diggers)  Peggy's saluting with our bottle of carrot juice.   

We headed back, with Peggy and I in the front passenger seat this time.  She had about 3 inches of seat between my legs (roof too low for her to sit on my lap) and we motored back to Ankara without getting lost this time.  

Cappadocia

Our winter break has come to a close.  We returned last night from Goreme, a small town in the mist of Cappadocia.  We left by bus from the Asti Station here in Ankara.  The bus trip cost 35 TL one way, and took about 4 hours to get to Nevsehir and than another 15 minutes in a smaller bus to Goreme. 

The bus left Asti at 11:00 and immediately after pulling out of the station, an attendant, much like a flight attendant, gave us all a splash of hand sanitizer.  Then he wandered down the isle with a large bottle of water, and poured glasses for those interested.  About 15 minutes later he handed out small packaged cakes, followed by cay or coffee, then Pepsi or Fanta orange.  In the seat backs were monitors showing the cartoon network, two US movies, and a hand full of Turkish programs-all in Turkish!  There was an MTV Turkish music station to listen to.  

One channel was a camera above the driver's head showing to road since the seat back were too high to see over!

Our attendant sitting and visiting with the driver

About half way we stopped for a bathroom break in Serefli Kochiser, next to their giant Salt Lake.  After the break, more hand sanitizer, water, cay/coffee, and soda.  

We arrived in Goreme at about 3:30.  Our school does a trip for new folks every fall to Cappadocia and stay in Goreme at, and I kid you not, the Flintstone Hotel.  So, that's where we stayed, but no sign of Fred, Barnie, Thelma or Pebbles.  There were however three different workers named Memhet!

Notice the carved out and uneven ceiling.  Three walls were the same.  There was a big Jacuzzi tub and nice shower in the bathroom, but the entire place was dark!  The lights were about 7 watts each.

After unpacking we walked about 4 blocks to the shop and cafe area of town.  We wandered around town, took pictures, played scrabble (Peggy won) in a bar and had local Cappadocian wine, and eventually ended at Dibeck  Inn and had an incredible meal.  

We sat on cushions on the floor and the owner served our meal.  Peggy's came in this sealed clay pot which he had to tap with a hammer to open.  This was probably the best meal we had since getting here.  

When we arrived we booked a tour with one of the Memhets, for Friday.  A small bus picked us up at 9:30, after another Memhet cooked us fried eggs and French toast at the hotel's restaurant.  We first stopped at an overlook seeing the Pigeon Valley.  The rain that had started at about 8:00, was now sleety snow and wind.  As we traveled up in elevation, the snow ended up about 6 inches deep, and very wet and slushy.  Take heart, this in no way changed how the driver attacked the curves and valleys.  He even passed a small car on a hill, forcing it to pull off as a bus was coming and we had to cut off the car to get back in our lane. In our tour group there were a couple of Korean ladies, an Indonesian couple, a girl from Malaysia, and a couple from Brazil.  Our guide did a good job of talking about Christianity and his religion, as a Muslim.  "Being a Muslim, it is a sin even to kill an animal, so real Muslims don't kill other people."  We liked him.

Our tour guide, Onu (Jonah)

We first stopped in Derinkuyu and its underground city.  The Christians, who once inhabited this land, were not very well accepted by the various conquering factions, so they often had to hide in underground cities and caves to survive. We were told that the caves had pretty low ceilings and tight spaces.  I started down the first set of steps and decided that 30 minutes in a crouched, tight position was not for me, so Peggy went on alone. In the caves they had meeting rooms, a water well, school areas, as well as sleeping quarters, and even a place for their animals.  Peggy counted 105 steps below the surface, so it's down there.  They had fresh air tunneled in and "doors" where they could defend themselves from enemies it they ventured down to encounter the locals.  

They could shoot arrows or poke spears through the "door's" peep hole

Thankfully the snow stopped and it melted quickly.  We then were taken to the Ihlara Valley where we walked along the Melendiz River for about 3 kilometers and saw hundreds of cave dwellings.  Throughout the entire 14 kilometer valley they estimate there were about 4000 dwellings and 8000 residents, along with over 100 churches.   All caves had small roosting caves/holes for the local pigeons right next to the people caves.  The pigeons provided droppings for fertilizer for crops, the eggs were eaten and used for sealing frescoes in churches, and they killed them for their meat.  

Notice the smaller dots or pigeon roosts 

There were numerous cave churches along our short route, and we visited St. Daniel's Church or Church under the Tree. It was a small cave with two small side areas and the main celebrating area and alter.  Maybe 75 people could crowd in at a time, more if all stood.   At the entrance was an interior dome with the ascension painted on it. These being at least a 1000+ years old, it is remarkable that the color and quality is still clearly visible.   

The fresco on the ceiling shows Christ's ascension into heaven, assisted by angels.  

We had lunch along the river and then continued to the Selime Cathedral (Selime Katedrali) which was once a monastery and built into numerous "fairy dome" rock formations.  In the various caves there were cooking areas, a school room, gathering spaces, sleeping areas, prayer rooms, and of course, the main cathedral.  They believe the frescoes in the cathedral go back to the 8th century.  Wow, and we think buildings in Salida built in 1885 are old! 

The school room, with individual bedrooms above

More frescoes in the cave cathedral.  The amount of rock that had to be moved to create these large spaces is amazing, given the very basic tools available.  

Pigeon Canyon

After the Cathedral, we traveled back to Pigeon Canyon, now without the snow, and stopped at at a jewelry shop before making it back to Goreme.  Dinner this night was again excellent, with a wonderful red pepper paste made with olive oil, peppers, and walnuts as an appetizer. Beef for me and chicken for Peggy at the Seten restaurant.  We stopped at a small place for baklava  and pistachio ice cream and listened to a Turkish singer before heading back to the cave.  

A lit cone in the foreground, where Christians dug caves and  lived, and the minaret at a mosque in the background in Goreme. 

We did a couple more day trips this past week that I'll post later.  Back to work tomorrow!

    

Better Than a Mall-Ulus

We've been to four different malls while here and they're just like shopping in the US.  Cepa and Kent Park are nearby, with Armada another couple of miles down the road.  And, IKEA is attached to a mall.  But, the old Ulus section of Ankara makes you really feel like you are in a different time and country.  It's also far enough and different enough that we felt like we were on vacation, a little bit.  The rest of the time we're working. The students can't believe we liked it in Ulus, when there are modern malls just down the road.  But more than shopping, Ulus is an experience.  

There are a few little cafes along the merchant streets.  We ate traditional Turkish food  with Laura and Jan.

We went to Ulus two weekends ago with Jan and another teacher, Laura.  We took the university bus to the base of the hill in Ulus, taxied to the castle, and then took the subway and city bus back to the lojman.  We ordered a piece of copper artwork, and had to go back this past Saturday to get it.  So, the university bus again, but this time we walked to the shopping area.  Steve and Barbara, along with the new economics teacher, John, also made the trip.  (yeah! John being here means no more econ for me).  We then learned how to find the bus stop for the return trip. 

So, this past Saturday, just two days ago, we shopped in the more modern area of Ulus first, and their prices for goods are much better than the malls'.  A man's suit, made in Turkey costs about 400 TL, from Sarar, a big Turkish suit brand.  They had a couple of stores along the way and other stores, clothing and jewelry mostly, lined the streets.   The old market/bizarre/shop area is built into the side of a hill, and is away from the modern shops and streets.  

The "wide" two way street below

The old market areas

The streets are all basically one lane cobble stone, and cars should not try to travel through, but a few do. Yikes! The shops are very small, some only 6-8 feet wide and less than 10 feet deep. Most have merchandise spilling out into the streets.  I could explain lots, but pictures are better, so this posting will be more pictures than words.  '

Two weekends ago we were the first to purchase merchandise from this shop in the morning.  For their good luck they gave each (4) of us a free scarf.  The woman wove this around me in the "Turkish" style.  After I walked around the corner, I put it on "American" style.  

The market/bizarre area is loaded with fabrics, kitchen ware, and rugs.

The next four pictures are all taken in the same shop, as I pivoted around from the same spot

L

Steve, Barbara, John (new guy) and Peggy enjoying cay-tea (pronounced chi) in this shop.  We purchased nothing, but they offer cay in most shops.  They call and within 2 minutes a young man comes from outside with a tray of cay.  Last Saturday, we had nice hot cay, served in hourglass shaped glasses with 2 cubes of sugar, in 3 different shops.  

Two Saturdays ago we ordered a copper pot we liked from Ishan Geredeli, a pretty famous copper designer.  Today he was outside his shop, a very spacious shop compared to others, and was stamping a bowl.  

Peggy and Ishan with our handmade pot.  We placed another order with him for a cross that Peggy designed on the back side of a calendar.  Mehmet, from across the street, whose English is better than Ishan's, came to interpret our wishes to Ishan.  Looks like we'll be going back again in a couple of weeks! 

Look mom.  No hands.  Loaded with round breads/pretzels called simet.

The primary and largest mosque is in the distance.  It's importance can be seen with its four minarets.  There are mosques here every few blocks, just like different churches in the US.  Most mosques only have one minaret, or none.  From the hill it's often smoggy or hazy with clouds down in the valley.

Today started our first one week break.  We have a couple of day trips out of town planned, a "tourist" day here in Ankara, and then off to Cappidocia on Friday. Our plans to leave Turkey were changed since we don't yet have our official Turkish visa, and without it, we won't be allowed back in the country.  We should have them by February 20.   

No "Drinking Your Troubles Away" here!

Here's what 100 TL will buy! 

I've been known to imbibe with great joy on occasion.  Alcohol was part of growing up and it continues to be a part of our lives now.  While working at Cotopaxi, I seldom drank on a Sunday or a week night, figuring that if I decided to drink every time I dealt with an unruly kid, his/her parent, or a complaining employee, I'd be drinking most nights.  So, only on weekends (remember, Thursday was the start of the weekend, so no big sacrifice!)

Being thousands of miles from home, in a different land, one might feel the need to tip the bottle  up and forget all worries.  That hasn't happened yet, mostly due to the cost of imported booze!

When we first got here we did purchase beer, "bira" and wine, "sarap."  The only beer that is sold on a nationwide basis here is called Efes.  It's not bad.  Efes costs 18.75 TL for a four pack.  The country also bottles several wines, starting at about 12 TL, or $6.81, but they taste like their price-cheap.  Starting at about 20 TL, they're pretty good. .  The Efes bottles we buy are .5 liter, or approximately 16 ounces, or the size of a bottle of salad dressing.  That's about 4.62 TL per bottle or $2.66 per bottle.  That's a lot more than Bud Lite, but  we can live with it.
  

Argentinian Gin?

The big problem is hard liquor.  I don't think anything except Arak an Raki-anise flavored drinks, are produced here.  So all else is imported and heavily taxed.  We bought a bottle of pretty cheap gin, Borzoi "London Dry Gin" made in ....Argentina for just 60 TL or $34.05.  It's OK and the tonic water is passable.  

The big problem comes with US produced liquor.  A .75 liter of Jack Daniels (just 25 ounces or 1.58 pints) costs 92 TL or $52.22.  That will pour about 6 good drinks.  I don't think you can buy a .75 liter bottle in the US.  Brother Ken and I have "started" an evening drinking that much while watching a 30 minute newscast!  I'm telling you, that's a little bottle of whiskey.

When eating out, we expect to pay 10-12 TL for a glass of wine, and mixed drinks are between 12 and 15 TL.  With the median income of Turks around 18,000 TL, they can't afford to buy a lot of liquor.  Our area of town is mostly middle and upper class, I'd guess, and I've seen hundreds of TL worth of liquor being purchased at once at the Real'.  Some Turk's grocery carts are pretty full of bottles!

It's now 9:32 AM, and I'm going into work at 10:00.  Yes, the econ teacher finally arrived on Sunday.  I taught all classes on Monday, and was there yesterday, but today he's on his own and I'm back to 1/2 time, I think!  So, to celebrate, Peggy made him dinner last night, along with another single guy, and we drank wine and beer.  On a week night!

Safe in Ankara

We're humbled by the many friends and family who have inquired about our well being after the suicide bombing attack at the US Embassy on Friday.  We feel very, very safe

We were in school and I was in a grade 12 economics class when I received an email about 3:30 saying that there had been an attack.  The Embassy is about 10 miles from where we are to the west in the Bilkent region.  We had no idea about the suicide, could certainly not hear it, the rescue vehicles, nor any of the commotion that followed.  

Looking northwest

Two weeks ago we did use gate number 2  to enter the Embassy grounds and attend a party at the Marine House within the walls.  We needed to supply our passport numbers 36 hours prior, and inside gate 2, it was like an airport security check.  Four of us were allowed through security at a time, and then released through a door onto the Embassy grounds. Then the next four were processed. I was impressed with the security. 

It snowed Thursday

  
I typed a quick note to all of our siblings, yes all ten, and went back to the class.  Near the end of  class at 4:15, some of the students had read about the attack on their phones.  I explained that I had  already received two quick emails after the first from the school, one from Peggy's brother Mike, and one from niece Alison, seeing if we were fine.  The students wanted me to tell my relatives that Ankara is a safe place and none of them could remember anything like this ever happening in Ankara.  Turks are a very proud people, and anything that would shame them or their country is not taken lightly.  The students were upset thinking that anyone in the US would not feel safe in their country.  

The view from the HS entrance

After reading the news and watching the TV, I found that this is the first attack aimed at the embassy in decades.  So, with over 40 murders in Chicago in January, this is a safe place.  As a matter of fact, we were so not worried that we went out to a dinner party Friday night for a person from the school who is leaving after 20 years-the university had extra security at our gate to make us feel better-, and yesterday we went to the Ulus region of Ankara riding buses and the subway, where the old town merchants are located.  Last night we were invited to one of our third grade teacher's apartment on the other side of town for food and cards-getting home at 1:33 AM!  She happens to be married to the number three guy at the embassy, so it was interesting talking to him.  We learned that the security guard that was killed had worked at the embassy for 22 years, and was just allowed to apply for immigration to the US. He has two children, ages 17 and 12.  So, this was a sad story all the way around, and not just for America.

Sunset Friday night

I like happier posts, hence the pictures offering the beauty that we see here.  I may post again mid-week, and for sure after our return trip to Ulus Saturday to pick up a copper piece that we are having made.  Thanks again for your concern.  We are safe.  

Sunset over Peggy's school 10 minutes ago