Another (short) visit to Greece — my 4th. It was the first time Ferda or I had visited the Macedonian part of Greece, the east-west strip stretching from Albania to Turkey, bordering (North) Macedonia and Bulgaria.
Our first stop was Kavala. We arrived after dark:
It looks like this during the day:
Continue readingFor years I’ve wanted to go to Edirne to see Mimar Sinan’s crowning achievement, the pinnacle of Ottoman architecture — Selimiye Camii. Ferda and I were already in İstanbul, and it looks so close on the map. However, with inconvenient bus stations in both in İstanbul and Edirne, it took us most of the day to travel between these two cities. (It didn’t help that we got a late start, hadn’t bought a ticket ahead of time, and the first two departures were full.)
Additionally, oops! Yes, that’s Selimiye Mosque, one of Turkey’s few UNESCO sites, closed for a four-year restoration project. I’m sure I could have figured that out ahead of time with a little research.
There’s a small section inside that is still open to visitors, but you can’t see the courtyard or the huge domed prayer hall, both supposedly impressive. Approximately 1000 years after Hagia Sophia, the Ottomans finally made a higher dome!
Here’s what visitors can see during the restoration:
Continue readingMy cousin and his wife scheduled a layover of a few days in İstanbul on their way to visit family in Tbilisi. Ferda and I planned an itinerary for the four of us — some classic tourist sites and also stuff we had never seen before.
Ferda and I flew into Sabiha Gökçen and did a little sightseeing between the airport and our hotel in Haseki (aka Yusufpaşa?, not far from Aksaray). The highlight was this stained glass window at the Armenian Surp Takavor Church in Kadıköy.
If I understood correctly, all the churches in that window are still standing in Turkey. Anyone know which ones they are?
The main chapel of the church was closed. We have to go back on a Sunday for a service.
Of course we got one of the classic İstanbul views from the ferry between Kadıköy and Eminönü:
Continue readingWhen I wrote about Tokat, I mentioned how different Tokat was from the mountainous Black Sea start of this tour. Well, the last week of this trip, in Çorum, was also very different — no steep, green Black Sea mountains like in Samsun and Ordu and no more Ottoman monuments like in Tokat and Amasya. Here it was (almost) all about the Hittites.
Crossing into Çorum province (il), I was actually on a big enough road that there was a sign marking the border. I had seen one back in Ordu as well.
The first Hittite site was Şapinuva. The weather was perfect — almost too hot in the sun and almost too cold in the shade. Sitting on the bench under the big tree in the left center of this photo (below) was magical — the clouds, the views, the eagles, the breeze, the (imagined) Hittites.
Continue readingFrom Turhal to Amasya one could take a fairly flat road following the Yeşilırmak. I opted for a couple climbs, totally about 1100m, via Ardıçlar, Sarıyar, and Yassıçal. The forecast that day was for 35°C down low (at 400m), but it was pleasant at 1000m where I spent the night near Sarıyar.
