A very relaxing day!

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Hello!

Up this morning around the usual time – 6 or so, after a very peaceful night!  In fact, we had both thought about being awakened by the first call-to-prayer, but we must have slept right through it! (which, being SO close to a mosque, isn’t that easy!)  Down to breakfast at 7.  Absolutely stunning breakfast room, on the basement level of the house.  (R forgot his camera, so will take and post pictures of lovely breakfast and breakfast room tomorrow!)  The ceiling reminded us of English cottages, with all the beams and white paint.  Whoever did the renovation in this house REALLY knew what they were about!  Instead of the traditional breakfast buffet, we received a large tray with lots of small dishes on it.  There was a container of olives, another of wonderful cherry tomatoes, another of cheese, another of raisins and dried apricots.  But the best surprise of all was a REAL baked potato, cut in half with cheese!  Wow, did that taste good! 

 

With the really good map provided by the hotel, we had planned to first check out the local archeological museum (surprise!).  Today is going to be our “city” day, and tomorrow we’re heading out in search of archeological sites!  One guidebook said they opened at 8, and a second that they opened at 8:30, so we (of course) were there at 8:25 – only to find out that the place didn’t REALLY open up until 9!  Shucks!! 

Finally a good picture of a wedding shop!

There wasn’t anywhere in the immediate area that we saw to get something to drink, so we walked up the street to Alaaddin Park, the official “city center.”  We had been talking about the possibility of sending a box of “stuff” (books, souvenirs, etc.) home to help lighten the luggage load.  (We have often done that from France, England or Germany, through the post office; very convenient!)  This time, however, we were not sure about the Turkish post, so decided to find the local Fedex office and get a price. 

Tram around the park

At the park, we got tramway tickets, and headed out toward one of the local neighborhoods where the Fedex office was supposed to be.  Lovely system; we always enjoy taking local transportation!  Got off nearby, but weren’t able to find the right street.  Finally, we found a taksi cab and he was able to drop us the mile or so away right in front of the office.  Well…not only did they not have any 10k or 20k boxes, the price to send 10 kilos of stuff would be something like 600 TL – around $280 US!!!  Whew!  My reaction to that was, we can buy an extra suitcase if we have to, and pay to check it, and it won’t cost NEARLY that!  So…scratch Fedex!  (It’s not that we have that much stuff, but we do have a lot of paper and books…)

So, cabbed back to the museum, and it was now about 9:45 a.m. – and there was a school group in the museum! 

Hittite Bathub

A baby rattle!

We didn’t even have to walk in the door, as we could hear them from the ticket booth!  It was amazing how much noise they were making!  So, we sat in the lovely rose garden for a bit, and then decided to take yet another detour back to Alaaddin Park for something to drink. 

Human hands painted on wall - chalcolithic

Chalcolithic vase with animals

This time, we found a fresh juice vendor – and got two huge glasses of orange juice for 7TL!  They were GREAT.  Fresh juice is SUCH a better idea than Coke, that’s for sure!  Then, a return trip to the museum – three tries, you know!  This time, it was SO deserted that the guard had to come and open the door and turn on the lights for us! 

 

The museum was okay.  It was again, very old-fashioned, but they had a lovely collection of sarcophagi, and two wonderful rooms with finds from Catal Hoyuk (where we’re heading tomorrow) and some of the other Neolithic sites in the neighborhood.  My very favorite thing (other than another Hittite bathtub!) was a wall painting that had been carefully preserved and showed two human hands done in red paint!  Amazing!! 

We walked back to the hotel along the main street, as I had finally come to the conclusion that what I have been suffering from is DUST, because it is an awfully dusty area! 

Gotta love those jewelry store windows...

My throat and my eyes have been really having a rough time – and I had narrowed it down to either dust or smoke, or a combination of the two.  But as we walked around the city, it became really obvious that dust (my all-time worst allergy other than dust mites…) was everywhere!!  So, back to the room and into the shower I went for a good scrubdown.  Whew!!  Felt really, really good!  (Because of dermatitis issues, I’m an every-other-day kind of shower girl, but boy, in this area, even daily might not be enough!)  

So, greatly refreshed we headed out again to find some lunch.  Followed a recommendation in Lonely Planet, and just a couple of blocks away was Darma, which was recommended for their kebaps. We got a lovely table upstairs, and sat down to dine!  Robert had their Iskender kebap; I had their Pilic kebap.  This time, I think I won! 

Robert's Iskender kabap

My roasted chicken kebap

Robert’s Iskender kebap was a donor kebap (the huge slowly turning pile of meat that is chopped off for giro sandwiches) with a very good barbeque-type sauce, and a vat of yogurt.  He loved the kebap, but wasn’t interested in the yogurt!  My chicken (yes, yet again!) this time was roasted, and it was wonderful; the best chicken I think I’ve had here!  It came with a pile of raw sliced onions spiced with sumac, and a roasted tomato, two green peppers and a serving of rice pilaf.  Fabulous!  Then back to the hotel for much-needed naps … from which R still hasn’t awakened!

We’ve decided to visit the Mevlana Museum later this afternoon, to avoid some of the crowds (which we can see from our windows!)  I realized this morning that I hadn’t really explained too much about Konya, other than that it was a religious center!

Our new friends; really cuties!

Well, it turns out that Konya was the adopted home of the Mevlana, Celaleddin Rumi. 

Greeting at entrance to museum

Mevlana museum in the background

And, while that might not tell you anything at all, think Whirling Dervish, and you’ve got their founder!  He was known as a Sufi mystic, and his writings helped reshape Islamic thought and modified the popular Islamic culture of Turkey.  Many Turks make pilgrimages to Konya to visit his shrine, and it is reputed to be a place of inspiration to many.  At any rate, the entire city is chock full of Whirling Dervishes in many different forms – models, badges, trays, plates – if you can think it, you can probably put a whirling dervish on it!  I will stop now and report more on our visit when we return!

Back from the Mevlana Museum. 

Flutes used in ceremony

Stringed instruments

(Short trip, as we can see it from our room!)  Well, it was interesting.  The mausoleum where the Mevlana and (male) family members are buried is under a lovely turquoise dome.  The only issue is that you have to put little plastic booties on over your shoes (to protect the parquet floor), with the result that it feels like walking on an iceskating rink!  Very slippery!  Also, of course, no photographs.  After we were through with the mausoleum, we toured the various cells around the courtyard.  They have various items in them, including the musical instruments that accompany the dancing, the lighting during the ceremonies, clothing worn by the dervishes, etc.  Very interesting, and there were some really lovely illuminated manuscripts – the script work is truly incredible. 

Part of the garden; lovely roses!

Our hotel from garden; our room on left in blue!

Also, we ran into our young friends again!  After we had checked in yesterday, we were taking a walk of exploration, and were approached by 5 or 6 young girls (teens; maybe 15-16?), one of whom wanted to know if she could practice some English on us, and ask us a few questions.  We of course agreed.  She asked us our names, occupations, how we were, were we enjoying Turkey, what did we think of the people, what did we think of the food, etc.  Then, they all took our picture on their cell phones.  Only took a few minutes, and then of course when we parted, there was lots of giggling…As Robert said afterwards, we really missed our chance to take a good photo.  So, today when they came up to say HI, I told them we wanted their picture, if that was okay.  So, photo attached; they were such cuties!  And of course, lots and lots of giggling…

So, back to the hotel and now the blog.  We had such a big lunch that I’m not sure I’m going to want much for dinner … maybe a bowl of okra soup?  Also, R checking to see where our laundry has got to…it went out this morning, and is supposed to be back “today.”  Hmmm…

Lots of love,

m

xxx

Oh!  One thing that I wanted to mention is the interesting way things are spelled here.  Sometimes we can’t understand a word, but if we actually sound it out, voila! There it is!  We’ve started collecting some of them to share…so, dijital, fotokopi, groseri store, seramic, and finans.