How
we ‘discovered’ Turkey...
We
had never considered visiting Turkey until the day Bev answered a
phone call from the owner of an incoming tour operator in Istanbul.
Having seen our ad in the Globe and Mail Newspaper (back in the days
when we could afford the ad rates), he wanted to know if we had ever
considered Turkey as a travel destination. “No” was Bev’s
simple answer. In any case, Erkan Karpuz, who has since become a good
friend, asked if he could send us some material on his company’s
program. Bev agreed thinking it would soon go in the bin. And so here
we are.
Turkey
is a land that has constantly surprised and delighted us. And while
it’s obvious there is so much to see and do, from the delights of
Istanbul to the stark beauty of the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia to
the ancient Greek sights on the Aegean, there are other, little
personal and surprising things that hold a special place in our
memories.
On
our first tours er spent a fair bit of time wandering about saying:
‘I didn’t know that’ so always willing to share what we didn’t
know...
Did
you know that...
… Corn
on the Cob is one of the most popular street vendor foods in
Istanbul. Don’t really know why but you’ll see them wherever
street food vendors hang out. Can’t think of a more messy meal to
eat on the go but it sure goes over big.
...Istanbul
is the only city in the world built on two continents. The Bosphorus
Strait divides European Istanbul from Asian Istanbul. Three
suspension bridges and a heck of a lot of ferries connect the two
sides. We found it fascinating to stand on the one side of the water
looking across to the rest of the city in another continent.
...Turkish
people have a ‘thing’ for pets – especially cats. You’ll see
dishes of dog and cat food for the strays outside many shops and
houses. Walking back from the Grand Bazaar on a very busy street we
came across a friendly old dog sound asleep in the middle of the
road. As the cars slowed down to get around him creating quite a
traffic problem this old veteran would happily wag his tail. Nothing
wrong with the dog but all of Istanbul was his home and cars were his
friend (though the drivers of said vehicles may not have felt as
pleased). Many shops have little pens set up where they will feed and
take care of these strays.And they are not ‘wild’ or ‘feral’,
but just like your ordinary house pets. Not many people are pet
owners, but they sure take care of these homeless creatures.
......That
one of the Sultans had tulips embroidered on his underwear? That was
a bit of a surprise. Mind you, the Tulip which originated in the
hilly Anatolia region of Turkey is the National Flower of Turkey.
Dutch traders took the bulbs back to the Netherlands in the 17th
century. The name ‘Tulip’ comes from ‘Tuliband’ – the word
for ‘Turban’. We should add that Turkey, just like Holland, has a
large Tulip Festival each April. You’ll discover the tulip motif in
carpet designs, on clothing in Mosques – just about everywhere.
...Turkey
has a big jazz festival each year; they have a thriving Basketball
League with a number of players in the NBA; McDonalds and Burger King
have taken root in Turkey – and are, not surprisingly, quite
popular. We find this latter a bit difficult to understand when you
consider Turkish food is incredibly good.
...That
in this overwhelmingly Muslim country there are a number of stores
that sell whisky, beer - Effes is a good one - wine and other
alcoholic drinks. In fact, Turkey is the fourth largest producer of
grapes for wine in the world.
...There
are more ancient Greek ruins on the Turkish side of the Aegean Sea
than there are in Greece.
...The
Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is the oldest and largest indoor market in
the world dating from 1461 with 61 streets, over 4,000 shops and
anywhere from 250,000 to 400,000 visitors a day. At the end of one of
our shopping visits (everything is here from carpets to jewelry, to
arts, clothing and things to protect you from the evil eye of which
we have one on our door, we heard a shopkeeper shouting “Hey, Lady”
in our direction. We thought it was just an eager vendor but when he
caught up to us, it was a vendor ,but he was chasing us down near the
end of the day to say ‘thanks’ for stopping earlier and making a
small purchase.
To
sum up our first impressions...
It’s
hard to say what struck us ‘most’. For Bev, one of the lasting
highlights was being in the 25,000 seat ampitheatre in Ephesus where
Paul preached to the Ephesians. To be in that place and to discover
the reality of that particular Bible story brought a new life to what
had always been just a Sunday School story when she was growing up.
So
many things surprised us. The friendliness of everyone, the
cleanliness of the streets, the shops, the
restaurants
and the discovery of a residential section of wooden frame houses
that reminded us of Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island. And that
was not that far from the remains of the Hippodrome where the Romans
had their chariot races more than a few years ago.
On
the day we visited Mary’s House near Ephesus, we were more than a
bit shocked to discover the number of Turkish followers of Islam
sitting quietly in the house. The surprise continued when we found
out Mary is mentioned more times in the Quaran than in the New
Testament. It is thought that John, following Jesus’ instructions,
took care of Mary and brought her with him to Ephesus and built her a
home there where she died.
Just
about everything in Turkey surprised us especially after all the
negatives we have been constant fed about ‘them’. Not only was it
a learning, and fun, experience but again made us realize how little
we know of the rest of this great old world.
Andy
& Bev Fraser
frasertravel.com
andy-bev@telus.net
