Then we had some dancing, Turkish style.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Oh we do like to be beside the sea side
Then we had some dancing, Turkish style.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Carpets, Cooking and Castles in Cappadocia
Here's Lisa and Jane at Uchisar Fort. You can see the windows to the dwellings within the rocks. Some of them are still occupied.
We ate fresh bread with Yoghurt soup to start. It was an interesting flavour: creamy yet slightly like vinegar. Afterwards we ate home rolled dolma (stuffed vineleaves) and meatballs made using bulgar wheat and mince. Dessert was also made by the hostess. It was a cross between jelly and mousse made with grape honey. After eating we played cards with the seven year old, Aslam, and taught the group how to play "Pass the Pigs". We'll be sending a few copies of that around the world when we get home. Perhaps we should buy shares in the company?
Mahmet took us to a large room upstairs where he laid out about a hundred different carpets to teach us how the different qualities feel underfoot and showed us the traditional patterns found in Turkey. We were unable to buy one because of the cost but it was truely fascinating to learn all the effort that goes into one small carpet.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Valleys of Cappadocia.
Here we are walking in Red Valley, White Valley and Rose Valley (the colour of the rocks being red, white and rose!). It was over 35 degrees each day but Ergun (our trusty leader) passionately wanted to show us the wonders near his home town.This is Pigeon Valley. The locals carved pigeon houses in the side of the cliffs. Pigeon poo is a fantastic fertiliser for the crops in the valley below. Can you see why this one is called Love Valley?
Pottery is an important craft for the people of Cappadocia, with clay coming from the nearby Red River. We stopped by a ceramic workshop for a display by the master potter. He used the age-old kick wheel which requires the user to manually kick the spinning wheel.Then the apprentice had a shot. Luckily they had a spare pair of extremely unattractive pants to wear so I didn't get too filthy. After firing the shaped clay in a kiln (at 700 degrees!) the plates/vases/pots are intricately painted. The workshop has hundreds of traditional pieces like this Hitite wine flask that Greg is modelling.
Our Own Brigadoon
The timing also worked out perfectly with our jobs. We loved working together at Crosshouse Hospital. We were even invited to a Scottish wedding when one of the radiographers we worked with got married. Then Greg moved to Ayr hospital where the ladies he worked with spoiled him and included him as one of the team. When work ran out at Crosshouse, Jane got work instantly (timing agian!) and commuted to Glasgow on the train to work at Gartnavel General Hospital where she's made some life-long friendships. We really were blessed by the opportunities that unfolded before us. In the end it was very sad to leave our Scottish home. We really hope some of our new friends will come and stay in Australia in the future so that we can re-pay the favors.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Istanbul: The City on Two Continents
Istanbul is a city built on two continents. The Asian and European sides are separated by the Bosphorus river which is part of the connection between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean . We cruised up the river on the public boat, passing by a Sultan's hunting lodge, some beautiful riverside mosques and many houses owned by the rich with lots of huge windows.
The Bosphorus Bridge is 169m high and 1073m long. It carries the major road across the river.
In order to go inside the Mosque we took our shoes off at the door. Women were encourage to cover up bare shoulders and their heads and men wearing shorts above the knee had to wear a sort of skirt to cover their knees.
Sultan Ahmet commissioned the building of the Blue Mosque between 1606-1617. He actually asked his architects to design and build him a gold mosque. There wasn't enough money in the treasury for this but instead of incurring the wrath of a cross sultan they decided to trick him. The words for six and gold in Turkish are very similar. So...they built him six mosques instead! These mosques are the basis for the world famous skyline of Istanbul.Istanbul has been an important religious centre for many centuries. Emporer Constantine converted to Christianity during his reign, therefore changing the Roman Empire from paganism to Christiany. He was facing a large army with no resources but he had a dream one night. An angel told him if he painted a Christian cross on all the shields of his soldiers he would defeat the army. And he did! To repay the favour Constantine became a Christian. He built a huge cathedral between A.D. 532 and 537 in honour of his conversion, called Hagia Sophia. It was the largest cathedral ever built in the world for nearly a thousand years. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmet 2 ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features - such as the four minarets outside - were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. Istanbul also holds many ancient artifacts. The tomb of Alexander the Great (the famous Roman Emporer) can be seen in the archeological museum and there are several extremely old obelisks in the area known as the Hippodrome, next to the Blue Mosque.They say this obelisk was 2 times the size but when it was shipped from Egypt it broke or was broken in half! Just imagine the original size! Seeing objects and places several thousands of years old became the norm for our Turkish Odyssey.
We visited the Basilica Cistern, a spectacular sight hidden under the main road. Apparently it was discovered when two locals decided to question why they could fish under the Hagia Sofia!
It is the largest of several hundredd cisterns in Istanbul. Water was kept here for the city. When it was built the Christian builders used the remains of pagan temples as building blocks. At the very back corner of the cistern you can find 2 Medusa heads, one upside down, one on its side.
We left Istanbul on a Monday night, taking the overnight train to Ankara and from there we crossed the desert-like central part of Turkey to Cappadocia. On the way we passed one of the largest salt lakes in the world and had some fun with the camera.
Stay tuned for the next edition of The Altmann's Turkish Odyssey.