I thought the beginning of my first weekend in Turkey would mean some rest and relaxation. I thought wrong, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
For the weekend, the school payed to take our group to Safronbolu, a small town 140 miles to the north. We took off on a chartered bus Friday after work and arrived just in time for a very late dinner at 9 pm. We briefly went to a coffee house after dinner, complete with oodles of gorgeous rugs covered with cushions to sit on. I enjoyed a glass of tea and some Turkish delight, then headed to bed at our lovely hotel, Havuzlu Konagi. The hotel deserves a description all its own. It was very old and an example of typical Ottoman architecture. You enter through a lovely archway to find yourself in a courtyard full of roses and marigolds and tables to sit at. Directly inside is a beautiful breakfast room whose main claim to fame is a shallow pool/fountain which takes up most of the center. I stayed in the annex, which had a great deal of creaky wood floors and beautiful ceramic ware adorning the walls.
After a great nights' sleep and a delicious breakfast of bread, yogurt, halva, tea, watermelon, and a great deal more, I took off exploring the old city. Safronbolu is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight, and as such it is beautifully preserved yet functional on a daily basis for all who live there. The narrow cobblestone streets were lined with shops selling everything from Turkish Delight and baklava to coffee sets and beautiful jewelry. I was very tempted to buy a pair of silver and coral earrings for 30 lira ($1=1.50 YTL), but I resisted and bought instead a much cheaper Turkish coffee pot (think small pot with long handle). At a saffron shop, an old man convinced six of us to try a glass of saffron tea for free. It was delicious, sweetened just a touch with honey, and he insisted on taking photos with us. We ate a lovely lunch of gozleme (a crepe-like bread stuffed with cheese or meat or potatoes), saffron rice, manti (similar to ravioli), and stuffed grape leaves.
After lunch the entire group returned to the bus to drive to Amasra, a small town on the Black Sea coast. I went for a very salty and buoyant swim, then walked along the high wall that separates the ocean from the man-made bay. We ate dinner as a group at a seafood restaurant called Mustafa's, where the fish is fried unless otherwise specified, something I was definitely not aware of. My plate full of Red Mullet gave me sad looks the entire time I ate. We didn't have much time after dinner before we needed to head back to Safronbolu.
This morning, Sunday, I woke up to have another lovely breakfast before going to three hours of information sessions on teaching English. Shortly after noon we were liberated, and I went on a hunt for some lunch whereupon I found more gozleme, but very good gozleme. I bought a beautiful little cotton scarf with a floral print, ate some more baklava, and was back at the bust at 2:30 for our drive back to Ankara.
It was a lovely weekend, but I think might be just about ready to slow down a bit this week and stay close to home come Saturday. I say that now. We shall see.
