Safranbolu

It was a traveling weekend!

As I've mentioned, I'm putting together a few weekend trips to get out and see more of Turkey than just Ankara. I won't make it everywhere of course, Turkey is huge and full of history, but I can at at least get in some of the sights in Central Anatolia. So that's what I did.

This weekend was an outing to the village of Safranbolu: a name that literally translates to "an abundance of saffron," which is exactly what it has. Thanks to this abundance, the town grew as major stop on the trade routes between Europe and Asia, and the prosperous villagers were able to build sturdy, high quality houses that have lasted through today. Visitors now flock from all parts of Turkey and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world, to see this fine example of preserved Ottoman architecture.

The village is so popular, I actually had some trouble finding a hotel. The first place I called was booked solid. The second place only had two beds left. I snatched those up though, and early Saturday morning Mark and I boarded a bus north to the sleepy little village not far from the Black Sea. The pension I'd booked was too busy to pick us up at the bus station, so we had some fun wandering around the seriously winding streets and alleys, getting lost and found again at least half a dozen times before we ended up at the pension. I don't think either of us minded. Wandering through Safranbolu is like wandering through the set of a period piece, or like time stopped a hundred years ago. Everywhere is cobblestone streets, and because the village is in a valley, some of those cobblestones are nearly a vertical ascent. It was a good workout, and a lot of fun, but we did eventually reach the pension, and were excited to see what we found when we checked in.

I'd read that the pension was in one of the historic Ottoman houses, but staying there was better than I could have imagined. Everything was old, creaky wood, and classic Ottoman aesthetics, but it's been updated with the amenities of today: heaters, wifi, and even modern plumbing installed in a back closet. (See below.)

Once checked in, we struck out pretty quickly to explore some of the sights we'd glanced at before. First, we stopped by an old house they'd turned in to a museum, though I think our pension was a better exhibit overall. Then, we explored Cinci Hani: an old cavern palace turned hotel, also not as cozy as our pension. It was a good place to see though, and the view from the roof was lovely.

From there, we visited the city museum on top of one of the surrounding hills, as well as the clock tower situated just behind it. As far as museums go, it wasn't the most impressive, but apparently they give historical lectures at the top of the clock tower if you're willing to climb the stairs. That's what it looked like at least when we climbed said stairs only to find ourselves in the middle of a Turkish lecture of which I understood not a word. In case it wasn't obvious, we didn't stick around for that, and instead took a break for some tea and sahlep in an old prison turned cafe sitting in the tower's shadow.

The evening was spent relaxing in the pension, watching some news, and napping. When it got late enough for dinner, we ventured out again to a restaurant I'd heard about in Lonely Planet: Tasev Art & Wine House. It was the fanciest place I'd seen in Turkey so far, an old stone building with, as per the name, art on the walls and a wait staff that spoke like sommeliers. It was also the first place I've been where I could order in English. The waiter was wonderful, giving us the read out of the wine list and chatting about where we were from. We picked the Turkish house wine, which only seemed right, and were pleasantly surprised that it was miles beyond the Turkish wine we'd been buying in the supermarkets in Ankara.

After dinner, we had an early night. I literally slept ten or eleven hours, which was some much needed rest after a long and exciting week. Morning brought a delicious Turkish breakfast, courtesy of the hotel. Turkish breakfast isn't much different from Egyptian breakfast, for those of you who remember how much I loved that. No beans, but it still includes the fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, honey, jams, and a boiled egg. This breakfast even came with chocolate tahini and the requisite Turkish bowl of olives.

Post breakfast, I took a trip to the historic Turkish bath. Mark wasn't as keen to get scrubbed down by strangers in a language he didn't speak, so he stayed behind to read, but I enjoyed my experience as much as I had in Jordan. I'd forgotten what it was like to have baby smooth skin again, but it definitely gave me the impetus to look up the Turkish bath in Ankara. You're not to go too often, lest they start sloughing off the skin before it's actually dead, but if it's not too expensive I may have to stop in once a week or two.

Post bath I picked up Mark from the pension and we headed back to the bus station. Neither of us wanted to get in tonight too late. I feel at this juncture I should point out though that Turkish buses are not like buses in the states. Yes, they are technically the same vehicles: those giant coaches with storage underneath and front and back doors. The experience of taking one, however, is much more like a leisurely plane ride than anything else. There's none of the same security, of course, but there are attendants who bring you water and tea and coffee and soda and snacks, and both the buses we were on had television sets mounted in the backs of the headrests with menus for movies and internet and games. It was pleasant, overall, and definitely not something I would mind doing again.

It is nice to be "home" though. My apartment doesn't feel like home just yet. I think it's still too empty. It is sort of getting there though, and I made it back with gifts! Safranbolu is also known for it's saffron laced Turkish delight, so naturally I bought a box for the office. I also picked up some saffron itself, which was still nearly $5 a gram despite the massive discount, and some dried hibiscus and zahtar. Those last two some of you will recognize from my last stint in the Middle East. Hibiscus tea is hibiscus tea any way you brew it. Zahtar, however, is just the Turkish version of zaatar, so... there's something new for you.

And now, I really need to get some work done. I have an application due Wednesday that needs a lot of attention. So... iyi akshamlar!