We escaped the city.
Isn't it strange that we have created whole cities, whole lives,
from which we must retreat and rest,
lives that we must vacate?
We have been seeking places of quiet and beauty. So we took a boat to Buyuk Ada (Big İsland). Although largest of the Princess Islands it is still incredibly peaceful and remarkably perserved. We ate at a tiny little family run cafe that just opened two months ago. Limon Ağacı (Lemon Tree) has extremely well made, home stlye fare. We had a perfectly cooked Şehriye Pilavı and Kuru Fasulye (Turkish for Rice and Beans) followed by dessert of semolina and pinenuts cooked in butter called irmik helvasi.
We sat and painted interpretations of the sunset at a teahouse by the dock using a bottle cap to hold the water.
A few days later we were off again...
We went to the hills, tree and cloud covered. How lucious are dark storm clouds when you've gone 3 weeks without even the thought of rain ! (Last night we awoke to the startling sound of rainfall in İstanbul and listened, amazed, in the middle of the night until we drifted back asleep)
We felt we were sent there to meet Muhterem, a remarkable woman, and her family and we spent most of our time at her restaurant, which is literally her house. The name of the place Bizim Ev (Our House) straight forwardly points this out. İt was a meeting of hearts and souls and of course all in the midst of an amazing sofra (tablespread). We sat in her back yard, complete with fruit trees (still trying to identify what kind) hung with hammocks, a stone wall with a flowing stream behind it and picnic tables under the trees' dappled light.
In a word: Paradise.
Now we are preparing for our long day of travel tomorrow
and our arrival, finally?, in İndia.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Week 2...Still eating...
İf İ lived in this country İ would be a very fat woman.
İm telling you, you must visit Turkey, but be prepared, something will come over you when you arrive, you will forget about all site seeing, that guide book you read and circled all the various places you were going to visit... you might make it to a few... but really your mind will go in a different direction and all you will think of is "eat food, drink tea"... and thats really it. Living in Turkey for two weeks thus far, I have mastered these two habits. Dare to ask me if İ can wake up in the morning and drink a bottomless cup of tea while eating a neverending plate of pastries and cheese... well the answer is yes İ can do it and İ can do it well. All of these years searching for my hidden talent and little did I know it was just waiting for me on plate at a place called Ciya.
Rachel this discription is for you...
İ just want to tell you right now, İf Ciya was a woman... you and İ would be completely out of luck. There hasnt been one meal at Ciya (and there have been many) that Evrim and İ havent thought of you and Rick. The food is something that one can not describe and if you tried to you would be setting yourself up to fail. I can only pray that the four of us will one day sit down to a shared meal at Ciya.
Anyways... besides eating we have been doing a lot of what is my second hidden talent and that is relaxing to the extreme, seeing how long I can actually go just laying down wheather thats on a private boat tour through the bosphorous accompanied by Evrims lovely family, a breezy deck that overlooks four islands, or on a bed of warm marble in a Turkish Hamam getting my own personal scrub down and bath, in all of these ways İ have been able to master the art of relaxation.
Side note: For those of you who dont know, İ recently purchased a stunning pair of ruby red Danskos, that will put a dent in your wallet... little did İ know these fabulous "walking shoes" would turn my feet into the source of all blisters. İ was foolishly told upon buying these shoes that İ could actually blanch (yes İ am speaking of the cooking term) the shoes and somehow they would magically turn into a soft leather making your treks through the city easy and comfortable. İ can now say İ have blanched my shoes and İ will only further note that they were sent on a plane back to America. (Evrim's side side note: Blanching shoes aparently doesn't work but İ'll just mention that the shoes probably shouldn't be a half size larger to start...)
İm telling you, you must visit Turkey, but be prepared, something will come over you when you arrive, you will forget about all site seeing, that guide book you read and circled all the various places you were going to visit... you might make it to a few... but really your mind will go in a different direction and all you will think of is "eat food, drink tea"... and thats really it. Living in Turkey for two weeks thus far, I have mastered these two habits. Dare to ask me if İ can wake up in the morning and drink a bottomless cup of tea while eating a neverending plate of pastries and cheese... well the answer is yes İ can do it and İ can do it well. All of these years searching for my hidden talent and little did I know it was just waiting for me on plate at a place called Ciya.
Rachel this discription is for you...
İ just want to tell you right now, İf Ciya was a woman... you and İ would be completely out of luck. There hasnt been one meal at Ciya (and there have been many) that Evrim and İ havent thought of you and Rick. The food is something that one can not describe and if you tried to you would be setting yourself up to fail. I can only pray that the four of us will one day sit down to a shared meal at Ciya.
Anyways... besides eating we have been doing a lot of what is my second hidden talent and that is relaxing to the extreme, seeing how long I can actually go just laying down wheather thats on a private boat tour through the bosphorous accompanied by Evrims lovely family, a breezy deck that overlooks four islands, or on a bed of warm marble in a Turkish Hamam getting my own personal scrub down and bath, in all of these ways İ have been able to master the art of relaxation.
Side note: For those of you who dont know, İ recently purchased a stunning pair of ruby red Danskos, that will put a dent in your wallet... little did İ know these fabulous "walking shoes" would turn my feet into the source of all blisters. İ was foolishly told upon buying these shoes that İ could actually blanch (yes İ am speaking of the cooking term) the shoes and somehow they would magically turn into a soft leather making your treks through the city easy and comfortable. İ can now say İ have blanched my shoes and İ will only further note that they were sent on a plane back to America. (Evrim's side side note: Blanching shoes aparently doesn't work but İ'll just mention that the shoes probably shouldn't be a half size larger to start...)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Week 1 - the 40 hour Day - Turkish (eating) Motif - Always the sea
...Our first 'blog' entry has been a long time coming but in this case fortunately no news has meant "eating continually since we've arrived." i warned Mary about the amount and frequency that we would eat in Turkey, between family, friends, and the most remarkable restaurant in Turkey (Asia...Earth...etc....) Ciya, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing. we have been staying mostly with my sister Evin and my soon to be brother-in-law Sinan. Their flat is actually quite spacious and they are, let it be known, gracious hosts. Hence we are the 4th set of guests to arrive in the past 3 weeks. The Dogu/Okan Hotel is in business.
We are in a kind of relaxing into relaxing state most of the time. To be completely and totally honest we spend over half the day finding, fixing, discussing, and of course devouring food. Mary is reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry recommended to me as the one fiction book i should read before going to india. I am reading Anna Karenina because i never have.
Day 1 and 2 were all in the spaces between spaces, the Barzakh of the travelling world, airports. Hail storm in New York caused delays, caused us to fear missing all fights and connections. Caused us to invent wild Plan B scenarios (involving crossing into Siberia from the Bering Straight ) . Caused me to realize I am more panicked than an epileptic cat in water and Mary the the island of calmness in such situations. I joked that india was already teaching us to have no expectations...even of getting there.
But we did arrive, safe, sound, and happy.
in İstanbul first of course.
My father and sister picked us up. We were hungry but sleep won out that night and we slept an outstanding 10 hours.
The rest of the week we did oh-so-human things: ate, slept, ate, read, ate, watched Lord of the Rings and spent a lot of time looking at the sea. My father and stepmother Emel have recently moved into the most beautiful flat I have ever seen in İstanbul. İt is mystical and enchanting and there you actually do not care what you are doing because there, in front of you, is
always the islands, always the sea.
The end of Week 1 ended in bliss when two dear friends came and spent Sunday and Monday (17th and 18th) with us before heading back to Brockwood Park, England। They came to spend 3 and 1/2 weeks near Sirince in a Mathematics Village, founded by the famed Turkish mathmatician Ali Nesin. Their stories of this place and their experiences made me all the more excited to some day visit the Matematik Köyü and all the more excited to visit the schools and creative educational centres we hope to in india. I will, inshallah, write more about this in another post.
Right now we will return to Kadikoy, home of Ciya (we cannot resist...fourth or fifth time yet?) and then to Moda. We have established a happy pattern in our carpet here.
Today it ends with tea and the sea.
We are in a kind of relaxing into relaxing state most of the time. To be completely and totally honest we spend over half the day finding, fixing, discussing, and of course devouring food. Mary is reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry recommended to me as the one fiction book i should read before going to india. I am reading Anna Karenina because i never have.
Day 1 and 2 were all in the spaces between spaces, the Barzakh of the travelling world, airports. Hail storm in New York caused delays, caused us to fear missing all fights and connections. Caused us to invent wild Plan B scenarios (involving crossing into Siberia from the Bering Straight ) . Caused me to realize I am more panicked than an epileptic cat in water and Mary the the island of calmness in such situations. I joked that india was already teaching us to have no expectations...even of getting there.
But we did arrive, safe, sound, and happy.
in İstanbul first of course.
My father and sister picked us up. We were hungry but sleep won out that night and we slept an outstanding 10 hours.
The rest of the week we did oh-so-human things: ate, slept, ate, read, ate, watched Lord of the Rings and spent a lot of time looking at the sea. My father and stepmother Emel have recently moved into the most beautiful flat I have ever seen in İstanbul. İt is mystical and enchanting and there you actually do not care what you are doing because there, in front of you, is
always the islands, always the sea.
The end of Week 1 ended in bliss when two dear friends came and spent Sunday and Monday (17th and 18th) with us before heading back to Brockwood Park, England। They came to spend 3 and 1/2 weeks near Sirince in a Mathematics Village, founded by the famed Turkish mathmatician Ali Nesin. Their stories of this place and their experiences made me all the more excited to some day visit the Matematik Köyü and all the more excited to visit the schools and creative educational centres we hope to in india. I will, inshallah, write more about this in another post.
Right now we will return to Kadikoy, home of Ciya (we cannot resist...fourth or fifth time yet?) and then to Moda. We have established a happy pattern in our carpet here.
Today it ends with tea and the sea.
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