Vacation, Part 6: Safranbolu Luna Park

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

The last thing we did in Safranbolu was visit a little carnival area. Many cities in Turkey have a public "Luna Park" like this one where you just pay per the ride you want (3 TL, or $1.60). There were rides & games, and Elias loved it!

We went in the early evening, about 4:30 or 5, and we were some of the only people there. Turks generally run on a much later schedule than we do. So Elias was able to enjoy having the rides and play area all to himself!

Elias loved this little train ride! In the video below, you can hear him blowing the whistle, it sounds like a siren.

There was a play area with slides, obstacle course, and ball pit. Those are always Elias' favorite!

His first time ever riding a carousel! He loved it! In this photo, he's saying "Giddyup, horsie!"

Then we went to a nearby park for a picnic dinner. Turkish parks often have adult exercise equipment alongside the children's play equipment, and you usually see kiddos enjoy playing on both. Elias really liked this particular machine with spinning seats; he was proud of figuring out how to climb on and off it by himself.

The weather in Safranbolu became increasingly hot as the days went on. We were eager to find a cold sea to swim in...

Vacation, Part 5: Safranbolu Pool

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

The weather was pretty hot and humid during our vacation in Safranbolu, so we were pleased to discover there was a public pool there because Elias has been begging to swim and we've missed having pool access. We've been leery of public pools in Turkey so far, but this one looked clean, spacious, and well-kept, and so we went for it! It was awesome! We didn't stay and incredibly long time the first afternoon we went because it got REALLY crowded (and people were jumping in fully-clothed)! So we went again the next morning as soon as it opened, and we had the whole pool to ourselves! We really enjoyed this nice, refreshing activity. We got to witness some kids taking swimming lessons as well. (Turks by and large don't learn to swim when they're young or may never learn [hence the large number of drownings on the nightly news...] and most adult pools are therefore not very deep.) The cost was 10TL/adult ($5.50), so not as cheap as U.S. public pools. Private pools of similar quality range from 15-35TL/adult ($8-20) for comparison.

There were three separate pools - an adult one in the back (about 5 feet deep), and kid one that was about 2 feet deep on the right, and then a small baby one that was very shallow. (You can see that one below.) Then there was a large canopy with seating for all the parents who weren't swimming. It was a really nice setup!

Elias LOVED the kid pool, it was just the right depth for him to have fun but not be scared of going under. He got to where he was brave enough to jump in from the side, which turned into his favorite thing to do here. See the video of him jumping in below. He's along the back with the blue ring around his waist.

Elias swimming with Mommy in the big pool the next morning - all to ourselves!

Elias splashing with Mommy in the kid pool.

There was also a playground in the same area as the pool, so after a swim, we stopped to swing for a few minutes. Doesn't get much better than that! Turkey does public parks better than any country we've lived in.

Vacation, Part 4: Behind-the-Scenes Tour

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

The site of the amazing aqueduct that I posted about yesterday is only accessible by car, so we took a taxi there. And we turned out to be so fortunate with the taxi we got because the driver was so nice, and he just loved Justin and his ability to speak Turkish. (That actually was the trend in Safranbolu - it's not a huge tourist destination, so they don't see many foreigners anyway. But then to find a foreigner that spoke Turkish was like the best thing ever! Justin made a whole lot of new best friends that week!) So Justin rode up front with the driver and they chatted happily in Turkish while Elias and I just enjoyed the scenery in the back.

After our visit to Incekaya, the driver said, "You know, I really like you guys, and so if you want, I'd like to take you on a tour of some other beautiful places that most foreigners don't see. Would you like that?" Um, yeah! So he took off throughout the countryside, occasionally stopping at one place or another, pointing out this and that. (Note: He wasn't running the meter, he had just agreed upon a price to take us out to Incekaya, so this extra tour was not just a ploy to run up the meter!)

This was still at the Incekaya site. They're working on building a glass platform over the gorge so you can go out and then look down at the huge drop beneath your feet. We were sad it wasn't open yet!

The taxi driver pulled over at one spot and told Justin to climb under the guard rail and down a slope to get a good picture of the view. I had to capture the moment on my phone's camera.

He did get a good picture, though!

He also stopped at this beautiful footbridge, which Elias and I weren't brave enough to walk out on. So Justin and the driver just went out and took pictures.

View from the bridge

Looking down from the bridge

Looking down from the other side

 So that was fun and really special to get that tour from a local!

Vacation, Part 3: Incekaya Aqueduct

See Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.

Next we visited an ancient Byzantine aqueduct near the small village of Incekaya. In Turkish, it's called Incekaya Su Kemeri. We weren't sure exactly what to expect going out there, but we had heard it was a cool site, so we thought it worth a trip. And wow, was it! The aqueduct itself was beautiful and amazing.

That's Justin on top of the aqueduct. Elias and I chose to stay down on solid ground.

Elias wanted to be like Daddy, though, so we took his picture sitting in one of the arches.

Even cooler, though, was the gorge it spanned and the wooden walkway that took us ALLLLLLLLLL the way to the bottom!!!

Looking down from the top

Man, that was a lot of stairs! Elias was a trooper, though, and did them all by himself!

You can see the wooden walkway going along the left side.

Those cliffs were HIGH!

There is still water flowing through it, and it made a lovely brook all along the way down.

Then at the very bottom was this stunning waterfall in front of a cave. I felt like a picture didn't capture it, so here's a video of what the very base of the stairs looked like.

On the way back up, Justin hopped up into one of the cliffside caves for a picture.

Elias wanted to be like Daddy again, so they found a smaller cave to pose in.

This was an absolutely stunning setting, like nothing I've ever seen before! What beauty and magnificence! I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to visit it.

Vacation, Part 2: Touring the Old Town

(If you missed it, read Part 1 of our vacation series here.)

The historic district of Safranbolu is called Çarşı, and it's just a few minutes' ride on a minibus from the modern district where we were staying. It is beautiful and full of history!

Elias cheesing in front of Çarşı's main square. You can see the mosque behind him on the left, the Turkish bath on the right, and the old-style Ottoman houses in the center.

The front side of the mosque

The old Turkish bath. It's still operational, and Justin seriously considered having one, but we ran out of time.

The History Museum

We stopped for some peynir gözleme (cheese crepes) at a little cafe. Elias LOVES this Turkish food!

 

We took a golf-cart tour that had English narration, and that was awesome to be able to hear some of the stories and see things pointed out to us.

The tour took us to an amazingly beautiful overlook and it happened that the Muslim Call to Prayer started right when we were up there. Here is a video looking out over historic Çarşı with the English tour narration and the Call to Prayer in the background:

One thing the tour made sure to point out is how open and friendly the culture was, even in ancient times. (This is still true in modern Turkey - people will go to great lengths to help someone in need, even a stranger.) A few examples:

They built their homes with the corners rounded to make it easier for people to go around the corners with carts.

They also built external taps on the outside of their homes in order to share their water with anybody who happened to be outside that needed some. Here are Elias and Justin playing in one:

Çarşı, like all the rest of Turkey I've seen so far, is built right into the mountains around it, so there are hills and valleys everywhere you turn. There is also a river that runs directly under it, and so you can be going down the street and suddenly realize you're on a bridge over a 300 meter drop down to this:

Note: This picture was taken through the protective fencing. It was NOT just wide open for any dodo to fall in.

Um, yeah. That was really cool.

And then to finish up a great day, Elias had his first-ever Magnum bar:

Yum!

I had to throw that in since my parents are Magnum fanatics. :) Next up is what was my favorite part of Safranbolu - come back later!

Vacation, Part 1: Bus Trip to Safranbolu

If you keep up with us on Twitter, you saw that we took an amazing vacation last week to the Black Sea region of Turkey! I'll do a series of blog posts with pictures, so keep coming back to see more!

We don't drive here, but it's pretty easy to find public transportation anywhere you want to go. With Elias' deep love for trains, we briefly considered taking a train for our trip, but the rail system here is extremely old and SLOW, so we decided to take a bus instead. Opposite of the train system, the bus system is quite modern and comfortable. The Turkish bus system can be compared to the American air system - there are a lot of competing companies that have different prices and amenities and go different places. The buses are all air-conditioned charter-type buses and very comfortable for long travel. The bus terminal is pretty far on the edge of town, but it is HUGE and very much resembles an airport.

The lady next to Justin apparently didn't want her picture taken...

Our bus had individual TV screens at each seat just like an airplane, and they also served snacks and beverages mid-trip!

Elias loved having his own TV.

He did great wearing the headphones too!

One of his favorite things to watch was the "road show." They had a camera mounted to the front of the bus, so we could watch the road ahead of us.

As we traveled, we really enjoyed watching the scenery change from city to countryside! It turned into farmland with towns dotted throughout, but we never left the mountains - Turkey is really rugged!

It was only a 3-hour trip to our first stop, which was the town of Safranbolu. This town has been designated a UN World Heritage Site because of its dedication to preserving the ancient Ottoman culture. (Stay tuned for more of our exploration of that!) We stayed at the Sultan Saray Otel, which was comfortable and was all we needed.

Image from their Facebook page

We had a triple room, with a double and a single bed. There was a mini-fridge and we had our own bathroom.

And it gave us some beautiful views!

Come back tomorrow to see our exploration of Safranbolu!