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.

Celebrating My Birthday

This break from vacation blogging (Yes, there are still a lot more vacation photos coming!) is because I celebrated my birthday yesterday! It ended up being a really fun day, and I thought I'd share a bit about it here! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

First of all, I've been needing a haircut for a while, but my language isn't good enough to where I can go by myself. Plus, I've been hearing horror stories about the difficulty of working with Turkish stylists, so I've been putting it off. Finally I asked a friend - Julie, who has been here longer than me - if she could help me go get a haircut! She lives in a far district of town that I have never been to, so it was kind of my like Joni's Day Out Adventure to go to Julie's district (Batikent, for those of you who might be familiar with Ankara. It takes about an hour for me to get to from my house - 30 minutes on a bus, then 30 more on the subway). She took me to her hairdresser who is located in Acity Outlet AVM (AVM is "Mall" in Turkish). For any locals who might be interested in going, it's called Şahika Kuaför on the bottom floor of the mall - ask for Mehmet. Seriously, it's worth the trip out to Batikent for this guy! He was so friendly and professional, and Julie just explained to him what I wanted and he did it. That might not sound exceptional to people who aren't in Turkey, but from what I've heard, that's pretty awesome for a stylist here.

The hairdresser's shop was different from any I had been to before. There were WAY more people working there than I'd ever seen before! You had the stylists, who were like the superstars of the place, and then a whole horde of people I'll call "minions" that were running around doing the dirty work, and it seemed like their jobs were to just anticipate exactly what the stylist wanted and do it without them asking. First, one of the minions shampooed my hair. Then Mehmet began the cut while chatting with Julie in Turkish. At one point, he dropped his comb, and instantly a minion swooped in with another comb - Mehmet never broke his stride. The minion washed the comb and brought it back, switching it out with the other one, and Mehmet just kept working like nothing had even happened.

So he finished the cut and began to blow dry my hair, and another minion came over with a round brush. They had this amazing system where the minion knew exactly where to hold the dryer, when to hand it to Mehmet, when to take it back again, what angle to hold it. It was hilarious! Then when my hair was styled, another minion appeared with a mirror so I could see the back. I loved the cut, and I was also thoroughly entertained by the show! All this for only 35 TL, which is just over $19. I wish I had thought to get a picture of my styled cut - it looked really cute!

Then Julie and I walked the mall for a little bit. I asked her to help me find some shoes, which I've been surprised to have such a hard time! Apparently I have bigger feet than any Turkish woman is allowed to have, so NO stores carry shoes my size! Julie and I didn't have any luck at the mall either, and she divulged to me that she has people bring her shoes from the States. Guess that's what I'll do!!!

Then Julie took me out to lunch for some Turkish food, which was delicious and we really enjoyed just chatting together. Then I caught the subway back into the town center where I had a language lesson scheduled at Starbucks. Usually my teacher comes to my house, but with my plans in the morning, I wasn't sure I could make it back home in time for my lessons, so she met me in town instead. I was glad to get to go to Starbucks - who would refuse a birthday Frappucino on a hot day?!

After a good lesson, I took the bus home to meet Justin and Elias. They had sweet birthday flowers and a homemade card waiting for me! Then the three of us taxied out to IKEA where we ate dinner in their cafeteria (Swedish meatballs - Yummo!) and did some shopping. IKEA has a free children's play area where you can leave your kid up to an hour while you shop, so Elias loves going out there, and we do too!

So it was a fun first birthday to celebrate in Turkey, and I'm thankful for loving friends and family to help me celebrate!

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!

Some Books About Turkey

Turkey lacks no number of books written about it in English, but I wanted to post about two that I've read recently for those interested in the country.

Turkey: Federal Research Study and Country Profile (Kindle)
This first book was written by researchers at the Library of Congress and reads like a comprehensive (400 page) encyclopedia entry about Turkey. While boring, it's the most comprehensive non-partisan book about Turkey probably ever written. Looking at the history, geography, economy, politics, and military of Turkey going back centuries. The history overview was fascinating and helpful for me, particularly the changes made after the 1981 coup. If you want to know more details about Turkey than anyone else, read this book. The book only goes through the mid-1990s however, so you miss the remarkable decade to follow.

But the second book can help fill that gap:

Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future tells the story of parallel struggles for democracy in both Turkey and Iran. Kinzer is the author of The Crescent and the Star which is usually a recommended read about Turkey (here's my brief review).

Most Americans don't know that private American citizens were active in joining pro-democracy militias and fighting the Shah's armies in Iran in the late 1800s, for which there are monuments paying tribute to them still standing in Iran today. (The irony of this is that of course that after WWII, the CIA later worked to undermine Iranian democracy and support the Shah.)
Turkey's struggle toward basic human rights and democracy also began in the late 1800s as reforms began to be pushed on the last of the Ottoman Sultans. After the Ottoman Empire's disastrous defeat in World War I, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk helped lead the military struggle for independence as well as the political battles for democracy and modernization.

Kinzer compares Atatürk with his Iranian counterpart, Reza Shah Phalavi. Atatürk's strong hand and personality cult helped quickly bring some European-style modernity to Turkey whereas Reza Shah was only able to implement a few of the goals of the Constitutional Revolution. Kinzer chronicles Reza Shah's visit to Turkey where Atatürk takes him on a tour of the country, including a visit to a nude belly dancing exhibition--an activity both rulers apparently wanted full appreciation of in their respective countries as an example of secularism.

Kinzer's book portray's Atatürk's life in some detail, particularly focusing on his devotion to secularism and disapproval of religion. Iran's 20th century struggles are also detailed. While Atatürk is still revered (the summer weather here reveals all the Atatürk signature tatoos on women's arms), Reza Shah was deposed and replaced by his son, whose brutal reign was famously ended in 1979.

He offers an overview of Turkey's changes under Recep Tayip Erdoğan and the remarkable economıc growth since the 1990s. Kinzer also details America's relationship with these two countries and offers recommendations for the Obama administration. (Some of these recommendations and other tangents in the book I've chronicled in a separate review here.) About 1/3 of this book is fascinating history about Turkey that Kinzer didn't chronicle in Crescent and the Star, so I recommend it.