Your Coup Cannot Destroy My Turkey

While I have not experienced a lot of conflict in my life/travels nor am I stranger to it. I was evacuated from Belgrade in February 2008 when, as a result of the US's recognition of Kosovo's independence a group of people tried to burn down the US embassy. I was in Kabul in December 2011 for the Ashura suicide bombing. I have been in Istanbul for more than three years now and lived through Gezi and the summer of tear gas, both Sultanahmet suicide bombings, the suicide bombing on Istiklal-a seven minute walk from my apartment-the attack on the Ataturk International Airport, and a variety of protests. However the July 15 coup attempt was my first coup.

After Friday night, which was the most terrifying experience of my life-surpassing even that time I thought I was going to die on the Great Wall of China-I don't know why people would choose to go to an air show. Well, really even before Friday I couldn't understand that, but hearing the screams of the F16 and the resultant sonic booms many of thought were bombs I don't know why someone would willing want to listen to that. The next morning many discussions on Facebook groups and from my friends were about leaving Turkey. This coup, be it a real attempt or Erdogan theater (which I think more likely), this was the straw that broke the camel's back for many people. However when people ask me if I plan to leave I just look at them quizzically and say "No. Why would I do that?"

To be fair to the discussion, I am planning to leave Turkey. I decided this last fall when I realized that I want to be a sommelier and do my training in Italy; but this failed coup attempt will neither push me out faster nor will it change the fact that I'll probably be back. Why not? Because this, this country of coups, failing democracy, violence, and a willful retreat into the dark ages is not my Turkey.

The Bosphorus and the Seraglio Point from Galatasaray

Kiz Kulesi/Maiden's Tower

My Turkey is beautiful. It's where I can be awed time and again by the magic of the Bosphorus and the iconic images of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It's where you can cruise the Bosphorus to watch for dolphins and appreciate the beautiful, elaborate palaces and architecture along this ancient waterway.

Mount Nemrut

Celsus Library at Ephesus

It is timeless and melds cultures from across history. The Ottoman Empire, which ended not even 100 years ago (in 1922 to be exact) encompassed a vast array of peoples and cultures which is part of what made the modern Turkish nation so great-whether or not anyone wants to remember that. Turkey is home to some of the world's most amazing Greco/Roman ruins including Ephesus, the best preserved Greco-Roman ruins in the Aegean as well as empires like the Selcuks who fell to the Romans even before Ephesus was standing.

Hagia Sophia

Chora Church

My Turkey was the cradle of Christianity. There are over 100 churches in Istanbul alone. Granted many have been converted to mosques and/or museums but they're still standing; including the Hagia Sophia-one of the oldest churches in the world. Across the Marmara Sea is the city of Iznik, famous not just for its beautiful blue and white tiles but for once being Nicea where the fathers of the Eastern and Western Christian churches met and formalized the faith. If you fly into Izmir to visit Ephesus you're actually flying into the ancient Biblical city of Smyrna and while you're in Ephesus you can visit nearby Meryamana-the house where the Mother of God lived with Saint John before her assumption. You can visit cave churches of early Christians around the country, most famously in Cappadocia or, if you really like to walk, follow the path of Saint Paul across the country.

It is the home to some of of the most beautiful and mysterious natural land formations like the limestone travertines of Pamukkale which gleam like snow under the sun and the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. Turkey is where tulips were first mass grown and in fact introduced the flower to the Dutch. While the Dutch now surpass them in tulip production, Turkey is still one of the world's top tulip growers, holds a tulip festival every year that blankets the city in color, and incorporates the flower in many of its most traditional motifs.

My Turkey is friendly and hospitable. It's where within five minutes of arriving at your family-run cave hotel in Cappadocia you're holding the baby and are part of the family. It's where that family goes out of its way to make sure you get a booking for the hot air balloons despite the atrocious weather because its your little brother's first trip abroad and he has to have this experience; and where airport ticket agents try hard to get you an exit row seat because that same "little" brother is 6'7". It's where the guys at your favorite bufe go the extra mile and make your orange juice fancy because its your birthday and where shops and cafes you regularly frequent go out of their way to remember your order or provide extra special service.

Cat at Ephesus

Language school cat, Aslan

My Sherlock

My Turkey is also where that hospitality extends to animals and where people care for stray animals, especially cats, in a way I have never seen anywhere else. It's where tram drivers stop packed trains so cats can cross the tracks, where many of the local governments provide funding so street cats can receive free care, where people build shelters and leave out water and food for the cats. It's where cats are welcome in (and often cared for exclusively by) shops, cafes, museums, and historical sites. Turkey is also where I met my Sherlock who is naughty and spoiled but seeks shelter near me when the world is falling down around us and is possibly the love of my life.

 

This is where I have met amazing people, both Turkish and other foreigners. They have helped me apartment hunt, translated/interpreted for me before I learned the language, opened their homes to me, encouraged my studies in wine, and readily welcomed me into their groups in a way I never experienced in the US. I have met people here who not only embrace me as a friend but look after me like I'm family.

My Turkey is where I have had experiences I couldn't have anywhere else. When His Holiness Pope Francis came to Istanbul in 2014 I not only got a ticket to the Mass, thanks to my parish priest I also served at the Papal Mass. In 2016 I got to see the same humble, caring parish priest be ordained as Bishop of Istanbul, putting him in charge of one of the oldest Christian parishes in the world. Here I learned Turkish, or you know, learned it well enough to manage my daily life and read book 1 of Harry Potter. I have formally studied eight languages and Turkish is one of the most complicated and difficult ones; the only one in fact that gets more and not less difficult the more you learn. I probably sound like a five-year old when I talk but people are always not only willing to listen to me struggle through sentences but are happy that I'm trying.

This is my Turkey. My Turkey is ancient, beautiful, spiritual, colorful, brave, hospitable, cultured, exciting, and magical. Yes there is a terrible and dark core eating away it and it may be systematically destroyed by its own government and people but the vision and memories I have of this magnificent country cannot be destroyed no matter how many (fake) coups happen or what terror the government rains down on its own citizens. This is my Turkey, and this is how I will remember it always.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Kocabağ 2014 Emir

Last fall while in Cappadocia with my brother we stumbled upon the Kocabağ winery. I don't recall ever seeing this wine in Istanbul so I took advantage of being there and picked up several of their Emir wines. Previously the only Emir varietal I'd seen was Turasan's so I was excited to see how many Kocabağ had.

One of the things I continue to like about Emir wines is that it does not match well with oak so in all likelihood your Emir has been steel-aged. This Emir by Kocabağ (40-something TL I think) was pale and brilliant in the glass with a lot of pineapple in the nose. On the palate it was light with some lively acidity, more pineapple, and faints hints of minerality which gave it a lightly salty and ashy flavor.

This is not my favorite variation of an Emir. I suspect that it may have been briefly oaked or had some oak chips passed through it. For me the Turasan is the Emir to beat and Kocabağ has not done that here.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Kocabağ 2013 Boğazkere

Funny story. Also kind of embarrassing...while I was in Cappadocia with my brother I was determined to visit the Turasan Winery which is just 10 kilometers from where we were staying. My brother was up for being dragged along so off we went to Urgup. After a really nice lunch we headed up a steepish hill and zig zagged through some street construction until we arrived at a şarap evi (wine house). It didn't say Turasan but according to the crappy GPS on my phone we were where we were supposed to be. 

Yeah, no. We weren't where we were supposed to be. But I just shrugged and went with it. While they did have a few Turasan wines on the shelf we'd found a selling point for Kocabağ which was a name I didn't recognize. The gentleman in the shop confirmed that it's mostly sold locally and very few of their wines make it to Istanbul. So wrong shop but yay for learning something new. I was also thrilled to see not one, not two, but FOUR Emir varietal wines. FOUR. Before that moment I thought Turasan were the only ones making Emir varietals. 

We're talking about one of the Emirs today though (I bought three!) but about Kocabağ's 2013 Boğazkere.

In the glass it's a beautiful blue-violet, deep purple which I have recently learned is an indicator of low acid. The nose, which I really liked was full of black and dried fruits, raspberry, mulberry, clove, and a little leather.

After having my expectations built up by the lovely nose I felt rather let down by the wine's flavor. It was a little on the side and with much lower tannins than I generally expect from a Boğazkere. That said, the black fruits, black mulberry, chocolate, and leather flavors and lingering finish didn't exactly hurt my feelings.

Because it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be I would categorize this as a food wine. In fact it went beautifully with pork salamis and Parmesan (but NOT with sharp cheddar and green apples-lesson learned there).  In the end I give it 3 stars (on a Turkish wine scale).

As in Life, There Are No Penises For Me

I haven't really said anything about Goreme. It seems very much like a city that's grown up around providing services to tourists but in a much better way than Pamukkale (where you really only want to have to spend one night, max). Goreme has lots of the obligatory souvenir shops, hotels, and restaurant choices but manages to remain charming. People are quite nice, and sometimes the food is pretty great too.

Not a win though? Coffee. Neither at the place with No Bullshit Best Coffee until you get to Australia chalk board (although if that IS true then I'm sad for everywhere between Goreme and Australia) or the cleverly named Coffeedocia. Coffee in Turkey really isn't all that fantastic across the board really. The biggest difference between a cappuccino and a latte is that the cappuccino might have some cocoa powder sprinkled on the mountain of foam. Even at ever present Starbucks they don't know any better. Everyone also thinks that French press grounds (again, Starbucks you should know better) are the same as Turkish coffee powder. Sigh.

I'm not sure a 'Secret Church' is so secret if there's a sign pointing to it

Wait...is that...?

Yes, a dirty, taxidermied swan with a broken neck tied to a basket.

It's possible that the locals were being cagey with the sign pointing the way towards the Secret Church. MG and I scrambled up, down, and around some hills but failed to find, well anything really. On our last afternoon while eating lunch I was confused about something across the street from our restaurant. The odd, gourd-headed scarecrow aside...I couldn't quite figure out what I was seeing. So I stared hard for a few moments, And yes, it was a taxidermied swan. Just sitting there. Hanging out. Because why not?

While I was tempted by several different souvenirs I was convinced I needed, in the end the only thing I bought was petek bal (honey comb). It's pretty expensive in Istanbul. Really the only place I've seen it is in spice shops where a small amount can go for as much as 25-30 TL ($12-15). At a street market in Goreme I got slightly more than half a kilo for 10 TL ($5)!!  I was dancing in the street happy. Unfortunately it didn't come in the most sealable of containers so I got the hotel to wrap it up in plastic wrap, then further wrapped it in the plastic rain poncho I bought on day one, and then put it in a plastic bag. I wasn't sure if it would be considered "liquid" and didn't want to chance the airport taking it away so it had to go in my suitcase.

On our last afternoon in Goreme I was determined to find the valley that's on all the post cards. The one with the fairy chimneys ads always show balloons flying over (even though ours never went near it). It was excessively confusing because it was called one thing on the photographs, another thing in my Lonely Planet, and yet another thing by the guys in our hotel. MG thought we should go to the end of the trail, walk part of the way in, snap a few pictures, then go back the way we came. No, no said I. It's only two kilometers and everyone says it's an easy walk.

My increasingly nice (thanks to five flights of stairs) ass it was only two kilometers OR an easy walk.

No guesses as to why it's called White Valley

Hits at rude boy glory

We managed to get a a dolmus to drop us off at the head of the trail by asking for Love Valley. Since this is one of the few places around without an entrance fee we were only partly certain we were in the right place so when we saw a trail marker to White Valley I was pretty relieved. So we'd found the trail to the valley. Getting in it was something different. Unlike Ihlara Valley there were not a multitude of stairs leading down. And no sooner did we start down into the valley then I did that thing I do. I fell. Luckily I managed to protect my camera by sacrificing some skin from my right arm, top of my right hand, and the palm of my left. I still have a bit of a scar on my right hand. MG and I debated about continuing but I pushed for going forward.

The rest of the way down was much easier than it looked. We thought we would then stroll along the bottom of a dried creek bed, see some fairy chimneys, or "rude boys" so called because of their rather suggestive shape, take some pictures, and be back in Goreme in no time. Boy were we wrong. When we got to the valley floor we were attacked by thorny, killer plants that we had to duck walk under, skirt around, and detangle ourselves from. And the valley is far, far longer than two kilometers.

I shall call you Ron Jeremy

Not helping the matter was me comparing the harrowing and disappointing trek to my dating life and general relationship with the opposite sex. Eventually (ie pretty quickly) it devolved into me stamping my foot and loudly declaring that I wanted some damn penises. The few tantalizing hints we got were simply not satisfying. And you can bet we commented again on how the hike imitated life.

At one point while struggling through some briars, we saw a couple strolling along as if they hadn't a care in the world. How on earth they got there was beyond me but after a few wrong turns MG and I finally found a path that wasn't trying to bleed us to death. Also the briars had ruined my hair. Eventually we even found the dried creek bed we were supposed to follow. Two of the longest kilometers later (it has to have been more) we were finally rewarded and came upon the area of White Valley that is also called, due to the shape of the fairy chimneys, Love Valley.

After all the hard work getting there though it was a bit of a let down (insert more jokes). Since this easy walk had taken a lot longer than I estimated we were also running a little close to depart for the airport time for my comfort so I did not climb up hills to get pictures of the chimneys from their level.

Leaving behind the rude boys we did our best to hustle. Finding two more White Valley markers along the way was encouraging but we still needed to figure out how to get out of the blasted valley. We cam upon a refreshment stand of sorts and bought the most expensive juice I've ever had in Turkey. But the old guy running it gave us directions back to Goreme that basically amounted to: walk more, turn right, walk more, turn right, walk more. Soon after leaving his stand and the gravel path we found ourselves on a proper road which we followed to a larger road. I was worried thinking that we were on Museum Street and would have to walk down the huge hill leading to the Goreme Open Air Museum and then the 1.5 kilometers to Goreme. However we lucked out and someone stopped his car on the road next to us asking if we wanted a lift. After looking at each other MG and I decided that no one with a new, shiny clean Mercedes was likely to kill us (also I at least was so tired I didn't care) and got in. He turned out to be the owner of the hotel I almost booked us into. Nice guy. I'll stay at his if I'm ever back in Goreme.

In the end we got back in time to enjoy a nice lunch and puzzle over a taxidermied swan before our shuttle to the airport. It took my a year and a half to make it to Cappadocia but it was exhausting, amazing, and so well worth the wait.

Selime Monastery

The last stop on our tour was at the Selime Monastery in the Aksaray Province around Cappadocia.

Dated from the 8th or 9th century, the Selime Monastery is the largest rock-cut religious complex in the area and was home to Hittite, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Danisment, Seljuk, and Ottoman civilizations. So it's pretty obvious that this place has seen a lot!

I heaved a sigh when our tour bus pulled up. More climbing and stairs. More chances to slip/stumble/fall to my messy death. MG convinced me to do it and I'm glad I was. Selime Monastery is very cool and is a must see if you're visiting Cappadocia. The entire area is mid boggling really. I realize to an extent that these civilizations were taking advantage of natural caves but there was certainly a great deal of man hours that went into creating these places.

Selime Monastery is also known as an inspiration for parts of the Star Wars movies. I had to look this up because I think maybe I've seen the Star Wars movies...once...20 something years ago. Scenes for the Sand People (?) were filmed nearby. However because permissions wasn't granted to film the actual scenes here, only the land was filmed and was then combined with the action shots which were filmed in Tunisia.

We had an exhausting day. Up at 3:30 AM for the balloons, then walking around underground cities, valleys, and monasteries the rest of the day! Aside from the great time we had I also was reminded about some great curses in Turkish (courtesy of our tour guide) and found a new cookie obsession (shortbread-like cookie with orange and cinnamon!). Good day. We're still not done though! We had one more day in the area so hopefully I'll stop being lazy and get that posted soon!