A Quick Trip to Trabzon Pt. 1

On Tuesday night, Gungor took us for tea with his nephew.  His nephew is looking to study in Ireland in September to improve his English so we were there to help.  He took us to a beautiful café in Gunduzbey- stone walls, tunnels and bridges and the like.  It looked very authentically Turkish (unfortunately I don’t have pictures) and Gungor is an excellent conversationalist so we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening- even though it concluded quite late.  We had already packed, so the next morning, I finished cleaning and wrote A a note about making sure he remembered to turn everything off and to let him know that he needed to keep the house clean, and his clothes on.  I stuck it to his door, so we will see what happens.

Back to the sea

The day passed uneventfully, busily as Onder had received a phone call from security (apparently the naked incidences hadn’t stopped) and I had a job interview, but eventually the day ended, and Joe and I went for a couple of beers to kill time before our bus and we were off.  The trip passed uneventfully, dozing on and off, making faces at the baby in front of us, and being awoken suddenly to find the brakes slamming and cows frantically running out of the way.  As unpleasant a wake up as that was, Joe and I agreed that it was better than actually hitting them.

Bus views

We made it to Trabzon by about 9am, found a dolmus (mini bus) that took us to the hotel and chatted with the owner and they let us in early.  We had decided to go to Sumela Monastery the next day, so we booked our tour and then showered and went to find something to eat.  We wandered through the market and the square, and finally found a restaurant that was suitable- this was still a bit tricky as it was the final day of fasting, but we prevailed.  We left and wandered for a long while to the Hagia Sophia museum- a mini version of the original in Istanbul and it was pretty good, very beautifully maintained overlooking the sea.  Like its namesake it was also a church before it was a mosque, and the depiction of culture preserved in its walls was fascinating. 

Trabzon Aya Sofia

We were completely knackered by the time we got back (buses are not my favourite place to sleep), so we napped, and then I went to the Haman as I absolutely adore Turkish baths, and  I passed a blissful hour being exfoliating, massaged and cleansed.  When I returned to the hotel, the receptionist stopped me and told me that Sumela was closed the next day- due to Ramadhan finishing- so I talked to Joe and we decided to do it the day after, and go to Uzungol instead.  We found dinner and then called it a day.