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Türkiye
  • Brent Perdue
luglio 2024

Türkiye

Un’avventura di 22 giorni di Brent Leggi altro
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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    Perdues in the Kitchen

    22 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    We always try to score a cooking class when we travel abroad. Tonight, we visited a mom and pop restaurant before they opened to learn how to cook a traditional meal of moussaka, zucchini fritters, pita bread and lentil soup. Brendan was super excited about the soup, which has become a staple of almost every meal we have here for him!

    I’ll let the pics and vids speak for themselves. Everything was so, so good!    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    Planaterra Project

    23 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    G Adventures invests in at least one project in each country to support underrepresented populations, typically in the form of female run cooperatives. We stopped by the çöp(m)adam handicraft in Ayvalik, a coastal town along our way.

    All products were made out of recycled goods with all proceeds going directly to support the local women. This particular workshop has, over time, contributed to over 500 women who have been part of the project. I didn’t take any pics, but did drop some coin to purchase a few items to support their work.

    While in the area, we walked the cool streets and visited a mosque that was a Greek Orthodox Church before the Greek Population Exchange that saw the Greek residents relocate to modern day Greece.    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    City of Troy

    23 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌬 93 °F

    The City of Troy has an interesting history, far beyond that from Homer’s Odyssey or Brad Pitt’s movie from the early 2000’s.

    The city has 9 layers, not levels, but layers. Each layer is made on top of the demolished remains of the previous city. Rather than carting off the demolished remains, the new city was constructed directly on top of the remains of the previous.

    The nine layers built up roughly 15 meters in height from the original soil level.

     The city was eventually abandoned after the sea retreated and the site was no longer a viable port.

    Interestingly, excavation of the area was begun by a German amateur archeologist named Heinrich Schliemann who found the site by following clues in The Iliad. In his quest for “discovery,” Schliemann used dynamite to “excavate” rather than the usual softer tools of the trade. This is believed to have destroyed many artifacts and the actual first level that is believed to be the historical City of Troy.

    As for that horse story…. There is no strong evidence that there was ever an actual Trojan Horse. Homer and Virgil were not a historians, they wrote poems, myths and stories that often had historically accurate elements.
    So, the story could be true, but since there is no other evidence to back it up, it is believed by most experts to be a myth or a metaphor for a strategic weapon.    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    Gallipoli

    24 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    We embarked early this morning for a quick ferry ride to the Gallipoli peninsula in order to learn more about the World War I Battle of Gallipoli. We learned how the Turks fought off the numerically superior, but badly commanded, Allied forces who were forced to withdraw nine months later; this battle holds special significance for Australians and New Zealanders, as both nations lost many soldiers.

    Sometimes trenches were separated by only about 25 feet. The trenches have themselves been filled in over time as the earth and erosion does its thing. In fact, one picture I have included shows how you can see the top of the tunnel which gives a sense of how much the trench has filled in.

    I won’t launch into a deep history lesson of what we learned today. Suffice it to say that much like our visits to the landing beaches of Normandy I am reminded of the horrors of war and the many young lives that are cut short when leaders can’t, or won’t, solve their differences in a more peaceable manner.    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    Our Travel Group

    24 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    This is our 6th trip with G Adventures. As mentioned in an earlier post, we like their focus on helping the local community, staying and eating off the typical tourist path and running small travel groups. But, we also like the fact that the tour groups are typically diverse and have members from all over the globe. During our first trip with G we hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The group had a family from Canada, and travelers from Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa and India. This had us hooked.

    The tour size limit for the trips tops out at 15, but our group this trip has only 8. So, the opportunity for a wide swath of the globe was limited. Regardless, our group mates are fantastic. There are two from Australia, one from Michigan, and another who originates from Canada but currently resides in Florida. And of course, I can’t leave out our fearless CEO (Chief Experience Officer), Semih!

    And while we sometimes think we have done a bit of global travel, our four mates make us look like we spend all of our time at home in recliners. They have been everywhere.    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    The Ultimate Recruitment Tool!!??

    24 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌬 88 °F

    I am not sure why it stood out to me, but I was in country for not even a day before noticing that the police force did not have a Crown Victoria type consistent police vehicle. But that oddity did not rise to the level of my exploring a cause until I walked by a Bentley police car. No joke, a Bentley! A $300,000 Bentley!

    Turns out, like sometimes happens in the US, cars that are impounded from criminal activity make their way to the force. With the Bentley, and tales of Ferraris and Lamborghinis, I am thinking the Police have found the ultimate recruitment tool!    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    The Cats of Türkiye

    25 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ 🌙 73 °F

    When we visited India in 2013, one of the most interesting sights was of random cows strolling through the streets, helping themselves to the wares of street vendors and being allowed to do whatever they liked. Ahh, the life of a sacred animal.

    Well, in Türkiye, that sacred animal is the cat. They are simply everywhere! Residents feed them and the state pays for their care. There are stray dogs around as well, but nothing like the cats!

    It has been unusually hot while we have been in country, 10 or so degrees above normal throughout our trip, so some of the pictures look like the cats are unwell. But in fact, they are just swelteringly hot, just like us!

    Legend has it that this reverence for felines stems from one fateful day when the Prophet Muhammad was in the throes of ceremonial prayer. A devout Muslim will never break the sanctity of their prayer ritual for any reason, even in the face of death. A snake came close as The Prophet was on his knees, and as the snake began to strike, a cat appeared and blocked the strike with its paw, chasing the snake away. Cats are our protectors and we are forever in their service. It may be difficult to top that story for our cat loving daughter!    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    Büyükada- Time to Slow Things Down

    25 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    After our whirlwind visits to a country, we always like to end by slowing things down and staying in one beautiful and quiet place for a few days to relax and recover.

    Unfortunately for Brendan and Myah, both had to get back home, so we saw them off at 3AM for their trip to the airport and flights home. Brendan had to be home by Friday for orientation for his first PT clinical and Myah for her orientation to start working at Target.

    So, gosh, Kim and I are going to have to make the most of it just being the two of us here. We will do our best.

    The place we have chosen is Princes’ Island, a 30 minute ferry ride from downtown Istanbul. We chose a small boutique hotel on the far side of the island which is quieter but still has a great view of the water and the Istanbul skyline. Ahhhh, Heaven…    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    A Perfect Day, Well Almost…

    27 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Yesterday was amazing. Not because we visited ancient ruins of lost cities or delved deep into cultural traditions or performances. No, yesterday was amazing for being a day full of not very much.

    We lounged around most of the morning, taking in the view and enjoying not having to be anywhere in particular.

    We did manage to visit the museum of Princes’ Island which was just a two minute walk away to learn about the history of the place. Seems this was a favorite place to exile people in the past. I can think of worse places….

    After a nice mid-afternoon siesta, we headed out for a “hike.” I put that in quotations, for while the path we took was listed as a “hiking route,” the paths were all paved and many were actually just paved streets with buildings on both sides. But we made the most of it, taking in nice views, appreciating interesting architecture and putting in 5 miles before making it into town. The evening finished with some ice cream, meandering and a late meal by the water with the skyline of Istanbul in the distance. A perfect cap to an idyllic day.    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    Another Day in Paradise

    27 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Once again, we started the day slowly enjoying quite a spread for a late breakfast.

    Set Breakfasts are a big thing here In Türkiye, and it seems like the more plates there are the better. It’s almost like a game of Tetris when they come to deliver all the plates and work to find a place for everything to fit (see pic). That, and the servers are very particular about silverware! Paper placemats are the norm so you do not have to worry about your used utensil being left on a plate. They will rearrange it for you so that everything remains just so. Tonight, I even did a little test and moved the knife on the placemat about an inch closer to the plate to see what would happen. When the server returned with our next dish, guess what, he moved my knife back into place. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll work up a little hidden camera and let you in on the fun!

    Back to our day…. After breakfast we set out for another hike, this time to the other end of the island. This part of the island is home to the Aya Yorgi Greek Orthodox Church. It was filled with immaculate frescos and paintings of which no photography was allowed. So, I have no pictures for you. However, the next time you are on the island of Büyükada, just stop by and have a look for yourself. It’s worth it! 😉

    The area around the church offered the best views we have seen and the hike up and down got us on a real trail, off the pavement and near a pretty cool fire look out (the tall white circular building in the pics).

    While on the church’s grounds, we had an interesting brush with some kind of government official who was visiting with quite the entourage, complete with guys in suits with hidden ear pieces and 8 or so other dudes with guns hidden in their flowing cover shirts. I tried to act suspicious, but a goofy old dude with a floppy safari hiking hat didn’t seem much of a threat to them.

    Speaking of guns, we learned from our guide early in our tour that police officers are not allowed to shoot anyone in Türkiye. That’s right, they carry handguns but can only use them to fire off warning shots and then hide until the arrival of reinforcements. Not that these guys with Mr. Bigwig were police officers. Because of that, I decided I best not find out whether the warning shot rule applies to these dudes or not!

    We finished the afternoon with some rest and a swim in the pool followed by hopping an electric bus (no gas powered anything allowed on the island). We did a final bit of browsing through shops and had another fresh seafood dinner before heading back to our hotel. There was a bit of a snag catching a bus when a street concert blocked the road near the bus depot. But, we made it, and enjoyed a bit of the concert as well!    Leggi altro

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  • Brent PerdueViaggiatoreTürkiye

    And that’s a wrap!

    28 luglio 2024, Turchia ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    All good things must finally come to an end. We had our third leisurely morning in a row before checking out and beginning our track home. Istanbul is a big, big place and we have a 6:45am flight tomorrow so we are staying at a hotel tonight near the airport. Thus, this will likely be my last post.

    Thanks for coming along and sharing in our travels. We encourage you to visit this beautiful country, rich with history and tradition. And we encourage you to engage with its people, who are among the kindest you will ever meet.

    Be well, and travel on!    Leggi altro

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    Fine del viaggio
    29 luglio 2024