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Fall & Winter 2024

September - Disember 2024
Combo trip journal ... including time with family in Türkiye; a Viking river cruise (Eastern European Capitals); more family time in Türkiye; and a TransAtlantic Cruise back home on NCL Encore. Baca lagi
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  • Fall & Winter 2024
    1

    Breakfast @ Zeynel Ergin

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    We celebrated Mui and my return from our Capitals of Eastern European River Cruise with a busy day of art and sightseeing in İzmir.

    Our day started with a traditional “gevrek” breakfast … though I opted for kumru instead. We were joined at the iconic Zeynel Ergin Gevrek Bakery by my siblings, Aylin and Deniz, and my brother-in-law, Murat.

    As a word, gevrek means crispy. In this instance, it is in reference to what the internet describes as a Turkish bagel ring covered with sesame seeds. It has a crispy, crunchy outer shell … hence the name.

    Gevrek is only found in İzmir … everywhere else the same bagel ring is known as simit. The only difference that I can tell is that the dough of the latter is twisted to form the ring.

    At the risk of starting a heated debate, I have to say that I much prefer gevrek over simit 😊😉    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024
    2

    İzmir CRF: Tekel Kültür Sanat Fabrikası

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    “The vibrant tapestry of Türkiye's rich culture will captivate audiences at the upcoming Türkiye Culture Route Festival [the CRF in the title of this footprint] throughout the rest of 2024.”

    These were the words with which the Daily Sabah newspaper announced the 8-month long festival that has been taking place in 16 cities in Türkiye … from Diyarbakır in the east, to İzmir in the west, to Samsun in the north, to Antalya in the south. Initiated by Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it is the country’s most comprehensive festival to date. As far as I can tell, this is the first year of the event — which spotlights all forms of art and culture.

    Whether this festival will be repeated in the years to come, I don’t know. But I am glad we had a chance to see some of the exhibits before the ones in İzmir end tomorrow. (The İzmir festival started on 26 October, while we were out of the country.)

    After our breakfast at Zeynel, we first walked to the Alsancak Gar [train terminal] to check out the exhibit there. We were too early and there was no one to let us in. So we moved onto the Kültür Sanat Fabrikası [Culture & Arts Factory].

    No, they don’t fabricate culture and arts here. Rather, the factory is in reference to the location of the museum … housed in the former Tekel cigarette factory. The permanent exhibits — archaeological finds, ethnographical pieces, paintings, and sculptures — are amazing … as we saw when we visited the museum last year. (Footprint here if you would like to check out photos from that occasion … https://findpenguins.com/8pccjefaitoru/footprin…).

    This time, we focused our attention strictly on the small temporary exhibit installed under the auspices of the CRF. Admittedly, we were unfamiliar with the featured artists … but that did not stop us from enjoying the colorful paintings and the black & white drawings.    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024

    Cartoon Art @ İzmir Sanat

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We were on our way to another İzmir Culture Route Festival [CRF] exhibit — this one at a museum in Kültürpark — when we decided to make a quick detour to see if there was anything going on at İzmir Sanat [Art].

    We’ve gone to the café at İzmir Sanat many times over the years … for tea and cake. But this was the first time we actually went inside the exhibit hall. We were rewarded by a small exhibit entitled “Portraits of Artists” … featuring the works of cartoonist and graphic artist Necati Abacı.

    It was a fun little exhibit … all the more so because we recognized several movie and drama performers, as well as musicians and folk characters in the cartoons on display.    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024

    İzmir CRF: Pablo & Andy

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    This morning’s final stop of the Culture Route Festival [the CRF in the footprint title] was two exhibits at the İzmir Resim ve Heykel Müzesi [Painting and Sculpture Museum].

    The beautiful weather made for a pleasant walk through Kültürpark … sunshine, blue skies, warm-for-November temps. Unexpectedly, the Kaskatlı Havuz [Cascade Pool], which is usually drained by this time of the year, was filled with water. Lined on all sides with orange and yellow flowers, it made for a beautiful photo op.

    First we checked out the Pablo Picasso Exhibit where we were greeted by one of his quotes … “Everything you can imagine is real.” On display we found a selection of his graphic works, which he considered to be an important part of his artistic career as he did not believe this form of art to be inferior to any other form. The info panel indicated that between 1899-1973, he produced over 2,000 sketches and engravings using a variety of techniques. They formed a personal diary of sorts.

    From the Picasso Exhibit, we walked to the next building to see the exhibit of Andy Warhol’s iconic pop culture art. Our path took us by the Uzun Havuz [Long Pool], which served as a mirror for some of the sculptures on either side of it. Of course, I had to pause momentarily for some photos.

    Andy Warhol began his career as a commercial graphics illustrator in the advertisement industry. When his works began exhibiting in art galleries, they revealed his interest in depicting everyday life objects in a simple and illustrative manner … his famous “Campbell Soup” series being a prime example.

    The Picasso and Warhol exhibits could not have been more different from each other … and yet, they were both interesting and fun to check out.

    We have one more CRF event that we will be going to today, but we have to wait until nightfall for that one. In the meantime, we are going to visit another museum … but it requires an hour-long drive to get to it. more later …    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024

    Arkas Sanat Alaçatı

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Anyone who has been a regular reader of my blogs knows that we are huge fans of the Arkas museums … founded by a Levantine family whose roots in İzmir go very deep. Each museum is different. We have visited every museum … some more than once.

    Leaving the Picasso and Warhol exhibits, we decided that we would continue our day of “art immersion” with a 57-mile drive to Alaçatı — a neighborhood of the District of Çeşme — to visit the latest addition to the Arkas museums.

    Established in an old laundry facility leased from the district, Arkas Sanat Alaçatı is described on the museum’s website as “a new stop in İzmir’s Art Route.” The museum is home to the Victor Vasarely exhibition. Vasarely, a Hungarian born French artist, is known for his geometric designs and optical illusions. His works are said to form the foundation of the Op Art Movement.

    In addition to the Vasarely permanent exhibition, which is curated from the Arkas family’s own art collection, we enjoyed a temporary exhibit entitled “New Lands” … featuring 155 contemporary artists under the age of 40. Some of the pieces were … well, let’s just say interesting!    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024
    2

    Alaçatı: Lunch and a Stroll

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Leaving Arkas Art, we headed to the Alaçatı Pazarı [Market Place] for a stroll.

    This open-air market place is billed by some as the “Society Bazaar.” You need something? You will more than likely find it here … from fresh produce and freshly canned goods to dried foodstuff; to clothing for one and al; to sunglasses and costume jewelry; to cologne and perfumes; to kitchen utensils and knick-knacks; and more. Brand names … knock-offs. Anything and everything you can think of is sold by the vendors. If one of them doesn’t have what you’re looking for, another one surely will.

    (I took just one photo of the pazar area today. If interested, you can see the photos I took on a previous visit at the following link. Though that trip was 14+ years ago, not much has changed … just grown in leaps and bounds — https://2totravel.blogspot.com/2010/04/from-paz….)

    As it was getting on towards 2:00p, the first order of business was to sate our growling tummies. We found one of the casual eateries in the pazar and ordered ourselves some gözleme and tea. What is gözleme? I suppose you could describe it as a savory Turkish turnover, usually made with thin, unleavened dough. You can order it with a variety of fillings … from cheese, to potatoes, to spinach, to meat … or a combo of any of these ingredients. The beverage of choice when having gözleme is usually Turkish tea or ayran (made with watered down yogurt).

    We made sure not to fill up too much as our next stop was for dessert at the historic İmren Tatlıcısı [Sweets Shop], which has been serving goodies to locals and visitors alike since 1941. Yummy, yummy … especially the profiteroles, but the ice cream was pretty tasty, too.

    Next up was a slow stroll through the streets of Alaçatı … a bit of sightseeing and exercise to walk off some of the calories. And then back through the pazar to return to the car for the drive back home.

    We were all pleasantly tired by this time, but our day was not quite yet over.    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024

    İzmir CRF: Light & Sound Show

    2 November 2024, Turki ⋅ 🌙 63 °F

    Returning from our impromptu outing to Alacatı, we all congregated at mom’s for a while. Once night fell, we hopped on the tram and went to Konak … the city center.

    İzmir’s iconic clock tower, dating back to 1901, is located in the square in front of the Provincial Government House. This week, it has been serving as the canvas for “Zamanın Hüneri” [The Craftsmanship of Time”] … a light and sound show art installation associated with the Culture Route Festival.

    The show far exceeded my expectations … with traditional Turkish motifs projected onto the clock tower in a kaleidoscope of colors.

    Nicely done … and the crowning touch to our day.    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024
    2

    Bostanlı: Lunch @ Sinope

    3 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Sinope is a ‘mantı evi’ in Bostanlı, a neighborhood of Karşıyaka … across the bay from where we are in Alsancak.

    Mui and Deniz discovered this restaurant back in September. Today, they kept their promise to take us all there for lunch. Since we can’t all fit into Murat’s car, Mui and I took the ferry over; Hakan and Serenay live not too far from Sinope, so they simply walked over to join us.

    Mantı is a type of dumpling … some refer to it as a Turkish ravioli. The dish is an old one that goes back to the time of the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, which stretched from China to Anatolia. One version or another of this dish, therefore, can be found in many countries in this region … under different names.

    Made with a thin dough and a meat filling, in Türkiye it is traditionally served with a yogurt sauce (with or without garlic) and drizzled with paprika-infused melted butter. Garnishing with dried mint and sumac is a common option. But there is another version of mantı that comes from Sinop, a province on the Black Sea Coast. There they serve mantı with a plain butter sauce and garnish it with chopped walnuts.

    One of the owners of Sinope is from Sinop. Hence the restaurant has both versions on the menu. As well, they have a crispy version that is deep fried and served with two dipping sauces. Almost everyone in our party ordered the half-and-half plate of mantı; and shared an order of the crispy mantı. Delicious!

    After our meal, we walked to Hakan and Serenay’s place and they hosted us for coffee and tea. There was dessert too!!!

    Trust me, walking to the ferry landing afterwards for the return trip home was much appreciated 😉    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024

    In the Meantime ... At Home in Colorado

    10 November 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    We're still in İzmir. It very rarely snows here. And when it does, it's mostly flurries that don't last long once they hit the ground.

    That is not the case back home in Colorado. We do get snow in the winter and early spring. But it's not often that we get a doozy ... like this weekend's storm!!! The photo attached to this footprint is courtesy of our neighbor, Bruce. I imagine our deck looks pretty similar to his!!!

    I thought I would post the photo in this trip journal ... just to remind us of what we are missing by being here and not there 😉    Baca lagi

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  • Fall & Winter 2024

    İzmir: Ziraat Bankası Art Museum

    26 November 2024, Turki ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    We started our day by going to the old Ziraat Bankası [Agriculture Bank] in Konak. Not for banking purposes. But to visit the İzmir Art Museum. As Aylin had visited the museum before, only my brother joined us.

    The museum is housed in the bank’s 1930’s-era building, which was constructed in the Early-Republic style … described by one source as a blend of the country’s First National architectural style and Art Deco. The museum was opened in 2023 … following a complete restoration of the building. I was happy to see that the restoration stayed faithful to the original features of the building.

    The museum is fairly small … but bright and airy. Upon entering the ground floor lobby — where once banking activities were conducted — one immediately notices its crowning feature — a stained-glass ceiling in the middle of the space. Absolutely stunning. The two bank vaults have been pressed into service as information rooms, if you will, with posters of the other museums and galleries that have been founded under the auspices of the bank. What used to be offices on the first and second floors serve as galleries … the colorful art — by Turkish painters and sculptors — is well-spaced out so as not to form a chaos of color.

    Nicely done!    Baca lagi

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