Trabzon.  Up and out at 9 am.  Bus problems.  We all walk to the silver jewelry store - Gumuscu Zeki - for a demo and shopping.  Exquisite filigree.  Meli used the magic tea button on the door and tea was ordered and served up.  Meli modeled the belt that Ruth purchased.  We emptied the store.

The bus is still being worked on.  We taxi up to the Ataturk Koscu.  He only visited this house, but the people of Trabzon bought this great mansion for Ataturk out of love and admiration.. 

The original owner was sent to Greece in the exchange.  It's been a museum since 1943.Off for seaside dining.  We got to order our mezes and fish and kofte.  The bus is ready. Time for the meeting with the Mayor of Iyidere and his staff.  We asked questions.  The main income in the area is from tea growing. The town is hoping road improvements will increase job opportunities so that the kids don't all have to move to Istanbul.

They hope for some tourism and say that every person will be welcome.    We were invited to the group circumcision festival in August.  Some squirming over that offer, but a nice brochure was handed out.  The police chief said his main concerns were car accidents and the occasional fight.  No drugs.  Little of any real city types of crime.  Unemployment is the single biggest problem in this this small city, said to be famous for its boat captains.  We were served tea and candy and the meeting was very genial.  We found this true throughout the trip.

 

We said goodbye and then we went up into the green hills of tea to the summer house of the parents of the caption of a Bosporus boat captain who is an old friend of Meli's.  Ahmet, the dad, used to be a captain, but now it is his sons.  Ahmet is retired now, and spends time in the summer at his great new large house on the edge of the mountains, checking the tea fields and picking his fruit.  The Mrs used to be the secretary and took messages and arranged boat trips for the captains, after teaching herself to read and write.  It was said that she was a real Ottoman mother and that "behind every successful man is a woman". Tea and a wonderful, small second lunch was served to us.  The stuffed peppers were outrageous.   We also met Katrina from Moldavia who helps out Ahmet and his wife.  We admired pictures from the old days.  The couple is growing old in style.

 

Pictures can be mailed to:  Ahmet Can

                                        Icadiye Mah

                                        Cifte Cinar Sok No 25

                                        Fistikagaci, Uskudar

                                        Istanbul Turkey

 

Heinz's joke of the day - What is a tiny Mosque?  A Mosquito.

 

Headed down then up into the hills again to Ayder.  The group was split between the Serender Pension and the Inka House.

Helen   

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