Medley of Turkish delights

By David C. Weber

As my oldest grandson graduated from USC, he said he wished to

visit Troy for his first foreign trip.

Given the richness of Turkish history and religion, and the number

of archeological and military sites, I was game. The land is a fabled

feast for the traveler. Hence, I read a score of relevant books on

ancient and modern Turkey, found in our public library.

The people we met were charming, handsome and invariably generous

of their time and help. Villages are quaint. The major cities are all

huge -- at an awesome 16 million people, Istanbul is far larger than

all of L.A. County -- and every city and village seemed clean-swept,

remarkably free from debris and graffiti.

As expected, the Istanbul architectural delights of the Blue

Mosque and Hagia Sophia are stunning, yet one should not miss the

larger, quieter Suleymanije -- the Magnificent Mosque of 1557 and the

finest and most sumptuous of Istanbul’s imperial mosques.

A brief visit to the Grand Bazaar whetted my grandson’s shopping

inclination. Within days, he bought a stunning deep-red Turkish

carpet in nearby Konya. This was followed by a gift for his sister --

a unique, leather-covered diary designed and made near Kusadasi and

more handsome than any I’ve ever seen.

For a sharp change of scenery, we then visited the awesome

national park site of the devastating Gallipoli campaign of 1915,

where 86,000 British, allied forces and 160,000 victorious Turkish

young men were killed, all of whom now fill 31 cemeteries on that

slim peninsula on the north side of the Dardanelles.

By good fortune, the novel I had on the trip was “Birds without

Wings” by Louis de Bernieres -- superior writing and based solidly on

early 20th century Turkish history.

For archeological sites, Turkey is as rich as Italy or Greece and

more impressive in its historical context. There is the mountaintop

Pergamum acropolis of 2000 BC, Homeric Troy, harbor-side Miletus of

12th century BC, Priene of 5th century BC, 4th century BC Claros, and

Ephesus of 1st century BC. We watched digs at a majority of such

sites.

Guidebooks had not prepared me for the visit to the House of the

Virgin Mary, five miles from Ephesus, high on a mountain. This church

is a small, handsome, reverential structure on the site discovered in

1891 as the place where Mary spent her last years after being placed

by Jesus in the care of the Apostle John, who himself escaped Roman

persecution and lived his last years in Ephesus.

Nor had my background in history prepared me to learn that the

legend of St. Nicholas stems from Kale on the southern Antalyan

coast, where this 4th century bishop figuratively dropped bags of

coins down chimneys as dowries for poor girls so they could marry.

From that, via Europe, developed the legend of Santa Claus.

I found the country surprisingly mountainous, with foothills

blanketed with olive trees with their ant-resistant white stockings,

and fields in the plains spread with corn, cotton, tomatoes and

flowering sunflower plants. It reminded me of parts of northeastern

California for its grandeur.

Even the migrant field workers seemed familiar, though these came

from eastern Kurdish provinces, living briefly in tent clusters by

the fields as they moved with the jobs.

What I’d call “cottage industries” were evident -- a man by a

lonely country crossroad with his shack set up decades ago just to

repair vehicle tires, another sitting on a busy city sidewalk with

bathroom scales on which a pedestrian could be weighed for a small

coin, or the old man sitting by returning fishing boats while plying

his skill at mending nets by hooking the net over his big toe while

his hands rapidly rewove the torn netting.

Yet, modern infrastructure abounds, with evidence of economic

prosperity. For instance, the public inter-city bus service is better

than any I’ve used in North America, and the Pamukkale University

Hospital in inland Denizli can match about any in the United States

for quality of medical service and use of technologies.

All dogs seemed strays, and cats were surprisingly common. Smoking

was everywhere, often involving the traditional water pipes of the

men sitting grouped at sidewalk cafes.

Turkish foods were delectable. The restaurants everywhere provide

the varied “mezze” appetizers -- tasty dishes of fish and meats,

superb fruit and veggies, and always the variety of honey-flavored

great desserts.

Overlooking the beautiful Aegean harbor at Kusadasi at sunset, my

grandson and I reflected on this grand land we had visited. Served on

the open patio with stunning view, our dinner was yogurt and cucumber

soup -- which tastes similar to vichyssoise -- and eggplant kabob,

followed by the honeyed confection called Turkish Delight.

In celebration, we topped it off with a glass of raki -- raising a

toast to a country justifiably fabled.

* David C. Weber is a resident of Corona del Mar.

* TRAVEL TALES runs on Thursdays. Have you, or has someone you

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