Our pilot came onboard at 5:30 a.m. for our transit through the Dardanelles, one of the most difficult and dangerous waterways in the world due the currents of Black Sea meeting the Sea of Marmara. The ancient city of Troy was located near the western entrance of the straights and the battle of Troy was fought here. Also in Greek mythology, Helle, the daughter of Athanas was drown here in the legend of the Golden Fleece. The Dardanelles has seen many wars over ancient and contemporary times. The Gallipoli campaign of WWI was fought for 10 months resulting in 65,000 deaths of British, French, Australian, New Zealand and Indian soldiers and 60,000 Turkish. Here is were Ataturk defeated the allies. We sailed past a war memorial to the troops who died here.
On deck for the passage through the Bosphorus gave us the opportunity to see familiar sights and to take some more pictures of Istanbul from the ship. This time we were could see places we had visited and connect a bit more with the scenery. The wind was whipping, much like our last Bosphorus cruise. From here we sailed to the Black Sea.
First stop, Sinop, Turkey. Sinop has the finest natural harbor on the Black Sea and is the northern most point of Turkey. During the cold war, a US listening post was established here. Sinop takes its name from the mythical Amazon Queen, Sinop, the daughter of a lesser river God. She attracted the attention of Zeus who promised her anything in return for her favors. She requested and he granted eternal virginity. We saw three of the highlights in town, a mosque, archeological museum, and an ethnographic museum. The Aladdin mosque was built in 1268 in a long rectangle, unusual for mosque design. No one is completely sure why it was built this way, but one idea is that those praying in the front are closer to Mecca. To allow more to be in front, and thus closer, the rectangular design was used. It was a simple and thus elegant mosque.
The ethnographic museum was an old wooden house, a konak, from the 19th century. It has rooms depicting life of a traditional family of the times, common living and eating spaces, separate bedrooms with bath, to allow for families living together, stables in the basement. Most impressive was the Sinop Archeological museum. Outside was a statue of Diogenes who was born here. A small but interesting collection of earthenware, vases, bronze age jewelry and coins. Also included were icons from the Byzantine era. 
Icons where made to be portable, hung on the walls of churches but available to be taken through town during festivals. Outside were the ruins of a temple and many grave markers of interesting design. The town also has a large fortification wall which is centuries old. In 1853, the Crimean War began in Sinop. After our journey we stopped in the center of town to visits shops displaying and selling hand made wooden ship models. All sizes, shapes and complexities, it was engage to look and to engage with the shop keepers about their craft.
On to Trabzone, Turkey, located on the old Silk Road. Our morning adventure took us into the mountains for a drive to see a monastery. Much like the monasteries in Greece, the Sumela monastery is perched hanging off the side of a cliff at 5,000 ft. To quote our guide book, “the monastery looks as if it has been taken from heaven and pasted on the side of a mountain. From the bottom it looks like it is impossible to get to. The original part was built in the 386 AD with additions in the 6th and14th centuries.” Our bus took us to a parking lot were we boarded mini-vans to continue the winding trip up the mountain side. 
Off the vans to begin our trek…up a mountain pathway of loose gravel, tree roots and mud. The last part was rock staircases, several, leading to a small door opening to the monastery courtyard, several staircases below. We arrived at the top to be greeted by the rain. Used as a teaching monastery there are rooms for students, communal dining and cooking rooms, a church, priest house and bell tower. The church and its exterior walls were covered in frescoes. We never tire of seeing these. Brilliant colors have survived the years and depict stories from the Bible. The rain continued but the low hanging clouds in the beautiful place provided a mystical experience. We took our time down the now slippery path and rebounded mini vans to our bus. The mountains are quite jagged but fertile, our guide kept comparing to the alps. Looking at the fields, homes and animals clinging to the sides of the cliffs was impressive. There was a roaring river, with occasional waterfall, along side the road throughout the trip. Back to the ship for lunch before an afternoon in town.
The rain stopped as we headed to a mosque, church turned mosque, and Ataturk’s summer home. The mosque was built by a Sultan and his mother’s body is in the mausoleum in the courtyard. The church, Hagia Sophia, is currently used as a mosque. There are frescoes in a courtyard that have survived out of the sunlight. They was spectacular, but eclipsed by the frescoes inside. 
The mosque has erected an inside canopy to hide icons. While Muslims believe in many of the same religious figures, they do not allow any representations of people or animals inside the mosque. Your connection and attention should be solely on the prophet. Rather than destroy the art of the church they cover it over. From the side, there is a visitor spot from which you can above the canopy to the fresco filled dome. 
Unfortunately, Ataturk’s summer home was undergoing restoration work as we could not go inside but visited the gardens. The rain returned. We had fun watching a group of college grads pose for pictures in the garden, in the rain, in their cap and gowns. After here about the history of Ataturk throughout our Turkey land tour, we were disappointed that we could not visit his home.
Moving on to Sochi, Russia. At one point we were told we would have to drop anchor and arrive by tenders, fortunately the powers that be changed their minds. We were the first cruise ship since the Olympics to use the new passenger terminal. Greeted by the Olympic Rings in the harbor we entered this city which the second longest city in the world and is nestled between the mountains and the coast. The cities climate is very moderate, but the surrounding mountains as we now know have winter snows for skiing. Putin is known to come here to ski.
We could see the signs to quick growth and worry about the overbuilding. Time will tell. Our guide lamented the number high rises that have sprouted on the pebble covered beaches and in town where once no buildings were higher than 6 stories. We strolled the promenade above the beach observing the winter theater and the many different species of vegetation. They go from California pines to magnolia trees, palms and other tropical plants including eucalyptus which helped eradicate malaria by drying up standing water with their roots and repelling mosquitos with their fragrance.
Our main site for the day was Stalin’s Dacha or summer home built in 1937. Painted grey green for camouflage, this building on a hill is invisible from below. It was quite interesting to hear our guide describe Stalin, his family and his paranoia. She also spoke of families affected by his regime and the fear that plagued the nation. The villa remains as it was in Stalin’s time with most of the original fixtures still in place. The most weird, was the wax figure of Stalin seated as his desk, pipe in hand, and desk set received from Mao Zenong. 
A lavish villa with interior paneling and ceiling work of various woods. He had a billiards room and was a bad player.
Annoyed by losing but also by those who let him win. No one wanted to play for fear of his anger. A mechanic, known to be a bad player was the best opponent and got everyone else off the hook. We did not get to do any Olympic shopping, nor did we get near any Olympic sites which are far off on a peninsula outside the center of town. We stopped by a sulfur spring. The area is known for many springs and connected bath houses. At the end of our journey the guide said, “tell Obama he is our friend and to keep pushing-things get better for us.”
Back on ship for a delightful dinner with Jennifer, the future reservations person, Diego, the executive concierge and three other guests. Good conversation and stories about ships and travels. Late night for us and looking forward to the sea day to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment