Part 2 completes our day in Büyükkonuk.

Ru

After lunch we went to the Children’s Park named for Alikko and Caher famous radio personalities from Büyükkonuk who set their sketches in Büyükkonuk village.

Alikko and Caher are described as the Cypriot Laurel and Hardy

The plaque at the park.

Nothing in the park was more interesting than the very small black goat on the other side of the fence.

Working off lunch with our future dinner in the bag on the ground.

We honestly had no clue how to use some of it. (Charmaine’s photo)

Charmaine, Linda and I set off on Walk # 28 in Walks of North Cyprus

Following the directions in the book took us ‘round Robin’s barn and back to where we started before we headed off the right way.

Father Time with his scythe

Bricks from an ancient Roman road (Charmaine’s photo)

Name: Agave, Agave Americana

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/node/69931

“Otherwise known as: Century Plant, Giant American Aloes

Habitat: A perennial succulent member of the Agavaceae family growing up to 8m in well-drained sandy soil in full sun and native to Central America. The plant develops from a series of rosettes, the leaves being serrated and blade-shaped, terminating in rigid spikes. There is a mistaken belief that the plant flowers every 100 years, hence the appellation Century Plant, however, it flowers after seven or eight years, from a single central stem that can reach a height of 8m, and bears rays of pale white flowers that then leave decorative hard seed pods. All basal parts of the plant are poisonous.

What does it do: Agave is named after the daughter of the Greek god Cadmos, the mythological founder of Thebes.

The plant was fermented into a powerful alcoholic beverage, known as pulque, by the Aztecs and featured prominently in their religious ceremonies, being given to those about to be sacrificed and consumed by the priests that would perform the deed, according to Hernando Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico.

Agave contains calcium oxalates, needle shaped crystals, that cause severe dermatitis if the sap comes in contact with the skin, and acute conjunctivitis in the eyes. The extremely sharp leaf terminals can easily penetrate the skin and will result in extensive bruising that will takes weeks to heal. Excessive exposure to the sap will not only give rise to serious skin disorders but will lead to long term diarrhea, headaches and myalgia.

The plant was introduced into Europe in the 16th century, although there are claims that there is evidence of Agave in Greece from the first millennia before Christ. Medicinally, Central American shamen used the plant as a treatment for inflamed rheumatic joints, jaundice, syphilis and pulmonary tuberculosis. The Aztecs made enemas from the root to treat dysentery.

An interesting aspect of Agave is that when the pulque is distilled into tequila, it is highly recommended by Mexican herbalists as a beneficial treatment for ulcerative colitis, Chron’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and colonic cancer.

Agave has many practical uses, ranging from providing a soap that will lather in sea water, fibre for ropes and nets, pens, nails, needles, stock hedges and razor strops; a syrup rich in vitamins is obtained from the heart of the plant.

Recent research reveals that Agave contains Hecogenin needed in the production of synthetic steroids, and the sap can be used to stop the growth of putrefying bacteria in the intestines.

Once the plant flowers it will die, but over the years it produces a series of offshoots that will continue to flourish.

Agave is very common in Cyprus, particularly in the Mezoria region, and in the past the municipalities would spray the flower stems and use them for Christmas decorations.”

Linda and Charmaine birding…

Well it was a short cut…. (Charmaine’s photo)

I thought I knew how to get back to the church in town, but it dead-ended in a family’s back yard. The people who lived there happily showed us the “path” to the church. But now that it’s snake and tick season we’ll avoid these kind of short cuts.

Buyukkonuk’s finest!

Then it was back in the car and home to DoraMac!

  Everything is starting to jumble in my head about where we have been when.  Thank goodness for photos to remind me.  It seems ages ago that we were in Büyükkonuk   but it really was only 9 days ago.  Since then we’ve had lots of other adventures.  One day I’ll catch up.  Wednesday we’re going to Kyrenia and parts west.  We’ll stay Wednesday night with Heidi and Kalle and then go on to see what we will see returning on Friday.  Since last Sunday we’ve been to Nicosia,Deks Walk # 13, a walk in Kaleburnu, and a farewell barbecue dinner at Deks last night. This morning was Turkish lessons.  Lots to write up when there’s time. 

   But in this email we’re returning to Büyükkonuk.

Ru

Yippee  Sox finally won a game!

http://www.ecotourismcyprus.org/index.php

“Büyükkonuk is a friendly Cypriot village where local crafts are still practiced and can be seen and purchased at the Delcraft Centre there. The countryside around is lovely with views of Kantara Castle in the distance. To the E the early/middle Byzantine church of Panayia tu Kira is worth a visit.”

Walks in North Cyprus

April 1^st Büyükkonuk held its first Outdoor Festival. The scheduled activities included a nature walk, hot air balloon, Duathlon, a rock climbing wall, a bike ride, photo safari and camping. We did our own nature walks and visited the ”festive stalls” but left the rock climbing wall and hot air balloon to the more adventurous.

First things first…pat a donkey.

As you can see from this photo, my B hat hardly fits my head anymore with all of my hair!

Lois and Ismail Cemal the force behind the Delcraft Centre and much of the eco tourism in Büyükkonuk.

Who will help make the bread asked the little red hen?

In this case it’s Lois leading a “Cypriot bread” making class.

Goodies for sale.

Linda and Charmaine bought something called Turunc Reçeli which seems to translate as Seville Orange Jam. Portakal is an “orange” orange.

Kids and balloons and food can be found at a fair anywhere in the world.

A souvenir key holder shaped like a church door will go back to Canada.

Face painting is a familiar activity too.

Anne Canalp interviewing Linda and Charmaine for Cyprus Today and then photographing the hot air balloon.

Everyone wanted photos of the “senior ladies” and they graciously agreed.

Isn’t she cute! (photo by Charmaine)

Waiting for kids to go donkey riding. (photo by Charmaine)

After my horse ride in China and the pony trek in the Philippines, I took a pass on the donkey rides tempting as they were. And no one over the age of 6 seemed to be riding so we would have looked odder than I had a mind to look.

The “Bird Man of Cyprus” Gavin Croucher and his family with Charmaine and Linda

http://www.kuskor.org/en/kuskor/cyprus-wildlife-guide.html

Charmaine and Linda are “birders” and have enjoyed lots of sightings in the short time they have been here. They made contact with the local birding association Kuskor and will take part in a watching expedition on April 14^th along the Karpaz Peninsular.

Anne recommended Fatti’s for lunch so that’s where we went.

He looks quite a character: The sign read’s Fatti Abanin’s Place

The barber chair and prices for hair, beard and “hair and beard”

Interestingly lira used to have lots more 00000 and there seems to be no discount for hair and beard together as you just add the price of them separately.

Once a barber’s shop, Anne told us it was converted to a restaurant by Fatti’s widow.

Cypriot crafts on the wall. The framed art are created from cut silkworm cocoons.

The family table out back.

Alfresco lunch which gave us a great view of the “oldish car parade.”

Yummmmm Tatar Böreğİ Turkish Dumplings (Charmaine’s photo)

We’d eaten this dish in Turkey where it was served in a yogurt sauce but I like this better served simply in the meat broth. These were filled with lamb with grated cheese on top and we ate every bit. We’d ordered two of these dishes and two of the Yahnili El Makarnasi which was a pasta dish topped with a fricasseed chicken leg. We went home with most of the pasta and had it for dinner with vegetables and that also made a wonderful meal.

In case you want to make it at home, here is a description and recipe.

Turkish Dumplings http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/substantial_manti.html

One of the most ancient dishes in Turkic cuisine (in modern Turkey called Tatar B�regi, "boerek of the Tatars"), manti originated in Central Asia, and remains a staple food there. It is commonly served as a one-dish meal. This recipe offers two variations, one stuffed with meat and the other with a meat-pumpkin blend.

Total time 1-1/2 hours

Dough

8 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. salt

3 eggs

3/4+ cup water

Filling #1: Meat

4 cups ground meat

1-1/2 cups minced onions

3/4 cup finely chopped parsley

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Filling #12: Meat & Pumpkin

2 cups ground meat

1-1/2 cups minced onions

2 cups pumpkin, or pumpkin and carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Sauces and garnishes for meat-filled manti

3 cups peeled and chopped tomato

1/2 cup butter

1/2 tsp. cayenne

4 cups yogurt

2 tbsp. minced garlic

Melted butter

Sour cream

Combine all but 1/2 cup of the flour, and the salt, in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and water. Mix well, then knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and slightly stiff. Divide it into three parts, cover with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes. While the dough rests, prepare one of the fillings. Combine all of the filling ingredients and mix well.

On a floured surface, roll out one ball of dough to 1/4" thickness, sprinkling lightly over the top with flour. Cut the dough into 1" squares. Place 1/2 tsp. of filling into the center of each square. Bring the corners together, sealing and pressing it into a tiny bundle; or fold it into a triangle. Seal the dough by pressing the edges together. Place the manti on floured baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.

Fill a large pot with water, add salt and bring to boil over medium heat. Add the manti and stir gently to keep them from sticking to each other. Do not crowd the pot. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the manti are tender but firm. Alternately, manti can be steamed in a well-oiled steamer; this takes a little more time, about 30-45 minutes.

If you are preparing manti filled only with meat, prepare the sauces. Combine the minced tomato, butter and cayenne in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover the pot to keep warm.

Whisk together the yogurt and minced garlic and set aside.

When the manti are ready, transfer them to a serving dish. For meat-filled manti, pour the yogurt-garlic mixture on top, then drizzle with the tomato sauce and serve hot. For meat and pumpkin-filled manti, garnish with melted butter and sour cream.

Free fresh orange juice was served after our meal.

Signs out front of the restaurant.

Part of the car parade.

Next email will be our after lunch adventures

We’re on the whirlwind tour of North Cyprus so I’ve not had much time to write and share our adventures.  I hope to catch up one day…..  Anyway, here is a sort of preview through the photos of our new friends.  Wednesday we had a wonderful tour of ancient Salamis lead by Ziba Kaya and Friday we had a wonderful tour of Nicosia lead by  Selin Feza Akça.  While in Famagusta we had our teeth cleaned by Dentist Sultan Erenköylu and Friday night made new friends at Passover dinner on Eve’s boat.  And then there is our friend who owns the restaurant in Famagusta. We ate there while in Famagusta, but then we always do!  All of those people are connected to stories and eventually I will write them.  Now here is the preview.

Ru

Salamis

Sharing the latrine at ancient Salamis….only with a friend! Ziba Kaya our wonderful Salamis guide

(photo by Charmaine)

Learning from a master!

Sevgi Kara (in black) was training to be a guide.

Famagusta

An impromptu Turkish lesson from the owner of our favorite restaurant in Famagusta.

Her zaman burada yiyorus yemek. We always eat here. They have great doner and we always eat them.

Now let me see if I get that…..

Our wonderful and gentle Famagusta dentist Sultan Erenköylu (L) and her assistant .

Sultan is the niece of Denise’s husband Erin.

Randal having his teeth cleaned.

Nicosia

Linda, Charmaine, Randal, Selin Feza Akça, Tatiana, and Yena

Selin was our guide in Famagusta and had to tell everything twice; once in Turkish and once in English as our group was a mix of people. Tatiana from Siberia (with school time in Richmond, VA! and Yena who helped me when I tried to understand the tour in Turkish. Both Tatiana and Yena were studying to be guides and were also learning from a master.

Our Israeli friend Eve has recently returned

Friday night we had a Passover dinner of wonderful Chinese food. The egg rolls were hand-made and started out as blintz wrap! Here she is with Charmaine who is wearing her new “Cypriot” crocheted scarf bought at the Ladies Koop at the Büyük Han in Nicosia.

Ünal Dede and Hülya Koçak

Ünal is a well known guitarist and sailor in Cyprus and Hülya is his true love except just now she is living in Austria and working as a teacher.

Ladies who walk!

Linda, Ruth, Sharman with Sophie, and Charmaine.  We walked today and Charmaine took the photo with the timer. 

  We are on the whirlwind tour of North Cyprus!  Everyday we’re off on some adventure from early morning to night.  I’m really not awake enough to be typing but I’m afraid if not now, then when?  Along with having a great time with Charmaine and Linda, we have been having wonderful meals as they are both great cooks.  I’m the volunteer dish washer and am perfectly happy with that job.  This morning we were off by 8 am for our tour of Salamis.  After lunch Charmaine and Linda toured old Famagusta while Randal and I went off to have our teeth cleaned by Denise’s niece who is a dentist.  Lastly we did some food shopping getting back to the boat about 6 pm.  Dinner was great and now I’m just about ready for bed!  I will write when I have time but our days are very busy as our time winds down here in wonderful North Cyprus. 

Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all of you.

Ru

ps Tomorrow our friends American friends Bill and Judy are cooking dinner for us and Friday our Israeli friend Ev has invited us for a Passover dinner of Chinese food!  What a world.

Sunday we were off to Büyükkonuk for the Outdoor Festival and Sunday Market. We’d been to the Sunday Market earlier in the year with our friend Sharman when we’d had the use of Rob and Julia’s car. That had been one of the few Sundays when nothing much was happening. But we’d met Lois Cemal and learned a bit about Büyükkonuk so wanted to return with Charmaine and Linda. Thanks to Rob and Julia we knew that April 1^st was to be the first Büyükkonuk Outdoor Festival so chose this past Sunday to return to there. We weren’t disappointed and had a wonderful time. We combined a walk from my North Cyprus Walks book so it was a perfect day

http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=9640 is the link to our earlier visit to Büyükkonuk.

Panayia Kyra Church:

On the way to Büyükkonuk we stopped in Sazlıköy to make the short walk to the Panayia Kyra Church.

“Located close to the neighboring village of Sazlıköy/Leivadya, this early Byzantine church dates to the 6th Century. Little remains of the original mosaics that decorated the apse as villagers believed that swallowing a piece of mosaic would cure ailments. Some 13th century candle smoke stained paintings can be seen high in the copula. Both a narthex and porch were added to this domed structure that is built in the shape of a cross. There is a well right in the middle of the little church.” http://www.ecotourismcyprus.org/aboutbuyukkonuk.php

We parked across from the Sazlıköy Muslim Cemetery.

After the walk we visited the cemetery which is always very interesting.

The path up the dirt road to the church.

Lots of lovely spring flowers.

The path to the church: perfectly lovely.

The tall grass around the church seemed to indicate there are not so many visitors.

The back of the church

Bushwhacking our way into the church through brush.

And startling the flock of pigeons nesting inside.

The well.

Exploring

Once there had been wall paintings.

“Some 13th century candle smoke stained paintings can be seen high in the copula.”

I was positive Charmaine had a photo that showed the images so I hunted for them on the Internet while she was busy, found none, so looked at her photos and they looked like this too. Not sure what I had thought I had seen. But even without paintings the small church was very “church-like.”

Group photo

Very carefully interacting with a thistle plant.

I told Randal the thistle would sting, but the purple color was just too tempting.

Walking back to the car from the church though trails leading the other direction were very tempting.

Then a quick visit to the cemetery..

Then back into the car and off to Büyükkonuk

Today we all joined Sharman and Sophie for an 8 am 3 hour hill walk. It was another beautiful day with more bird spotting and lots of wild flowers. This afternoon we’re catching up on rest and reading and a few boat chores. Tomorrow we’ll head off to Büyükkonuk for the Sunday market and end of the month festival. We will also do some of the Büyükkonuk Walk # 28 listed in my Walks in North Cyprus book. We’d saved lots of adventures for when Linda and Charmain arrived and now it’s full speed ahead!

Ru

Friday’s Adventure…..

We set off early Friday. The first stop was the rental car company in Boğaz to add Charmaine as a driver. Next came an ATM stop. Then we were off for the Friday market in Iskele. Randal and I had been to Iskele but not on a Friday. Also, when we’d been the Icon Museum was closed so we thought we’d try again. From there we’d head to Kantara Castle where we’d have a picnic lunch! Everything was perfect except I forgot my camera card and my spare held only 3 photos?@^#^%#$#!!!!! Good thing Charmaine took some great photos and I could include them here.

Iskele Friday Market

We bought lots of dried fruit and a dried fruit and nut concoction that is really good but not really sweet. Even the prunes taste good! There were lots of great looking veggies and strawberries but we didn’t want anything to sit in the car all day, so we took a pass on the fresh produce. We will visit the market in Büyükkonuk tomorrow and our own in Yenierenköy on Monday. (One of my 3 photos! All photos are Charmaine’s unless noted.)

ICON MUSEUM OF ISKELE

“This museum was inaugurated on 23rd May, 1991 in the main church (Panayia Theotokos- Blessed Virgin Mary) of the village as a result of work carried out by the Department of Antiquities and Museums of the Ministry of National Education and Culture.

The church housing the museum was built in the early 12th century. It originally had a single isle and a dome, with arched recesses on the side ward. Such churches represent the popular church architecture of 12th century in Cyprus.

In the 15th century a vaulted aisle was added on the northern side and at a later date an extension at the west. The church was soundly repaired in 1804. A carved railing (Thorakion) taken from the original iconostasis was installed on modern belfry standing on the north – east corner of the church. Some of the wall paintings dating back to the 12th century still stand today and are rare examples of the art decoration in the island.

Apart from these magnificent wall – paintings, icons belonging to this church and some other icons from other parts of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which have been put under protection are displayed in the museum. The tiny little chapel of St. James is one of the most charming miniature churches in Cyprus. The interior has porcelain plates in the vaulting, but the icons and iconostasis are without interest. An exact model of the church has the erected by the Queen of Romania, at her palace on the Black Sea, to serve as her private chapel.” http://www.north-cyprus-villa.com/north-cyprus-historicalplace-iskele.htm

http://www.whatson-northcyprus.com/interest/iskele/icon.htm shows more photos of the restored wall paintings these being the most famous.

Church paintings being restored

A photo of ME! And the church and icons.

Linda surrounded by icon paintings rescued from the Greek Churches in North Cyprus.

Our next stop was Kantara Castle.

http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=8096 Randal and I visited Kantara Castle in August and this is the link to that entry. This visit everything was green and there were hundreds of lovely cyclamen. Last visit we wore shorts and short sleeves and this time we wore layers of clothes!

Another photo of ME! and Randal, Linda as well as a Swedish tourist.

Looking east towards Karpaz

Linda and Charmaine (with their camera)

On our way home looking back towards the castle built on top of the mountain.

We’d arrived back in Yenierenköy about 3:30 pm and I talked Charmaine and Linda into a walk home from there. We met two Sipahi coffee friends and also saw the local cheese factory truck collecting large yellow containers of milk put out in front of a house. One container was not yellow and we wondered if that was goat’s milk rather than cow’s milk, or the other way round. Alas no photos so hopefully we’ll see the milk being collected again.

Back at the marina and home.

It had become quite windy but the laundry hadn’t blown off the back of the boat. We’d done a load just before leaving at 9 am.

As if that hadn’t been enough exercise, Linda, Charmaine and Randal all went to the gym. Randal did the treadmill and machines and Linda and Charmaine yoga. When they got back to the boat C and L made a great Mexican dinner for us. It will be a sad day when L and C go home and Randal and I have to eat my cooking.

  I am really tired!  We’ve had three great days with our Canadian pals who arrived 1 am Wednesday morning.  I’m just about asleep but want to get this off or I’ll never catch up as every day is another adventure!

Ru

Deks Walks # 11 Stone Statutes Loop

Randal holding a Gladiolus Italicus or Common Corn Flag

Now normally we don’t pick the flowers but Randal needed this one for a prop in the crazy story he was concocting about the Stone Statues. So we’ll forgive him this one time.

Randal telling the story of the stone statues..

Here we are at the statues listening to Randal tell his story of Larry (known in Turkey as Osman Melemendi.) It’s a long story, too long to tell now, but it involves a flower, a kiss, meeting back at the statues a year from the date of the walk and the awakening of the statues. I don’t remember the rest but it was quite entertaining to hear.

A very skeptical audience Mary, Mehmet and Denise listen to the story of Larry’s lost love who became

the stone statue. Mehmet was quite a wild flower expert.

The stone statue with the flower…that was a prop but now even Randal can’t remember why. And as far as I can tell this statue may actually be a male…so maybe Larry’s love was Osman Melemendi!

Randal Denise and Mick walking back through the fields to Deks.

An olive tree with some asphodel and fields of Cyprus mustard plants.

A donkey tethered in the field and white and green trail markers.

Sophie visits our boat.

Dog-sitting.

Sharman had to be away from the marina during the day a few times last week so I “dog sat” for Sophie who was recovering from “female surgery.” I had to carry her over our passerelle and up the back steps and into the boat but she just let me without a struggle. Now she is back to her perky self so the Sharman walks will begin again.

Our Canadian friends are here!

Charmaine (left) and Linda (right) landed at the Ercan airport at 1 am Wednesday morning. But with Air Canada on strike and changes in their itinerary, it was good they got to Cyprus “on time” and with their luggage. And the drive back to the marina was easy as there’s traffic at that time in the morning!

We let them sleep in a few hours Wednesday morning and then the whirlwind tour of North Cyprus began. Charmaine and Linda met Randal when they all did the “Around the World Bike Trip” in 2000. While we were home last fall we visited them on their island home in Lake Charbot in Ontario.

Charmaine and Linda on an introductory walk through Yenierenköy. Thursday they went on their first Deks Walk and our 12^th.

Deks walk # 12 the Carob Warehouses and Bird Watching.

Inside the old warehouse which is now being renovated into a “green restaurant.”

The renovation is just now starting so we probably won’t eat there this trip to Cyprus.

Photo op.

Sharman and Sophie

Sophie is back to her old self so Sharman joined us for the walk.

Denise and Randal enjoying one of their “walk conversations.”

Just lovely.

Sophie and I are playing “crouch and run.”

After the walk we all returned to Deks and it was “bacon sandwiches” all around. Deks now offers a new sandwich called “The Randal Sandwich” which is bacon and scrambled eggs on grilled village bread. The best!

Jay and Diane (in red) with their backs to us.

Jay and Diane, retired high school science teachers from England, were spending two weeks in Cyprus; the first in the north and the second with friends in the south. They had rented an apartment at the top of the hill where Rob and Julia live. It was great that they came on this walk when Charmaine and Linda

were here because all 4 are great bird watchers. They spotted lots of tiny birds I could hardly see and also a flock of resting crane. It was a great day for all 4 of them and they’ve planned to try to meet when all 4 of them will be in Australia later this year.

As we were about to leave Margaret, Donkey Dave’s wife asked if we’d left our sunglasses. We said no, but guessed they belonged to Jay so we offered to bring them to him. They weren’t Jay’s but we had a nice last visit with them.

Jay, Linda, Charmaine, and Randal

Looking for the “Cyprus grey striped something or other.”

Diane and Jay

Randal taking a photo of Diane and Jay with their camera so they can prove they were at the same place at the same time. Usually only one of a couple is in any photo.

Then it was back to return the sunglasses to Deks where Denise would try to find who owned them.

That was Thursday. Friday we went to Iskele to the Friday Market, the Icon Museum and then up to Kantara Castle and then for a picnic. On the way home Charmaine, Linda and I got out of the car in Yenierenköy and walked back to the marina. They then went to the gym to do yoga and after that came back to the boat and cooked a super Mexican meal. Whew!

   We were having such lovely bahar havası (spring weather) and then Tuesday winter returned.  Today it can’t decide but as there was no rain, just wind and sun, I joined Sharman and Sophie for a morning walk through the hills.  Tomorrow, Thursday is Deks walk day so hopefully the weather will cooperate.  Now the wind is up making the boat rock and roll, but so bad as last time.  It is chilly enough (about 55 F) to have our wonderful, quiet, diesel stove heating the boat.  We keep a kettle on it for tea water.  Just now Randal put a small tin with boiling water (from the kettle) on the stove and added a few drops of the Lavender oil we’d bought at a Monday market.  Makes the boat smell nice especially after last night’s stir-fry meal of onions, peppers, mushroom, garlic and ground meat. Randal cooked! It tasted really good, but a closed up boat tends to trap smells.  The worst are the cooking smells left over from my salmon patties!  Yuck.  I had made them one night and then we left the boat closed up all the next day when we did the visa run to Nicosia.  The boat smelled as if some small thing had died.  Well maybe not that bad, but certainly not good.  We do have an oven exhaust fan, but that doesn’t quite do the trick.  You need to open portholes and doors.  Soon the boat will be open all the time as the weather gets warmer and that will be lovely. 

  Had another Sipahi coffee adventure.  Here’s the story.

Ru

Why Learn Turkish?

Working on my Turkish; a little wine never hurts!

Yesterday was Turkish Lessons at Deks. The weather was foul so Denise collected Pete and me from the marina. Denise doesn’t charge for the lessons nor for the transport. How often do you find that? And the lessons are fun! I know I’ve said that before, but it bears repeating. Inspired by the morning lesson and needing an afternoon of quiet, I sat down to work on the Turkish. That morning we had worked on verb past tense and prepositions and it had really, finally, hooray! sunk in so I wanted to keep working at it. There was another reason I wanted to work at it. During our walk on Sunday through Sipahi, Sharman and I had been invited for coffee by Nadia Yilidiz. (I’ve done my best with the spelling from what we heard her say.) I had left my cheat sheets on the boat (for the last time, I swear!) and between the two of us, Sharman and I don’t have enough Turkish to have a real conversation. We could understand some of the things she told us. She has 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy. One child is in Istanbul, and one or two are still in school. And we could say that we don’t have children, (though both of us have connections to stepchildren we didn’t have the words for that.) My cheat sheets do, but they were on the boat. I do know the word for flowers and beautiful, so that came in handy as it was her flowers that had brought us all together. And we could tell her that we lived on boats at the marina. And that I was American and Sharman British. So we could converse some……

Here are the photos from our visit.

Lovely spring flowers, but what is the pink one in the middle?

Each time I had walked by Nadia’s house, in Sipahi I had admired her flowers. Sunday, while returning from our walk, Sharman and I had stopped to admire them and try to identify them with the small Cyprus wildflower guide Julia has loaned to me. Nadia saw us and came to try to help. She knows what they are, but could only tell us in Turkish. Then, as the people in Sipahi do, she invited us in for coffee. We drank coffee, had a lovely visit and then it was time for photos. Nadia was reluctant, but agreed.

Me and Nadia

Nadia and Sharman

I really like this photo of both Nadia and Sharman (except for the stove pipe sticking out from Sharman’s head.) Luckily, Sharman has a photo program that can make that go away. Then we will bring a copy to Nadia. I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but Nadia has the most beautiful soft skin. Actually since I’m standing on Nadia’s right and Sharman on her left, maybe Sharman can put all of us in the photo! They are certainly color coordinated.

Nadia and her granddaughter.

What a lovely, smart 11 year old. Her English put our combined Turkish to shame! Sadly I didn’t get her name. She came after we’d had coffee and were going on our way.

Flowers everywhere, outside and in.

The Turkish coffee is thick and sometimes strong, but I have grown to like it. I have mine with a bit of sugar.

More of Nadia’s garden.

We were standing across the road where there are more flowers when Nadia came to talk with us.

Sophie getting a treat too.

Sophie had waited patiently for us and was now having some bread that Nadia had given to her. You can see that Nadia is barefoot. Sharman and I removed our shoes before entering but Nadia had told us that it wasn’t necessary. But since they don’t wear shoes in the home it feels better to do the same when visiting.

Water for Sophie

Nadia’s granddaughter is filling a bowl so that Sophie can have a drink.

I wonder if they use the stone oven?

Nadia had a wood stove burning. It has a side compartment for baking which is really neat. It certainly kept the front room where we were sitting very warm.

I will definitely miss Sipahi when we leave here. I am working on a short letter that I will ask to post in the small market in Sipahi. Denise is helping me write it. I use the Google translator and then I try to correct its mistakes and then Denise corrects all of the mistakes. We won’t be leaving until the end of April – beginning of May so I still have some time to learn more Turkish. And maybe deliver a few more apple cakes.

  My sister emailed me commenting on the Avtepe festival saying she was looking forward to the tulip photos!  My mind must be going….I forgot the tulip photos in an email about the Tulip Festival.  Good Grief!  So here are the tulip photos.

Ru

Heidi had asked for directions from Avtepe out to the tulip fields so we set off hoping eventually to find some sign we were heading in the correct direction. I guess it there were lots of signs and it was easy to get there; there would be no tulips left to see. One of the organizers had asked to Denise to translate a notice into English telling “tulip pickers they would be prosecuted.” Being early there were few people there which was nice. We parked the car and headed off to find the tulips…in the wrong direction. Soon enough an official looking man told us we’d gone wrong and to go back and walk straight ahead from the car around some trees and shrubs and we’d find the tulips.

First we saw fields of white rock roses.

And fields of blue…somethings.

Heidi and Randal enjoying the roses but wondering, “Where are the tulips?”

.

Hunting for the tulips

Here they are…wild tulips.

Tulipa Cypria: Black Tulip

“The tulip appears to be bright scarlet, but in normal reflected light resembles its common name – Black Tulip. Distribution: Northern Cyprus only. Tulipa Agenensis occurs in Aegean Islands, Turkey, Syria, Israel and Iran.” Flowers of Northern Cyprus by Halliday and Luschington

“Habitat mostly in cereal fields, hidden below the level of the wheat, but in great numbers: 400-900 ft. alt. (Not sure what that means.) Flowers March to April.” Flowers of Northern Cyprus. Avtepe in one of the few places in Northern Cyprus where they grow.

Kalle taking some photos.

Finally we had to leave and as we drove back through Avtepe we were glad we’d stopped early in town to buy our “souvenirs.” Cars were parked half way to the next town! It would have been fun to see the dances or maybe get a glimpse of the President of North Cyprus, but we had more things to see and do and Heidi and Kalle had, at the end of the day, to drive back to Yeşiltepe.

Our next stop was the Panagia Kanakaria Church in Boltaşli. It is a lovely church and Randal and I had stopped there back in August.   http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=8020 is the entry. I had every intention of walking through the lovely church compound until I heard those terribly enticing sheep bells so off I went to see.

Koyun (Sheep)

The shepherd and his neighbor.

Heidi, Kalle and Randal were back at the church talking with other tourists so there was no one to take the photos of me playing with the baby sheep. The shepherd had called to the lamb and it had come to him. He told it to come to me and it did and I got to play “butt my hand” with its little head against my hand. I rubbed its neck and felt the lovely wool. It was so unafraid. I raced back to the car and grabbed my “cheat notebook” and ran back to show it to the shepherd so he could read what I still haven’t memorized. It tells about Randal and me and where we live and that we like Cyprus. It also says I worked in a public library and that impressed the shepherd very much. I had one of our flag bandannas in my backpack so gave it to the young boy. I finally left my new friends and ran back to the car where Heidi, Kalle and Randal were patiently waiting for me and off we went to Bafra.

  March 24, 2012 (Time to Spring Forward at 4 am)

Randal and I have had some busy days lately.  We are getting the boat shipshape for our friends Charmaine and Linda who will arrive Tuesday evening from Canada.  Late in April or early May the 4 of us will move the boat to Israel.  We visited "Charlin" on their island home in Lake Charbot last October.  Charmaine and Linda did the ’round the world bike trip with Randal so are prepared for the half home/half camping life that cruising is.  They are great walkers so this is the perfect place for them to visit with us.  Randal spent 2 days installing the new GPS compass and I have been doing more cleaning than usual.  Friday Randal went off for the rental car and today we took our friend Eve, just returned from Israel, and Susan, wife of my Turkish classmate Pete, grocery shopping at Lamar.  We needed to provision and knew Eve’s boat was totally empty so planned the trip.  Lunch was at "big Deks" near Bogaz where they make the best calamari, my new favorite Deks food.  I was hooked on the bacon sandwich but now I’m equally hooked on the friend calamari.  On the way home we stopped in Yenierenkoy for small provisions and to drop off Eve’s propane gas tank to be filled.  That’s why shopping is so tiring, everything gets crammed into one trip because you have to drive at least an hour away just to get to the closest small supermarket.  But the weather is just about perfect and the fields and hills are alive with wildflowers and it’s just beautiful. 

  I have one more email to write about our Sunday adventure.  Until then.

Ru

ALMOST BASEBALL SEASON

Avtepe Tulip Festival, Boltashli Village Shepherd, and Bafra “Vegas”

Sunday March 18 was a beautiful day. We set out about 9 am so we could visit the location of the cave church just outside Avtepe. (You can see the cave in the poster.) The road map showed the route to Avtepe along the main road out of Yenierenköy heading west. But Kalle is quite familiar with North Cyprus and knew there was a “back way” so that’s the way we went. We stopped and asked for Avtepe at tiny crossroad towns along the way, just to make sure. But Kalle was right and we found Avtepe exactly where he said it would be. Kalle and 3 friends have met every Thursday for years to go exploring the island. He has been just about everywhere. We were quite early so drove further along the valley towards a hillside cave-church thinking we might takes a quick hike before the festival. We did find the cave but it was obvious there were no short hike options so we decided to put it off for another time. We were lucky enough to see a stork fly overhead and that was impressive. I actually didn’t take photos but will when we visit again. Here is a description I found on the Internet.

“The stretch between Derince and Avtepe is most unusual, with a dramatic drop down into a huge valley and bare rolling hills all around. A track leads along this river valley to the sea, some 4 km away, where a ruined 14th-century domed chapel, Ayios Seryios, can still be seen, to the right of the river mouth. Northeast of Avtepe there is also an unusual cave tomb of unknown date cut into a bare cliffside at a height of some 200m, and visible as you approach from afar. The climb up to it is very tricky and should be attempted only by those who relish heights and unsure footholds. Inside are many deep corridors leading to grave chambers, cut some 26m deep into the hillside. Be sure to take a good torch. At the very back is a well shaft of immense depth, which village tradition has it leads either to hell or to paradise, depending on which is more deserved.”

http://www.northcyprushotels.net/special/karpas-beyond-ziyamet.html

We returned to Avtepe and the early bird gets the parking space so we had no trouble parking. Had we come later we’d have parked half way back to Yenierenköy!

Craft and food tables lined the main street.

We’d eaten breakfast and it was too early for lunch so we just looked.

The favorite universal gourmet treat, Cotton Candy!

Books for sale: unfortunately they were all in Turkish and I’m just not that good yet! But it was nice to see that popular fiction had been translated to Turkish and that there was a demand even in tiny Avtepe.

A stall perhaps selling borek: phyllo dough filled with cheese and then fried.

A potter selling exactly what I wanted: a tiny pitcher for milk when serving tea or coffee.

Artist friends, Hasan Eminağa and Heidi Trautmann

“Hasan Eminağa, the ceramist from Dizayn 74 who was invited by the local Muhtar to come and add to the festival’s image.”

http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=7578641645

Heidi’s tale of our adventure and definitely worth reading as she knows so much more about the area than I. A Muhtar is just what it sounds like, the village head honcho.

Randal was totally intrigued and had lots of questions while Kalle looked on along with village children.

I was busy shopping..photo by Heidi. My small milk jug and olive pit holder.

I really liked some of the taller vases but that will have to be another time.

Our Yenierenköy Monday Market “nuts and raisin” man had a booth. We’d long wondered at the odd looking “sweet” that he sold. It looks like a rubber candle…but now that I’ve tried it, I really kind of like it.

Souzouko

“A more unique dessert is Souzouko – a long string of almonds dipped repeatedly in thickened grape juice and hung to harden. This “wand” of sweet goodness takes days to make but is available for purchase almost anywhere on the island, especially around festivals and fairs.” http://globaltableadventure.com/2010/11/30/about-the-food-of-cyprus/

It’s interesting, not very sweet, but like thickened weak unsweetened grape juice that you chew. It is made the same way you make candles! It’s not tough like gum but chewier than gum drops. Veddie Interesting!!!

See what I do for Y’all!

Heidi just forwarded this photo to me from our Karpaz visit to the Apostolos Andreas Monastery.  I was trying to find the “famous spring in the chapel” but it was just too dark. I had to slide the whole way back down off the side of the chapel but it wasn’t as far as it might look. I don’t do heights unless there’s no second choice.

  I am hoping to get this off before we leave the boat this morning for our Thursday Deks Walk.  It is beautiful here in Cyprus!  I have another email to write about the Tulip Festival and will also give the link to what Heidi has written on her website.  But that’s for next email.

Ru

Karpaz Peninsular and the Avtepe Tulip Festival with Heidi and Kalle March 17^th and 18^th 2012

Heidi and Kalle came to visit this past weekend. They wanted to take us out adventuring along the Karpaz Peninsular and to the Annual Tulip Festival in Avtepe. They also wanted to show us the other image of North Cyprus, the huge resort complexes of Bafra which are quite a contrast to the unspoiled lands of the Karpaz Peninsular. The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful time. I took zillions of photos!

Heidi and Kalle arrived about 10 am after their two hour drive from Yeşiltepe. We had coffee and some “just made banana bread” and then headed off down the Karpaz Peninsular. I don’t know why I say “down” except we always used to say we were “going down the cape” when we went to Cape Cod. Karpaz is a smaller unspoiled, undeveloped version of Cape Cod.

Our first stop was the Golden Beaches on the south side of Karpaz Peninsular.

http://www.burhansgoldenbeach.com/

Wild flowers and sandy beaches.

We didn’t encounter any.

Simple but comfortable accommodations: Heidi and Kalle stayed here a few years ago.

Walking along the beach.

It really looked like this…no photo-shopping necessary.

Sea, sand dunes, and sky.

Heidi and Kalle

What a great place to spend time.

Randal, Kalle and Heidi

Kalle said that even in the summer the beaches are mostly deserted making them my kind of beach.

We left the beach and continued driving through what is designated as park land for the wild donkeys. We’d seen a few in the distances when we’d motorbiked out here in August. This time they came up to visit.

Collecting park entrance fees?

We came unprepared so had nothing to feed them.

There had once been a Neolithic community at the very tip of the peninsular, but now there are just two giant flags; one of Turkey and one of Cyprus. Randal and I visited back in August when nothing bloomed and we didn’t walk up the mound to see where the community had been. This time we did and were rewarded with lovely views.

This is the link to our earlier trip on August 6^th shortly after we’d arrived in Cyprus. http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=7738 This link shows photos inside the monastery and the huge flags on the tip of the peninsular.

We parked the car and walked up the steep, small hill.

Looking back at the south coast and the road we’d taken.

The north coast is more forested and we saw no signs for beaches.

Looking across to Turkey and Syria below the horizon.

I just barely captured the water on both sides of the peninsular.

On our way back to the marina we stopped at the Apostolos Andreas Monastery. When Randal and I had come in August we hadn’t known anything about the small chapel at the rear of the monastery with the spring of fresh water. I only learned of it when we got back to the boat and read more about the monastery. This time I was determined to see it.

The spring water now is delivered by spigot.

The spring was supposed to have been created by Saint Andrew (Apostolos Andreas) to quench the thirst of sailors arriving at the peninsular.

The guide books mention the rocky shore.

But here is the chapel with the locked door and no access just as it was the last time we’d come.

There are no signs and no information available. I read recently that money was allocated to refurbish the monastery but so far nothing has happened.

As we walked around the monastery complex we met more friendly donkeys.

The donkey seems to be interested in the conversation of these two staff people.

For me animals trump ancient ruins every time.

Donkeys are the water buffalo of Cyprus.

These two came to visit Heidi

They actually followed us back to the car.

Where should I sit?

This one appears to be eating for two…she looks quite pregnant.

Alas we had no food to share. Next time we come I’ll load up on carrots and apples.

Heidi took this photo of the cats that live at the monastery complex.

We stopped for a late lunch and then headed back to the marina first stopping to visit with Denise at Deks and discuss any possible options for an art exhibit at the “big Deks” near Boğaz. Then it was back to the boat to relax. After a bit Randal cooked up a wonderful spaghetti dinner with some “Trautmann red wine” and “Ruth’s cocoa brownies” for dessert. Then it was time for sleep.