You're in my blood like holy wine.
Since I have completely failed in any and all attempt to get work done, this will have to do.
The first day of spring break we flew to Trabzon, on the Black Sea coast:
We went to the Hagia Sophia there, which is quite different from the one in Istanbul:
We had lunch outside in the garden, where I was introduced to the delicacy of cornmeal, cheese and butter all heated up in a copper pot. It's only in the Black Sea region (various parts of Turkey have quite distinctive cuisines), and it is IMPOSSIBLE to eat:
but also completely delicious.
Next we went to the Sumela Monastery, which is on a cliff far, far up. It was a huge pilgrimage site (which made the monastery very wealthy), so it's pretty extensive and has recent (ie, 19th century) decorations. It was in use until 1923 when the cultural exchange happened and the large Christian/Greek population was exchanged to Greece. The monks hid all the relics in a nearby monastery and in the 50s one of them returned to retrieve them and re-found the monastery in Greece.
This was the hike up to the monastery.
The monastery finally!
Inside the main church:
We met a large group of English students whose teacher wanted them to speak with us. They were too shy and wouldn't say anything to us unless he said it first, and then they would repeat it:
"For example, you can say: 'Where are you from?'"
"...............where are you from?"
Haha they were especially fascinated by Chris, the blond guy in our group (also the only guy in our group).
That's all for today.
I go home in almost a month, which seems crazy to me. I feel like I don't know Istanbul at all! I am also going to a folk dance performance tonight, and I got an A- on my second Turkish midterm :D
The first day of spring break we flew to Trabzon, on the Black Sea coast:
We went to the Hagia Sophia there, which is quite different from the one in Istanbul:
We had lunch outside in the garden, where I was introduced to the delicacy of cornmeal, cheese and butter all heated up in a copper pot. It's only in the Black Sea region (various parts of Turkey have quite distinctive cuisines), and it is IMPOSSIBLE to eat:
but also completely delicious.
Next we went to the Sumela Monastery, which is on a cliff far, far up. It was a huge pilgrimage site (which made the monastery very wealthy), so it's pretty extensive and has recent (ie, 19th century) decorations. It was in use until 1923 when the cultural exchange happened and the large Christian/Greek population was exchanged to Greece. The monks hid all the relics in a nearby monastery and in the 50s one of them returned to retrieve them and re-found the monastery in Greece.
This was the hike up to the monastery.
The monastery finally!
Inside the main church:
We met a large group of English students whose teacher wanted them to speak with us. They were too shy and wouldn't say anything to us unless he said it first, and then they would repeat it:
"For example, you can say: 'Where are you from?'"
"...............where are you from?"
Haha they were especially fascinated by Chris, the blond guy in our group (also the only guy in our group).
That's all for today.
I go home in almost a month, which seems crazy to me. I feel like I don't know Istanbul at all! I am also going to a folk dance performance tonight, and I got an A- on my second Turkish midterm :D