Driving in narrow cobblestone streets
Window shopping Sumela Monastery
Visit school
More window shopping
Dinner 650TL
SUMELA MONASTERY
After a leisurely breakfast and a phone call to Oz, Phoebe advised the temperature at Sumela was 2 degrees C. Put on all my clothes. Well most on and some extras in my back pack including my spray jacket.
The hotel kindly retrieved the car and positioned it in a very convenient position giving us time to get in and organised without incurring the ire of other drivers. Important to remember that the car was pointing in the correct direction.
Through the narrow streets. Up ahead a car appeared to want to go the wrong way against a couple of mini busses. After some tooting and discussion, the mini buses pulled forward and the car did its thing. I was pleased that Google did not want me to follow.
On the narrow road toward Sumela, I'm thinking coffee and we see a place. Figure a take away. Phoebe hops out and returns with the news that she does not think they understand the concept "takeaway" and that we have to go inside. Inside is like a tardis. It opens out to a verandah above a bubbling brook. Well a raging torrent of a brook.
Coffee and sweet done and Photos taken.
Up the very windy road.
To see Sumela, one parks part way and catches a mini bus 60L/pp.
On the way up, I spoke to a lady who originally was from Iran. She said she can not return at the present time because of the current political leaders.
After passing by the challenge of the stall holders, the next challenge is stairs. If one is not going up stairs one is going down.
It's an amazing feat of engineering.
Built and rebuilt and expanded over the centuries. Although started in the third century, what we see today was mainly constructed in the 1700's (Ottoman time). It's accessible today but I struggle to imagine how the original builders even got to the top of the mountain let along survived and constructed anything.
Drissly Rain and cloud made for a interesting experience. Postcard bought to get a clear picture.
Frescoes damaged. I wonder if Muslim youth thought they were doing the world a favour by damaging the Frescoes and esp smashing off the faces.
It seems that Attaturk's secularisation of Turkey also involved encouraging/sending/deporting Christians and the contents of Christian churches to Greece. So Christian churches were left empty and un maintained. In recent years, the government has put a lot of effort into cultural restoration and in that context they've poured money into restoring the monastery. We watched a video that talked about Christian beliefs and finished off with some quotes from the Quran which I took as basically Mohammed saying mind your own business and respect others and their business.
SCHOOL
After driving, I had 10 minutes shut eye. Phoebe went down stairs for a smoke. I found her across the road with 3 ladies who turned out to be teachers at the local high school.
They took us down and gave us a short tour. This is a selective high school. No problems with discipline. These kids win awards in both sport and academic. It's a state high school and no fees. These kids strive to achieve entry to university. Apparently there are free state run universities as well as fee paying universities. I gather these kids will get into universities as doctors and engineers and likely no fees even if a fee paid uni because they will get a scholarship.
WINDOW SHOPPING
Mainly looking for friendship rings.
The criteria seem to include:
Thick band
Sparkly
Some colour and some sparkle.
A bit funky. Unique.
Not look like an engagement ring
Bought by Frank and given as a gift.
DRIVING TO SUMELA MONASTERY
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SUMELA MONASTERY
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THE CHAPEL
This was a separate little building.
Trying to show how steep the stairs are
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