The journey towards Rize began with bright, if cloudy, skies and we decided, after slight rainfall, not to stop along the way at Of (yes, there really is a place called ‘Of’!). However, when we came to Rize, we could see the storms ahead, and so knew our planned stop there would be more than necessary. Mark skilfully found an on-street parking spot and then we headed off to find tourist info. The guides there were pretty friendly and we had two good maps in no time. Then we went back to the Deragh pastanesi around the corner for elmalı poğaça (apple pastry) and hot chocolate. The poğaça was dusted with as much icing sugar as the Kaçkar mountains are with snow – Deeeelicious.
Up early to breakfast – the usual, plus melon and cherry jam. Then off in car (via a new, quick route from the hotel manager – hurrah) to Sumela Monastery, one of the iconic sights from the region. The drive itself was gorgeous as we wound through a verdant yet craggy gorge-like river valley with towering cliffs above us. Much to our delight, the weather was gorgeous too!
A quick breakfast in the car after a lie-in till 9am, then off along the coast again through Ordu and on to Giresun. Drove through Giresun and stopped (after driving around through some extremely hilly back roads and then back down the coast to a very crowded otopark) to go to the castle. We didn’t get to any castle in the end, but we did find a lovely view (below) and some one-eyed cats…
Got an early start and were at the car (via bread shop) at 8am prompt to avoid getting a parking ticket (a good job as the ticket inspector was waiting to ‘label’ our car!). Loaded the car and drove up, up, up the hill rising in the centre of town to see the castle on top. Wow! A VERY steep climb to the top but absolutely incredible views from the top.
The day began with the electricity cutting out whilst Mark showered (in the cupboard room…) before we had a lovely köy kahvaltısı (village breakfast) that was soon to characterise our trip: kaşar peynir (cheese a bit like like cheddar), beyaz peynir (feta cheese), black olives, tomatoes, cucumber, local butter and fresh bread with homemade erik (plum) and ayva (quince) jams. Yum yum! Of course, no breakfast is complete without çay (black tea). We ate in a little lean to conservatory style building made of dark wood that thankfully let in enough light to counteract the ongoing powercut!
The Car
Day one nearly wasn’t day one at all… We were supposed to receive our car on Friday night, but upon visiting the car rental place, they told us that it would come on Saturday “before 9am” instead. 10 o’clock came. No car. By 11 we had called the garage several times. “30 minutes” they said each time. Anyway, at 11.30 Mark came home with our white Fiat Albea (white being one of the key criteria according to the salesperson…).
True, it looked a little the worse for wear, but it worked. We hurriedly started to pack the car.
Ruth’s china decorating class recently had an exhibition in of the town’s local council buildings as a part of the end of term celebrations. Ruth’s course began last September, but many women have been attending for a couple of years. Because Ruth only joined the course a few months back (yes, she snook in despite usually having to wait till September for the new intake!), none of her work was exhibited (she has only been doing practice work to try out the skills needed). However, it was very exciting to see the quality of work that her coursemates are now able to produce. Hopefully one day she will also reach that level… we’ll see…
You can see some examples of the class’s work by clicking on the photo below.
Well, after threatening to become more dormant than Vesuvius, Kata Markon is back! And goodness me, an awful lot has happened since August 29th 2006: Mark’s return from China, moving to Nottingham, getting engaged to Ruth, moving to London (at which point Ruth headed out to Paris), frequent trips to Paris, and planning a wedding! But, there’s still been time to party along the way, not least at the marriages of Richard and Rachel, and David and Felicity! Hurrah! You can find the photos in the gallery, or by clicking on the appropriate photo:
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