Istanbul
Istanbul, Nov 9th at the superb Four Seasons my surprise from Eyup and Aysegul! It is 65 degrees and sunny.
We left snowy Cappadocia and dear Suha and his unique Esbelli Evi Hotel with a heavy heart. Lisa had told me what a superb guy Suha is.....he is enguzel which in Turkish means "most beautiful"....with our splendid driver Suad we drove across the barren landscape, going on a new beltway around ultra hideous Ankara (it didn't have that ethereal Pre-Greek museum it would rank right up there with Minsk and Bucharest and Oklahoma City as one of the capital cities to forget). We drove then into mountains which I had never realized existed between Ankara and Istanbul (I had never done this trip overland).
We drove through some heavy snow to arrive at the utterly beguiling town of Gonyok (with the umlauts if is pronounce gern-y-erk) and it is much prettier than it sounds, an Ottoman town of 5000 people with traditional houses, hugging an almost secret valley between mountains...and utterly invisible from a half mile away. We lodged in an old KONAK which is the Turkish upper class equivalent of a chateau or a schloss. The family who has lived on the site since the 1300s was there to welcome us. Great fun. We each had a bedroom (though shared one bath) around a large carpeted (of course) living room. The four of us really comfortable though in an American sense were roughing it. We had a lovely small town dinner with great grilled lamb and the usual delicious rice pudding, a dish which Turkey invented and which is as good as anything in the land.
We left snowy Cappadocia and dear Suha and his unique Esbelli Evi Hotel with a heavy heart. Lisa had told me what a superb guy Suha is.....he is enguzel which in Turkish means "most beautiful"....with our splendid driver Suad we drove across the barren landscape, going on a new beltway around ultra hideous Ankara (it didn't have that ethereal Pre-Greek museum it would rank right up there with Minsk and Bucharest and Oklahoma City as one of the capital cities to forget). We drove then into mountains which I had never realized existed between Ankara and Istanbul (I had never done this trip overland).
We drove through some heavy snow to arrive at the utterly beguiling town of Gonyok (with the umlauts if is pronounce gern-y-erk) and it is much prettier than it sounds, an Ottoman town of 5000 people with traditional houses, hugging an almost secret valley between mountains...and utterly invisible from a half mile away. We lodged in an old KONAK which is the Turkish upper class equivalent of a chateau or a schloss. The family who has lived on the site since the 1300s was there to welcome us. Great fun. We each had a bedroom (though shared one bath) around a large carpeted (of course) living room. The four of us really comfortable though in an American sense were roughing it. We had a lovely small town dinner with great grilled lamb and the usual delicious rice pudding, a dish which Turkey invented and which is as good as anything in the land.
I was festering then as we drove towards Istanbul (joining the super highway from Ankara for the last 100 miles) about where I was going to stay....the city starts about 35 miles out and now numbers circa 12 million people, a great deal more than the naiton of Greece. Eyup told me he had taken me at my words and have booked me in a small pension in the Sultanahmet quarter. What a glorious surprise after our semi rough digs of last night to drive up to the Four Seasons with everyone coming out to greet me. What a welcome - complete with champagne, fruit, pastries, a box of super chocolates etc. in my beautiful room overlooking the still-flower filled court. I love the place and have never stayed here though I longed to the last couple of times
I was here. Dear Eyup and Aysegul. They knew I would be delighted.
posted by ultimatetraveler at 7:44 AM
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