Sept 13 – 19, 2018 –
Friends John and Eileen joined us for a few days of sailing from Marmaris, around the Datca peninsula to Gokova-Oren Marina on the south coast of the Bodrum peninsula. We left Quintessa there while we did a bus trip together to the Black Sea.
To see as much of the Black Sea coast as we could in a short time, we joined a Turkish bus tour of the area. It was six English speaking folks and thirty-four Turks. Yes, there was a language barrier but everyone made an effort and we all got along well. Our guide was bi-lingual and very helpful.
With Quintessa safely in a marina for the week, we started our Black Sea trip hiring a driver to take us to Izmir, a modern city on the west coast of Turkey, where we spent a day touring on our own with John and Eileen. 
Izmir is one of the largest cities in Turkey and located way up in the end of a very large bay on the Aegean, Izmir Körfezi The city is a story of contrasts with its modern high-rises alongside its traditional buildings, gardens and markets. One of the highlights of Izmir is the oldest elevator which 
we took to the top of a ridge overlooking the city to enjoy the views.
Early the following morning we flew to Trabzon located in the central part of the Black Sea. There we met our bus group and headed to a visit at the Atatürk home of Kamal Atatürk, the first president of Turkey. The home, high on a hill in an area called Boztepe with wonderful views, was built by a wealthy Trabzon banking family, and then given to Atatürk by the city when he visited in 1924 after the population exchange. 
Although it is called Atatürk’s home he never lived there and had only stayed there for a total of three nights. 
Today it is a museum to Kamal Atatürk the founder of modern day Turkey and shows period furniture and displays archives of the former president.
Moving on to the Trabzon Ayasofya Mosque nearby, also in Boztepe, we visited a restored Byzantine church turned Mosque. Built in the middle of the thirteenth century as a Christian church 
it shows well preserved frescoes of scenes from the bible showing Jesus and his followers. 
The term “Ayasofya” in Turkish means holy wisdom, the same meaning as the original name in Greek “Hagia Sophia” and pronounced the same (a’yia so fia).
Round about dinner we discovered that this was an alcohol free trip. Most of the participants are Muslim most do not drink alcohol. Dinner was included each evening, but the hotels did not have bars. Hmmm. A challenge was at hand. The following evening we went for a walk and found a great little bar with live Turkish music and beer. It was great. We even found several Turks had followed us along.
Next we visited Uzungöl, to the east of Trabzon, which means “long lake”. 
Because of the altitude the climate is much cooler in the summer months, and the area very green. It has become a destination for many people from the Middle East as an escape from the heat. The area is much more conservative because of the international population which is visible in the signs printed in both Turkish and Arabic with no English, and the high percentage of women wearing the full burka, even when renting motorbikes..
A highlight of the trip, we were told, is the Sümela Monastery. It was founded in the 4th century as the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Virgin Mary. 
In 1923, it was abandoned when Turkey became an independent Republic, and Turkey and Greece had the population exchange. The Monastery is built high up into side of a rock wall. In the past few years it has been closed for renovations so the inside was not on our plan. The outside was, and included a steep ride up a very narrow road to reach our destination in a series of smaller buses provided to us. When we reached the top we found it to be so foggy that there was absolutely no sight of the Monastery in front of us. A bit of a disappointment but that happens. What we should have seen must be quite amazing judging by the stock photograph shown below:
courtesy: youramazingplaces.com