TURKEY BY DAYLIGHT
This is the third in a series of articles about a trip to the interesting country of Turkey
TURKEY BY DAYLIGHT
By Charles N. Stevens
During the night our biological time clashes with Turkish time, waking us up several times. We finally roll out at six even though the January sky is still dark outside.
At last, the rising sun gives us enough light to see our surroundings out of our partially fogged windows. Before us is a lovely sweep of blue bay with a white lighthouse tower perched on a far point. All the houses along the shore are brightly white. Trees, stirring in a stiff north wind, line the shallow, rocky beaches. Seagulls circle near a white rowboat bobbing in the swells just offshore.
Shortly after seven we take the elevator down to the dining room where a breakfast buffet is laid out. We may choose from corn flakes, a green cereal which looks like light plastic spinach tortellini, two types of rolls, an assortment of jelly packets, trays arranged with two types of cheese, slices of “luncheon” meat and large shallow bowls of Greek olives and black olives. As we eat, we look out on the bay encircled with low hills and higher peaks behind. A few scraps of cloud ride in the wind. Two small boats rise and fall in the clear swells close to the windows.
After a brief trip to our room, we all gather in a cold room downstairs for orientation, a slide show, and payment of the optional trips we had selected.
Back up in our hotel room again I read about Miletus and Didyma, two ancient cities we’ll be visiting later in the day. I also look out the window. Out in the bay gulls swarm around a reddish-brown fishing boat like white scraps of paper in a whirlwind. Other gulls rest on the water like white lobster trap markers. The unceasing north wind bends the rounded pines and olive trees and scratches great cat’s paws on the water. The water near the shore is pale blue green with purple splotches from rocks and seaweed beneath the water.
In the bus and on our way, we pass many olive groves. In some, kerchiefed women squat on the ground to pick up the olives they have dislodged from the tree with a large pole. Men lead burdened donkeys down the road, one carrying a load of sticks as big as he is. Some men ride the donkeys, and others use them to pull small rubber-tired carts. We pass through the town of Soke with its raised sidewalks, stores, and shops. Amused school children wave to us. Outside of town we speed by vast cotton fields, the reddish-brown stocks still standing. New cotton gins gleam near them. At the edges of the fields tall feather grass leans and trembles in the wind. Stone and stucco farmhouses with tile roofs stand near the edges of the fields. I watch a magpie swoop down from a telephone wire.
A huge stork’s nest rests in a low chimney, while a long-tailed hawk circles nearby. Later we pass acres of rice fields, some of them flooded with a complex irrigation system. The fields are raised on the edges to hold in the water. We pass over the ancient and storied Meander River then fallow rocky fields, twisted, naked grape vines and plantings of tobacco. Many of the houses, especially the new ones, have twin tanks and solar panels on the roof for heating the water.
As we near Didyma, we skirt the coastline with its wild blue water and whitecaps. A man-made rock barrier close to shore wraps a protective arm around a fishing fleet. Near the sandy beaches the summer resorts lie empty. Sheep graze on the front lawn of a house, saving the need of a lawn mower. Most of the men we see wear heavy overcoats or thick, fleece-collared jackets. Slabs of snow-white marble gleam in a marble-cutting shop.
At Yenihisar, the village that grew up around the ancient ruins of Didyma, we stop at a glassed-in restaurant for lunch. The remaining marble columns of Didyma’s Temple of Apollo stand just across the street. For the most part, the meal is a buffet, an assortment of colorful tempting food arranged in metal trays on a long rack. I spoon up small portions of stuffed cabbage leaves, thin fried potatoes, cannellini beans, a reddish bulgur wheat mixture, cooked cabbage, eggplant, cheese rolled up in fish, pickled beets, yogurt with mint, mashed beans, and cauliflower. Later the proprietor serves us freshly barbequed turbot with the head still on—all delicious.
To use the restroom, we must pay the woman in charge a coin worth only about 12 and one-half cents. For this small wage she keeps the toilets clean. The heavy woman wears a soiled orange scarf around her neck and mouth, the color clashing with her tattered green sweater and print skirt.
MONTEREY PARK AUTHOR PUBLISHES 4th BOOK – Seeking More of the Sky: Growing Up in the 1930’s:
Charles “Norm” Stevens, a 49 year resident of Monterey Park has recently published his 4th book: Seeking More of the Sky: Growing Up in the 1930’s. This is the story of a young boy growing up in Inglewood, California in the l930’s. This was a time during the depression when unemployment was affecting many and the banks were closed, while the clouds of war were gathering in Europe. But he was lucky enough to be raised in a loving family, the power of that love reflected throughout his stories.
Stevens is the author of three previous books about his experiences during WWII:
An Innocent at Polebrook: A Memoir of an 8th Air Force Bombardier (Story of his 34 bombing missions from his base at Polebrook, England over Germany and France)
The Innocent Cadet: Becoming A World War II Bombardier (A prequel to the first, telling of his training in the U.S. before going overseas into combat.)
Back from Combat: A WWII Bombardier Faces His Military Future from Combat: (This book details the time from when he returned from combat in England until the end of the war.)
He is known to the readers of The Citizen’s Voice as the author of Travel Log Articles including “Cruising the Rhine and Mosel”,” Best of the West”, “In Search of Snow” , “From Paris to Normandy on the Seine”, and “Exploring New York”. He is retired, having taught for 32 years, primarily in the Montebello Unified School District.
Those interested in purchasing an autographed copy of any of his books, may contact the author at 323-721-8230 or Normstevens24@gmail.com.
