Tag: town

Escape to the Black Sea

M's Adventures
Trabzon has lots of pedestrian streets.

As the temperature started getting too hot for middle of the day outdoor activities (and frankly even too hot in the morning), I decided that I would do what the Turks did in the old days before air conditioning. They went to the Black Sea.

Giant bread larger than your head.

I went to Trabzon. For the respite from the 94-degree heat in Adana. In Trabzon, it was 84 degrees but humid. I still sweated. But Trabzon was an interesting diversion. The airport is seven minutes from downtown which they call Meydan (in Adana, most use the word, “merkez” for the center of town). There are many pedestrian streets in Trabzon, both in an area that feels like Switzerland or Italy, and then in an area that feels a bit more like Amman or Adana with covered cloth criss crossing the narrow alleys and older streets leading to Turkish baths or a mosque. Trabzon is now a tourist destination for middle easterners looking to escape the heat (84 is downright winter compared to 120) and many stores and restaurants have writing in Arabic. At one place I went to, the waiter was from Saudi Arabia and had been hired for his Arabic and English speaking skills.

Lots of metal containers for sale.

As I mentioned, I am done with touristy things unless it is food related. In Trabzon, the food specialties are a cheese cornmeal fondue type dish, gigantic bread larger than your head, a black cabbage soup, and sardines.

The melted cheese dish is called, “kuymak” and is melted cheese mixed with cornmeal. You use bread to dip into it. Very hardy food. It is nice if you can get a really good “pull” on your cheese but I went to a place where the cook apologized because she had not achieved that on my serving.

The gigantic bread is massive with the largest size weighing two kilograms (4.4 lbs). It is sourdough. The bakeries where they sell the bread can be hard to find as they seem to be all in one area. But, they sell the bread at the airport so no fear, one can take one with you last minute.

Black cabbage soup which is really kale pottage.

The soup is actually not a soup. So I was told. Apparently, one is supposed to use the cornbread as an additive and then the soup becomes a pottage or stew. This dish reminded me of the south in the USA.

I did not have any sardines but I did look for black tea as Trabzon is in tea growing country.

Overall, I felt like Trabzon was built for shopping.

It is a hilly town.

What’s It Like in Adana?

M's Adventures

Adana is closer to Aleppo than it is to Istanbul. Adana is a hot dusty sandy city of two-three million people. There are all the elements of a big city but also the feel of a small outpost on the border.

A 24-7 bakery in old Adana.

Adana is a city of contrasts. People go about their lives. This was surprising to me. I love it.

A subsidized bread hut. Dogs are common on the streets.

Like in Peru, there are mototaxis, like Bangladesh, you see women who are covered up driving mototaxis.

Mainly, for me, it is a city without tourists. Or very few. The main tourist season is during the orange blossom festival in April. But otherwise, the tourist attractions in Adana are the Adana kebab, small old town, the Roman bridge, the enormous mosque, and the Varda bridge outside town. Compared to the frenzy of tourism in Rome, this is a nice break.

A kebab shop on every corner.

In ways, Adana reminds me of Dhaka. Both in weather and religion. But, Adana is not as humid as Dhaka. Adana has almost no mosquitoes but it has flies. But in Adana, there are air conditioning units everywhere. Oddly, cloves are prevalent in both cultures. In Dhaka, cloves were in much of the food. Here in Adana, one can chew on them to freshen the breath. There is almost no pork to be found. Coffee shops abound. But, in Adana, there are many places where people drink alcohol.

Boys playing in an industrial, poorer, part of town.

Adana even reminds me of Dhaka in some of the architecture. Aside from the architecture, there are people on the streets, playing backgammon, drinking tea, running after trucks… Also the love of “holiday lights” is a similar trait of these cities. Almost every city in the world enjoys stringing up festive lights during certain seasons. Same here.

A corner in a rich part of town near the old town.

But mostly the traffic in the city is similar to Lima, Cairo, or Dhaka. Dhaka still leads in most “interesting” traffic-wise. Nothing compares to Dhaka traffic. Nothing.

A view of the lake between new construction in the wealthy north part of town.

While this town is not that spread out, six or seven miles (8-10 kms) can seem very far and takes about 25 minutes by taxi. Like New York City, the neighborhoods change every ten blocks or so. Along the lake to the north, new complexes are rising like entire building blocks, all jostling for a view of the lake.

Are the locals, the Adanalis, friendly? Yes, but not overly so. It is polite to say hello, “Merhaba” when you meet a new person, enter a store, enter a taxi, etc. It is true that the locals will almost always offer you tea or coffee, if you spend enough time in their shop. It is a normal part of life. A tea stop. I have been here long enough that I find it odd when I don’t get offered “chai” at the end or beginning of meals and transactions. To accommodate the tea culture, there are always tea vendors (often boys of ten) running around delivering tea or collecting empties. While the locals are polite (although there are lots who simply stare) in general, I would not say that they are overly friendly. They are a bit reserved. They go about their lives and expect you to do so too, without being bothered by them.

A place to sit outside, to eat a kebab, or a wrap, or drink tea.

So, what’s it like in Adana? It’s chaotic, hot, dusty, cold, meaty (they love meat), and free of tourists. Also, almost free of foreigners other than refugees. There are some university students and some Americans (due to the air force base) but one rarely ever sees anyone “foreign” out and about. The locals still find it interesting when a foreigner gets in their taxi, or store, or restaurant, or walks down their street. One guy asked me, “Where are you going?” I guess out of concern? At other places, I have met that famous muslim or middle eastern hospitality where I am offered tea and delights and where they refuse to let me pay.

I love Adana sign in north Adana, a wealthy area.

Maybe I’m still in the honeymoon period where things seem so nice (and it is winter so I’m not boiling from the inside of my head whenever I step outside), but so far… I find Adana delightful.

Annapolis Tourist and a Time Traveler

M's Adventures

Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and makes for an easy tourist outing from Washington, located just 30 miles to the east. One day, we went. It was a perfect day with blue skies and light breezes.

The downtown is adorable. Parking is not. One of the main attractions is the Naval Academy.

Lots of shops and antiques to gasp at.

There are boat tours and water taxis.

We ate on the south side and while it was quieter, we did not think the food was anything special.

We did stop at a cafe, Curated, and that was lovely. A young golden haired youth was sitting at the next table reading a Torah, a copy of Milton’s works, and a notebook in which he was taking concise notes with an old fashioned ink pen. No cell phone in sight. I wondered if he was a wraith, a time traveler, dropped into our world by the fumes of my coffee… it turned out that he was studying the connection between Milton’s assertions about the role of poetry in the Torah. He was going to do a doctoral thesis on this. We talked briefly about poetry. Then he left us to our breakfast. A bit later, a very modern young woman, cell phone attached to hand, sat down next to him. She asked what he was doing. He told her. At the blank look on her face, he asked if she had heard of Milton’s Paradise Lost. She said that she thought she had. Clearly no spark there. She got up and left quickly after that.

I remarked to my friend that artsy young men like that one were so unusual in the greater Washington area but probably not so out of place in New York City.

From inside Curate cafe.

If you visit Annapolis, you might not meet any interesting scholars, but you can absorb the history anyway.

Old Town Alexandria

M's Adventures

If you want a small town feel, a historic old European city feel, and still be near a big city, then you will understand why Old Town Alexandria keeps getting voted as one of the best small towns in America. It is really cute. It has free busses and a free trolley from the subway stop. Also, it is on a subway line that connects to two airports.

I just like how quaint it is (oh, and I love the dairy sold at the farmers market — the market is from 1753 and is the oldest continuous farmers market in America. It is every Saturday from 7-noon). Several of the blocks in the heart of the waterfront area have been made pedestrian only. Many restaurants line these blocks and it is a pleasant place to eat, socialize, and people watch. The boardwalk/quay is nicely made and there are both toilets, drinking fountains, and benches all within easy reach.

If you visit, try going during the day and visit the Torpedo Factory, an old factory turned into artist studios and shops. There are also many tours of Old Town, covering history, food, and ghost.

The streets are tree lined and a few still have the original cobblestones. This is an old city so you may need to walk arm in arm on the uneven sidewalks.

Asheville is the Place to Live at the Grove Arcade

M's Adventures
The fancy mall, Grove Arcade, has apartments upstairs.

Well it would be for me if I lived in Asheville, North Carolina. But I am a city person so I would not want to live in a cottage in the woods. But Asheville has it all. I can see why this is an attractive place to live. Go on a food tour with Asheville Food Tours to find out more about this city. The Grove Arcade is on the national register for historic places.

A view of the main street.

The airport is expanding too so I have a feeling this place will grow quickly. Asheville was Cherokee land until 500 years ago. There is a lot of history in this town, but as a tourist destination, there is also more than history.

A memorial to where the drovers would take their animals to market.

Another Perfect Apulian Town

M's Adventures
There is a beach.

When I was writing about Polignano a Mare, I realized that maybe there was another perfect Apulian town that I overlooked. I suspect that there are many perfect towns in Apulia (Puglia in Italian). Here is one that I really liked and where I’ll be going back, Otranto.

The restaurant is in the shade of the cathedral.

I was so distracted by the perfect restaurant in Otranto (Peccato di Vino), that I forgot about the beach and the rest of the town. It has those things as well.

There is a fort.

We took a quick moto taxi/tuk tuk ride to get a good overview and my driver was playing disco and dancing the whole time.

A world away from the disco taxi was the elegant cool wine restaurant which I might put on my list of places to try in Italy…

Our visit was short, so I’ll be back, especially to try the restaurant again. I might have been biased last time because the owner greeted us warmly with cool refreshing prosecco. She also called us beautiful which we appreciated considering how sweaty and bedraggled we looked.

The classic Apulian dish of bean puree and chicory.

The Perfect Apulian Coastal Town – Polignano a Mare

M's Adventures

View to the right from the cafe.

Sapphire blue water, cute old white stone streets, a public beach, and easy access to other places (if you ever want to leave), Polignano a Mare has it all. The city is walled and the old part is pedestrianized. The only wheeled vehicles inside are pedicabs transporting customers and their luggage to the many hotels and B&Bs.

It was hard to get a photo of this door without people in front of it, but I managed to snatch one in the few seconds between tourists.

The old city has many shops but doesn’t feel excessively touristy (even though it is), and once in a while you can glimpse real people living their lives here.

The swimming area is surrounded by cafes on cliffs.
The beach is a pebble beach but that’s the only downside.

Since visiting, I have been raving about this town. It just seems too perfect. Even in 95/34 degree heat.

There is poetry dotted all about the town. This basically says, “Happiness is easy when the sea is in front of you.”

We went just for a the day but I could see staying here for an entire vacation.

The access to the beach overlook.

Outside the old city, there are also lots of streets and neighborhoods to explore, or stay in, but we only explored the old town. We parked in the piazza just outside the old walls, helped by old gentlemen sitting in the square (they helped explain the parking sign — lunch is free parking), and when we returned at the end of the day, the same gentlemen were doing their “passaggiata” (daily walk to be seen, see, and catch up with neighbors) in the square.

Try to get that table for the photos. It was a bit windy out there so we ate inside.

We ate breakfast at a cafe, Caffe Dei Serafini, with a jawdropping view. Utterly amazing. The restaurant is in a cave wall of the city on the cliff and has only one table for two/three out on their tiny balcony… but if you are lucky, you can get that table, or, at least, use it for photo ops.

View to the left from the cafe balcony. Around the corner to the left is the swimming beach.

While I thought Lecce was more intellectual, and Otranto had a smaller vibe, I think that Polignano a Mare has a good combination for an overall Apulian vacation. And it has those blue waters.

I’m told that Sicily and Sardegna have blue waters as well, but for now, these have been the most jewel like yet.

A snorkeler seen from the balcony. Photo with an iPhone. No filter.

My photos were taken with my iPhone and I did not use a filter. The water really is that color. Better than on postcards.