A Little Bit of Everything

We left the Ayvalik anchorage and it started to rain.  The sail between Ayvalik and Bozcaada provided a little bit of everything. 

It was a longer day, 10 hours, and like I said we encountered a little bit of everything.  I laid down for a nap (I get a morning nap in since we are generally up at around 6:00am and once the main sail is up and we are on course Dad takes the first “watch”) and got woken up about an hour later by the emergency bell.  There is a bell on board that either 1. Rings when the bilge isn’t pumping the water out fast enough so it goes off at a certain point or 2. Rings when the button on deck is pushed and whoever is in the cockpit needs help on deck and cannot leave for whatever reason.  This was the second option and it turned out we had too much wind and Dad needed help rolling up the jib that was out and putting a reef in the main.  9:00am and we are reefing the main.  We knew it would be a long day. 

It continued to rain on and off as the day went on.  We had too much wind, enough wind to go 6 knots with a reef in the main, wind on our nose, and no wind.  It began getting colder and we decided I could go below for about an hour or two and then we would switch places so at least one of us was dry and warm.  I lasted about 15 minutes before I turned green and had to go back onto deck.  With the wind and rain came enough swell to make it uncomfortable down below and it’s always easier being on deck.  What was odd about the day is there were very pleasant moments too.  Times when the rain stopped and it was warm enough to put a t-shirt on.  Times when the wind was in the right direction and we were able to actually sail.  I’ve come to the conclusion that the Mediterranean is bipolar and that weather forecasts are created by putting any possible condition in a hat and choosing the outcome at random. 

We arrived in Bozcaada, happy to be done with the day and found we had the entire place all to ourselves.  It was a town quay which meant I had to give the anchor another shot while Dad backed into the wall.  It only took me two tries this time and the anchor stuck and we were able to tie off the back with the help of a very nice man who happened to be walking by at the time. 

Bozcaada looked like a great town and I wanted to get off of the boat and explore the castle that was right at the quay and a cook clock tower that I could see from the water, but after walking on solid ground for about 10 minutes I decided getting back on the boat was in my best interest.  Land sickness is something that very rarely happens to me, but my stomach was not having the solid feel of cement under my feet so we went back on the boat, had dinner, and went to bed.

I love that this anchor is the size of a scooter.  I’m pretty sure Dad would be super excited to own an anchor that big… it might be easier to just tie a chain to the scooter though and throw that overboard.

This was an inscription on the castle at the quay.  According to the pilot book this is a Genoese castle built to protect the harbors in the last days of western trade. 

This was taken the next morning when we were pulling out of the harbor.  A fun fact about Bozcaada is it was home of Apollo the Mouse God and was the Greek base for the attack on Troy.  That has nothing to go with the castle that is still standing, but it was a fun fact.

Scooter for Three?

The bus to Bergama, which is the town where Pergamum is located, was described as “About an hour”… which in real time means an hour and forty-five minutes.  After everything that had happened that morning with moving the boat, engine problems, and then an epic search for an ATM we were just happy to be on the bus.  We made it to Bergama and were told to find a cab driver that would cut us a deal and “tour” us around the sites.  They basically built the city of Bergama in the middle of the ancient site of Pergamum.  So everything is spread out and requires a car to be reached.

We met a couple from New Zeland on the bus and decided to share a cab ride in order to split the cost.  This is our driver Ali Osmon Sener who, for only 60TL, took us to the top three sites in the area and dropped us off at the bus station all in time to catch the last bus out of town.  He was a very nice man with a very clean cab that had metallic red floor mats.

The first stop on our tour was the acropolis.  This is a view of the acropolis from the bottom of the hill.  It’s the best view of the theater built at the top of the hill and you can almost see the reconstruction of the Temple of Trajan.  I like how there is an entire town built at the base of the mountain over a road that apparently led from the top to another part of the ancient town.

This is a shot from the top of the acropolis.  A nice couple from Atlanta was up there and asked us why there more travel warnings were issued to Americans, we informed them that Bin Laden had been found and assassinated the night before. 

Mow made a new friend.  There were turtles like this guy all over hiding in the wildflowers.  Pergamum was one of the ancient world’s major powers for a brief moment in time.  Lysimachus decided it would be a great place to store everything he had been plundering from Asia Minor and was killed, losing his fortune to Philetaerus the commander of Pergamum, who later left it all to the Roman province. 

This is the Temple of Trajan.  It’s located at the summit of the acropolis and is partially restored.  Dad was going through a muscle man phase on top of the mountain.

One of the claims to fame that Pergamum has is they developed parchment.  The city was a major architectural and artistic center and had a famous library that held 200,000 books.  The Egyptians got jealous and banned the sale of papyrus to Pergamum so the city responded by creating charta pergamena which was more expensive to make, but could be used on both sides.

This is under the Temple of Trajan.  This was the most complete building in the entire site.  Apparently there is a Berlin Pergamum Museum where the majority of artifacts discovered and walls for the Altar of Zeus are housed now. 

This was the edge of spring.  The weather was beginning to cool off a little because we were going further north, but as you can see a t-shirt and jeans was perfect.  The wildflowers were in full bloom which added to the ambiance of the acropolis.

Next we were taken to the Kizil Avlu which translates to Red Courtyard.  This was the last pagan temple constructed and in the 4^th century was converted to a basilica dedicated to St. John.  The walls of the church are built with red bricks, hence the name.  We decided not to go inside, but to sit outside and watch Bergama go by.

This is a common site on Turkish roads.  The price of gas here is about $10 a gallon and the motor bikes are much more economical.  It was market day in town so the entire family climbed aboard in order to go shopping.  The most I have seen was a family of 5 on a scooter in Kemer.

Another popular mode of transportation is the tractor.  I got a kick out of seeing them pull into the gas stations alongside the mini buses. 

This is my new Turkish boyfriend.  We were sitting in the Red Courtyard area and this man was walking by with his cane.  I smiled and said “Merhaba” and that was all it took.  He stopped and smiled, moving his dentures around in his mouth and I think he wanted to talk more, but could tell I wouldn’t even know where to begin.  Dad asked to take his photo and he nodded in approval.  This is the common look for the older Turkish men.  The same hats, sweater vests and coats.  I love it.

I almost bought this rooster for 8TL.  There was a whole area dedicated to the sale of birds.  Roosters like this one, chickens, ducks, babies, eggs, the whole kitten caboodle.  I’m not sure what we would do with a rooster on board, but we may be able to train it to keep the cats away.

This is believed to be the world’s first full-service health clinic, the Asklepion.  In the heyday of the Pergamene Asklepion in the 2^nd century AD patients were prescribed such treatments as fasting, colonic irrigation, and running barefoot in cold water.  This is the Holy Road which was once the main street that connected the Asklepion to Pergamum’s acropolis (seen in the background). 

This was the main area of the health center.  There was a small theater built for music to be performed as part of the therapy process.  There were baths which I’m sure were filled with all sorts of fun things to soak in and “heal” various ailments.  Something that was cool, was on the way in and out we passed a military base, with tanks parked outside and military personnel walking around with sub machine guns guarding the gate to make sure tourists didn’t take any photos. 

Our trip into town was great.  The bus got very full on the way home, but we made it without a hitch.  We dropped everything off at the boat and went in search of a restaurant meal.  It was getting late and we were walking around the waterfront of Ayvalik looking for a place to eat that didn’t only serve fish and Dad poked his head into a florists shop that was still open and asked the lady where there was a place to eat.  She didn’t really speak English but with basic sign language she nodded, put her finger up and made a phone call.  Five minutes later a guy on a scooter came driving up and walked us to a great restaurant that was on the water, but about 3 blocks off of the main road.  There were tables to Turkish people sitting and enjoying the cuisine and Dad and I knew we had found dinner.  I got the chicken kebap and Dad got the mixed grill.  Out meals were delicious and we got a plate of fruit for dessert.  The evening and trip to Bergama were wonderful and turned a sour day into a great one.

Dolphins, but No Goats

The trip between Kusadasi and Ayvalik is all a blur at this point. 

We stopped at an anchorage called Kirkdilim Limani and there was literally nothing there except for another sail boat – no lights, no internet connection, no goats.  Then we continued through the entire next day and night to get to Ayvalik. 

The 21 hour sail was fairly uneventful.  We sailed some (with the help of the motor), had favorable wind, no wind, wind on the nose, the usual formula for being on the Mediterranean.  When we were passing Izmir we did get the opportunity to see 5 military war ships a few miles in front of us which is always exciting to see on the open water.  We also saw a pod of dolphins and were debating whether they were Turkish or Greek dolphins since we were sailing between mainland Turkey and the Greek Islands that border it.  There was a little ship traffic at night, and a ferry almost ran us over from behind when Dad was on watch, but it corrected just enough to give us a nice sized wake and continue on its way.  I was on watch at around 4:00am when the temperature began to drastically drop.  It got cold.  I refrained from putting more clothes on, thinking the sun would come up soon, but when the sun did come up it was shielded by a nice bank of clouds that kept it from spreading any warmth on the boaters below.

When we arrived in the Ayvalik “lake” we had a few options.  We could’ve gone into a marina or just anchored out in the one of the bays.  We considered our options and since we had spent the first 2 hours of daylight going in circles, waiting for it to get bright enough to see outside, we were beat and voted on simply anchoring out and sleeping it off.  There was no use in going through the stress of getting to a marina and then paying to be tied up in order to sleep.  We were the only ones anchored and slept like logs.  By the time we woke up, showered, and checked our e-mails it was time for dinner. 

We moved to the marina the next morning and decided to stop and get fuel before we went into a slip.  Dad filled the tanks up and went to start the engine, and only got the click of the key turning.  The engine would not start, at all.  The “dock hand” helped us move the boat up the fuel dock and we went to the office to pay for a night and inquire about what it would cost to stay longer, have parts shipped in, and where the bus was to get to Pergamum.  By the time we walked back to the boat, Dad was able to start the engine with some coaxing and we moved into a slip which seemed to be a lot more work than it should have been.  We decided to take advantage of good weather and go see the ruins at Pergamum that day and deal with the engine and other responsibilities the next morning. 

(see next post for photos from our trip to Bergama to see Pergamum)

Dad got up early the next day and took the starter apart in search of anything that would be broken or clearly wrong.  Of course nothing stood out, but it was filthy so Dad did a minor clean (you never want to clean all of the grease out, who knows what it’s holding together) and I helped him put it back together.  We showered and filled the boat up with water before going to Migros and stocking up on necessary supplies like chicken, beef, and potato chips. 

The engine started up without any hesitation and it started to rain.  Sporting our heavy weather gear, we left the marina at around noon, not wanting to pay for another day, and went back to the anchorage we had stayed at before to spend the remainder of the day and night.  As Dad was navigating through the “lake” he commented on how it was just like going through Harris Lake (a lake in Wisconsin our family has cottages on) but in the big boat.  When the weather calmed down that night I saw exactly what he meant and was waiting for a loon to pop his head up and say “Hello”.

Now I know it sounds like we don’t like to spend money to stay in marinas, but this one really wasn’t worth the 51 they were charging per night.  The bathrooms were clean enough, but the locks on the stall doors didn’t quite line up so it was tricky maintaining privacy.  Everything else at the marina was being torn up and I’m hoping remodeled?  We couldn’t quite figure out why everything was in pieces or in piles, but I think we were a little early for the season this far north.  There were no other cruisers at the marina, which was eerie, and most of the boats were local Turkish boats that advertise being registered in Delaware, yes the US state (it has something to do with taxes).  I’m hoping this was just a marina in transition from winter to spring and they were gearing up for the season, but not holding my breath at this point.

History Lesson: One Wrecked Freight Car

I received this e-mail after I posted the blog about the engine issues and wanted to share it as a brief glimpse into the beginning of the boat:

Katie,

May be I told you this story, but reading about the broken pipe, made me think about the first time I heard about engine.  I had left the railway and one day I was having lunch with your dad, and he told me that he had decided to build a boat in his back yard.   He had read a book and it said that a third of the cost of the boat is in the engine, a third was in the hull and a third was in the rigging.  A few days after he read the book the IC had derailment and your dad found out that one of the badly damaged cars was a refrigerator car with a Detroit Diesel engine, ideal for a boat.  He asked the person on the railway in charge of disposal of damaged property if he could buy the engine, and was told he could have it for $50!  So please tell you dad he should not complain about the engine it only cost him $50!   I will tell you the next part of the story; A few days later he was having lunch with a person who was trying to sell the railways something ( I do not remember what) but your dad mentioned he was building a boat and the person said what are you building it out of, and the person said his company would sell him a truck load of off cuts of steel sufficient to build the boat for $250, so at this point your dad told me so far he had invested $300 plus the cost of the book and plans in the boat.  It took him a few weekends and occasional help from friends to put it all together (so he should not complain about his friend’s work that only lasted 30 years!!)   Ask him he has any complaints about the free stainless steel studs I got him?

Thanks for writing your blog, I really enjoy reading it, maybe there is a touch of jealousy on my part.

Cheers, David

Coolest Library EVER

The trip to Kusadasi couldn’t have been more different than the trip to Altinkum.  The water was dead calm, the wind wasn’t mighty but was working in our favor and, with the assistance of the engine, get up to 6 knots for a majority of the trip.

Kusadasi marina is alright.  It’s older and there are a lot of live aboards here which gives it more of a lived in feeling.  Very different from the Didim Marina I had just come from.  We got the map to the bus station that would get us to Ephesus and stuck with a basic meal of pasta and Turkish meatballs for dinner.

The walk to the bus stop was a bit longer than we thought it would be.  I’d say 2.5 – 3 miles.  But it was a great opportunity to see town and get a feel of what is around here.  We stopped to buy breakfast, bread, from a man selling it out of a cart and another guy in the line spoke some English.  He helped translate to the bread man what my broken Turkish wasn’t quite getting across and when I told him I was from Orlando he said “Oh! The Orlando Magic” and made like he was shooting a hoop.  It caught me off guard at first because generally the mouse is the Orlando spokesperson, but then Bryan reminded me later that Turkoglu is an Orlando Magic player who is from Turkey so it made a little more sense.

The bus filled up and for 5TL per person we got a ride to the turn off for Ephesus.  Another half mile walk to the entrance and we had made it!  Then it started to rain… not hard but enough that we were happy we brought our light rain coats.  We took 236 photos (with it raining a majority of the time) and narrowed it down to 50 of my favorites.  That’s still too many to post on the blog so this is a break down even more of the most diverse of the photos.  They may not be the BEST but it gives a well rounded account of our trip to Ephesus. 

In the outer part of the city was the necropolis.  The plaque here explained that the different decorations on the sarcophagi represented a different social status.  Dad picked the most ornate one for himself, el captain. 

This is the great theater.  It could seat up to 24,000 people and was clearly the biggest theater we have ever seen and of the ancient world.  It was built against Mt. Pion and finished in the 2^nd century AD.  The road in front of it is the Arcadian Way which used to lead to the harbor, which is now silted in, and was lined with shops and covered archways.

I’m standing where St. Paul is believed to have given certain speeches about how the models of Diana being produced by the silversmiths weren’t divine.  There were a lot of tour groups because a cruise ship had docked that day, but it was nothing compared to how the summer must be.

This is a sign posted on the thin gate that surrounds a floor under the stage at the theater.  There are three stories of seats and then a lower level where performers would prepare.  I just liked that instead of creating an actual warning sign they have a crazy person falling into the void.

This is Marble Street, because it’s made of marble.  The blue sign to the right is an indication for those of us who decided to purchase the 10TL headphone guide and that is how this street is described by the audio guide.  This is Marble Street because it’s made of marble.  Good to know.  I later found out that it was a main road used by chariots and the platform to the right and left were for pedestrians. 

The Marble Street leads to the ultimate find in any rock pile, the Library of Celsus.  The building was constructed as a monumental tomb in 117 AD by Consul Gaius Julius Aquila in the name of his father Celsus Polamaeanus, the Genral Governer of Asia.  I also thought the plants and flowers to the left looked a lot like a Bob Ross painting.

The front façade of the building was restored between 1970 and 1980 and contains copies of 4 female statues displaying the characteristics of wisdom, virtue, intelligence, and knowledge.  It was really impressive.

The building used to contain parchment scrolls that were tucked inside interior niches.  The craftsmanship was very impressive.

Dad really liked this relief which was located outside of the library.  It’s almost too clean to be original, but it may be. 

This is the southern entrance to the Tetradonos Agora.  Lysimakhos, the founder of Ephesus, constructed the commercial agora and referred to it as Tetradonos Agora in the 3^rd century BC. 

There were niches in the gate to the agora for statues of heroes and the people who had served the city.  I think Dad would’ve served the city had he been alive then.

Every entrance has a gate, except for the eastern entrance because it was connected to the port.  This was a commercial agora so the walls were lined with shops.  There was an excavation or restoration effort going on so we couldn’t get any closer, but can see the trolley used to take stones in or out; and of course, the wild flowers.

The actual museum is located in the town outside of Ephesus and we weren’t sure how to get there.  There was a place called the Visually Impaired Gallery inside of the agora though and it had replicas of the statues found on the site.  This is the statue of Artemis with several rows of breasts or a belt of eggs, both symbolizing fertility.

Dad was pretending to be one of the statues that lined the Curetes Street which was named for the college of priests that were once located here.  I thought it was funny that as he was doing this a woman behind him was pointing at something else but it looks like she’s referring to Dad.  I was joking that the inscription under his bust would read “village idiot” and he laughed.

This was the best view of everything.  It was from the top of Curetes Street which led down to the library and intersected with Marble Street.  Now don’t get confused but Curetes Street was also made of marble.

 

We haven’t had a whole lot of luck with cats on this trip, they tend to board the Pipedream and spray, but Dad really liked the coloring on this guy.  He even asked if he wanted to go sailing, but the cat ran away when Dad tried to pet it. 

The terrace houses are located inside of this structure.  It was an additional 15TL to see them so we passed, having seen houses before and admired the structure built up around them.  This is where the wealthy of the city resided and each home has mosaic floors and frescoed walls.  There was also a central heating system and fountains.

The town is behind us, but I liked the photo anyway.  Ephesus was first established in 6000 BC.  During its golden age during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, Ephesus had a population of 200,000 people as the capital city of the state of Asia and as the largest city of port. 

This is the public latrine.  No privacy, but there was a pool in the center of the building to wash off and keep things clean.  It was interesting because you could look down under the “toilet” and it was just a big hole that I’m sure ran one way or another.

This is a different view of the latrine.  I didn’t quite feel comfortable sitting on it even though it’s been thousands of years; plus it was wet from the rain.

These clay pipes ran under the major roads and served as a plumbing system.  Shit falls downhill… quite literally in this case.  There were two rings that Dad figured were set so the outer layer could be replaced if it was worn down.

This is the Temple of Domitian.  It was a vast sanctuary with a colossal statue of the emperor for whom it was named.  We found a place to sit and get out of the rain for awhile and this was our view.

This is the Prytaneion or town hall.  The audio guide didn’t provide much here either when they stated “We don’t know much about the Prytaneion but because it was a square we think it was the town hall”.  I thought it looked pretty with the poppies right after a good rain.

This is the Nymphaion Traini.  It’s a fountain that was dedicated to the Emperor Trajan.  The center used to house a statue of Trajan standing on a Globe where the water would pour out into the main pool.  There was a second smaller pool in the front where water would pour.  It looked like it was a pretty cool fountain.

On the way out we saw this sign.  After a day of beautiful site seeing… we can purchase a “genuine fake watch”.  Perfect.

We walked back to the main road to catch the bus and passed the stadium which isn’t accessible to the public from the main site.  There was a plaque that stated it was 712ft long and could seat 70,000 spectators.  Only the front two entrance ways had really been excavated.  I get the feeling if I ever go back or if my children visit Ephesus that will be the next big excavation project.

It was well past lunch time when we returned to Kusadasi and there had been Chinese food advertised across from the marina.  We walked the 2.5 miles back and found out it was a “mixed” restaurant where you could get over priced Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Turkish etc.  We decided on leftover pasta and called it a day.

We stayed an extra day in Kusadasi to catch up on things like my blog, sleep, and to do little projects around the boat.  It ended up raining the entire day so the choice to stay at the marina was a good one.  

I once saw a temple thiiiiiiiissss BIG!

Didyma or Didim in Turkish is known for its Temple of Apollo.  For 1.50TL per person we could get the minibus from the marina straight to the temple and it ran every 20 minutes so getting a ride back was a piece of cake.

This is the Temple of Apollo.  The site itself is small and is surrounded by houses, restaurants, and hotels but the temple is very impressive.

It figures that the first thing that happens when we get there is Dad gets bit by an ancient lion.  I’ve told him time and time again not to pet the natives, but he just doesn’t listen.

The temple is the biggest in Turkey and rivals the Parthenon in size measuring 623 ft by 167 ft.  There are 124 well preserved columns, some still supporting their architraves like the one pictured.

The columns in the front had ornate decoration along the base.  I was really impressed with how detailed the décor was and how well intact it still was.

Mow and I were pretending to be one of the 124 columns. 

This is the oracle courtyard.  There was a pool and fountain that was built over a spring for the oracle’s use.  The temple’s oracle is said to rival Delphi.  The courtyard was built with a series of tunnels where the priests would seek advice and the oracle’s voice would echo off of the walls creating a deep ghostly effect.

Gryffindor!  These were thought to be along the top of the walls of the oracle’s courtyard.  The walls shown were only 1/3 of the height it was believed to be.  We find it hard to believe that after falling such detailed portions still remain and didn’t crack upon impact.

Have you hugged a column today?  I wanted to try and show just how wide these columns were.  Most of the ones we’ve seen you could literally hug, there were massive.

This is another example of the size of the column pieces. 

This looks like the place where super big columns come to die.  I always think it’s fascinating to see where one has fallen and see how it was put together.  The supports were recently made to keep the pieces of moving.  The house in the background is one of many that surround the ruin.

I like this photo of Dad and me.  Those are the only columns that are still standing in their entirety behind us. 

There were a bunch of statue bases with the foot outlines scattered around.  This is a statue of the crazy guy in need of a nap.  There were all sorts of inscriptions on the bases in Greek apparently stating the name and athletic ability of the person depicted.  Of course none of the actual statues are still here… I’m guessing the museum in Istanbul or England.

The three stages of the columns.  The temple started around 300 BC and was under construction for 5 centuries but was never completed.  Around AD 385 the oracle’s popularity dwindled when Christianity rose.