Loose Ends

2014

In November,  I attended a talk on Ancient Halicarnassus given by Prof. Pedersen, this content has now been published in full on  H3A talks on Halicarnassus and Local Herbal Remedies and if you scroll down you can also read the full text of my talk on local herbal remedies.
In October I wrote about Melon seed sherbet, I later had a go at making it myself without any added sugar and I can recommend it as an alternative to milk. It tastes great on morning muesli.
In September, I introduced you to Bitter Gourd as a "universal cure".  Ten days ago, at a Christmas dinner, a gentleman I didn't know came up to shake my hand. He had followed the instructions to take the gourd in olive oil  and his sugar levels had dropped 10 points. He really made my evening.
The Spiralo I bought in the summer has been getting plenty of use, our consumption of wheat based pasta has dropped to almost zero and my husband is proud of his new flat stomach. (Mine is not flat, but better than it was this time last year).
We are hopeful that 2015 will not see any captive dolphins  performing in Bodrum. The premises will not be issued a licence to use live animals, it is to be seen how this is enforced.
Mumcular Market is settled in its new purpose built site, it doesn't have the character of the old street market, but the stall holders are happy (and dry in the winter).
I started the year with an ominous post about village life being under threat.  We are all now under one municipality. Nothing has changed in the village yet, except that we get our rubbish collected. There is a five year introduction period so we have no council tax to pay and the cost of our water has gone down and no one has been asked to move their chickens or cows from their gardens.

As the third year of BacktoBodrum comes to an end, I would like to thank everyone who reads my posts, especially those of you who take the time to comment.  I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Rainy Day Red

It's pouring with rain, too wet and blustery to take more than the briefest walk, so I'm in front of the desktop playing around with my latest photos.  I've only been to two photography workshops so far, but Jak's lectures have given me and my snaps a new perspective.  Writing group in 2014 has also helped to concentrate the mind and make me more observant; an exercise in choosing a colour to notice before setting out on a walk is a great way to focus the senses.  Blue is universally recognised as Bodrum's colour, but we're not short of reds either. 

Red dye called kermes was made in the Neolithic period from the dried crushed bodies of the female Kermes Vermilio, an insect living on the sap of certain trees, but especially the Kermes Oak in the Mediterranean.  The Turkish word for "red" is "kırmızı".  It doesn't take much of an etymological jump to see where this comes from.

Legend has it that the Turkish flag represents an image of a star and new moon in white reflected in the red of battlefield blood, signifying strength after war.

Remember at traffic lights: "red means stop" is a theory that is not reliably always put into practice.

Boxing Day in Bodrum

Boxing Day in Bodrum is celebrated with a party for foreign residents given by the Mayor. A tradition started 18 years ago by Tuğrul Acar, Mayor of Bodrum from 1994 to 1999.  That first party in the Marina, if my memory serves me correctly was attended by about 50. Yesterday, Trafo hosted around 300 and provided a non-stop barbecue of spicy sausage and chicken, plus a seemingly inexhaustible supply of drinks. Entertainment was provided by Bodrum Children's Pop Chorus,  and the speeches given by Mayor Mehmet Kocadon and Muğla's CHP MP Prof. Dr. Nurettin Demir were short and sweet and led up to cutting the ubiquitous celebratory cake.

The forecast rain even kept off until everyone was ready to make their way home 

  Bodrum has always marched to a different drum beat and long may this tradition last. 

Virtual exercise. A walk in the Bodrum Hills.

I read somewhere this year that thinking about exercise was healthy, so as you prepare to stuff yourselves over the next 24 hours, I shall take you on a virtual hike into the hills above Bodrum to help you burn off all those extra calories.

We are starting on the main dual carriageway that used to run behind Bodrum, and now finds itself in places almost centrally dissecting the town.  Crossing this road is fun as the traffic lights get you to follow the green man as far as the central reservation and then abandon you to make your own way after that. We are taking the road leading up to the State Hospital,  a trip I hope none of us ever makes accompanied by flashing blue lights. At the top we turn left and walk through the hospital car park and continue the climb upwards. The view from here isn't too impressive as the eye focusses on all the  satellite dishes, water tanks and criss-crossing telephone and electricity wires that blight every Turkish town.   We keep on the path until faced with a padlocked gate, following the fence to the left there is an open gate, and after a scramble over some rubble we turn and are rewarded with the classic view of Bodrum castle.  This path is on the Carian Trail so every few 100 meters, we pass the red and white marks on rocks and trees.  We aren't the only ones enjoying the view, we pass a jolly chap in a bright red jumper, who has brought along a bottle of beer and is merrily telephoning his friends and telling them where he is enjoying his drink.  At the top of this hill we come to a fork, take the left and then almost immediate a right for some serious climbing up a 45 degree fire-break.  Hard on the knees but worth the effort for the panoramic view of Bodrum, Gümbet, Konacık and Kos.  If we had another few hours to spare we could carry on to Pedasa, but we are content to sit and drink coffee, watching Bodrum from its most photogenic angle.  It's taken 75 minutes to get up here, and the walk back will be another hour as steep slopes are almost as difficult to get down as up.  If it ever snows properly, we'll be up here with our skis.  

Our coffee break was taken somewhere on the top of the hill on the right. 

Wishing you all festive cheer this week, regardless of the pretext you are using to eat, drink and be merry. 

Kissebükü - A Memory

Thirty-two years ago I sailed into Kissebükü, although I can't recall the event exactly, the feeling is still with me.  The air was stiller than normal but charged with a indescribable energy. We slowly motored around looking for a place to drop the anchor. We were the only yacht in the bay, but we could have been the only folk in the world, reality seemed to be suspended.  As the chain rushed noisily into the sea, it felt as if we were violating a sacred atmosphere. Those of you who have never experienced this will think I've been to one too many creative writing classes and am getting a bit carried away, but I know that fellow sailors will be nodding and recreating the event and the scent of pine and the crystal clear turquoise water will be just as vivid in their minds as mine.  Once moored the peace returned, the only sound the crackle of pebbles gently sweeping up and down the beach.  A walk on shore was a revelation, tumble down buildings with apse shaped additions and strange beehive  constructions that could have been churches or tombs, "Kisse" probably is a derivation of "kilise"or "church".  I didn't realise then, but there are also Lelegian walls up in the mountains behind. This place, once discovered, epitomises why I and many more returned to or stayed in this corner of Turkey.

The good news is that a new generation of sailors is still enjoying Kissebükü. It hasn't changed.  I no longer sail but occasionally make the long drive over the rough mountain roads to enjoy the peace. Others get there by walking along the Carian Trail between Ciftlik and Mazı. 

The bad news is that the bay is under threat. Despite fighting off developers in 2005 and being granted protected status, permission has been given to build a 1000 bed hotel.  Bodrumites are up in arms.  A meeting held yesterday overflowed the building. The pouring of concrete on Kissebükü is a desecration no one in their right mind can accept.

I have added a link to a Change.org petition below.  Scroll down for the English which gives all the information you need to make your own decision.  Please sign and help protect Kissebükü. 

Would this view be improved by the addition of a 1000 bed hotel? 

https://www.change.org/p/mavi-yol-girişimi-kissebükü-adaliyali-destek-ol-sesi-ol-imza-ver-support-it-be-the-voice-give-your-signature

Deck the halls with bows and pom-poms.

Facebook is full of pictures of well decorated Christmas trees. We don't have a tree because all our decorations are in our village house storeroom. I can't get to them as our car is in the repair shop. (I hope whoever it was who smashed the back bumper and drove off is being kept awake at night by pangs of guilt).  As a token decoration I have combined my burgeoning skills in crochet, which I rediscovered last Friday after a gap of 25 years, and pop-pom making (probably about 45 years since I practised this craft) and made myself an indoor wreath, so the house is not a completely Xmas-free zone.
Bodrum is also gearing itself up for Christmas. I stocked up with crackers at the first Christmas market and on Friday we attended the annual Christmas Carols.  There are plenty more markets, dinners and carols to come, but the last Friday's event is the most important one for long-term immigrants as it has been going for enough years to be a tradition. Many of us can still remember the first one and the hours of rehearsals we put in practicing carols.

Geoff, Lon and the Band - Friday 12th Dec 2014

Lon, Geoff and carol singers (my daughter in blue) Dec 1998

My daughter and Geoff 2014

I move to reintroduce the rehearsals for next year's concert as the audience were all struggling to be heard, despite having our vocal cords lubricated with mulled wine, or maybe it's just the years catching up with us.

Bookish Bodrum

I haven't had much time to write this week as I've been busy reading.  In what seemed like a good plan at the time, I thought it would be a nice idea to have a joint meeting between the two English speaking reading groups on the peninsula  and rather than read one book, choose a selection of extracts about Bodrum.   So I've been grazing my book shelves and raking through the internet picking out snippets that ranged from the first millennium BC to 2011 AD and bombarding the inboxes of fellow readers on an almost daily basis.  It turned out to be a good plan despite the amount of time it ate up. Memoirs always make interesting reading but when the authors are walking the same paths we tread today, the words are all the more vibrant and exciting.  So many things change that we forget that others stay the same. The overwhelming  impression that flows through the chapters set from the 1960s to the present day is the sense of welcome a stranger feels when settling in Bodrum.  This hasn't changed, a fact attested to by one of our members who has recently moved here.

As well as good readers, we are all pretty good cooks too, the plate above is just a starter, we had chicken and tomato curry and pilav plus chocolate truffle tart, quince dessert and pear frangipane pie to finish. Everyone left with a sense that we should repeat the performance sooner rather than later. I hadn't  anticipated quite how much has been written about Bodrum and with a few more weeks of intensive reading, I'm sure we can find another angle to discuss which will be a welcome excuse to meet up again. 

Paradise hasn't been paved, it's been landscaped.

Indoor swimming pool at Mandarin Oriental

Friday saw me digging out a dress and trying to remember how to put on tights for the annual Ladies' Lunch. A great time was had by all 37 attendees and as usual, the mix of new and old faces made for great conversation. "I can't believe you've lived here all this time and we've never bumped into each other" or "So you are the "insert name" who "insert another name" met in "insert place".... you get the idea.  Numbers were down on past years due to the December rather than November date and the controversial choice of venue - The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Göltürkbükü.

Simple but well-executed lunch - sea bass and spinach

You'll find this hotel in Cennet Koyu - Paradise Bay, a beautiful inlet on the Bodrum peninsula, favourite mooring spot for day-tour boats and a local picnic area, a bay which we had all assumed to be protected as a designated area of natural beauty. Many friends witnessing the destruction/construction underway vowed never to return.  The international price of a simple lunch put off several others.   Nosy by nature, I was keen to have a look around. My monthly budget wouldn't even cover one night at list price so this would be the only time I would be crossing their threshold.  

I left the hotel with the impression that very well-off folk must get fed up with seeing bamboo sticks in vases, rolled towels, flowers heads without their stalks and their own reflection in the floor.  The staff were very friendly and attentive but the building sterile and characterless, the only clues to the country we were in were the books about Turkey on a wall and newspapers on a table. It is a shame that luxury these days is defined by a lack of warm ambience and a denial or manipulation of everything natural.

Hamam with a view

Cennet (Paradise) Bay

Regimented landscaping

 To mis-quote Joni Mitchell "They turfed Paradise and put in
some garden pots"

Lunching with Ladies 2013
Ladies's lunch 2012

Two Worlds

Although we only move 30 kms between our summer home and the winter one, it feels like we are stepping from one world to another.  The village is focused on rural activities, Bodrum is a port. In the village, I can collect veg on the daily dog walk, in town I pass the quayside fish stalls.  Only 3 "yabanci" i.e. anyone from outside the county, have settled in the village in the past 30 years where as Bodrum is a mish-mash of locals, Turks from the cities or Anatolia and foreigners from every corner of the world. Only Turkish is spoken in the village, but not the received pronunciation you'll pick up from a language class. The local dialect can best be explained by imagining an extra "ptrrr" in the middle of every verb and changing all the ks to gs. Bodrumites used to speak like this, but it's rarely heard today. The local accent is a bit addictive and I sometimes find myself adding a few extra consonants when talking to my village neighbours. They humour me, but I probably sound as if I am doing an impression of an angry horse.  I don't recommend it but one can live a full life in Bodrum without speaking a word of Turkish.  This month I'll attend a photography workshop,  a writing group, a book club and a lecture all conducted in English.
It's sometime easy to forget on which continent we live. Last week-end, a market selling scotch eggs, cup cakes, egg tarts, crumpets, walnut loaf and Christmas cards could have been in any village hall in Europe.  This time next week we will be gearing up for the carol concert.  After a busy summer in and out of the village, it's great to be back in cosmopolitan Bodrum.

A Tomb with a View.

Another funerary related post. In 1985, we moved from Bitez and bought a small house in the Kumbahçe district of Bodrum. We would have had a sea view, but for a large hillock in front of us, but the lack of a view made it the only house in Bodrum in our price range.  During the 80s, more and more houses were built and Kumbahçe became a desired address, but the bare mound remained. It was owned by Şalvarağa,  an unkempt  barrel of man who had a sea-facing shack, surrounded by mounds of fire wood, on his hill. If you met him in the street, you'd assume that he was on his uppers, but his shack sat on a goldmine in real estate terms.  It was understood that Şalvarağa was constantly offered great riches for his hill, but he refused to sell.
We moved away and I assume Şalvarağa died, because when we returned to Turkey in 2012 his land was being developed.  Last year, as a road was being excavated to access the incipient million-Euro -plus villas, the diggers unearthed a tomb, just under where  Şalvarağa had had his shack.  Work was stopped as archaeologists were called in to investigate.  A  gold leaf was found, enough to  date the tomb to the Roman Era, and suggest that its occupant was an important military man, as golden laurel leaf crowns were  a symbol of martial victory in Roman times.  Work on the construction was stopped for a while and I like to think that both the occupant of the tomb and Şalvarağa were looking down and having a joke at the expense of the construction company that was desecrating  their hill.

"Resting on one's laurels" - to rely on past success for continued respect. 

Winter has arrived.

The flamingos are back.

 The beekeepers are busy 

and families are out in the fields in the middle of the day. 

All signs that winter is on the way and our cue to move back to town. 

But just before I shift the emphasis of this blog back to Bodrum town; a photo taken in the local village graveyard. 

An interestingly shaped stone used as a headstone,  different from the other graves but  not so you'd notice in passing. 

Looked at from the correct angle though, an Aeolic style capital from a Lelegian or Carian site, from the 6th or maybe even 7th century BC.  There is no inscription on the grave, so I have no idea when it was put here or where it originally came from but it's another teasing reminder of how much there is to discover. 

Bodrum Offer - Buy Tomb, Get One Free.

Helen Devries14 November 2014 04:09

Knowing you are walking in the steps of those so long ago must make even a trip to the shops quite a thrill.

ReplyDelete

This comment on Thursday's post jogged my memory and sent me on a trip to the supermarket, camera in hand.  I'm sure Helen could not have guessed how applicable her words are to shopping in Bodrum. 

This  rock cut tomb was discovered about 20 years ago, just North of the Mindos gate, on the site of Gima supermarket and after excavation, incorporated into the building.  The  store is now called CarrefourSA  and as I don't shop here I'd forgotten the tomb even existed.  

Unfortunately the tomb's six sarcophagi were robbed in antiquity but sufficient bones and pottery fragments were found to date it to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
If you visit, walk around the back and you'll see another tomb in the car park.  It's a shame there are no signs as I'm sure thousands of people drive by having no idea what they are missing. 

Continuity - 3,400 Years.

Lots of people complain that Bodrum has changed too much in the last 30 years;  it has gone from a small fishing village to a busy international holiday resort, but if we take a very long view, Bodrum is actually just finding its way back to the glories of its past.  There is evidence of Mycenaean life in Bodrum which takes us to at least 1400BC and it appears that the site was continuously occupied for the next 3,400 years.  We know that it was an important city in the 5th century BC when it was home to Artemisia 1 and historian Herodotus, but it really took off in the 4th century BC when Satrap Mausolos made it his capital city.  In this century monuments were constructed that were so massive that they could be seen from the island of Kos; Bodrum and bling have obviously had a very long association.  

Halicarnassos  - University of Southern Denmark 

As I walk the dog through the streets of Bodrum, I do so with an awareness of the layers of history under my feet. It is one of the reasons I love living here.  Yesterday, in the Karia Princess Hotel, Prof. Poul Pedersen showed a fascinating slide of present day Bodrum Streets (left)  and the hypothetical street plan in the 4th century BC (right), showing that today's street plan follows Mausolos' city design.   It's exciting to think that we are still treading in the footsteps of those who lived over two millennia  ago.  My own address is telling.  I live on Mars Mabedi Caddesi - Temple of Mars Street.  I didn't choose the house because of the address, but as a lapsed archaeologist, I never tire of writing it down. 

University of Southern Denmark

Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology - 50th Anniversary

Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, housed in the Castle of St. Peter, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a seminar in the English tower on Wednesday.  A packed audience listened to  Prof. Dr. Fahri Işık talk about the newly discovered sarcophagus of Hekatomnos; Doç Dr. Cemal Pulak on the Kaş-Uluburun 14th century BC shipwreck and Prof. Dr. Poul Pedersen on the Danish Halikarnassos project.  I've been following the excavations of Hekatomnos' mausoleum in Milas with great interest and have been frustrated at the lack of information available so I was really keen to hear Dr. Işık talk. And he did entertainingly and in great detail but unfortunately I can't tell you anything about it as he made us all promise to keep it under our hats until he publishes his report.

The names of the above speakers will pass merrily over most people's heads but those of you interested in archaeology will understand how lucky we are living in Bodrum to listen to not just one of them, but all three on one afternoon, although my rear end was protesting a bit after 3 hours on a narrow bench.  As usual with these events, time ran on and as the 4:30 slot for the final concert approached and whizzed past, the second talk was only half way through.  In consequence, Prof. Pedersen's talk was occasionally overlaid with voluble protests from the concert goers and by appalling slow hand-clapping from outside.  However, I'm sure he will have a much more appreciative audience when he gives another lecture organised by H3A on Wednesday 12th November at 2pm at the Karia Princess Hotel.  If you are anywhere near Bodrum I would urge you to put this date in your diary. 

Cobblers

Oben Kundura

I'm not swearing at you, although I think using "cobblers" as a pejorative term has probably passed into history, I'm celebrating that I still can wander down the road in Bodrum (Türk Kuyusu Caddesi in this case) and get my shoes and boots repaired.  I hate buying new shoes and get ridiculously attached to my old ones so I am never happier than when I hand my battered 10 year old lace-ups over to this man and 3 hours later, he hands me back a re-soled, re-laced version all for less than ten quid.  The shoes he has in front of him are ones I bought in Sweden last year. They never really felt comfortable, which just proves that buying new shoes is a bad idea, but with a bit of stretching and the heel built up inside I can now wear them without investing in a box of plasters first.  There are still several cobblers in Bodrum and long may they last.  When I was living in the UK it was almost impossible to get shoes repaired and just having a new heel and sole cover put on cost more than the shoes new.  It's the time of year when sandals have to be abandoned and socks come out of the drawer, so I'm sorting through the cupboard looking likely candidates for a make over.  In this house, re-booting has a completely different meaning. 

British Consulate Meeting in Bodrum - Wednesday 30th October

Brits in Bodrum got together again on Wednesday for the biannual Consulate Information meeting. Proceedings were opened by our Honorary British Consul in Bodrum, Neşe Coşkunsu who handed over to Timothy Fisher, Consul and Director of Consular Services in Turkey, who gave us an update on travel advice issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  There has been no change in the Mediterranean and Aegean areas, but there is a warning against all but essential travel to the Turkish provinces bordering Syria. This is a significant change as previously the warning was just to avoid the border, now the whole provinces are included.   To keep up to date, I suggest you visit the Gov.UK/Turkey page and sign up to their email service so that you can be sent the latest news.  If you are a Facebook user you can also keep in touch on the UK in Turkey Facebook page.

Consular Network Co-ordinator, Joanne Pietsch, gave us the latest passport news:
From 1st January 2015, the Turkish Government will require passports to be valid for 60 days after the end of a residents or visitors visa.  As the new on-line travel visa lasts for 6 months, this means that your passport needs have 8 months validity from your first day of travel.  I foresee this catching out many a visitor.   If you are in Turkey and worried about renewing your passport, this summer's big delay seems to be easing but the Passport Office is still suggesting you allow 6 weeks for the return of your passport.   If your passport ran out less than 6 months ago, or has less than 7 months to run, you have until the end of December this year to take advantage of the passport extension scheme, but this does involve making an appointment and travel to either Istanbul or Ankara.

Joanne then moved on to the Residency permit question:  On this she was extremely honest and said that there was little if anything to report since the last meeting.  Those of us living in Turkey know that communication between government departments is a pipe dream, and this lack of dialogue must be incredibly frustrating for those working in foreign consulates.  A new head has been appointed to the fledgling Turkish government department looking after foreigners in Turkey and Joanne has an appointment to hopefully get answers to a long list of questions, namely: When will the much heralded Migration Offices open and where will they be?;  How will Article 33 work - if someone on a 1 year residency permit stays out of Turkey for more that 120 days, will the permit be cancelled and will they be allowed to reapply?  What are the criteria for applying for a permanent residency permit?  On this latter note, one long-term residency has been issued in Izmir with an expiry days of 2099.  The issuing  office reported that they would only discuss the application with each applying individual so we are none the wiser, except that the recipient is married to a Turkish National.  Keep your eyes on the above websites for news as it comes in.

Finally Tim told us about some changes to the Bodrum office.  From the beginning of 2015, the Bodrum office will be closed, but all services will continue.  Telephone numbers are expected to stay the same and Aslı Erbektaş will continue her roll looking after the British community and visitors on a mobile basis.  Sadly, Pro Consul Deniz Korkmaz will be leaving the consulate after 18 years of sterling service. I felt as if we should have all broken into a  British "For she's a jolly good fellow" instead of the round of applause we gave her.

Halloween inspiration.

If you are sitting in front of a pumpkin, knife in hand, wondering whether it's easier to cut round eyes or square eyes, here are a few examples of pumpkin sculpture from Bodrum that might encourage you to raise your game.

http://backtobodrum.blogspot.com.tr/2013/04/bodrum-for-foodies.html