Far Left: View from hotel in Istanbul
Top: Farmer’ s Market Right: Spice Bazaar
Turkey
The Tates visited four of the most well-known landmarks in Turkey: the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome( now called Sultan Ahmet Square), and Topkapi Palace.
“ In Istanbul, we saw the Pera Palace Hotel where Agatha Christie stayed while she wrote The Orient Express,” Jennifer said.“ There is a series of three walls around Istanbul, and the people do organic farming between the walls.”
“ Ephesus was fascinating. While we were there, we met an archaeologist who was excavating a site. There are mysteries yet to be uncovered in that ancient sea port.”
From there, the Tates went to Morgan Hill’ s sister city, Seferihisar. Mayor Soyer is taking steps to make it Turkey’ s first“ slow city” in the global“ cittaslow” movement. It’ s an effort to embrace a simpler, slower lifestyle that honors local culture and traditions while preserving quality of life rather than succumbing to the high-speed, homogenized character of global urbanization.
Recently, Mayor Soyer opened a fresh market in a former castle at the city’ s center so that local merchants can sell local produce and hand-crafted items. Soyer’ s wife Neptune is working with local women to bring back Turkish traditional cooking recipes.“ Spending time there and getting to know the local people on a personal level was my favorite part of the trip,” Jennifer said.
The Soyers and Seferihisar’ s governor took the Tates to a popular restaurant where they enjoyed a hearty dinner of fresh fish and curried vegetables, sesame seed bread, eggplant and humus, and fresh fruit desserts as well as Turkish pizza topped with minced lamb, cheese and tomatoes.
“ In a word, delicious. Every dish was delicious. I also brought home some aromatic spices from the spice bazaar that I’ m eager to try in my kitchen.”
Jennifer and Mayor Tate enjoyed time on the riverboat too. Music and dancing was a regular feature of the evening entertainment while cruising along the Danube.“ We learned a local folk dance done while holding hands in a circle. It’ s similar to the hora, which is a favorite in Romanian and Israeli folk traditions. What can I say? It was delightful.”
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 gmhtoday. com