Exploring the south (Çıralı)

We love living in Istanbul, but still try to get away from the city as often as possible.  In late October we headed south to the Mediterranean shores.  We were looking for tranquility and ancient ruins. We found both.  We stayed in a little family-run pension by the beach in Çıralı, and we could easily have spent all four days just walking up and down the almost deserted and beautiful beach.  At one end of the beach we got to explore the ancient city of Olympos, at the other end we hiked up into the eternal flames of Çimera, and in the middle we swam, collected rocks, played games, and found refuge from the rain.

I took so many pictures that I have chosen to split this adventure into several posts, so I don't bore you to death with all my details.  For starters, I want to show you....

...THE BEACH

Lying on the stones felt like a good massage, walking on them in bare feet was torturous.

Tahtali Dag - 0ne of several mountains in the ancient Greek region claiming Mount Olympos.  This one is a sturdy 2365m (7760ft) with a stunning view.

BEYOND THE BEACH

WHERE TO GO WHEN IT IS RAINING

We made our way to restaurant row for a drink and food.  We played some cards and M entertained and earned his keep by tending the fire pit for extended periods.

AFTER THE RAIN

When the weather broke on a second day we were able to enjoy a tree shrouded dinner with a waterfall rushing beneath us.  Fresh fish and a beautiful setting!

An Austrian Excursion

One of the great bonuses of living away from home, is that we meet a lot of other wonderful people who also come from somewhere else.  Some of our good, new friends generously invited us to their home outside of Vienna, Austria.  We spent a wonderful weekend with them in late August.  They took us on a tour along the Danube, through vineyards and medieval castles where we enjoyed exquisite, local wine and delicious, locally grown food.  They walked us through the streets of Vienna and introduced us to pastry, more wine and marrow soup.  They showed us the Hapsburg Dynasty's grand summer getaway and the more than 100 year old amusement park in the heart of Vienna.

The Danube Valley

Schönbrunn Palace

Streets of Vienna

Prater

Handwriting

Remember all the time you spent practicing cursive writing in school, and how difficult it was to get right?  Remember how you had to write your essays first in pencil and then in ink? Remember how it used to be important to learn to sign your name, so you one day could put it on your paycheck?  Now we have direct deposit and online banking, and I know a lot of teachers and parents that are horrified because children's handwriting skills are deteriorating due to keyboards and touch-screens.  

Calligraphy is an art form that might become more and more valued, and more and more rare.  I have always admired (and envied) good calligraphers.  When I discovered Arabic calligraphy with all its beauty and different styles I was (and still am) awestruck.  The Muslim faith does not allow one to make a picture of Mohammed or living beings, so they use the written word and often stylize the writing to create forms. The results are unique pictures and beautiful works of art.

We recently went to an amazing calligraphy exhibition inside Aya Sofia, and our young M, and aspiring artist, took all these pictures (and then some...)  The exhibition is called "Lisan-ı Hat ile Aşk-ı Nebi", which means something like "The love of line and language"

This is called geometric Kufic script