27 October ’04, Wednesday. A little about yesterday…we had our last Dr’s appointment at 9:30am and then we were on our way heading East/South East. The day was TOTALLY filled with air pollution from Istanbul to far beyond Bersa. Our trip will take us from Istanbul, across the Bosphorus, around the Marara Sea coast, down to Bersa, then to heading toward Bosuyuk. Night was coming on fast, so we decided to pull into a gas station for gas. Once we were there and filled our tank, I ask them if they would mind if we had dinner and spent the night on their premises. “No problem, and welcome”, so we pulled up on this little knoll above the station. I started to get the site all set up as Louise started dinner. It didn’t take long before I heard from Louise….”THERE ARE FLIES EVERYWHERE !!!” By the time I got to the door and had a look, there were at least 50 or more all around her watching her cook. It didn’t bother me so much, but Lou, well let’s say it was driving her crazy. We did finally have our dinner without being bothered. For some reason, they only wanted inside so we ate outside…smart don’t you think??? After we ate, we franticly searched for our insect “KILLER” to take care of the little varmints. The outcome was, we slept through the night without one interruption.. This morning, we were underway by 9:30am and heading for our first destination…Aizanoi, which is just outside of Cavdarhisar. The scenery in really different. We have passed so many different colors of soil and rocks, trees that stand tall, but have all of a sudden started growing their own ground cover (it makes the trees look like they are “melting”). The Fall colors are definitely in full change…brilliant… We passed many “strip” mines, that were mining materials for porcelain. Porcelain is a product that dates back to 14th Century. Even some of the buildings we have seen today are covered with porcelain tiles from this area. We visited the “Temple of Zeus”, the theater, stadium, and the bathes. We also drove over a Roman built bridge that dates to the 2nd century BC. The Temple was dedicated to the worship of Zeus, or Jupiter, and to the Anatolian fertility goddess Cybele. A lot of damage was done by an earthquake in 1970, but what remains is absolutely wonderful. It didn’t take long to see the exterior of the Temple but, our host at the gate, opened the locked gate to Cybel’s burial chamber. It is a large room with a high dome ceiling and openings at the top of the walls to the outside. Cybel, (Kybel) was one of the earliest Anatolian goddesses. Sometime after 1000 BC, when Greek colonists began settling on the eastern shore of the Aegean, her cult was merged with that of Artemis, the lunar hunter goddess. In legend, Cybele is often paired with Attis, a handsome and highly desirable shepherd. Legend has it, Cybele is often paired with Attis, Attis falls in love with a nymph, and Cybele kills her rival in a jealous rage. Attis then goes mad and cuts off his testicles with a sharp rock and dies. I love these “Love Stories”… We have now made our way down past Usak and found another gas station to stay the night at Sivasti. The problem that has all of a sudden popped it’s head, is a barking dog right next to our van….anyone got a shoe???
Tomorrow…Onward toward Analya on the Med.
Tomorrow…Onward toward Analya on the Med.