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Newsletter #19 - October 24-30, 1959 |
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Newsletter #19
October 23-30, 1959 Mailed Turkey 11-10-59 Recd. Philadelphia 11/12/59 Hello, again: Here we are in another country after a very nice flight on THY Airlines (Turkish Airlines). We are now in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, and we went immediately to the U.S.Embassy hoping Meredith's camera would be there as he had sent it from New Delhi to Sweden to have it repaired and of course we were again disappointed as it had not arrived. Ankara is a good-sized city but about all we saw of interest was the fortress and their many mosques with their very tall and elaborate minarets. They also had a rather interesting section where the government buildings were located. [October 24] After one night here we left by train for Istanbul and travelled 576 kilometers, which took us ten hours of sitting on the same seat. The trip was interesting as the train travelled through much farming area and we saw the peasants dressed in their native costumes, which we did not see in Ankara since there most people dress Western style. The train travelled through some mountainous terrain and we went through many tunnels and then along the Marmara Sea, which flows into the Aegean Sea. We saw lots of tobacco being dried and many carloads of sugar beets being loaded on wagons in the fields. Most of the farmers were either digging and loading sugar beets or plowing their fields by the use of horses. A great deal of the land we saw is not too tillable by U.S. standards. We are really having language difficulties here in Turkey as very few people speak English. After our train reached Istanbul we had to travel by ferry for 20 minutes to get from the Asian to the European side of Turkey, which is separated by a body of water known as the picturesque Bosphorous Strait. Istanbul was formerly known as the city of Constantinople and is a very large Eastern city with an exotic atmosphere and since we arrived at night we saw its beautiful lights of the harbor as we crossed on the crowded ferry. (When we crossed on the ferry we went from one continent to another in the matter of minutes.) Today [October 27] we took a tour of the important Mosques of which this city boasts 500. We went into four and they were all singly elegant. They were the St. Sophia, considered by architects as one of the wonders of the world; the Sultan Ahmed or the Club Mosque, which has gorgeous tiles and paintings and unusual minarets; the Mosque of Valideli and the Suleymaniye Mosque, which is also quite elaborate. Although we really passed at least 100 mosques with lovely minarets these were considered, the important ones to visit. On this same tour we visited the Istanbul University, the area known as the Hippodrome where the chariot races were once held and where military triumphs were celebrated. In the one area there was a stone pyramid, a serpentine column and an unusual obelisk. We also saw the old Roman Aqueduct of Valance and the Cistern of 1001 columns. We went to the old section of Istanbul by crossing on the Galata Bridge and returning via the Ataturk Bridge. Both are pontoon bridges which are opened for only one hour each day for large ships to pass through. Another tour we took was to visit the Palace of Turkish Sultans and its many buildings which are now museums of all kinds. We saw the treasure collections which |
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Newsletter #19
were really fabulous and saw more pearls, diamonds, rubles, emeralds and precious stones in one building than I knew there were in the world. Another building housed the terrific collection of porcelain from the Ming and Tang Dynasty and also Limoges, Dresden, Meissen and all the finest porcelains, chinas and pottery you could name. We walked to other parts of this palace and saw more unusual museum pieces used during the days of the Sultans and then took a lengthy drive along the coast and the Bosphorus and across the Golden Horn past beautiful summer resort areas on to the famous fortress of the Mohammed the Conqueror, where we enjoyed beautiful panoramic views up and down the coast. Here we could see the Sea of Marmara, the beautiful Princes' Islands, the Golden Horn and the beaches on the European and Asiatic side. Here you could also see the terrific current where the Black Sea enters into the Bosphorus Straits. Istanbul has a three-fold heritage of art, the three being Pagan, Christian Byzantine and Moslem and the Moslem is the most important to Turkey. Although the Turks are Moslem and celebrate their Sunday an Friday, they keep their shops open on Friday and close on Sunday. They have thousands upon thousands of shops but their custom laws are so peculiar that you are not allowed to ship anything so all I purchased were three small wood carved dolls which I could put in our suitcase. These I purchased at the fabulous Istanbul Hilton Hotel gift shop. This hotel is a $10 million investment and quite beautiful with its Reflection Pool and its swimming pool which can be turned into an artificial skating rink in an hour or two. We spent quite a bit of time at this hotel as our tours left from the lobby, (in fact it's about the only place you could be understood.) [October 28] After four nights and days in Istanbul we left by train for Greece. We only spent 41 hours on the same coach which was two full nights, one full day and part of another. (Try this sometime if you really want a broken back and a tired body, as our seats were narrow with straight backs and someone faces you at all times, since it is European style and you have practically no leg room. On top of all the discomfort no person can understand or speak English.) We did have nice compartment mates most of the trip and one night I got out our cards to while away some time and before long five people were playing with us. In fact it got so crowded in our compartment that I stopped playing and walked the passageway to get away from the smoke and closeness. Even one of the custom police played for about an hour, so I'd say Meredith and I were good card playing teachers, as it was a new game to them, (it was the five kinds of Rum hands we often play at home.) They also taught us a version of a rum game which they play in Turkey. We had a three-hour stopover in Thessaloniki, Greece, or Saloniki, as they usually call it, and it is a quite large city which was in Byzantine days the capital of the Empire's most important province. It is in this city that the East of yesterday and the West of today live side by side. [October 30] After arriving in Athens and taking a nerve-wracking trip in a taxi to a hotel we felt somewhat better as we had more space to move about. We chose the Delphi Hotel which is very well located for roaming about the city without using some means of transportation all the time. Our first walk about Athens was to the American Embassy for mail and we hoped news of the camera. We received mail, but again no package from Sweden. We spent an entire day walking about the city looking at the attractive shops and their many lovely worthwhile souvenir items. We could only look, as our first day in Athens was national holiday celebrated every October 28. On our second day we had a letter from - 2 -
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Newsletter #19
Russell and Elizabeth giving us the telephone number of Charles and Becky Chaviarria so we called them and we made plans for their taking us to dinner on Friday nights. We had a lovely evening with then at the Officers Club and enjoyed some real American food. He had never met Charlie's wife before and found her most charming and friendly. They asked if they might take us on a drive and picnic on Sunday, which we certainly will welcome, but I'll tell you about this in our next newsletter. Today [October 31] we had very good news as they had Meredith's camera at the airport in customs and even though it was a $5 ride to the airport we were glad to go and have the camera to use once more. As soon as we got back from the airport we took a taxi to the Acropolis, the religious center of ancient Athens, on which were constructed the beautiful temples, whose ruins still command the admiration of the world, and here Meredith took numerous shots of the Propylaea building which foiled the entrance to the Acropolis. The most important building is the famous Parthenon (448-437 B.C.) which stands like a crown on the rocky hill of the Acropolis, dominating the city as you can see it from so many different spots. Also, on the crest of the hill you will find the building which is my favorite, the Erechtheum with its two porches, one called the Porch of the Maidens, which has columns in the form of women called the Caryatids. The columns of the Erechtheum are of the Ionic order as well as the columns of the Parthenon and they are made of white Penteli marble from one of the many hills in Greece. We had time only to take the pictures of these few lovely old ruins and plan to come back next week on a tour so that we can get all the information which the guides always tell so well and interestingly. Today we bought tickets for a 6-day boat trip along the Dalmatian Coast stopping at several Greek ports and islands and a few Yugoslavian ports and ending in Trieste. The boat only leaves once a week on Wednesday [November 3], which will give us several more days in Greece, the cradle of civilisation and birthplace of the gods, this land of legend and beauty which has inspired centuries of art and philosophy. We are both fine and looking forward to our several tours we plan to make in and around Athens. Sure hope everyone in York is fine and dandy, also. From the letter we've been receiving everyone seems to be in tip-top form and busy. Until next week, our regards, Meredith & Charlotte - 3 -
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