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Day
13 Saturday , Aug 11
by Anne Klentz
aklentz@earthlink.net
FLY BACK TO ISTANBUL
DINNER WITH VIVALDI
Today arrives all too quickly as it becomes the last official day of our
incredible eastern Turkey tour. Until 10:30, the morning is free
for all of us to do last minute shopping in Van.
Our drive to the airport is, sadly, the last we will make with our good
friend and superior driver, Mitton. Once there, we exchange hugs
and BIG thanks to him for always driving with our safety and comfort
foremost in mind. Those two seats we are able to have become our
most familiar and dependable ³home² for the length of the trip. We
never have to worry one minute, otherwise, knowing that Metin is our
driver and Meli is our incredible guide!
Our flight to Istanbul is uneventful, and a bus meets us to deliver us
to our second ³home² in Turkey--the Hotel Ayasofya. Air
conditioning never felt so welcome! Again, we had the remainder of
the day to spend in Istanbul. Those who are leaving must have done
the last minute shopping from their lists in the Grand Bazaar or the ³localsı²
swap meet, seen The Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia
Sophia or any other sight in town, or for those not leaving, the
afternoon was spent resting and enjoying the cool of their room. Our
last evening meal together becomes an absolute enchantment! We are
driven to the Yesil Ev, or Green House, and are sitted in the
magnificant garden behind this old mansion, now hotel. Each course
is a culinary delight and better than the one before. The Spartz
family treats each of us to drinks. Toasts are presented by
several people. Meli ends our last evening and tour together by
gifting us with a rifle-pen to note our first visit to a yayla when we
were greeted by rifle shots to let the village know we had arrived.
What a great way to remember our unforgettable experience!
Hugs and sad farewells mark the end of a
remarkable adventure in eastern Turkey. What a marvelous 2 weeks!
The Yesil Ev Until the 1950ıs the Beyazit-Sultanahmet
district could still boast a number of large mansions set in spacious
gardens. Then came the population explosion of Istanbul, with the
demolition of the old houses and their replacement by rows of concrete
blocks.
The Yesil Ev mansion belonging to the
Minister of Monopolies was an old wooden house of the mid-nineteenth
century and in most cities would have been demolished years ago. The
Turkish Touring and Automobile Association, convinced that the tendency
after the 2nd World War to concentrate investments and developments in
the modern section of the city was a mistaken policy and that the
activities should have been directed to the Beyazit-Sultanahmet district
and the magnificent monuments, began to implement its plan first with
the revitalization of this mansion which would serve as a model of
traditional housing and accommodation. The old wooden building was
dilapidated far beyond repair, so, with the consent of the Commission
for Ancient Monuments, it was demolished and rebuilt with its exterior
as an exact replica. The only change in the interior being the
removal of the staircase on the harem side.A conservatory was built in
the garden, which also contains a monumental pool in pink porphyry from
the mansion of the Serasker Riza Pasha in Yildiz in the 19th century.
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