One and a half hour south with boat from Istanbul and then about 60 km car drive there is a town called Iznik. Iznik is a small picturesque town with a long history. In Iznik Christian’s, Roman’s and Muslim’s has ruled in turns.
The tourist information told us to get hold of the tourist police and gave us a description. On the way there we did a wrong turn and ended up at a bus parking. As we have experienced, people in Turkey are very friendly, and this town was no exception. They immediately made space for us to park and gathered around the cars. Milan told some of the locals about the trip and that we are filming (in something between English and Turkish (which he cannot speak)). A guy who spoke german arrived after some time. His name is Timur HATۤۤۤ۠іPOĞLU and he works with selling tractors (a very lucrative business it seems since every second vehicle in Iznik is a tractor). Timur knows the Governor and called him as well as the tourist police. They wanted to show us where we could camp and Milan was shown along the beach of the relatively large lake of a circumference of ninety kilometres. They wanted to show the nicest places, we could camp wherever. It ended with them giving us the opportunity to stay at a house that during summer is used for youngsters learning to sail – the only house on the beach. We got escorted there by a police car with the blue lights on. Talk about a nice welcome! From the veranda of more than thirty square meters we had a view of the lake that lies as quicksilver in the sunset.
The tourist information told us to get hold of the tourist police and gave us a description. On the way there we did a wrong turn and ended up at a bus parking. As we have experienced, people in Turkey are very friendly, and this town was no exception. They immediately made space for us to park and gathered around the cars. Milan told some of the locals about the trip and that we are filming (in something between English and Turkish (which he cannot speak)). A guy who spoke german arrived after some time. His name is Timur HATۤۤۤ۠іPOĞLU and he works with selling tractors (a very lucrative business it seems since every second vehicle in Iznik is a tractor). Timur knows the Governor and called him as well as the tourist police. They wanted to show us where we could camp and Milan was shown along the beach of the relatively large lake of a circumference of ninety kilometres. They wanted to show the nicest places, we could camp wherever. It ended with them giving us the opportunity to stay at a house that during summer is used for youngsters learning to sail – the only house on the beach. We got escorted there by a police car with the blue lights on. Talk about a nice welcome! From the veranda of more than thirty square meters we had a view of the lake that lies as quicksilver in the sunset.
The fantastic view from our terrace. /Pentax
The afternoon we spent strolling around the bazaar which we where lucky to time, it is every Wednesday. Clothes, stuff, vegetables, cheese, olives, tobacco and loads of people. Cosy! Milan and Richard bought some tobacco. The kids got kisses, ….., cheese… Tuvalie and Luka sat next to each other in our Urban Jungle saying “dumma dig” to all nice strangers who gave them some extra attention.
Tuvalie and Luka inspecting the famous Iznik ceramics. /Pentax
Lina and Oliver in front of the green mosque
The day after we went to see Aia Sofya. Amazing feeling being in such a historical place. When being there a tourist bus arrived. They, however, were more interested in our kids. Lina, Pia, Luka and of course Tuvalie (who’s always the centre of attention with her super blond hair) ended up in the middle of a ring of about fifty Turkish tourists. We where, at the moment, giving our attention to a small bug. That bug has never seen so much attention =)
Turkish tourists fascinated by our kids :) /Pentax
Iznik was really nice and we definitely recommend it as a place to visit. We stayed three nights.
The day we left we passed by Timur’s office and got an unexpected round tour around the town during which he showed us an old aqueduct, an old gate to the town and a really nice view of Iznik.
The day we left we passed by Timur’s office and got an unexpected round tour around the town during which he showed us an old aqueduct, an old gate to the town and a really nice view of Iznik.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar