Touring Turkey / Trabzon:

This is north eastern Turkey; north eastern Black Sea...
most amazing cultural heritage ever !!!

There was a time of my life that I used to do crazy things... a few stays back in my mind... such as driving straight to Trabzon for 20 hours... why... I do not remember... probably, there was no reason at all !
With 3 other friends; this is before they built the highway, we arrived to Black Sea coast-line at 6am, all starving. In the middle of nowhere, to the right handside of the road, there was this cafe-house. We stopped. The man, most welcoming, saluted us and offered Turkish tea.
There was a barbecue on one side... ready to use.
"You like barbecue meat..." the man said.
"No, thanks, it looks good but it is too early for meat" we replied.
He insisted... "you eat here", making it very clear that he does not accept the reply "no".
Oookkk, fine ! "but, you do not have meat to grill, do you?
He continued... "see the butcher on the other side of the road, he is a donkey head, all the members of his family are ......... but he is the only one who has meat around here".
Truly, there was a butcher open at that time of the day so, we crossed the street.
The butcher saluted us, most welcoming !
He did not dare asking what we want... gave us a pack of meat, charged us 3 times less than what we pay in Istanbul and said... "do not let that Camel Bone grill your meat. Do it yourself. He is a Camel ......... and his mother is a ........... "
Opps, ookkk, fine... such a funny situation... these men are making money from each other, one sells meat, the other grills and look at the way they talk about each other.

That was the first & last time we all had grilled meat for breakfast !

We continued driving, laughing like crazy to the people... the way they behave. And, after a while, we stopped again to take a few pictures.

The location we stopped was on the left hand side of the road, giving great views of Black Sea and the mountains. An old man came out from nowhere, with a 100 years old looking face... his body, on the other hand, looking so fit, standing stil in full strenght. He saluted and asked us where we come from. "Istanbul", we said, he smiled and smiled... "big city boys" he said and approched closer as if we are his very good friends. He whispered... "Is it true that women in Istanbul walk around naked?". This was more like a remark rather than being a question. We, of course, did not know what the proper reply would be !!!
He liked us... we could see that... offered us tea, pointing out his house somewhere in the forest... "my house is only two smokes away". We, again, did not know how far his house would be and followed him.
Now... for those who do not smoke, keep in mind that if someone says 'two smokes away', this is a 30 minutes walk !!!
We finally arrived to his house in the forest, by the sea...
"Woman" he shouted, calling his wife. She came out as noisy as he is.... "husshhh, silence" she said, you will wake 'Blue' up. Blue, later on, we understand is the huge shepherd dog, guarding the house all night long.
She smiled at us... all golden teeth ! deep dark hair and most attractive blue eyes. She did not have a head cover which did surprise us all; the city boys ! "welcome", she said, "it is time for breakfast". We tried to convince them that we allready had breakfast an hour ago. The old man said "you eat with us now". Once again, we had seen the same looks... not accepting "no" as a reply.
The breakfast was tea, home made pide bread and fish soup.

That was the first & last time we had fish soup for breakfast !

That day... on the way to Trabzon, was full of "first time"s.
It was a most valuable day of my life.

I have passed from the same road (a highway now) many more times with my guests but, never seen the man at the coffee house, the butcher or the old man & his wife again. I wish I did.
They should know... if they come to Istanbul one day, my house is their house.

And, I will not accept "no" as a reply !