Narlıkuyu Cove

There's no r in July, but that's when I want to sit out by the water and eat seafood, ocean breeze in my hair, drink in hand... Back in CT, Lenny's in Branford's Indian Head was my go-to place. Lobster and steamers: mmm. In Istanbul, Büyükada was probably my first choice, aside from the stuffed mussels from the vendors near Eminonu. In Mersin, my favorite place was Narlıkuyu.

Way back when the area was still very backwater, I headed that way all the time. It's right near my two favorite places in the world, KızKalesi beach and the cliff of Akyar.

The restaurants at the end of Narlıkuyu cove are built right at the edge of the water on a low sea wall made of weathered limestone. Spring water bubbles out between the stones and swirls into the crystal clear sea at your feet. Most establishments have an arbor of some sort, covered in purple bougainvillea, grapes, or just woven reeds. Don't expect high end, white table cloths. The chairs are plastic, but I guarantee you won't care.

In place of a menu,  the waiter brings over a selection of the day's fresh-caught fish, whole, on a huge platter. (I hope they still do.) Lagos, aka white grouper, is the best catch and they usually serve it up fried, but you can get it grilled, etc. It's getting a bit scarce and divers go spearfishing for it, so it's priced higher. There's always sea bass, red snapper, and other tasty fish if you'd rather have that. Some places serve octopus, which is really good. (I'd never try to cook it myself.) Try it with a tall glass of Rakı. 

via wikipedia.com

Don't forget to visit Turkey's smallest museum in the village center while you're there. It's a one-room roman bath with a mosaic representation of the Three Graces.
Sigh. No ocean in Charlotte. Maybe I should head to Charleston for a few days, otherwise I'll have to wait until September for an oyster roast.

Kizkalesi Spring

Summer is really throwing me for a loop, so if y'all don't mind, I'm turning back to spring and a quick little clip about one of my favorite places: KIZKALESİ. Catch you on Monday with a post about Kendin Pisir, Kendin Ye and interesting Turkish picnics. :)


SPRİNG TİME İN GİRLCASTLE-KIZKALESİ'NDE BAHAR (MERSİN-TURKEY) from umut cor on Vimeo.

Layers of History

credit: walter52 via twip.org

I remember standing in a riverbed, admiring an ancient aqueduct, and marvelling at the layers of civilization visible in the cliff next to me. I wanted to write about the experience in my MS, but it was one of those darlings...so it had to go.

Today, when I watch archeologists digging in the Virginia lowlands, looking for possible artifacts that resemble any other stone I'd find in the yard, I sigh. Here we are digging for something, ANYTHING, yet in Turkey so much history is left to weather, or worse yet, flooded for the nearest dam. SIGH.

That's what happens when there's more history around you than you can shake a stick at. Imagine - my KizKalesi, my beautiful, magical, tragic, amazing KizKalesi is a B-grade landmark! Nevermind the other places like Olba up in the foothills, or...you get the idea. Peasants plant their crops up to the very walls, and ...you know what?

I like that.

Because I'm selfish. I can touch every carved block if I want to...I can find a secret alcove and connect to history...with my fingers, not just my eyes. Nothing is roped off with red cording...although some of it should be. Beware the cisterns and caverns and other odd places where you might fall to your death. No one will hear you scream. Well, hopefully a peasant will pass by with her goats...

Anyhoo, thought I'd tell you about the Metro in Istanbul. Workers are continually unearthing artifacts on the route they're digging, and for a change, it is slowing the pace of development. It's the right thing to do. I have to stop being selfish and hope someone important recognizes the value of these landmarks one day.

So how about you? Has a connection to place influenced your writing?

Related Articles:

Yenikapi dig to postpone opening of Istanbul Marmaray

Istanbul trembles at pace of change (guardian.co.uk)

One more thing! Jules is passing on a Valentine to all her followers and I got one...so I'm passing it on to you. No strings attached!

The Cave of Heaven

Image by Sheriff of Nothing via Flickr

Cennet translates to Heaven.  So I find it odd any cave would be named Cennet and that you need to descend over 400 steps to the bottom of a limestone pit to get there.  But that is exactly what we have with the Corycian Cave of Cennet in KizKalesi, Turkey.  Not to be confused with the Corycian Cave in Greece, btw.

Once you research a bit more, you'll find it's a very intriguing place. It's thought to be Arima , where Zeus imprisoned Typhon (Big bad guy from Percy Jackson Series, remember? Yeah and Homer mentioned something about him in the Iliad too).  This led to the locals from the Temple of Zeus at Olba to make human sacrifices at the nearby cave of Kanlidivane "to quiet the demons Typhon released".  Modern science chalks up the grumbling sounds coming from the cave as volcanic activity.  But of course, the legend is when the Byzantines put a chapel down there, they exorcised the demons.  Oh well, I guess they were wrong about the human sacrifice part.

There's a spring at the bottom of the cave, which made living there possible and perhaps lovely.  Maybe the name Heaven isn't so far from the truth, when it's hot as hell outside and you have a nice, cool cave filled with crystal clear water in your backyard.  The spring also made cultivation of saffron crocuses a viable commerical endeavor for years.  For Burnt Amber though, the spring is an important place for djinn.

The Seed

The Tragic Fairy Tale of KizKalesi :


When a gypsy tells the King of Olbios that his daughter will be killed by an animal, he builds an impenetrable fortress in the middle of the sea to save her. She can't escape her fate and a viper hidden in a basket of figs takes her life in the end.

From Burnt Amber:

“Sounds similar to the story of the maiden’s tower in Istanbul…” I said. I was skeptical of fairy tales, but then lots of stories had some truth in them, only distorted beyond belief.

Well, that is me- telling. I know, I'm supposed to show, not tell. But this is a good tell because it's the whole concept of my story. Sibel's story.

I struggled with her true story for a while, before I decided to take what I needed and leave the rest. Sybille de Lusignan is where I began...the stories of medieval lands called the Outremer(other sea) and the genealogy of the Kingdom of Cilicia to be exact. I didn't want to write a historically accurate book so I used the settings and some of the facts and a good measure of djinn to create a parallel universe. And I wish the real Sibel would have been as lucky. Her Haydon was actually the bad guy.