Kilyos on the Black Sea

Sunday morning, Roshan and I headed North towards the Black Sea. We first stopped in Arnavutkoy where I met Charlyan and John, Roshan's band mates. We didn't stay for long because going to the Black Sea by public transportation takes a while. First we took a bus from Taksim to Sariyer. Then we took a minibus from Sariyer to Kilyos. From Kilyos, we walked several kilometers up the beach to get to "The Doctor's" villa. The area around the Black Sea is beautiful. It is green and pastoral with forested hills in the distance. In the summer, I hear, the beaches are packed but in the Autumn, all that remains of the crowds is their trash scattered along the beach. When we got out of the main beach area, the trash thinned out enough that I felt comfortable taking off my shoes and walking in the waves. We walked passing a tin whistle back and forth. At one point, we had the pleasant suprise of seeing the rare Black Sea Cow. These strange creatures, live in the depths of the Black Sea, only coming to the shore when they need to be milked.

It was a long but pleasant walk. When we reached the Doctor's villa, we saw the Doctor and his fiance drinking tea on the terrace. They greeted us and offered us tea and a snack. The Doctor and Roshan talked a bit in Turkish about the Doctor's up-coming wedding among other things while I tried to catch the general meaning. Later, everyone but me (I didn't have a bathing suit) went for a swim. Later, Roshan showed me the villa's terraced garden that was at the top of a set of marble steps. We ate grapes and cherry tomatoes of the vine and admired the view of the sea. Roshan and I in front of the villa's fountain. It was soon time to head back to the city. We walked up a hill as the sun was getting ready to set. The road was a peaceful country road with a view of the sea on one side and forest covered hills on the other. Roshan said it was how he imagined Ireland would be. I had to agree when I saw a small farm house nestled in a green field with a forest behind it all shimmering in the haze of the setting sun. Me on the peaceful country road