Day 6–village of Sirince — this encore life

Another glorious cloud-free sky! And after cool, rainy Istanbul, we all love it. Yesterday’s ruins gave way to today’s relaxing (though treacherous) old Greek village, Sirince. This area is known for growing fruits of all kinds—kiwi to quince, apples to apricots, cherries to...you get the idea.

Sirince—the town is built on a hill with very steep stone walkways

After a relaxing breakfast, we again met our wonderful guide Rabia (think “Robbia) and after a 15 minute ride up the mountain, we seemed to drop back a century or so. Lovely people, lovely countryside, and the most unusual and charming hotel I’ve ever seen—the Nisanyan Hotel. They have cottages or rooms in cottages on the hillside one can rent out. Fabulous. Just google it and you’ll see how precious and unique it is. Interesting story about the owner of the place: he built an illegal tower to protest the government (yes, the government still in power) and was thrown in jail. He then escaped from jail and now lives on a Greek island now far away! I wonder if we Americans shouldn’t start building towers…

Kitchen in one of the cottages at Nisanyan Hotel

A bit of elderberry juice at the Nisanyan

Hiking trails surround the town, but the town, which relies on tourism, would be tough for a mountain goat to navigate.

This guy was trekking up as we were going down

We very, VERY carefully found our way up and down the mountainside to enjoy the town. The shops featured local delicacies as well as the usual touristy trinkets. But we enjoyed seeing Turkish coffee being made by swirling the containers of coffee in heated sand and filling the tiny cups—and enjoyed gozleme (I had mine filled with spinach and cheese—feta).

The copper containers on the left are filled with coffee. The containers are swirled in the sand and eventually the server fills the tiny cups

The area is known for its fruit wine, but I prefer the dry reds. I purchased the driest red I could fine (we tasted several), and we’ll see how this $8/bottle wine is! One of the shops was owned by the precision metal worker who did all the armor and jewelry for Brad Pitt and the cast in the movie Troy.

Display in the shop of the Troy jewelry — Display in the shop of the *Troy* jewelry

The final stop in the village was the old Greek Orthodox Church under renovation. It’s beautiful painted woodwork was inspiring and the outlook from the place was serene.

Old painted woodwork in the Greek Orthodox Church in Sirince

Enjoying the Sirince sunshine from the church

The first day our towels were elephants, yesterday we had swans, and today—snakes!

OK, so the evening doesn’t end with our arriving back at the hotel. We’ve been invited by Nazmi to a hotel he owns (not just manages like the Hotel Bella) for meses. We bring wine and a few snacks; he provides lovely appetizers and shows us his newly renovated hotel. Gorgeous. Lovely tiles, hand-carved headboard and nightstands, new bathrooms. The place (Hotel Na...) is amazing (OK, I’ll get the real name later). Fun time with stories and histories of our group. Sooo, so happy to be here and experience this!

Later: the wine turned out not to be so bad! The 10 or us downed nearly 8 bottles of wine and two bottles of Raki, the Turkish liquor one mixes with water. We were able to see Nazmi’s hotel, now open after years of renovation, and love it. Mezes on the patio with a lovely fountain running. So fun to laugh, inquire, question, enjoy. What a group!

Nazmi and Jane at his new hotel (he manages Hotel Bella where we’re staying)