Soli Pompeiopolis

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

I think we have already established that Mersin province is full of ancient sites. On Saturday (and before the shite hit the fan at home) I went to Viranşehir (Ruined City) to meet with my friend Alana.

For me Viranşehir was a bit of a track from our home in the Village (probably about 60 minutes on public transport) but for anyone staying in Mersin it is located about 20 minutes from the Forum or 30 minutes from the Otogar (catch the Eğriçam bus). It is quite central. Viranşehir is a residential area jam packed with high rise apartments blocks and shopping centres so to discover the Roman ruins of Soli Pompeiopolis smack in the middle of this residential area is certainly a surprise.

Sidenote – One of my main issues with Mersin Turizm is that they have virtually no information for a tourist visiting this city or the area. If you are a history buff there is abundance of ruins and archaeological sites to explore but with little or no information it is incredibly difficult to visit or even to be aware of its existence and Soli Pompeiopolis is the perfect example. The only reason I knew of it is that Alana had put some photos up on her FB page.

I digress though, let me talk about this site.

Soli Pompeiopolis was once a large town and a most important harbour. It was the capital of a Persian province before succumbing to the Greeks, Alexander the Great and King Antiochus III. After all this carnage Soli recovered with the arrival of Roman Pompey who renamed the town Pompeiopolis (because he was obviously full of himself) who, not only held off the Persian Army, also used it as a base for fighting the pirates that preyed on boats in the area. In 527AD Pompeiopolis was flattened by an earthquake and eventually the town was left to disrepair. Today the main, and frankly the only thing that you can view as the ruins are surrounded by wire fencing, is the Colonnaded Street (cardo maximum). It is over 350m long with Corinthian columns and I imagine it would have been very grand in its time drawing you down towards the harbour. There is also a theatre, harbour, a bath and the monumental tomb of Aratos currently under excavation. Archaeologists have found many coins, pottery and other artefacts of interest which are currently on display at Mersin Museum.

As mentioned the Turkish Government is currently undertaking excavations on the site and in fact there is talk of building an archaeology museum to incorporate the site nearby which, for a history buff like myself (yes little known fact), would be great.

Worth visiting?

As you can only view the ruins from the street there is little to hold your interest. If, however, you make a day of it and incorporate a pleasant walk along the promenade, visit a couple of the bars for an ice cold beer (which Alana and I did) or perhaps have a picnic at one of the many beaches then it is a day well spent.

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From Good to Bad

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

How does a day go from being great to being absolutely shite?

Yesterday started as a great day. Daughter had her math tutor come for an hour (thank you Capt. Awesome) and then I left to go and visit a friend on the absolute other side of Mersin. Making this trip is like going from Palm Beach to Campbelltown but doing it on public transport. I had a great day though, sitting in the sun, wandering past antiquities (I will get to that another day) before having a beer and nibblies on the beachfront.

Upon my return though I walked into absolute bedlam. My sister in law had come from Adana for the weekend and brought her two kids with her. Daughter has had a difficult time with connecting with these cousins but yesterday it seemed all the kids were playing together nicely until an older cousin turned up. The first thing that came out of Miss Bitchy-pants mouth was a snide comment and it put Daughter’s back up. Immediately the shite hit the fan.

Having a big family is really great for Daughter. Being surrounded by people who love her (well except for Miss Bitchy-pants) is a good thing for a child who grew up with no extended family but I have got to be honest with you – it is doing my feking head in! My frustration levels are going through the roof with the yelling and arguments, the trials and the tears but the worst part of the whole evening was The Turk.

The Turk gets agitated incredibly easily. If things don’t go according to his thought pattern he can become quite the asshole. I have come to recognise his moods and usually put him in his place quite quickly but unfortunately the rest of his family have not yet re-familiarised themselves with the warning signs. Living here in Mersin there is always something that gets him agitated because he is surrounded by people all the time and frankly as much as I love living here the evenings have become quite unpleasant, to say the least.

My issue is that The Turk (other than his raging temper) is that always takes his family’s side on any issue with Daughter. He never sticks up for her. He never says, “it’s OK Daughter, I know you were not at fault. I will speak to Miss Bitchy-pants parents or speak to Miss Bitchy-pants herself.” Never. It kills me. Witnessing him take Miss Bitchy-pants side every single time over Daughters breaks my heart because it breaks her heart.

I walked out last night. We were supposed to have a BBQ (which was moved to Songul’s home due to the chaos that was taking place in our home). I walked for quite some time. I had nowhere to go but I knew if I stayed I was going to stay something that I would ultimately regret, and not to The Turk (I never regret anything I say to him).

This morning is a new day. A bright day (well it is raining but my point remains the same). Today I will not be drawn into the family drama. I did make a suggestion to Daughter though, “Next time Miss Bitchy-pants says something nasty write it down and hand it back to her. Every single time. It might irritate her, she might screw it up and throw it at you but she might also read it and realise that she is being mean. And remember Daughter – deep breaths, keep taking deep breaths.”

Icli Kofte

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

Recently we walked down to visit the remaining Auntie Muriel at her home down by the deniz. A pleasant walk on a beautiful spring day and all of us including My Hurley Dog enjoyed ourselves immensely. A spot decision was also made to take My Hurley Dog to the beach so he could have a run and a splash (after all it is very much warm enough here).

Arriving at Auntie Muriel’s I immediately realised we came on a good day. Her son was returning to Germany the next morning and so she and her daughter were making Icli Kofte for his farewell party.

Icli Kofte (also known by Daughter and I as Nene Kofte) is Daughter’s absolute favourite meal. They are bloody hard to make. The few times The Turk and I tried they were dismal failures but everyone in the village seem to know how to make them and damn it they make it look so easy!

Anyone who has been to a Middle Eastern or Lebanese Restaurant (or has been to the Middle East or Lebanon) would have tried the similarly made Kibbe but I know that Icli Kofte are just that little bit better (Daughter says its because it is made with love).

There is an awful lot to the recipe so if you want to give these a go I would suggest you try the recipe from Ozlem’s Turkish Table. I have tried a few of her recipes and they always successful (well most of the time) and spot on for taste.

Referring to her recipe we do not put in walnuts at all. We do use all the spices mentioned but we also add cumin and biber salcasi (pepper paste) to give the bulgur dough a tinge or glow.

The dough needs to be perfect. If it is not perfect it will be damn near impossible to make the little parcel and fill with the meat mixture. To be honest I cannot do it. It is bloody hard. I sat there watching Auntie Muriel making these at such a speed all the while chatting and laughing, not a care in the world. I tell you the last time The Turk and I tried to make them it nearly caused WWIII in our household (and it left a hell of a mess to clean up). Oh also we add the pepper paste to the dough as well – obviously we like it spicy here in the village.

After a couple of leisurely hours drinking cay and listening to Turkish chatter Auntie Muriel sent us on our way with a plate of her Icli Kofte for dinner. I carried my precious cargo of kofte home and immediately started making the sauce which we add to pretty much everything. I have mentioned the sauce before – pepper paste (yes again), garlic and oil, honestly it works with pretty much everything.

Ozlem bakes her Icli Kofte but here we either deep fry them, a favourite with the çocuklar (kids) or boil them (my favourite and obviously a lot healthier).

Served with a salad, for me this is a meal but to many this is merely an appetizer, either way I will finish with Afiyet Olsun or enjoy your meal.

Double Barrel Post

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

I woke quite early on Saturday morning – my nemesis has been cock-a-doo-a-doo-ing really, really early (yes my nemesis is my neighbour’s rooster). I hate him.

You might recall this post when My Hurley Dog took out one of his women, well I am quite sure that he holds me personally responsible for her assassination and he is now waking up even earlier to cock-a-doo-a-doo outside my window. I hate him.

The only thing he is good for is a roast, or maybe fry up some pieces a-la KFC. I hate him and I hate his women (of which there are many).

They cluck. All day. Cluck, cluck, cluck. Clucking and cock-a-doo-a-doo-ing. I hate them all.

A list of reasons to hate chickens:

They are dumb. They eat everything including their own poop. They are dumb. They are ugly. They smell bad. They cannot even fly. They are useless. But they are pretty tasty.

I have suggested to My Hurley Dog that if the rooster gets into the garden he is to go for the jugular. He doesn’t understand me but I know he will do it regardless. He is like The Terminator without the accent.

The other part of my morning was taken up my My Kedi Cat’s bestie. We have called him Evil (although by the end of this story you will know that ‘he’ is actually a ‘she’). Evil was a wild little kitten when we first arrived 9 months ago. He wouldn’t let you near him but through perseverance and a lot of luck I converted Evil into ‘my’ stray. I always kept an eye out for him and he would always come running to me if he saw me in the street (actually all the Village Kedi’s do that. I am the Village Cat Lady) and, of course, he is my cat’s BFF.

Last Tuesday Evil was asleep in My Hurley Dog’s bed. He seemed really dopey and quite sick. I called him to the door to give him a little food and when he stood up there was blood running down his hind legs. Worse still there was mucus (dare I call it a plug) on the bed. Ewww. I did not know what had happened but when I tried to examine him he ran off. At this point I realised that Evil was in fact a ‘she’ and I expect that she was either in labour or had had a miscarriage.

Fast forward to Saturday morning and I poked my head out the window and saw Evil asleep in My Hurley Dog’s bed again with My Kedi Cat watching her intently. She was a mess, the bed was a mess too but in the corner of the bed was a teeny, tiny little kitten. Really tiny. See, Evil did not look pregnant, even before the bloody incident of last Tuesday she did not look pregnant so to find this teeny, tiny kitten in the bed was quite a shock, particularly as this would indicate that she had been labour for 4 days. This little guy or girl was quite a fighter though to have survived thus far.

My Hurley Dog was a little put out by Evil dropping her bub in his bed so I transferred her and bub downstairs with a clean towel and box. She’s turned out to be a good little mother too, very protective.

Finally and just because, here are some more photos of Nanu’s babies. They are a bundle of crazy.

Kittens make me happy.

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I Am Switzerland

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

It has come to my attention that my sisters in law are constantly in-fighting and I, being the newest addition to the clan, am Switzerland, always trying to broker peace between the warring parties (which is incredibly difficult to do when you do not speak Turkish).

The battle is a 2 on 1 and every time I walk into anyone’s home I get a rundown of the most recent wrong that had been brought to pass.

Since Vito’s son’s return from the army Vito’s wife (The Onion) has been popping in with plates of food or inviting me down for cay or kahve. This is a complete turnaround from her behaviour over the past 9 months and I put it down to me making that effort to attend at her son’s welcome home party. As the cold war has been defrosted slightly I have decided to take this change of attitude in my stride and establish my role in this family as a NATO peacekeeper (which will be an incredibly difficult task believe me).

My first assignment as official conciliator took place on Sunday night. Songul invited the family over for mangal (BBQ(. Let me explain – Songul invited this family (The Turk, Daughter and I) and the upstairs sister in law and her family. This also means that The Onion was and her family were NOT invited. I suggested that we invite The Onion to dinner but I was shot down. I explained with my limited vocabulary that it would be the right thing to do and, when this did not work, I said that if she invited The Onion and she said no then Songul was the bigger person and looked like she had made an effort. Her eyes lit up at the thought of having one up on The Onion but still pride got the better of her so I took the initiative and sent Daughter down with an invite anyway. The Onion did, as expected, say no to the invite which, of course, made Songul exceptionally happy.

I do understand there are hurt feelings on all sides, I really do, but I also would not want to go through life with such anger towards another person. The Onion was, of course, incredibly angry at The Turk’s mother for butting in her intended marriage (you can read more about that incident here) and yes I can sympathize with the other sisters having such acrimony with The Onion’s behaviour over the past years. I just wonder if it isn’t time to bury the hatchet, put aside any old grudge and just get on with it.

Incidentally last night The Onion and her son (who I have decided for the future to call Capt. Awesome) came to our house for drinks and nibblies while Songul was over. Yep, this has never happened before either. I am definitely Switzerland.

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Regaip Kandili

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

Yesterday 1 May 2014 is an important day to Muslim Turks as it is Regaip Kandili (the night of Muhammad’s conception). A Kandili (candle) is a Mosque Festival called such as the mosques will be illuminated (no doubt originally by candles although today probably not). Last night Muslims prayed for forgiveness and hope.

There are in fact five holy evenings over the course of the Turkish Muslim calendar year and these five dates will change dependent upon the revolution of the moon for example Regaip Kandili will be celebrated on 23 April 2015. The five holy evenings are:

Mevlid Kandili – the birth of Prophet Mohammad (12 January 2014) Regaip Kandili – the night of Muhammad’s conception (today 1 May 2014) Miraç Kandili – Prophet Mohammad’s rising to the sky (25 May 2014) Berat Kandili – forgiveness of the sins (12 June 2014) Kadir Gecesi – the first appearance of the Koran to Prophet Mohammad (23 July 2014)

The Turk and his family are not particularly religious (although they always seem to be sacrificing animals) and they did not attend at the mosque last night however those practicing Muslims that attended worshipped and sang Mevlit which is a poem written for the birth of Prophet Mohammad.

The Turk warned me that there would be many visitors to our home last night as part of the tradition of Regaip Kandili and it is normal practice to give Kandil Simidi or Lokma Tatlisi to visitors so yesterday Daughter (with me as her sous chef) decided to attempt making the Lokma Tatlisi for the expected visitors.

Lokma Tatlisi is a Turkish fried sweet dough that is covered in a simple syrup (basically it is a doughnut with a syrup rather than sugar or cinnamon).

Daughter made a simple dough, 1 cup of warm water, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of yeast. Mixed together with a well-oiled wooden spoon (oiling the spoon is integral to the success of the Lokma). She then left the dough for the length of the movie Mean Girls (firstly, how many times do I have to watch this movie? Secondly, “That’s so fetch”. Finally, it’s been 10 years since this movie was released? What the hell happened to Lindsay Lohan? Look at what drugs can do kiddies.) before getting back into it.

On our return Daughter prepared the syrup. At this point I realised that we did not have enough sugar so Daughter sent her sous chef from house to house to get enough for the 3 cups required. Most of the sugar is cubed so I was concerned that the syrup was not going to be successful. Daughter added the sugar, 1 1/3 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mixed until boiling and then left to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Preheating the vegetable oil (sous chef was getting nervous at this point) she spooned the dough in by the tablespoon, 2 minutes each side until they were a golden brown colour. Drizzle syrup over these strange lumps of dough and eat.

Our Lokma were not pretty, they were not little balls covered in syrup. They were weird looking pieces of dough, in fact they looked like fish pieces, one looked like a chicken’s foot, others chicken nuggets or honey chicken but I swear covered in the syrup they were still pretty tasty. Daughter made enough for all of the family plus expected visitors and she proudly delivered them to each house last night.

I was pretty impressed with Daughter’s cooking although I was less than impressed with the mess that was left. Syrup from one end of the kitchen to the other, and on the stairwell outside. Thank you very much you little grub!

Animal Farm

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

It’s been a while since I have given an update on the strays around our home.

As you know Stanley has been in the wars recently and unfortunately it has not improved for him. He is still an extremely loving little cat but we have had to ban him from the stairwell as he seems to have lost control of his bowel. The vet suggested cat nappies which is just ridiculous so he now is chased out of the stairwell whenever we see him.

We had a number of female cats pregnant and I mentioned the birth of some kittens a couple of weeks back. Unfortunately none of those kittens survived but Nanu (my mother-in-law’s favourite cat) also had kittens around the same time and her 5 little ginger fluff balls are now strong enough to run around the back of my in-law’s garden. It seems that all the other cats that were pregnant have lost their babies or perhaps they are extremely well hidden however none of the mothers seem to have any engorged breasts (is that the right terminology?). I am really not sure what’s going on.

The Turk and I are now starting to capture the female cats and take them to the vet for fixing but Nanu will need to wait until her babies are a little older. We will also take her babies to the vet for a check-up and shots.

I have noticed that a lot of the cats are sneezing and have runny eyes at the moment so I guess a cat flu is rapidly spreading amongst them. This is a problem as My Kedi Cat has befriended most of the Village Kedi’s and spends his nights out cruising the çiftlikleri (farms) with his akardasla (friends). His bestie is often found waiting for him on our terrace while he finishes dinner and they swagger off together into the night – classic. Thankfully he had all his shots before he came to Turkey but I think it may be time for a check-up for him in the coming weeks. Sorry My Kedi Cat.

Finally My Hurley Dog caught a chicken yesterday. Bloody thing somehow ended up in our garden and My Hurley Dog had caught it in an instant. In the blink of an eye. Daughter was screaming, I was screaming, The Turk was laughing (and screaming at the dog). Daughter and I ran out of the garden, across the driveway and was halfway down the street before we came to a screeching halt. The Turk grabbed My Hurley Dog, forcefully took the carcass off him (he was not giving it up without a fight) and carried it around to show us. Bastard!

It didn’t end that badly for My Hurley Dog though as Akan (The Turk’s youngest brother) brought half a feking sheep home (including the head) so he scored all the cut offs. He was one happy little dog last night.

In case you are wondering where my two fur-friends are right now I can tell you. My Hurley Dog has just come back from a walk with my niece Nisa and My Kedi Cat came wandering in about an hour ago, ate some biscuits and crawled into bed. Literally crawled into my bed and is under the covers – we won’t see him again until after 6 tonight. The Turk says it’s like living with a petulant teenager because now that we have giving him his freedom he has reverted to his pre-Sydney personality – that bloody cat or TBC for short!

100 posts!

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

This post is the 100^th post on my blog. 100 posts! 100 posts in 270 days. Yikes! That equates to a new content every 2.7 days. It seems like only yesterday that I started this blog, mostly to keep me occupied and also to update my friends back in Australia and around the world. I am pretty proud of myself for committing to it (I never finish anything I start) and frankly a little amazed that you people keep coming back for another episode of my crazy life.

I’ve got a few other stats for you.

350 subscribers is amazing (a big thanks to each of you) and 217 ‘likers’ on my Facebook page.

802 published comments. I’ve had to cull a few of the nut jobs from publication.

Nearly 20,000 page views is phenomenal! I mean that’s a big number. That’s a lot of people that either stumbled onto this blog or intentionally went out looking for it (which is nice).

I’ve had some crazy search terms as well including: “hot bitchy wife” – I like that one. “Will cheese fill you up?” – the answer is no, no it will not. How about “Screaming sex on rooftop” – not recently. I have also helped people “Muslim sad funeral Turkey” and made people laugh “crazy, funny mersin”. One final search term that made me scratch my head “cat, elephant goes out out out by the bell 101” – worryingly this search term has been used 3 times. Three separate people have typed those words into a search engine and somehow ended up at janeyinmersin.com.

Most viewed? All About Janey … in Mersin and Contradictions

First ever post? You’re Moving Where??? Originally titled “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” I thought it wise to not alienate my PG audience with swearing. Now, of course, I swear like a feking trooper!

Most likes? Coucous Kofte. This makes me laugh as honestly I am no chef.

My Personal favourite? Ancient Wonders. This one was only recent but Daughter and I had such a great day together exploring the ruins and just talking about ‘stuff’. ‘Stuff’ is important you know?

Least viewed? Let’s talk about cheese. This makes me sad as it is one of my favourite memories with my mother in law and after all who doesn’t love cheese?

Daughter’s personal favourite? Five things in Istanbul. Daughter wanted to be included in today’s post because she is a big part of this blog and, of course, my life. Why did she choose this post? “Simple mum. Shopping and Istanbul. What else is there?” Of course.

So that’s my first 100. What have I learnt about myself over the past 270 days? I think I am funny (sometimes). I am happy (most of the time) and, most importantly, I am enjoying myself.

Here’s to the next 100.

Sampiyon Fenerbahçe

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

In the 1970’s I was a child on the beautiful Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. My childhood was full of sunshine, fun times and forever memories. Another thing my childhood was full of was rugby league. My family supported the Mighty Sea Eagles and I learnt the love the brutish, forceful art that is the footy.

Living in Turkey and being a good Turkish housewife I support The Turk’s forever team of Fenerbahce. I have previously hung my head in shame and disclosed to you that The Turk is a futbol hooligan and quite the embarrassment when his team is winning. He is even more of an embarrassment if his team should, God forbid, lose.

Last night Fenerbahce clinched their 19^th Turkish league title with a 0-0 draw against Caykur Rizespor. The match itself was a bore. To me a 0-0 draw means that nothing feking happened. It means that there were grown mean running up and down the field chasing a little ball and no one found the goal. It also means that these grown men got to behave like little girls – a lot – by throwing themselves on the ground and crying foul on the other team, cursing each other and basically acting like a bunch of toddlers at every opportunity. To prove my point that they are a bunch of girly girls there were in fact no male supporters allowed at the match yesterday evening – the biggest match of the year had no men in the stadium! It seems that Fenerbahce was being punished for bad behaviour at an earlier match and male supporters were suspended from the crowd. This is just surreal. I cannot imagine someone telling my brother or his mates “Sorry guys you can’t go and watch the Eagles today as they are being punished”. Pffttt!

Anyway Fenerbahce are the 2013/2014 Champions and The Turk and his friends went wild, running out of the house whooping and yelling before disappearing into the night. When he returned this morning he smelt like a brewery but, despite his obvious hangover, he was still celebrating his team’s victory.

“This is a historical moment in our lives,” The Turk said to me over his kahvalti (breakfast) of two headache tablets and coffee. “A great victory and we are blessed to be a part of it”.

Now this is football

Honestly I just don’t get it. I want to see these “Champions” survive just one game of rugby league. See how you would cry then, ya big babies!

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Ancient Wonders

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Jane Gundogan

Daughter and I went walkabout last weekend and ended up about 2 hours west of Mersin in the small village of Kizkalesi. Most of you who know Turkey or more particularly know Mersin will no doubt already know about this little spot along the Mediterranean but for those of you who are yet to visit this area Kizkalesi should definitely be on your list.

Once out of Mersin the bus ride is enchanting was we passed through small villages, a scatterings of ruins and the never ending blue ocean. The town itself is really nothing to write home about with its extraordinary number of pensions and holiday apartments that have built along the shoreline and on the lower slopes of Tarsus Mountains but our reason for visiting last weekend is to wonder at the majesty that is Deniz Kalesi also known as the Maiden’s Castle floating in the blue water of the Mediterranean. Set on a small island just 400 metres off the mainland the island (The Turk tells me he used to swim over to it as a child although I call balderdash on that statement) was built sometime in the 1^st century and has been rebuilt many times over the following centuries. Like most things in Turkey there is a legend that is attached to Deniz Kalesi. It is said that a fortune teller told the King that his beautiful daughter will be poisoned by a snake. Shocked by the fortune teller’s words, the King tries to change her fate by building a castle on an island where no snakes live. He sends his daughter to live in the castle. But a snake hides in a grape basket sent from the mainland and poisons the princess. Definitely a bit of bad luck for her – maybe the King should have sent the Princess to Ireland. Incidentally there are hundreds of little lizards on the island sending Daughter into screams of terror at every turn – so that’s definitely a bonus *sigh*. Daughter and I took a paddleboat over to the island (which really means I had to paddle both of us over to the island while she hung her legs into the water) to explore before returning back to the mainland (which also meant I had to paddle us both back while she complained about being cold even though it was 30 degrees and I was sweating bullets). If you don’t want to paddle (or know that you are going to get stuck doing all the work) you can take one of the tourist boats over for 10TL. Exploring the ruins takes time and as Daughter and I had all the time in the world we enjoyed wandering around the base, climbing up and down its high walls and examining the mosaics. The mainland also has its fair share of ruins to explore as well and Daughter and I spent a good few hours wandering along in the sunshine traversing the ruins along the shore including Korykos Castle (above) which is directly opposite Maiden’s Castle and then a quick dolmus to Elaiussa-Sebaste (below) ruins which are only a few kilometres east of Kizkalesi. If you have a few days you should also explore the Roman-Byzantine cities of Kanlidivane and Kanytelis also has a wonderful example of Roman necropolis. In summer Kizkalesi is packed, mostly with German tourists, but right now it is just a sleepy village and definitely no crowds – the beach was just pristine and it was all ours. _________________________________________________________________________ Loving this blog? Please help me build my audience and share with like minded people who, like you, love to travel and love Turkey. You can also subscribe or like me on Facebook for all updates.