Just a Hop, Skip, and a Jump

Today we headed out to the delightful little city of Beypazari. It's only a hop, skip, and a jump away from Ankara, but walking around it is like entering the past; like living centuries ago when the Ottomans ruled this country. The drive out there took us past mountains, shepherds tending their sheep, and rickety little produce kiosks set up along the road. The weather was perfect, mid 60's, and the sun was just perfect for sitting outside on the tiny little stools and drinking tea. We walked the cobblestone streets in awe of the amount of nuts, spices, silver goods, and other little treasures that were being peddled. We toured an old Ottoman house and for just a minute could picture life back then; the men sitting around on beautiful Turkish carpets and cushions on the second floor drinking tea and chatting, the women gathering in the upper room to chat and watch the children play. We ate delicious rice pilaf and lamb, dolma (nuts,rice, etc. wrapped in grape leaves), and baklava. We saw artists creating Ebru paintings, and blacksmiths banging metal into shape. Below are some pictures from the day:

Enjoying tea with our good friends, the NickelsZach and Eli talking to a sheep. On further inspection we saw the sheep had Nazar Boncuk beads secured into it's wool.

Rita and I sitting in the "Men Only" gathering room. Ha...take that!

A very traditional looking Turkish rug.Remember I once told you that Turks NEVER where outside shoes into houses?? Well, some businesses (i.e. doctors offices) will make you put these on so that the outside doesn't come in. When service people come to our house they put these on too. They're like shower caps...only for your shoes. An ottoman baby cradle; has the ability to be strapped to a camel and the baby just rocks right to sleep :)Kitchen table and chairs; currently out of stock at IKEA :)Momma and sonEli's new instrument from Beypazari. We also got him a little wooden flute. It took him about 15 mins. to figure out how to blow in it, and then he whistled all night!