Flight Delays in the Air, Speed Traps on the Ground

I had been planning a Black Sea tour for a long time with a very dear friend with whom I started my academic career at Yıldız Technical University.

When a wedding invitation for his cousin's son arrived on WhatsApp, we decided to go, using the wedding as an excuse.

First, we checked the flights. 

There were seats available.

The prices were reasonable, too.

But when we thought about the “Delay” videos on social media, we decided to go by land instead of by air.

We didn't want to drag ourselves around the airport for hours and get into arguments with the staff.

On top of that, we didn't want to get ripped off by paying 5 euros for a bottle of water.

We thought we would stop by small towns along the coastal route and eat delicious food. 

We went all the way to the Sarp Border Gate.

On the way, we stopped by the Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha Complex, which has a magnificent atmosphere.

We were nicely ripped off, served artificial lemon juice instead of natural lemon.

It didn't escape my attention that there was no one else in the place but us.

We went up to the Sis Mountain Plateau at an altitude of 2100 meters. 

Under the mist, fog, and drizzle, we ate plateau dishes with pure, authentic butter.

We stopped by Rize, Ardeşen, Fındıklı, Arhavi, and Hopa.

We bought local butter, cheese, tea, and roasted meat.

We ate plenty of bilberries.

Although bilberries are expensive elsewhere, they were quite cheap in Rize.

We even got a haircut at the Hemşin Barber shop, run by the son of the famous local artist Yaşar Çorbacıoğlu, in Hemşin.

We chatted quite a bit with Yaşar Çorbacıoğlu and listened to his Ankara-TRT memories.

We didn't pass by without stopping to see our old friend Mr. Hakan, who used to treat us to meals all the time when he was a bank manager in Eskişehir.

We ate the famous, thin, long, and crispy Giresun pita.

Our manager Hakan paid for the meals again; may God be pleased with him.

It didn't escape my attention that there was no one else in the place but us.

We went to the famous Bozo pita shop in Sürmene.

In a place where we used to wait in line for at least an hour, we ate delicious cheese and minced meat with egg pita.

It didn't escape my attention that there was no one else in the place but us.

I wanted to treat Ali Emre, the professor I was traveling with, to some meat on Zigana mountain, one of the most famous of the Black Sea plateaus.

The “cook it yourself” places were completely empty.

Since we didn't want to eat in an empty place, we turned back from the mountain and came to the famous butchers in Esiroğlu.

We ate very delicious meatballs and lamb chops.

It didn't escape my attention that there was no one else in the place but us.

We drove on the old Bolaman ramps, which became idle with the construction of new roads.

We stopped by Jason Church.

I don't think there are many places in the world that provide such peace.

Don't forget to visit the Espiye-Gülburnu Kıran Neighborhood Mosque.

Although it is not very old historically, it is a place you will love with its location and atmosphere.

The cemetery by the seaside, next to the creek, is so attractive that it makes one want to die.  

On the way back, we stopped by Sinop, Kastamonu, and Taşköprü.

Sinop, which I have described in detail before, was just as beautiful as ever.

We bought our local garlic from Taşköprü.

We stayed in Kastamonu for quite a while.

It wasn't easy for us to leave after seeing the museum created by our former student Murat, the director of the Kastamonu City Museum.

Then, messages started arriving on e-Devlet.

Even though we were driving quite slowly and under control, the fines started raining down.

While trying to escape the flight delays, we got caught in the speed traps.