Sinop or Guimarães?

After graduating from the Karadeniz Technical University Department of Civil Engineering in 1994, unlike many of my friends, it never occurred to me to work for the Highways Department, the State Hydraulic Works, or the municipalities.

I also stayed away from the private sector.

Even though my late father pressured me as much as he could, even if subliminally, it was to no avail.

I did not get caught up in the trend of the day.

I stopped by a bag shop on Trabzon’s famous Kunduracılar Street.

I bought a black, saddlebag-style bag that was almost large enough for a normal person to fit inside.

I set off for the language school I had enrolled in in New Jersey.

That was when I started traveling the world.

Over the past 30 years, I have lost count of the cities I have visited.

However, I remember the cities I have been to when I look at the magnets I bought from them.

Because I bought a magnet from every city I visited.

But there is one city that is constantly on my mind without even looking at the magnets.

Gimarej—Guimarães.

A medieval city surrounded by walls, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001. It is located north of Porto, Portugal's second-largest city, and just to the east of Braga, famous for its fishermen. It is a wonderful city with its castles, houses, streets, churches, cellars, cobblestones, and nature.

It is a city closely related to the formation of the Portuguese national identity and the Portuguese language in the 12th century. It is the birthplace of Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, who declared the country's independence in 1139.

Its people and shopkeepers are also extremely polite and content. They don't try to fleece you the moment they see a tourist. Just like in the old Turkey, they want to help as much as they can. Ripping people off is not on their minds yet. And it seems they have no intention of doing so.

Their fine wines and breads are still on my mind, and the taste still lingers on my palate.

Due to the turmoil in the world and especially in our region, I retreated into my shell a bit and decided to spend this vacation nearby.

I went to Sinop for this holiday break.

It is the northernmost city in Turkey, where we have a summer house and where I have been going since 1990.

Sinop, which is a sister city to the Tepebaşı Municipality of Eskişehir.

Sinop, which is generally governed by an opposition party municipality.

It has become a different city.

With its restored Genoese-era walls surrounding the city, Roman-Hellenistic and Byzantine-era castles, Seljuk-Ottoman-era infrastructure, mosques, and soup kitchens, early Republican-era buildings, narrow streets, cobblestones, and wonderful nature, it reminded me of Guimarães.

I am not even counting the Bronze Age, its prehistoric period, or the pre-Christian Miletus and Hittite periods.

Akliman, Hamsilos, and İnce Burun and its lighthouse, where the original highland air of the Black Sea prevails.

You look across from İnce Burun and try to see Crimea, which is being crushed under Russian occupation.

Because this is our closest point to Crimea.

The Alaaddin Mosque, built shortly after the Seljuks conquered Sinop in 1214, and the Bedesten (covered bazaar) right behind it, located in the center of Sinop.

Do not forget to visit this place.

Otherwise, you will miss out on a historical journey to a thousand years ago, just like in Guimarães.

In particular, visit the workshop of Belgin Hanım, the owner of Naz Dokuma in the Bedesten.

Buy some of the saddlebags with motifs and embroidery that she produces from linen fabrics she finds in old chests while traveling through villages.

I bought two, and I paid for them.

So, I don't count this as an advertisement.

There is a place in Sinop called Yalı Kahvesi.

The owner is likely one of the ancient tradesmen of the old Turkey. It is a place where you can bring your own breakfast from home and have breakfast right by the seaside, just by ordering tea.

You can even buy your bread from the Seçkin Ekmek Bakery, which makes the most delicious bread in the region, located on the street right behind it.

Specifically ask for the turmeric bread, but reserve it in advance; otherwise, you will return empty-handed.

Try the Sinop Nokul while you are there.

But do not buy it without asking the price. They try to rip you off a little when they realize you are a tourist.

At least the nokul seller on Aşıklar Street was like that.

Let me also write a note here to the newly elected mayor.

Why are you letting thousands of cars into a tiny, historical city with a mild climate, which is the exact opposite of the harsh, constantly cloudy, and overcast characteristic Black Sea climate?

Why don't you close the city to traffic?

While we are afraid to even walk on those beautiful stones, why are you making motor vehicles drive over them?

What is the point of turning a city that should be completely pedestrianized into an open-air parking lot?

Thousands of vehicles wait for hours to enter and exit through a small gate. It both harms nature and pollutes the air with exhaust fumes.

I cannot pass without mentioning another issue.

The famous village market of years past has turned into a ridiculous theater where village women are just props.

It is as if they have rented out their stalls to professional merchants.

None of the products in front of them are their own village produce.

Not the parsley, not the tomatoes, not the eggs.

A large producer brought the village eggs from outside and distributed them to the stalls of the village women.

It is not even the season for Sinop tomatoes yet.

They are selling them as if they were village products.

While writing this article, I realized that we have a national match against Portugal in the 2024 European Football Championship this evening.

It was a coincidence.