ANATOLIA – LYCIA – KAPADOKYA – PLOVDIV – ISTANBUL – Summer-Fall 2007-—-My sister Penelope was retiring from four decades of teaching art. She took us on one splendid wander.
This trip had been preceded, for me, by a summer made hideous by a landlord couple’s insatiable greed. I couldn’t keep them happy no matter how much money I spent, and I spent it all. I later found a tough lawyer to deal with such behavior, but at that point back in 2007, I was exhausted from stress– No kitchen! No Internet, for God’s sake- and a neighbor who screamed abuse while I crawled about trying to replace a huge neighborhood trash pile with a garden. I was beat down and broke. Moving, in Istanbul on limited funds, can take months. I hadn’t wanted to ruin our trip. I sold books and scrounged money. I got a stress tic in one eye.
But then came the Hasankeyf Train, and Penny and I had that splendid holiday. Afterwards, I felt like myself again. My tic was gone. I was able to finagle my cats and me into a small but happy apartment- with a lovely kitchen- overlooking the Marmara Sea. Good times were ahead, and we all knew it.
PENNY &THE TAR BABY
-Penny – Swimming in ruins near Kekova – Black clouds drift over the moon’s face – Heartbreakingly beautiful Lycian night with memories of longing- -Top of a Lycian tomb in Myra – One warrior still grabbing the other’s bow for 3000 years already!-A very amible kittycat with a very long tail – Our little tar baby with stiffened tail & gummy paws that defied attempts at removal – We got SOME of it off – And left him clean & fed.
BITS OF PHASELIS
Great face in Antalya, along with some lions and grapes from Phaselis, a winter hangout of Alexander the Great.
ADNAN AT FAVORI
Another take on Adnan, host of our favorite restaurant in Antalya.
TRIPLE WINDOW AT ST NICK’S
-St Nick’s in Myra – Mosaic like embroidery —–The Basilica of St Nicholas in Myra, built in the 6th century by the Emperor Justinian. These Byzantine triple windows represent Ss Peter and Paul holding up the Church.
A TOMB WITH A VIEW
The Lycian Trail – Simena – mid-September 2007—–Penny walked the trail and left me to draw for two hours. I’ve never looked at this image without wishing I was there.