UNA & CRAZY ALI
— ORTAHISAR @ CRAZY ALI’s — I was standing drawing the preceding page when a thin woman strode up & said in clipped British “Would you like a cup of tea?” Would I!! That’s how I met Una & Crazy Ali —- Una Crowley from Ireland is a translator, Her white hair & but eyes make me lonesome for Julie—
— She put on the cover years ago and now she cannot take it off Take heed, Ladies! — Ali is a poet — Sharp stones in wood- old threshing machine — Very common here: K-Mart-type T-Shirt, tribal coursers c Ubiquitous poster of Ataturk — Old lock—> <—Old key — TANSEL——
IBRAHIM & SABINE
—In the huge lounge room of their swell new hotel GAMIRASU in AYVALI—— She was German and found investors in Germany for this wonderful hotel, which flourished for years.
A CHEF & HIS WIFE
— Back to GAMIRASU in AYVALI-Sabine & Ibrahim’s energy center — 2 views of YILMAZ Given / Talented young chef @ Gamirasu / Stray Hittite gene? Native of Ayvali / Whataever it is, this guy COOKS! — Layla Güven— The hill facing Gamirasu. Byzantine & before, caves & ottoman houses. Village people mostly use these old places for livestock. It’s 9:45AM 21 October, chickens are squawking, birds are twittering, pigeons are cooing and every once in awhile comes the wheezy honk of a donkey.
GAMIRASU TERRACE
— In Ayvali / A new retreat & energy center in Kapadokya—— Sabine’s husband Ibrahim entertaining on the terrace while I spent three days rendering the previous drawings.
OLD COUPLE IN AYVALI
— In THIS town, when the local Muezzan sings the Call to Prayer, the donkeys, roosters & dogs all join in. Cacophony!!—— They were delighted to be drawn. The town still had its original stone street, somewhat rearranged by storms and flooding. I loved this place.
ENERGY ANGELS
— SABINE Energy angel of GAMIRASU & helper — I wake in renovated Hittite-Byzantine ruins / At the center of Gamirasu is the healing therapy practiced by this trained expert energy therapist & co-founder of Gamirasu Hotel high in the ancient mountains of Kapadokya — She knows her stuff. I am back in balance—— Oh Sabine!! Shining silvery Sabine left Gamirasu to Ibrahim and stayed in Kapadokya for years, practicing her healing. We lost her in 2011.
— Back to Göreme — I was drawing this sweeper when a man took me by the hand & led me through a door into a courtyard where women were making bread!!
WOMEN BAKING BREAD
GÖREME — Women rolling out sheets of dough & baking it on the griddle. I was given a white beaded kerchief to wear, for fun, as asked not to draw their faces. They screamed with laughter when I drew the large comfortable lad’s feet sticking out from under her table.
NURETTIN HAVING A SMOKE
— Nurettin having a smoke across the grapevine from me at Laura’s in Ortahisar.
THE PALACE AT ORTAHISAR
…3 Years into renovation by Laura & Nurettin — Hayri bringing me tea during a marathon 4-hour drawing session at the onset of Kapadokyan winter—— They did finish The Palace and it shines to this day there on the mountain, a 52-cave masterpiece designed by both and renovated by Nurettin, the best cave restorer in Kapadokya.
MY LAST NIGHT
— Nurettin — Laura — Frits — Nurettin cooking dinner my last night in Kapadokya. I’ll be. Back!——After this drawing, we went out in the white light of a full moon to roam among the fairy chimneys in Love Valley, shown at the beginning of this book. Oh, yes, I have been back, as we are still friends now in 2022. This time, I returned to Istanbul cleansed and calmed and continued to draw. They were right, Kapadokya is a place of healing energy.
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