Rain, rain, go away, I’d rather see Amasara on a sunny day!

Amasara from the road

My shoes never had the chance to dry after the survey trek through the river, as the rain began, and it didn’t stop. It rarely rains in this area during the summer (so I’ve been told), however, this season seems to be the exception as we have had plenty of stormy weather (so don’t be too jealous of me St. John’s). Luckily I brought my brand new, super attractive, lime green rain jacket and have my water resistant cargo pants, so I managed to stay at least partially dry, which was a nice contrast to the lake which had collected in my socks, shoes and gaiters. Unfortunately, with the rain came a change of plans, as the wind and rain was so strong it became clear that it was too dangerous to drive the already treacherous coastal roads. We had to abandon the village we were working in and instead surveyed in the low land area, hoping to find traces of the old Roman roads and bridge. We had no luck with this, and instead wandered into the nearby forest area, however we quickly left this area after seeing a wild boar and later hearing what could have been a boar den with babies, which would be quite dangerous to get in-between. We settled on exploring the village area, meeting lots of locals who let us into their gardens to photograph stone wash basins, or pillar bases from old churches which were used as garden décor. One family pointed us into the direction of what they called Soldier graves, likely Byzantine, and also showed us some of their own archaeological finds which included some pretty (yet completely useless) rocks, but also some interesting pipes, which I was able to date to the Turkish Venetian period thanks to my handy dandy Byzantine Artefacts Field Guide which Dr. Cassis gifted me before I left. The guide book is written by Joanita Vroom, who I will get to meet in a few weeks when I go to Istanbul for the Akvat Conference. We tried to go back to the original site the next day, but realised the roads had begun to erode away and we weren’t able to drive up the cliff. Otherwise surveying has gone on as usual, just with added wetness and mud. My brand spanken new merrell boots have now stretched out due to wearing them in the rain and are completely covered in mud, which makes me quite sad… but I guess that’s what hiking boots are for!

The plus side of terrible stormy weather is that the waters were equally as rough, and tons of fun. The normally calm aqua waters turned red with mud and the waves were crashing up over the roads in some places. So of course, myself and the other students made our way to the beach to frolic in the largest waves I have ever seen. I went out to my knees and waves were nearly crashing above my head. So much fun, but the novelty was lost quickly. We did manage to get some great pictures though.

Waves on our beach!

Unfortunately, our first day off (we get one a week) was also a miserable day. However, we still woke up early and drove to Amasara for a day trip. Amasara is two and a half hours outside of Cide, and is a beautiful Black Sea coastal down which is a hub for local tourism. In its history Amasara was called Seasmus by the Phoenician’s and spent time under both Persian and Macedonian sovereignty, later changing its name to Amasatris who was a Persian Princess who was married to Alexander The Greats comrade, Krateos. Amasara continued to have a turbulent history, changing hands many time between Arab groups, Byzantines, and Genoese who finally rebuilt the city in the 12^th century, realising its trading potential. Today the town is a picturesque vacation spot, with Roman and Byzantine fortifications, quiet cobblestone streets, beautiful quaint coastal homes, delicious fish restaurants and markets, as well a tourism driven bazaar. Even in the rain it was breathtaking, I would love to live here. It’s the Peggy’s Cove of Turkey.

Amasara

Our visit began with the local Amasara Museum, which we all really enjoyed. The Museum is small, only four rooms, but is immaculate inside and has a great garden with Roman and Greek stele, grave stones, sarcophagi, and various ancient statues. The museum itself had displays of Roman and Byzantine pottery, jewellery, ethnographic artefacts such as rugs and traditional dress, as well as large items like pithoi, amphorae, and statues of past emperors. It also had a small collection of historical items, including Turkish Venetian pipes similar to what we found during our Survey.

Outside the Amasara Museum

After the Museum visit, we walked through the town to find a place to eat lunch, settling on a place near the waterfront and fish market, which served us an array of salads and fried fish. Fish is a staple on the Black Sea, although we almost never are given fish at our base which seem to be jipping us in the meal department, so it was a great treat. The fish were lightly fried in a batter, the platters had four different types of fish including small anchovies which could be eaten whole, and medium sized fish which needed to be deboned and decapitated before eating. We were also given this fluffy pistachio cotton candy type sweet after dinner, which I have made my mission to hunt down again.

Black Sea Fishies!

After lunch we continued our walk through the town, which included a short visit to two Byzantine churches – turned mosques, as well as a Roman bridge fortification which was a beautiful contrast to the modern pastel coloured vacation homes, and cobblestone roads which surrounded it. We ended our walk with the local shops and Bazaar which was a street market for tourists. I bought some pastries but avoided the tourist trap shops, most of which didn’t sell anything remotely Turkish. I found flasks that said Kentucky Whiskey, statuettes of the Eiffel Tower, as well as first nation bows and head masks. It was a one stop shop for world travelers.

Amasara from the Roman fortification

Sorry for the long delay with blog posts, I seem to be in bed by 9:30 most nights… the 5am wake up calls and ten hour work days are getting to me! Next up will be another mashup of surveying and our impromptu mayor’s office visit!