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| July 29 — If you like your vacation to be a time for exploration and if you’re looking for a weekend spot to go off to, you really have a lot of choices. There are still places far from the maddening crowd. The shores of the Black Sea are one choice. The Marmara and the Aegean also have their own possibilities. |
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| This week we’ve decided to visit an island. With its vineyards, its historical fort, this island is also famous for its grape festivals. Bozcaada today seems to have lost a little of the aura of the old days when Greeks and Turks used to sit at the same tables drinking their home-made wines, but the delightful atmosphere has not totally disappeared. Bozcaada is located to the southwest of the Dardanelles. Car ferries from Geyikli (Odunluk) take you to the island. For city people who have chosen to get away from the concrete and the bustle of the metropolis the road leading into the streets of the island from the boat pier is soothing to the soul. Especially after waiting in line for the ferry in your car under the hot summer sun, the soft breeze that greets you is restful and inviting. This breeze never leaves your side at Bozcaada. The different seasonal winds are never far from the island. And in the wintertime, those winds are likely to be so strong you may even find it hard to move around. The island seen from afar as you approach it by sea is a dusty brown. I now understand where the island’s name comes from. The Turkish word “boz,” is the perfect word to describe the brown and barren initial look of the island, but as you travel around the island you begin to see that this is a misleading first impression. |
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 VENETIAN FORT Approaching the pier, the impressive city fort catches the eye. Very nicely restored and preserved, the original fort was built in the time of the Venetians. An important fortress during the era of the Ottoman Conqueror Sultan Mehmet, it was torn down in 1807. A new fort was built 1.5 kilometers inland in 1842. A scene for many sea battles throughout history, the island’s ownership passed back and forth between the Greeks and the Turks. The island’s Greek population is today quite small but the characteristic and typical Greek houses along the quaint, narrow streets are all over the island. If you want to take a tour of the island, it’s easy to find a minibus or a taxi in the town square. As you go inland, the dusty brown color turns green. The vineyards are everywhere. If you’re there at harvest-time, make sure you taste the aromatic island grapes, famous for their ultra-fine skins. It’s a tradition all around the island to offer visitors some grapes. The island’s beaches are mostly located around the “Ayazma” shore. You can take a swim from any place along the coast there. There are some special places you can choose from, namely Sulubahçe, Habbeli, Tuzburnu and Çayır. You can make your choice according to how the wind blows on the particular day of your swim. You can ask your taxi-driver or minibus to come pick you up at a specific time and if you’ve come to the island by car, returning to the center of the town is no problem at all. SARDINES ON BRICKS |
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On some days you can’t find fish on the island. We gave one of the restaurants the fresh sardines we bought from Çanakkale to cook for us for our evening meal and took off to explore the island. When we got back our sardines were waiting, baked on bricks and accompanied by fresh salads and french fries. Sometimes fishermen stop by the restaurants to sell their freshly caught crayfish. If you bargain, you can ask the restaurant to prepare these for you too. And you are fortunate to be able to sip some of the island’s white or rosé wine with your meal. We wanted to take some wine back with us so we learned that there were two wineries on the island today. These are open until noon on Saturdays. They made an exception for us the day of our visit and let us buy some wine.Another feature on the island is the famous Ayazma Festival that takes place here every year towards the end of July. This festival is organized to continue the grape and wine traditions on the island. HOW TO GET THERE |
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Take the road to Ezine from Çanakkale and from there to Geyikli. İstanbul-Çanakkale is 345 kilometers, Ezine-Çanakkale 58 kilometers and Ezine-Geyizli 20 kilometers. Summers the car-ferry runs between Geyikli and Odunlu twice a day. The schedule is 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. going to the island and 12:00 noon and 5:00 p.m. for the return trip. There are also private motor boats that can be hired, but there is no schedule for this. There are taxis, minibuses and horse-driven carriages on the island.WHERE TO STAY The hotels and boarding-houses of Bozcaada accept reservations for a few nights in the summertime. If you only want to stay one night, make sure you make your reservation far in advance. On weekends, especially, all the places to stay are packed. If you can’t find a place, an alternative is to stay in Çanakkale or Ayvacık. Some contacts: Hotel Thenes: (Bozcaada) 0286-697-8888 Ümit Otel (Bozcaada) 0286-697-8091/697-8883 Büyük Truva Hotel (Çanakkale) 0286-217-1024 WHAT TO EAT? The restaurants are all side by side on the island. Price-wise, too, they’re more or less the same. It would be helpful to reserve your fish by phone before you go or you can pick up some fish in Çanakkale and have it cooked for you at one of the restaurants. There are a few wineries that sell very good table wine that are open until noon on weekends and holidays. The grapes on the island are all excellent. Zorba Restaurant: 0286-697-7842 Koreli Restaurant: 0286-697-8090 You can reach us at english@ntvmsnbc.com | ||||
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| Ana Sayfa | Güncel | Dünya | Ekonomi | Sağlık | Yaşam | Teknoloji | Kültür & Sanat | Spor | Hava Durumu | Haber Özetleri | Arama | NTVMSNBC Hakkında | Yardım | Spor Yardım | Tüm Haberler | Araçlar | NTVMSNBC Reklam Seçenekleri | Hukuki Şartlar & Gizlilik Hakları |
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