84-86th day: Vize: 'Nightly Visit' & visit the church 'Little Hagia Sophia'

From the turbulent city of Kirklareli, I soon found the right road. Today, the plan was only to go to the small town of Vize. Along the way, I wanted to camp freely again to save money and get a good night's sleep. Halfway to Vize, I found a quiet side valley with a beautiful village. A small river ran through the side valley, allowing for the growth of a deeply carved forest. In the village near my sleeping spot, I was once again invited for tea and conversation by a Turk who had worked in Germany.

Then I found a nice camping spot in the deep forest valley. I was able to wash myself well in the cold and clear river. Afterwards, I set up my tent and cooked pasta with fried vegetables. Since I couldn't finish all the pasta, I left it in the pot, covered it with a lid, and placed it next to the tent. It seemed that my presence had become known, as a few young people brought me cheese and sausage in the twilight and said 'Good Night'.

However, the night became very restless around midnight. Apparently, a stray dog had smelled my remaining noodles and was trying to push the lid off the pot with its snout, causing a loud commotion. I froze in the tent and breathed silently. After 20 minutes, the dog had eaten all the noodles, trotted away, and I tried to sleep again. But after an hour, he came back and banged the empty pot around. But this time, he barked very loudly, as if he had noticed me. Judging by the barking, it must have been a very big dog. The constant and loud barking of the dog echoed through the valley, less than 50 cm from my head. Once again, I froze. I could almost feel his breath and sniffing. I feared that he would eventually bite into the tent wall. I didn't move a centimeter in the tent. After what felt like an eternity (30-45 minutes), he stopped and went on his way. I was awake for another hour and then fell asleep.

The next morning, the cold woke me up again from my sleeping bag. I packed up to go to the nearby village and have breakfast there. Again, I met friendly Turks who insisted on paying for my tea. Once I left the side valley, the barren Turkish landscape dominated this area again. Then I continued cycling to the small town of Vize. There, I finally had the opportunity to visit a (former) church.

The once largest church in Christendom in Constantinople, now Istanbul, the 'Hagia Sophia', is world-famous. Today, it is a mosque, but open for visitation. However, little is known about the 'Little Hagia Sophia' in the town of Vize, my destination for the day.

I arrived there around noon. I checked into my room in a hotel with a fantastic view of the countryside. After showering, I made my way to the Little Hagia Sophia, which is now a mosque.

It was built in the 9th century and served as a church for several centuries until the Ottomans conquered the area and turned the church into a mosque. They made hardly any changes to the construction. They only built a small minaret. Inside, all Christian symbols were painted over, except for an inconspicuous fresco. In my thoughts, I imagined how Christians once prayed and sang in this church of the 'Little Hagia Sophia'. Today, there are prayer rugs for Muslims to pray on.

After the visit, I took a look at the city, which, apart from the former church, only had a monument of the founder of the state, Ataturk, with children. I strolled around the market a bit. Some sellers offered only one type of product, like the stand with mountains of red peppers. In the hotel room, I planned the next route towards Istanbul, checked the possible flight connections back to Germany, watched some German news, and then went to sleep.

There is nothing special to report about the 86th day, because after about 45 km of cycling on the D 020 towards Istanbul, I spent another night in the open air at a picnic area. The villages along the route were quite calm and there was nothing noteworthy to see. Although there were some locals at the picnic area, they showed no interest in me. In the evening, some Turkish young people came by, playing loud Turkish pop music, but they left after half an hour. They probably didn't even notice me in the darkness. So I fell asleep peacefully.