Trabzon 14.10.2024

Hello from Trabzon!

Since we had set the start time for 10 AM the previous evening and had wisely organized various Nescafe options the night before, we gradually gathered in the atrium of our penthouse. Of course, these drinks were nothing compared to the Turkish coffee the two ladies had prepared for us yesterday, but they did bring some life into our bodies. It's exciting how four people can already get into sync after a short time with targeted arrangements. We remarkably kept to the schedule. I did too.

We took the 9-seater into the neighborhood where Haydar and Co live. Kadir's mom also sat in our vehicle for a few minutes since we dropped her off on our way to breakfast at Hande's with her children. After that, we headed to Ayasofya. This neighborhood of Trabzon used to be the central bus station. Long-distance buses have a significant role in transportation throughout the country here in Turkey. There are train connections as well, but they are apparently used less frequently. There is now a very modern bus station in a different location in Trabzon. However, we wanted to go to “Terminal Pide,” whose name clearly refers to the former bus station. This restaurant serves exclusively Pide, as the name suggests.

At “Terminal Pide,” there is a central area with a stone oven where the dough pockets are prepared, topped, and baked. Then the approximately 80cm long results are brought on cardboard to the tables. There is of course the option of getting Cay as well. Additionally, the service staff always brings a lot of wet wipes because here they eat exclusively with their hands.
The seats were completely filled both inside and outside that morning. I hadn't expected such a situation in this corner of Trabzon upon our arrival, as there were many junkyards and auto parts dealers in the immediate vicinity. This means, I never would have thought to find possibly the best Pide place here. Wrong, not possibly. It can't be any other way than that these are the world's best products of this kind. Four Pide filled with minced meat laid before us, two of them topped with raw eggs, and two with cheese and butter. At that moment, I was very glad about my pants with elastic bands and cord drawstrings I had brought on this trip. And although we all tried our hardest, we still packed about two and a half or roughly two meters back with us.

We made our way to the Sumela Monastery, which is about 50km south of Trabzon. This is a former Greek Orthodox monastery from the Byzantine times. After a small fee for parking and transportation with one of the typical “Dolmus” buses, we had to walk a few hundred meters. At the entrance of the actual building, we found ourselves as the main actors in the latest episode of