OT: Tennessee/Turkey

[Guest guest]

Hey Dale,

 

> Where in Tennessee?!

 

Greenbrier, Springfield, Nashville .. south from the Kawacky line.

 

> I've got a little 'ole place between Knoxville and Gatlinburg.

 

Beautiful kuntry fer'shur .. last January I spent a night just outside

Gatlinburg .. got up next morning afore Daddy Sun and walked in the

hills. Twas a light snow falling .. quiet and peaceful. Folks who

don't believe Heaven can be on Earth, they ain't tried that yet.

 

Actually, a visit to Gatlinburg would be worth it just to get a chance

at seeing Dolly Parton. ;-p

 

> And whoowee....I think you should get into the tile import/export

> business. I am always blown away by the beauty of the mosaics and the

> textiles Turkey inspires.

 

Hard to make any money in that due to lack of volume .. gotta do large

business to export .. I've done it with many products over the years.

But right you are on the beauty. Iznik and Kutahya tiles are known the

world over and but few museums don't have some ancient and valuable

Turkish tiles in them. Was said that Louis XV wanted a treaty with the

Ottoman Empire only so he could have easy access to Iznik Tiles. Here

in Turkey, even the most inexpensive homes have tiled kitchens and bath.

 

As for mosaics .. throughout Turkey one can find museums where outdoor

shelters has been built over magnificent mosaics in some of the MANY

ancient cities. Chris saw some at Gordian (the city of King Midas and

the location of his Tomb) as well as at the ancient cities of Perge and

Aspendos, as well as the area of Cappadochia.

 

Doesn't take much to get me off a subject when I discuss Turkey. Lemme

say that I've been here close to 23 years and have seen more of Turkey

than any Turk .. and there are still places I MUST see for the first

time. But in Perge, we walked marble streets where wild grown oregano

lined the edges amongst the columns. Aspendos is but one of the many

ancient amphitheaters where concerts are still held .. Pavrotti (who

attended Ankara Conservatory of Music before his fame) has returned to

perform at Aspendos twice .. and once at the theater in Ephesus.

 

Back to my point .. I've accidently found mosaics in fields where sheep

were grazing. I'm pretty sure only the sheepherders and villagers in

the area knew they were there. And I'm not into telling. ;-p

 

Three years ago, I took a Norwegian buddy to an area in the south along

the Lycian Coast .. couple of miles from one of the MANY ancient cities

of Lydia. The area was strown with hillside tombs and stone sarcophagi

in the fields but aside from that nothing much to draw one's attention

because we have many ancient cities in Turkey .. some date back 10,000

years .. and after a bit, you need to see something different.

 

Anyway, I had found a beautiful mosaic floor there 15 years or so before

our trip .. was around 40' X 25' depicting a hunting scene with typical

characters that would accompany a hunt. Harald was surprised when we

entered a bushy field and I began to scrape sand away from this 3,000

plus year old work of art. He photographed it and gave his word he

wouldn't reveal the exact location. Turkey has MANY ancient sites and

there's no way the entire Turkish national budget would be sufficient to

protect them all so I see no reason to announce this one now.

 

Harald Skogseid and I go way back, more a brother than just a friend.

He invited me to Oslo on my 50th birthday .. spent a week in his beach

house on the fjord and made my first ever cold water dive (dry suit) on

that day. ;-p Harald's a Professor of Social Anthropology who created

a new discipline and department called Human Ecology. In any case, the

photos he took of the mosiacs that day are in one of his recent books.

 

See .. I don't know where to stop. ;-p

 

> Thanks for the weblink to the photos. Great job on it Chris!

>

> Dale

 

She did good ... some ahole hacked the site once. Can't prove it but

we know who it was. Justice was served in other ways after some crooked

deals this person got involved with rocked the AT community. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

> > Where else are you going besides the desert? Patty

>

> I hope to not spend much time in the desert .. but in the mountains. My

> route and stop off points are Washington, D.C. then Friendsville, MD -

> down to Tennessee to see my mother, to Atlanta to see my children and

> grand rugrats .. then across to NW Arkansas to visit an old buddy who

> retired on Beaver Lake .. then SW to the area around Lordsburg, NM.

> Swinging back through eastern Kansas into the Land Between the Lakes

> area of eastern Kentucky .. then back across West By Gawd Virginnie to

> MD and eventually back to DC.

>

> Lotta miles but there are some great C & W stations on the radaydiyo so

> it'll pass well .. ;-p Butch