Krakow to Tbilisi: Day 6
Amasya to Rize, still in Turkey. Distance 534 km
By this point of the trip I think we were both starting to look forward to the endless road ending.
Beautiful as all of the drive was, it was still a lot.
That was part of the reason we just couldn’t set off early from this magical place. The idea of spending another day in the car was a bit much. But we also didn’t feel like we had done any stop justice so far, having mostly seen a tiny bit of whichever city we stayed in, at night.
So, even though we spent a fair bit of time the previous evening wandering around, we decided to delay our departure a bit and take another look around, in daylight. And Amasya did not disappoint, being just as wonderful in the daylight. But first we took our time over breakfast, which was a feast of homemade deliciousness, rounded off by the apple tea and fresh apple.
It was a sad goodbye to a place that we both fell in love with. But we (and by we, I really mean me and my obsession with bodies of water!) were looking forward to seeing the Black Sea.
The scenery was spectacular, with winding roads through mountain passes leading us from one breathtaking view to the next.
And there was plenty of time to make silly jokes about our Tripadvisor reviews of the Black Sea, and how it wasn’t black.
One of the things that really stood out for me on this leg of the journey was how we continually encountered kindness and generosity. The best example on this day was when we decided to stop for lunch. I decided that I wanted anything but another service station sandwich/ wrap. So I pulled off the road a few times and by the third stop we hit gold. The place I stopped at, which looked like they were about to grill some meat, told us that it would still take a while, but they suggested we go to their friends across the road. It was a dual carriageway and we dodged traffic to make it across, under the watchful gaze of the man who suggested it. And he also called out to his friends, who didn’t speak much English to let them know we needed food.
I could wax lyrical about this meal, for sure. You know how some foods just transport you back to specific circumstances? Well, for me, this meal had me sitting in my Granny’s kitchen again, eating rice and meat. And Maria had been wanting to try some authentic soup and I managed to order a delicious Lentil based soup that she loved as well. A huge success, all round.
Arriving in Rize after dark was a little disappointing as there would be no stroll along the beach. But we did manage to find some more food and even a late night market where I got salad for the traveling pets.
In all, it was a really good day and another one where we felt cared for by the innate goodness of human beings and where we could experience more of the splendour of Turkey. The hotel was not a highlight, but they had a lovely painting of tortoises being cared for, so we felt like we were possibly in the right place, despite the lack of luxury.
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