Thanks to some children around me on the bus, sleeping more than one or two hours was mission impossible.
Not a big problem - driving along the Black Sea coastline at dawn is quite spectacular. At 9 am, after around
18 hours on the bus, we finally arrive in Trabzon. The bus terminal is quite far away from the the city centre
along the road to Rize. And so we decide to get an onward ticket first for the next day. Next, we take a dolmuş
for around € 0.30 to the centre of town, which is marked by Meydan square (there are several names, but we
heard "Meydan square" quite often, although "meydan" means "square". From the square we walk along a road
leading to the beach. After a few hundred metres, we can already see the Georgian consulate.|
Picture: The Aya Sofya in Trabzon
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And so we got rid off all the cash we had, which means that we would have to look for an ATM before we can find a hotel. Many hotels concentrate in a small area east of the main square - among them mostly very cheap, more or less worn hotels (for more details see accommodation below). After catching up on some sleep, we leave the hotel to see what's to see in Trabzon. The first thing we notice is the rather western fashion, which is not limited to men. All in all, Trabzon appears to be a surprisingly cosmopolitan city and is sometimes even more modern than Istanbul. We leave the vibrant city centre around small Meydan square and walk to the Aya Sofya, a very old church outside the city centre. Halfway, we see some ruins of an old fortress and remainings of the city wall as well as the huge stadium of the local soccer club Trabzonspor - not unknown to European football fans.
The church is a bit hidden and overviews the coastline. Entrance fee is € 0.6. The first church was built in the
5th century, but in it's present form it's from the 13th century. Especially the frescoes inside, depicting biblical stories,
are very impressive. There's a small separated tower, but unfortunately it's closed to the public.
In Trabzon as well as in other places in Turkey, the coastline doesn't seem to be an appreciated stretch of land that deserves preservation. The beach is full of waste of every category, with numerous structures blocking the access to the beach. Additionally, a new motorway is constructed along the coastline. The motorway is not constructed piece by piece, but it seems to be built everywhere at the same time. It might be a scenic route in future, but the waterfront itself is spoilt.
According to the staff at the hotel, there should be hot water after 7 p.m. A hot shower would have been a nice day after a night on the bus, but we end up having a cold shower. We opted for the restaurant Kıbrıs next to the city hall to grab some dinner. A good meal (no kebab this time!) incl. starters and drinks doesn't even set us back € 8 for the two of us. On the way to our hotel we hear some music and figure out where it's coming from - a dance bar. Turkish music, performed by a keyboarder and a singer running around the bar as if he would be paid for the distance and not for the time. Some beefy women and drunken men dance to the music and offer an interesting view. In the bar itself as well as in other places we notice that there are many Russians in Trazon. And so we experience the nightlife in Trabzon with some beer and Rakı, the Turkish aniseed firewater. I convince my wife to give it a try - after watching her face, I soon apologized: Forgive me, I didn't mean to torture you!
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Picture: In the centre of Trabzon: Yes, it's the OLD city centre
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