Giresun: Cherries,
hazelnuts, sunsets, sailing and new friends
The island of Giresun Adasi lies off the coast of the historic
provincial capital city of Giresun.
Black Sea Logbook Entry
Date: 6/29/2010
Distance: 29 nm
Sailed from: Ordu (Eferli)
Lat: 40° 55.1'N
Long: 38° 22.7'E
We had light winds and uncomfortable swell on the
Black Sea today
for our passage to Giresun. The swell was running so much that we actually
bumped the sandy bottom at the silted entrance of one of the harbors we surveyed
along the way. It made us all the more relieved to find the large and well
protected harbor of Giresun waiting for us at the end of the day along with
welcoming waves and helping hands of local sailors.
During our stay in Giresun, we were hosted by Özer Akbasli,
the head of the local sailing club and also president of the hazelnut grower's
union, and by his friend, VolkanTürkyilmaz, the owner of the Çarikçi Hotels
in Giresun and Marmaris who speaks English and has a passion for travel and
adventure to rival David's, except his vehicle of choice is a Toyota Land
Cruiser. Teoman Arsay, a mutual friend in Istanbul, arranged for us to
meet these two fine men while we were sailing along the Turkish coast of the
Black Sea.
We moored Gat
the Giresun "yacht club" which is still more of a dream than reality
but was very comfortable for us. They have a small dock attached to the
inner breakwater of the commercial harbor to which two local sailing yachts are
moored. We had called ahead about our arrival and were met at the
dock. They offered water and electricity at the slip which is a lot more
than we could find in most harbors. We used Özer's boat to gain access to
shore, and members of the club, including Osman, the sailing coach, kept a close
eye on Gyatso while we were there. The neighboring harbor was built
for yachts and fishing boats but is now a busy fishing harbor with no
place for yachts that doesn't interfere with the off-season work of the fishing
trawler crews. Özer showed us plans for improving the area with a proper
marina and yacht club along the inside breakwater of the lightly used commercial
harbor. We hope they realize their plans because Giresun is a wonderful
city for hosting foreign yachts.
The name for Giresun is derived from the Greek word for
cherry. It is believed that that the first cherries were taken from here
to Rome in ancient times. Today, the delicious, plump cherries we found in
the markets are grown elsewhere in Turkey -- the ones of Giresun's fame are the
wild cherry variety. Turkey produces 85% of the world's supply of
hazelnuts (think Nutella, etc.), and today Giresun is the main center of
hazelnut production in Turkey. A million Turkish farm families make their
living from hazelnuts which are sprinkled liberally on many local dishes or
ground into a paste and used in baking and sweet desserts.
The city was founded by the Greeks, and as with so many places
we have visited, what appealed to them was a steep promontory which extended to
the sea and offered shelter to ships and a defensible position upon which to
build an acropolis. Although subsequent fortification by the Romans,
Byzantines, Genoese and Ottomans have obliterated nearly all traces of the
original Greek settlement, the setting is completely consistent with all of the
other important Greek ports we have visited.
On our first evening, we were treated to dinner at Eskina, a
local waterfront restaurant where the view and food are equally
exceptional. The mayor dined at a nearby table with other local leaders.
Ozer ordered up a selection of local specialties, including misir unu ekmegi,
the dense cornbread which is sprinkled with a mild, crumbly white cheese, taflan
tuzlusu kavurmasi, a savory dish in which salted taflan (a type of
cherry) is sauteed with butter and onions in an unusually tasty preparation, and
mantar kavurmasi, sauteed local mushrooms -- these were just some of the
starters which were followed by scorpion fish poached with herbs and fresh
cherries tossed with ice cubes for dessert.
Our second day began with breakfast at Volkan's hotel which
provided us with ample energy for a day of sightseeing around the city. We
started at the kale (castle) at the top of the hill and worked our way
down from there through a historic neighborhood to the archeology museum.
It was a hot and sunny day, so we found a lokantasi with air conditioning
for lunch before stopping at the Migros supermarket for provisions on our way
back to the boat. That evening we had Ozer and Volkan onboard for a sail which
was followed by dinner in Ozer's family garden terrace which they had recently
built in the traditional Eastern Black Sea style. We feasted on delicious
Turkish dishes (a fresh salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and herbs and a
roasted summer squash salad), freshly baked bread and grilled kofte accompanied
with homemade wine and raki. All of this was followed by platters
of melon and cherries -- a memorable evening to top-off our truly enjoyable stay
in Giresun. Here are a few pictures:
We watched the sunset and sampled local specialties and fish at
Eskina, a waterfront restaurant.
We spent the second evening sailing with Özer and Volkan aboard Gyatso.
Dinner with Ozer's family on their garden terrace.
Gyatso moored at the Giresun "yacht club".
Our Black Sea voyage continues in Tirebolu,
Turkey...
Return to Logbook
for the Black Sea.
Return to
main Logbook page for s/v Gyatso.
|
