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ELMALI
From Verna's diary, April 20, 1957. "We took over all 12 beds. The only hotel--dinner in a local restaurant,--no bed bugs, kerosene lamps, TAP WATER from a 5-gallon petrol can." I might add that the toilet was at the far end of the hall.
If you require a first class hotel when you travel in Turkey, you will miss a lot of wonderful sites in an ancient land. It was our fortune to be able to travel with members of the Faculty of the American Girls School. Verna usually went with them on these trips to the interior of Turkey, and I took time off, if possible, and went with them.
The Turkish Government permitted us to own a car while in Turkey. If we made a trip with the school faculty, our car and the school bus could accommodate as many as 14 people. The Blakes made perfect guides, they knew the language well, and were excellent historians.
The trip in April 1957 was to Demre, known in Byzantine times as Myra, the home of St. Nicholas. Yes, good old St. Nick, (Santa Claus ) to us. Santa Claus came from Turkey, not the north pole, in case you are interested.
Most of our roads thru Aydin, Denizli and Isparta were gravel. We made half the trip the first day to a little town called Elmali (Apple in Turkish). Rooms were not easy to find, there were 13 of us and we were assigned to three different hotels. Verna, Ken and I in one and the Blakes in one close by. Our hotel had no shades on the windows, a small light bulb hung from a cord in the middle of the ceiling, there was water and a toilet at the far end of the building.
Our night passed with out incident, but the Blakes were awakened by a knock on the door in the middle of the night. A male voice called out in Turkish. "Is there a basket under your bed?" Jack looked under the bed and assured him that there was a basket, and that he would hand it to him. The visitor then informed Jack that perhaps he had better get it himself, because his snakes were in it. A circus had been in town the day before, the snake charmer had slept in that room and left them under the bed.
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Metzger Memories
