The Wonderland of the Ancient World!

Once upon a time on the coast of the Aegean, in Halicarnassus (today’s Bodrum), there lived a powerful king and queen, Mausolus and Artemisia. They were deeply in love with each other. Their legendary love story ended too soon when Mausolus fell ill and closed his eyes forever. After the death of the man she loved so much that she would have given her own life for him, Artemisia shut herself away from the world. The queen cried for days and, according to legend, even drank a potion made from her husband’s ashes. She believed this way he would flow through her veins and a part of him would always stay within her. But you know how some women are (like me:)) they feel everything very deeply. Even drinking her beloved’s ashes was not enough for the queen. She wanted to build a monument so great that the people of Halicarnassus and future generations would never forget their love.

The greatest artists, sculptors, architects and craftsmen of the time worked on every detail of this tomb. Marble columns rose toward the sky, battles and victories came to life in the reliefs, and poems were carved into stone. And this is how the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was born.

Halicarnassus

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

In the center of Bodrum, very close to the seaside, stands the museum of Halicarnassus, the ancient wonder that gave the word “Mausoleum” (from Mausolus) to monuments all over the world. When I went to visit, I thought I would at least be able to see part of it. But unfortunately, from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, once a symbol of human imagination and architectural skill in the Ancient World, today you can only see piles of stones and memories.

As I walked among the ruins, I thought to myself, even if the stones fall apart, the stories always remain eternal. Isn’t it strange? Kings, emperors, tyrants have all passed, yet in the end, the world has belonged to no one.

Halicarnassas Maousolum

Then I remembered a photo I have watched at least fifty times, whose words I know by heart. It inspired Carl Sagan’s book Pale Blue Dot. It shows our planet as a tiny speck, a pale blue dot, taken from almost six billion kilometers away.

Maybe you have seen the video of Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot with his voice. My favorite part, the one that really touches me, goes like this: *Everyone we love, everyone we know, everyone we have ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, has lived out their lives on this small mote of dust. Thousands of confident ideologies, religions, and economic doctrines. Every hunter and gatherer, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, every hopeful child, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived here

The Earth is just a small stage in the vast cosmic arena.

Think of the rivers of blood spilled by generals and emperors, so that for a brief moment they could become the rulers of a tiny fraction of a dot, basking in glory and triumph.

Make it stand out

“The fate of every living, breathing, growing creature, of every metabolism.”

These words touch me so deeply. In the end, no one is here forever. No one can stand against death, it comes for everyone. “The fate of every living, breathing, growing creature, of every metabolism.” Our life and our identity may feel like they are in our hands, but death is always the winner. No matter how perfect or flawless we are, life itself is not. Yet isn’t the point to keep playing, even knowing the cards are stacked against us and that we will eventually lose? We may make mistakes, we may take wrong turns, but still we must go on fighting to win. That’s why I believe it’s so important to remind ourselves often how meaningful life is and how precious every single moment can be. After all, isn’t the richest person the one who truly owns their own time?

Alright, I’ve probably spoken enough about death and our mortality. Let’s turn to something brighter our two week Aegean holiday and its highlight, the stunning bays of Göcek:) On this journey along the Aegean coast, where we also visited the ancient city of Ephesus in Izmir, there was so much to see and tell. You know how it is with these ancient lands, the legends and stories never end. To use our time wisely, I’ll leave Ephesus for another post:)

Göcek Bay

When you set out from Göcek harbor into the deep blue waters, you don’t only meet nature and the sea, but also history and legends. Every captain has their own route, and every bay has its own story. In these bays, where you sleep and wake on the water for days, watch sunrises and sunsets, eat to your heart’s content, dance, and if you’re like me even sit in the water reading a book, you end up with so much time on your hands that you even start wondering where the bays got their names:) That’s what I call a real luxury of time:) Some bays are named after artists, some are said to have kept a queen’s beauty secrets, and others, according to the stories, have hosted the hearts of lovers.

Of course, I can’t write about every single bay we visited, nor can I put into words all the feelings I had on the boat… But I think you already get what I mean, oldies but goldies:) So here are a few of the bays, their beauty, and their stories places where, if you ever go, you might remember me and even have a little something to tell later on.

Bedri Rahmi Bay

For Eyüboğlu, the fish was more than just a figure. He once said, “The fish is the folk song of the seas.” For him, it symbolized the natural spirit of Anatolia and the simplicity of people’s lives.

Have you ever heard of the poem Karadut? It is one of my favorites. Its author, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, is one of the most colorful figures in Turkish literature and painting. He was both a poet and a painter, a bridge between folk culture and modern art, and at the same time the hero of a forbidden love story finding the love of his life only after he was already married. The famous painter loved his forbidden love, Mari, so deeply that he painted her again and again, sometimes under different names, but always her. He could never be with Mari, and because of that, his love became eternal. Even though his wife and everyone else knew about this love, he continued to live it quietly within himself. He wrote the poem Karadut for her.

Karadut (Mulberry)

My black mulberry, my dark branch, my gypsy
My pomegranate seed, my light, my only one
If I am a tree, you are my branches, spreading wide
If I am a honeycomb, you are my honey, my poison
You are my sin, you are my burden.

Your tongue is coral, your teeth are coral, your lips are coral
The one I gave my life for on your path
The one I searched for in the sky and found on the earth
My black mulberry, my dark branch, my gypsy
What more could you have been, my only one
You are my smiling quince, my crying pomegranate
My woman, my mare, my wife.

My dark one, my dark one
Your eyebrows are dark, your eyes are dark, your fate is dark
Without you, my love, may this world be forbidden to me.

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu

Then comes the story of Bedri Rahmi Bay in Göcek, whose real name is Taşyaka Bay. According to what is told, in the 1970s Eyüboğlu joined a blue cruise with his friends. When they reached this bay in Göcek, he created his famous fish-shaped painting on a rock. Inside the figure of the fish, he hid other animals one after another an octopus, a squid, a sea bream, a moray eel, a rabbit. This artwork, located on the northern side of the bay, still stands today.

One of the most unforgettable moments of my life happened in this turquoise bay, where my daughter and I paddled to shore on a board, stepped out of the sea, and ate fresh sweet corn. Since we had just come out of the water, we sent the money straight to the local woman’s account instead of paying in cash. Maybe it doesn’t sound like much, but for me it was pure magic. Some people are truly lucky in this life. While we can only enjoy these bays for a week or so each year, they spend their whole lives here. But since I know the world isn’t a fair place, I don’t dwell on it. I just say, it’s fate:)

As for Yassıca Islands, where I woke up every morning at sunrise, they are made up of a few small islets. From a distance, they look like green and blue beads scattered across the sea. I read that there is a local belief about their origin: when the gods were creating the bays of Göcek, they couldn’t get enough of the beauty. So they took a handful of stones and sprinkled them into the sea. From those stones, the Yassıca Islands were born. That’s why people here also call them “the pearls scattered by the gods.” Isn’t that just lovely?

Yassıca Islands

Binlik Bay

This was the first bay we visited, and it is the farthest of the Göcek bays from the harbor. I read different stories about why it’s called Binlik. Some say the name comes from the thousands of olive trees that once grew around the bay. Others believe it comes from the way the stones at the bottom of the sea sparkle like thousands of tiny lights. Either way, the bay is just as magical as its name.

I think this might have been my favorite. Calm, peaceful, quiet, with pine trees and endless shades of blue. It doesn’t try to be beautiful, yet it simply is. Goats and donkeys wander on its hills, while garfish swim below the surface to greet you. Think of it as Göcek’s very own welcome party.

Small Wings

light moments, and simple joys.

At some point I have to stop writing:) In the past, I loved to chat endlessly, but now I think I love holding a pen the most. In the future, whenever I read what I’ve written, I will remember these joyful summer days I spent by the sea. I will look back and say, what beautiful, happy days those were...

But there is one thing I am deeply grateful for: I try to value ordinary moments while I am living them. Because I know how fleeting everything is, and that’s exactly why I write. People often imagine happiness as a rare, colorful bird that suddenly lands on their shoulder. Yet they don’t realize that what they’ve been waiting for all those years is really made of small wings, light moments, and simple joys.

So my wish is that while we are living these moments, we lean toward our own hearts and whisper: what a beautiful, happy day this is…

See you on another journey.

Cheers,

Betty.