My 30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 1

Many people ask me about the curious name of my blog; why Geriatric Gapper? When I called myself that, I didn't realise that a 'gap year' is not a universal term. In the UK, students often take a 'gap year' between school and university. It is a sort of coming of age, where they might go travelling, engage in some sort of work experience, or volunteer to work for a charity. My gap year came about after a lifetime of working as a teacher in international schools in many countries, the last one in Turkey. To celebrate our retirement, my husband and I embarked on  a journey to visit friends and relatives living in far flung places. For us, this was a sort of gap year before we decided how, and where, to spend our retirement. We were obviously no longer young, so the Geriatric Gappers we became. (Although my husband balked at the term 'geriatric!)

I began my blog in July 2007, as a way of letting my three daughters know where we were and what we were doing. We travelled From Istanbul to England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand, spending a few months in each place. It was when we hit Thailand, and helped some friends who were running a teacher recruitment fair, that my husband was offered a job back in Istanbul! So his retirement was deferred, and I got to enjoy the freedom of that wonderful city!

By now, we had one daughter in England (now moved to Italy), one in South Africa, and one in Australia. So I kept up the blog for them, and anyone else who might be interested. Having daughters on 3 continents means I get to travel a lot, as I visit them all every year whenever possible. My blog was especially important for them as, through my photos, they got to see how their sisters were living.
  
So now comes the big question, "Why have I joined the 30 Day Blog Challenge" set up by Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur? I joined because after 6 years of blogging, I have just 23 followers on my blog. I know this started as a personal blog, specifically for my children, but I feel it has become so much more, and I do intend to start a more professional blog very soon. My purpose in these 30 days will be to learn as much as possible, and start my new blog with a bang! This blog, however, will not go out with a whimper, as it is an important record of our family life, so I will continue this one too. See you tomorrow!

A Wedding in Manchester, England

Catherine and Michael, the happy couple.

We recently made a flying trip to Manchester, England, for a family wedding. It was great fun catching up with some of the family, and we all had a wonderful time. The nuptial mass was held at St Cuthbert's Church, Withington, followed by a reception at Nunsmere Hall, a beautiful old Edwardian Mansion in Cheshire.

The bridesmaids entered first, led by Christina, the Matron of Honour...

...followed by Catherine with Bernard her proud father.

 

The mass begins in St Cuthbert's

Presenting Dr and Mrs Michael Edwards, the gorgeous couple!

The happy groomsmen gave them a resounding send-off...

...as they toasted each other in champagne...

...and then drove away in this amazing car!

Reg, Clare, Lauren and David, ready to party!

Kevin shows how to open a bottle of champagne, using a sword,
with one deft flick of the wrist.

"We are family"; Lauren, Shayna, Clare and Sarah

Sarah and Zane toast the bride and groom.

Patricia and Tim; we are so looking forward to their wedding in November!

Steven, Lauren and Casey. They travelled all the way from Laos

to celebrate Catherine's wedding.

The next generation! Jessica, Kyran, Casey and Finley

Margy and Bernard, very happy parents!

Henry and Katherine, Mikey's parents.

The cutting of the cake...

...and the happy couple get to dance together, at last!

All in all, this was a wonderful day, full of happiness and laughter, and one we shall never forget! Congratulations Cath and Mikey, you make a wonderful couple. May you always be as happy as you were on this day!

Bulgaria: ARIT Tour Day 4, Ardino, Kardzhali and Svilengrad

 

All packed up, we began our homeward journey, back to Istanbul. Our route took us through Ardino. There, we were amused to see the above sign on the door of the cafe, where we stopped for a mid-morning break. ...and then we looked nervously around at the other diners. There had to be a reason for that notice!

We then travelled on to Kardzhali, which has the distinction of having the greatest number of ethnic Turks in Bulgaria,

We were hoping to visit the History Museum of Kardzhali, 

but unfortunately it is closed on a Monday!

The Mustafa Pasha Bridge in Svilengrad was our next stop. Dating from the 16th century, this was built by Mimar Sinan, the Ottoman architect, on the orders of Çoban Mustafa Pasha, when the area was part of the Ottoman Empire.. The bridge is 295 metres long, with 20 arches.

The Mustafa Pasha Bridge

 

This says "This bridge was built during Sultan Suleiman Han's time 

by his vizir Mustapha Pacha in 1529"

Here is the original inscription, written in Arabic

Here, you can see the detail of the brick, and just how sturdily built it was. Strong enough to last nearly 450 years, so far. (Although some of the arches were destroyed in a flood in 1766, and reconstructed in 1809)

And that was the end of out tour. We hastened back through the border at Edirne, and said our final goodbyes. We had a great time, with memories - and photographs - of our happy time together. Thank you everyone for making this such an enjoyable trip!

Bulgaria: ARIT Tour Day 3, Maden and Zlatograd

The Cathedral of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan

This is the largest Orthodox church in Southern Bulgaria, and is the third largest in the whole country. From its appearance, it is obviously a new addition to Smolyan. Its design is controversial, some like it and some hate it. I happen to like it. I find its roundness and arches within arches fascinating. It was consecrated on 2 July 2006, and is named after Vissarion of Smolyan, a local 17th century bishop and martyr.

On the third day of our visit to Bulgaria, we visited Maden, locally known as the Crystal Heart of the Rhodope Mountains. They even have a rock crystal museum, where they have 581 mineral specimens.

From the museum, we drove to one of the ancient mines where rock crystal was found. The Sharenka mine dates from the iron age, and there are 10 figures, representing iron age people, scattered throughout the mine. They look rather scary to the unwary visitor, although we were warned beforehand by Rosa, who guards the entrance.

 

Imagine walking through a cave in complete darkness,

and suddenly coming upon one of these. Scary!

They looked like dead people!

I think he was supposed to be an iron age warrior.

Zlatograd was our main focus of the day. This small town, just 2 km from the Greek border, was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912. In the centre of the old town, many of the houses show evidence of Ottoman architecture. The whole area is very quaint, having been turned into an open air museum, with functional craft workshops showing the daily lives of the inhabitants.

Typical craft workshops in Zlatograd, with dwellings above

We stopped for a well-earned coffee at this restaurant. 

 Waiting for coffee

Here, the coffee is boiled in hot sand, in a brick oven...

...and then spun around on a tray before serving.

The Ethnographic Museum in Zlatograd is small, but well worth a visit. 

It shows the history of the people in this area, and has traditional clothes and working implements, as well as examples of typical dwellings.

Everyday household items, used in the area

This shows a typical room. Notice the crib suspended from the ceiling

over the bed, and the cooking pot in the fireplace.