Blessing or misfortune... Reflections on the streets of harsh Sivas #TheLongestTrip

Life is like a zebra. Black and white stripes change and you never know what will happen the next moment. But I believe: God is always there. And when this incomprehensible law of "cause and effect" works in our lives - God helps to pass this black stripe...

I disappeared again for a long time, because three weeks ago there was a difficult black stripe in our lives... and I unexpectedly found myself on the streets of the city of Sivas, which I called the North Pole of Turkey.
This time the challenge in my life was very difficult. I suddenly got into an accident, I lost my car... But fortunately, God performed a miracle: I and my daughters remained completely unharmed 🙏
Misfortune? Or a blessing?

I was walking among beautiful mosques with high minarets at sunset, and I thought about my life... Why did I end up here, and stuck here for 3 weeks.
Suffering from the excessive summer heat, I dreamed of September - the best velvet season to spend in Kemer. It's 30 degrees Celsius during the day, 22 at night there now. And here a cold snap has come, 5 degrees Celsius at night, a cold wind is blowing, and the sun is scorching... As if the harsh situation of my life has found a continuation in natural phenomena...

I needed accommodation, but there are no Airbnb offers in Sivas, only hotels, which often do not meet the quality requirements, although the prices are European. We were lucky to find a nice hotel "Lotus", for 2500 TL (about 60 $) per day. There is a strange shower system here. I have never seen anything like this before: the shower is not separated from the toilet in any way. Therefore: when we took a shower - everything around was wet, and water poured under the door to the room. But the room was warm, and a modest breakfast was included in the price. Unlike the previous Apart Hotel, where the stove was broken, there was no electric kettle, the door was broken, and it was terribly cold, the conditions here seemed to be at the level of luxury. Therefore, we were grateful to God for this 🙏

And for several days in a row we checked into this hotel, and the next day we checked out. We didn't know how many days we would spend in this city, we did our urgent business, waited for the decision of the authorized bodies, and in the evening we checked into this hotel again... The staff watched us with interest :)

We were lucky that this hotel was a few minutes walk from the city center. We walked and looked at the architecture and lifestyle of this place. I am always amazed: how in big cities one-story houses are preserved among high-rise buildings. Or this pile of firewood near the modern cafe-pizzeria. Preparing for winter. I really like to sit by the Turkish stove when it's cold.

We walked, got cold and hungry. We were looking for a nice warm cafe, and here was "Tavuk Dunassi", a good Turkish franchise, where there is always delicious lentil soup, and the opportunity to charge our phones.
Through the window we saw an exotic sight: a man selling buns was carrying a huge metal plate filled with buns on his head. Wow! What if it falls? Later we specially went up and looked at this miracle: the plate had a special recess for the head, like a hat!

My daughter @bugavi was depressed. She stopped working on a clothing ad... And it was very difficult to continue doing it in such conditions. We needed to buy some outfits for a photo shoot. We would go into the fitting room of the shopping mall together, take a photo, and send it to our employer.
It was a kind of dope to distract our brain from heavy thoughts: what to do next?

My @darine.darine saw a cafe where they made natural ice cream. A few years ago we ate it in the city of Kotor, Montenegro. It was fun to watch this process of making ice cream. It is truly an art to create these masterpieces from fruits, berries and milk.
But eating ice cream in such cold weather was an extreme experience 🙂 Later we warmed up with Turkish tea.

https://youtube.com/shorts/NCFLgvUykb4?si=P-HgkaJuDbfUt-dM

I needed a car to go to different places: the gendarmerie in Kangal, the customs office, the notary, the translator in Kayseri. After a car accident, fear and uncertainty arise. But I couldn't let that happen. My daughters were very brave, they supported me and encouraged me. And I took the Renault, and I drove with faith. I love driving so much. This Renault is similar in handling to my Mazda.

I dreamed of visiting all the most beautiful natural and historical places in Turkey in my Mazda. I wanted to see the four seas of Turkey. I visited Trabzon and the Black Sea. There are still many amazing places ahead and the fourth Sea of ​​Marmara. We need new dreams that give energy to life!

Sivas is the second largest province in Turkey.
The first settlements in the valley formed by the Kızılırmak, Yeşilırmak and Euphrates rivers date back to 7000-5000 BC. It is an ancient city that has been home to many different civilizations for millennia. The city became the capital of the Seljuk state in 1220 and the center of a large region called Eyalet-i Rum under the Ottoman rule in 1398.
Sivas, where unique elements of cultural and historical tourism are combined with the beauty of nature, serves as a bridge between the western, northern, eastern and southeastern tourist destinations of Anatolia with an airport and well-developed rail and road transportation.

As it turned out, there are a lot of monuments of ancient architecture in Sivas. Here is one of them:
The Twin Minaret Madrasa, one of the most monumental structures of the Seljuk period, is also one of the most damaged and destroyed. Only its eastern, or front, façade survives. Excavations conducted in the 1960s revealed that it was a monumental two-story structure with an open courtyard and four iwans. Traces of an ancient soup kitchen or dervish lodge adjacent to the madrasa remain from the corner towers to the south, and to the north, traces of what may have been public baths inside the madrasa. According to the inscription on its portal, it was built in 1271 by the vizier Sahip Şemseddin Muhammed Cüveyni.

I enjoyed walking around medieval Sivas, giving free rein to my creative imagination. I don't know the names of these buildings, but my soul rested here, enjoying creations of human hands, who lived here many hundreds of years ago, leaving rich, priceless heritage to modern descendants...

We spent 7 unforgettable days in Sivas, unexpectedly discovering the value of this city, finding exclusive ancient monuments that are harmoniously combined here with modern infrastructure. My daughter Victoria found a new hobby - collecting photos of mosques, which are fascinating with their diversity and beautiful architecture.

A few days ago we sent our car to Ukraine...
To do this, we flew to Istanbul, rented a car, and drove to Edirne, the Kapikиle border.
My Mazda was my first car. It's like my first love. So many emotions in my soul that will never go away. There will be other cars, but probably there will never be such a feeling again. All these trips on long roads in unfamiliar countries. Stops at night under the stars by the side of the road....
It was our cozy home on our travels. It was our friend. We drove through 8 European countries together, and now we sent it back to Ukraine, where its further fate will be decided. My daughter Vika consoles me: Mom, it's just metal. I'll buy you a better car! But there were tears in my eyes when I saw it off. However, I'm trying to be okay! God knows all our paths in advance. And I believe: everything that doesn't happen is for the better!
After all, there are such tragic situations where innocent people die...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPWfPj_AFSb/?igsh=a3BuMWl6NTBleG1k

Yesterday it happened in the city of Konya, Turkey. And it's scary to realize. And it's impossible to understand 😢

We returned to Kemer, which became our second home.

Therefore, I thank God for miraculously saving our lives from this road accident!
We are alive and well, we are together, new adventures await us ahead, we believe that everything will be fine!🙏🙏🙏