Trakya Gezisi

16-17 Nisan 2005

I started my journey from home. (Which is at Esenþehir/ISTANBUL) I headed towards the second bridge, and continued to ride to west along the freeway (TEM).

About 34 km's after passing the pay-road entrance (toll stations), I reached the exit for Catalca. I left TEM at that exit.

This is at the fuel stop (BP). It is just before Catalca. It is just 36.5 km's after the toll stations. You can see my road notes on taped on the fuel tank. The road notes are proven to be accurate now.

These are my road notes:

nr	Type	Place	Distance	Notes
1	G	Toll road start	0.0
2	G	Toll station: Çatalca	29.2
3	O	Çatalca	34.9
4	F	BP, (N,S,K)	36.5
5	F	Petrol Ofisi (N,S,K)	38.7
6	T	Railway	41.5
7	V	Nesin Vakfý/foundation	43.1
8	o	Gökçeali	43.3
9	F	P.O, OPET, Restaurants	47.1
10	o	Subaþý	47.1
11	o	Akalan	51.9
12	o	Ýhsaniye	57.1
13	o	Gümüþpýnar	68.5
14	T	Silivri, Sinekli	73.0
15	T	TEM Toll station(dist=30km), Hallaþlý, Sayalar, Çayýrdere, Beyciler
16	o	Aydýnlar	78.9
17	o	Binkýlýç	84.2
18	~	Ýstanbul-Tekirdað border	91.5
19	o	Safaalaný	92.1
20	S	Pond	93.0	At the end of Safaalaný, North
21	S	Fountain	97.8
22	F	BP, P.O (N,S,K)	107.5
23	O	Saray	108.8
24	~	Tekirdað-Kýrklareli border	114.3
25	o	Çakýllý	117.6	Plane-tree
26	F	Petrol Ofisi (N,S,K)	119.0
27	F	Türk Petrol (N,S,K)	126.6
28	O	Vize	128.1	Castle of Vize
29	F	Shell (N,S,K)	128.7
30	H	Trak Hotel (Vize)
31	!	Road work (Remember, we are not still in 2005)	134.5
32	!	Road work (Remember, we are not still in 2005)	134.2	I saw a fox here
33	o	Pazarlý	137.0
34	T	Sergen, Evrencik
35	T	Doðanca	140.7	Park at the rightside
36	T	Soðucak	142.7
37	o	Poyralý	146.7
38	T	Demirtepe, Dupnisa maðarasý	147.2	Cave - worth seeing.
39	F	Petrol Ofisi	147.8	at the rightside
40	o	Erenler	149.0	Binbir Oklu Ahmet Baba Türbesi/Mouseleum
41	O	Pýnarhisar	152.5	Fuel station. Junction for Lüleburgaz
42	o	Kaynarca	158.9
43	T	Karýncak	167.4
44	o	Üsküpdere	169.7
45	T	Üsküp Junction	172.5
46	o	Kýzýlcýkdere	174.5
47	O	Kýrklareli	184.4	Traffic lights

Symbols
T	Junction
o	Village
O	Town
F	Fuel station
~	Border
H	Hotel
G	Toll station
S	Water resource, pond etc.
!	Attention!

Istanbul-Tekirdað border.

Tekirdað-Kýrklareli border.

I didn't give a break till I reached Kaynarca. This is the history of this village. According to the plate, Persian Emperor Darius stayed here for three days. Mytological hero, Tyracean king Tearos used to hang-around here. :-)

The name of the village is Kaynarca, which means watersource - spring. Trout is produced in the village.

I cannot say the type of this fish. :-(

Well, it seems that they are not producing trouts at the moment.

That is me, in front of a grocery.

A peaceful dog, having siesta.

Local guys at the village cafe. (Kahve/Kahvehane/Kýraathane)

Kýzýlcýkdere, the garden of my grandparents.

Me as an unnecessary figure behing the tulip.

Grandmother seems to have planted beautiful tulips.

Sliced bread, butter and some spice together does not stay long on the table.

This not a table in fact. It is called sofra. The height of a sofra is only about one feet. Of course you do not use a seat with sofra, you sit on a mattress on the floor. Practical indeed.

I ended my first day in Kýrklareli. My parents are living in a flat at the city center.

Next day, I started riding to Edirne. I stopped to take photos before Edirne.

This is my favourite restaurant in Edirne. (The neighboring restaurants are also O.K. though.) It is just behind Ali Pasa Covered Bazaar.

Ciðer Tava This is irresistable. Liver is coated wih flour and fried like chips. Believe me, you if forget to have it, you will regret.

This photo is a text book photo for Turkish tea. We drink black tea (Schwarz tea, cha, etc.) with this type of glass, which is rather small and thin. The glass have a matching cupboard and a small spoon. It is much smaller than a dessert spoon. Many restaurants in turkey offer tea after the meal. It is usually on-the-house, as it is now.