We arrived in Erzurum, a modern, conservative and very cold city (in the winter, not now) to discover that the mountain, very popular for skiing in the winter, was just behind our hotel. So of course we had to drive up as far as we could go this morning and go for a walk.
The hillsides were awash with wild flowers and, since there haven’t been many photos for our plant-loving friends, here are a bunch with identification – do click on each for detail:
After some hairy encounters in the chaotic carpark in town, we had time to wonder around this pleasant city. I persuaded Nikhil to have his beard trimmed in the barbershop (I have always wanted to do a series of photos of barbershops) which was efficient and a beautiful job, but not quite the elaborate process I was hoping for.
Our walk continued past clothes shops:
… cake shops
a calligrapher …
the odd wedding party …
and of course the occasional old building, both cared for and not:
The food blog is imminent!
Nice work identifying all the alpine spring wildflowers! (Oddly, we have most of these in our mountains here, although the rock rose looks very weird.) Beard-trimming is an especially creative idea for a photo shoot. The barber doesn’t seem at all nonplussed by two white ladies watching him work.
The rock rose is like a tiny, wild pansy – unlikely but appealing. The barber was very cool – silent, attentive and efficient – didn’t seem in the least phased by our presence ( and M’s photo shoot). I liked the complete silence in the shop – not even the slightest gesture towards chat…
That’s some wedding dress! Doesn’t look like many guests are attending….
Well, we don’t know what stage the wedding had reached – the bride looked pretty stressed and the dress clearly weighed a ton. My, possibly sentimental, wish is that they were on their way to a lovely reception party with more tea than you could drink…
Lovely. And even Miriam can be seen – proof you’re there!
Indeed! I keep trying to persuade M to include a photo of herself ( ‘ your blog followers would love it! Your public demands it ‘) but so far to no avail..
What a treat to be amongst those flowers.
We drove on one journey along a valley carpeted with buttercups – magical