Blue Sinop & Black Sea
Sinop - the northernmost point of Türkiye - provided a welcome break from Istanbul’s constant bustle.
As the plane was approaching the airport, the ground beneath us was a lush green, the sky grey and droplets falling on the cabin windows told us it was drizzling outside. The view - and the weather once we got off the plane - instantly reminded of Scotland and I couldn’t help but feeling happy and at peace.
The weather changed for the better the next day, and discovering Sinop was an unexpected treat. At the end of May, it was still very quiet and the question we got asked the most when we sat at a restaurant or terrace or went food shopping was “How did you end up here? Why aren’t you in Istanbul, or Antalya, or Bodrum or Cappadocia?”. Locals didn’t seem understand how and why we had ended up there.
After a couple of days, we realised that Sinop is actually a popular summer spot for Turkish tourists, but a rather rare destination for foreign tourists and travellers.
It was still too chilly to go for a swim, which meant we got to do lots of exploring rather than just chilling at the beach. Going for walks around the old town, longer walks around outer residential areas and even longer walks along the coastline, we discovered hotels, summer cabins and camping places that were being renovated and prepared for the high season. The beaches needed a good clean up and so did the various picnic and barbequing spots, which looked like a fairy land to me until I saw the amount of stuff people just left behind. Some places seemed desolate or even fully abandoned - something “lost places” afficionados would surely appreciate.
Sinop - for me - is blue. Blue and green. Messy and idyllic. Windy and stormy. With terrific waves and dramatic sunsets that we admired from the beach, as the rest of the town was quietly getting ready for a busy summer season. All of these things contributed to the slow, mysterious and unique atmosphere this place has to offer at that time of year.
