Food Poisoning in Ankara, Turkey
I dont remember the name of the Ankara hotel. I do remember there was no air conditioning, it was located in a heavily trafficked area with noise the entire evening.
None of that mattered because 19 years has not blocked out the memory of one of the worst nights in my life caused by food poisoning received in a "nice" Ankara Restaurant. And, I can tell you exactly what made me so terribly ill, and, I discovered the next morning, Bill also. A cold green pepper stuffed with meat that must not have been refrigerated properly. We were the only two who ate this appetizer and around midnight, the long, painful vigil began. Vomiting, cramps and diarrhea that went on for hours. My only saving grace during that all too long night, spent in a hot, noisy, sweaty room (and on the bathroom floor) was a mini-bar in the room with Coca Cola in it.
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The next morning...
Road kill looked better than I did. An embalmed person who had been buried years ago before being exhumed looked better than I did. I couldn't even sit at the breakfast table and look at food. This is when we discovered that Dick had been equally sick all night. Bottles of Coca Cola for breakfast before leaving for a morning visit to a few of Ankara's sights. Weak as kittens, Dick and I first lay on the steps of Ataturk's mausoleum like two derelicts with coke bottles propped in hands (they could have just entombed us there) before moving to the Ankara Archaeological Museum where the group finished their visit. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.
The scheduled noon flight to Erzurum took off on time and Jack transferred the group to a small hotel with the afternoon free. It was possible to walk around the city that had been a lively trading center for centuries as well as the eastern bastion of the Byzantine Empire. Two landmarks of Seljuk Architecture are the Cifte Minare Seminary and Ulu Mosque. I don't have to tell you what I did and saw.
You could find me flat in my small bed for the rest of the afternoon looking out the room window at trees with the biggest stork's nests I've ever seen. It was important to feel well by tomorrow for the five-hour drive to Yusufeli/Barhal where the 7-day trek would begin. To this day, a cold stuffed green pepper has not crossed these lips and never will.
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