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| In case it wasn't obvious what the focus in Rize was on... |
Even though I spent only a few hours in Rize, it has by far
been my favorite place, probably because it is a city built on tea. Caykur, the big Turkish tea company, is based
in Rize, or at the very least is a huge presence in the city. The soccer team is named after the company,
the buses have the logo plastered on them, and there are tea plantations all
around.
Before we could go to tea heaven, however, we wanted to step
into an interworld between Turkey
and Georgia:
Land of the Laz. The Laz people speak a
Caucasian language (Georgian’s language family) and have a distinct
culture. Turkish Laz and Georgian Laz
have developed their own cultures, even though both are now only small
minorities in their respective countries.
Off the main square in Rize is a Turkish Laz restaurant we knew we had
to try. It might be the coolest
restaurant I’ve ever been to, since it was also a mini-ethnographic museum of Laz culture. We ate in the garden and
felt as though we truly had stepped away from the city of Rize that buzzed by outside our oasis. Thankfully they had a picture menu so we
decided to split three things. One was a
cheesy fondue version of mchadi, a Georgian cornmeal treat. Another was a mix of veggies and meat that
tasted like a sausage pizza. The third
was cabbage leaves wrapped around meat and rice. All three were delicious so we ordered two
more dishes, one like a liquid omelet and the other like a gritty mchadi omelet
crushed into pieces. I know half of this
makes no sense. Just understand it was
all delicious, and we had all enjoyed our Final Feast very much.
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| Round 1 of lunch |
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| The amazing Laz Restaurant, Evvel Zeman |
We took a taxi up the hill to the Botanical Tea Garden, our
second sight in Rize. It would have been
an energetic climb had we not been weighed down with our bags. Regardless, at the top was not only a place
dedicated to tea, but several beautiful flowering trees and spectacular views
of Rize.
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| Terraced tea plants and other pretty scenery from our tea spot |
We started off with a glass of
tea each and then saw people next to us ordering a pot. The really cool thing is that you get a pot
of essence of tea on top of a pot of hot water so you can have several cups
adjusted to your desired strength. If
there had been a beach within walking distance, I would have been in heaven and
might have refused to ever leave.
Instead, I drank several cups of tea, admired the gorgeous views, and
spent most of my remaining money on tea for me and others.
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| Making myself tea |
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| The 4 of us in our tea oasis, with the tea pot as it came |
With a brief stop to enjoy Turkish treats and buy some
baklava for gifts (if it lasts past today), we found a bus to the border and
eventually started our last bus ride in Turkey, a very bittersweet feeling.
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