Spa Hotel Colossae Thermal Pumakkale, Turkey - A Review

Our friend indicated that this was the best hotel in Pumakkale.... Perhaps one could go to Pumakkale and then head to another site and stay near there...

The reason why we found ourselves at this hotel

It was fine.... It is huge. There was no real choice for where to go for dinner other than at the 'International Buffet', which, of course is a cattle call. We all know that tourists from other countries are inherently like ourselves - curious and have money to spend on this kind of adventure, but we still do not necessarily understand their ways and their manners, so it can make us a little cross.... Dinning in such a manner is not really conducive to good digestion....

After the tour buses had left in the morning - but look at the size of the place, it goes on forever 

The room - #260 - was a haul away, up several flights and no elevators... the poor bell men! It was certainly large, though no balcony. Thank goodness, though, our windows did not look out to an interior courtyard. We had had a long day, so we really just went to bed, but had we wanted to open the curtains, it would have been fine.

The internet did not work - though the hotel claimed to give it to us for free - but imagine our surprise when the buses of tourists pulled out early in the morning the internet worked.

The Colassae Hotel does have a spa, though we did not use it. We tried to make reservations ahead of time via email, but they were never very responsive. Our friend also indicated that we might be happier at the spa at some other hotels... We were glad to have dodged that bullet.

I did have an opportunity to soak in some mineral pools behind the main pool. I was by myself and the tiny pools looked like they could have used some attention, so it didn't feel really luxurious.... Which is a shame given what they have. One would think the hotel ownership could really profit from the location and the mineral springs.

I guess I was not impressed by their pool, as I did not take any photographs of it.

They did offer a belly-dancing show at the pool bar... The idea of belly dancing is always fun, if you can manage to see around your fellow guests who are angling to get a photo and don't mind elbowing you in the process.... It's kinda weird when you focus all your attention on someone's body between their boobs and their crotch... But, man, those artists can move their bodies in ways one can't even contemplate - as illustrated by the volunteers who try to do it with the dancers.

Looking towards the bed

Coffee stand - though please call management at extension 124  if you want any coffee or tea....

Toiletries - yes
Coffee & Tea - not quite
Robes & slippers - don't remember seeing them
Hairdryer - probably
mini frig - don't recall
wi fi - ahh, mentioned above
space - it was a very reasonable sized room
restaurant - international cattle call
Pool - pretty big
Fitness Center - I believe they do
Spa - yes

Greg Stones, author

I can see no reason to include Greg Stones on my blog - no genealogy and no fiber art - but his paintings were so fabulous that I had to share him with my readers... I saw his work at the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival in July 2015. Mr. Stones has a wonderful, warped sense of humor. He is also an author. His work and sense of humor reminds me a lot of Edward Gorey.

Edward Gorey drawing taken from this web site

And here are some of Greg Stones' work:

Penguins love balloons

Sock Monkey Meets Mummy

Zombies hate Sock Monkeys

His latest book is called Sock Monkeys Have Issues which can be purchased here.

Bahama Hand print

I have been incredibly remiss. I visited the workshop of Bahama Hand print back in January. I met the nicest people there and they gave me a full tour, let me ask all sorts of obvious questions and let me take all sorts of photographs - and even my first movie for the blog (which, of course is not the first I posted, because I have been remiss in writing this entry!)

Everything is designed and made in the Bahamas. The workshop is owned by two women. And you can always order custom creations, as indicated below:

At Bahama Hand Prints we offer a variety of ground fabrics that can be custom printed to your requirements. We carry fabrics appropriate for a multitude of applications including upholstery, drapery, bedding, indoor/outdoor furnishings, clothing and more… Choose from our repertoire and we can print any colour you desire!

Here you can see Rico creating the fabric:



The motivation for writing today is that I have finally started a project with the fabric I bought that day in January. I intend to post photos of the sewing project later...

In the meantime, I have many more photographs of my day in Nassau visiting Bahama Hand Print.

The frame and the screen before the paint is applied

Rico adding more paint - so as not to smear, he alternates panels

The trough with all the paint

moving the frame so Rico can fill in the pattern

Washing up

Removing the unused paint

Cleaning the screen

Clothing templates

You can barely see a seamstress on the right making a garment
Lots of pieces already made hanging

Industrial sewing machines

Removing the newly printed fabric for drying

Drying the fabric

Coming out the back end

the full length of the workshop

Adorable tunic top

Packed In A Trunk - the Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson

The other night I watched a wonderful documentary on HBO on Demand - "Packed in a Truck." A grandniece (though she might actually be a cousin, I think) went searching for the life of her ancestor, Edith Lake Wilkinson.

Edith was an unmarried and childfree woman, whose money was eventually embezzled from her as she was locked up in an institution and neglected. Horrendous circumstances. A wonderful story, though, about the research and the 'bringing home' of a very talented artist.

I am intrigued by this story, too, because, though my ancestors are not talented artists - at least not that I have discovered - they also deserve to have their stories told and not to be forgotten.

Here's how they describer the documentary on the website:

PACKED IN A TRUNK uncovers the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1924 and never heard from again.  We follow the journey of Edith’s great-niece as she pieces together the mystery of Edith’s life and returns her work to Provincetown.

Here is a lovely example of her work which I took from the website:

Eresin Crown Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey - a Review

One couldn't beat the location of the Eresin Crown Hotel for the major Ottoman sites in Istanbul - just a short walk away.

And the view from the roof top restaurant/bar is fabulous. Unfortunately while we stayed there, they claimed it was too cold to be open - in late May - so we took a beer up there and enjoyed the sun-set on our own.

The Blue Mosque - right behind our hotel

We were still getting our bearings in the city after flying so many hours, but the service was attentive. It seems I did not take any photos of the room, which is a shame. We had a suite on an upper floor. Though jet-lagged, we slept well and I was not aware of any street noise.

I thought the room and restaurant were clean and I did not see any required maintenance issues.

No balcony at our room.

We also got a nice fruit basket in our room.

Toiletries - yes
Coffee & Tea - yes
Robes & slippers - yes
Hairdryer - yes
mini frig - yes
wi fi - yes
space - it wasa suite we were in, though I don't recall our room number
restaurant - not fabulous, but fine and very nice
Pool - nope
Fitness Center - if there was, I didn't look for it
Spa - again, didn't look for it

I would stay there again if I wanted to see the major sites... though the next time I stayed in Istanbul I stayed on the Taksim Square side of the city.

Wondrous Creatures - Sandra Klink

The poor artist, Sandra Klink, was frying on the tarmac in State College in July. Once upon a time the street had been lined with tall elm trees, but they are gone; killed by the Dutch Elm disease or some such. Some of the other artists featured at the festival claimed to have made pieces from those very trees...

BUT, that didn't stop her creativity and the beauty of her work. She indicated to me that she uses silk scarves which she tears into strips and wraps around metal frames. It seems that Ms. Klink no longer has a web site, but the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival had a few examples of her work. She had a lot of colorful insects and a few other creatures, as seen below.

The two above examples of Ms. Klink's work are unusual in relation to the rest of her inventory at the show, but they are incredibly playful.

Korumar Hotel, Kusadasi, Turkey - A Review

What does All-Inclusive say to you?

Budget conscious, perhaps? Families? Past its prime? I'm trying to figure it out.

The concept here is wonderful. The location is fabulous. The infrastructure is spectacular. The hotel is built on the steep side of a cliff down to the ocean. The water is blue and clear. The pool huge and a fun shape with a lovely protection from the evil eye mosaic.



There seems to be plenty of chairs - though one always finds people saving chairs at both the pool and the seaside. I believe the hotel has tried to manage that process by handing out towel cards at check-in. The cards are taken from you when you get a towel - one each - and then returned to you when you return the towel. That way one can not leave a towel on many chairs. BUT, I noticed that there are many additional towels drying on balconies and thrown over chairs without any other beach detritus to indicate current occupancy.

Though not mentioned to us during booking, our dinner was also included. We expected breakfast, but not a dinner buffet. And they offered an incredible variety of foods - which makes for a lot of choice, but not a very wonderful combination of flavors on the plate. The first night I piled my plate with sushi, shrimp chips, tzatziki, salad, Peking/roast duck, Böreği and feta cheese. I think I would have preferred choosing from a menu to have had a regional uniformity of flavors on my plate. I have read that Turkish food ranks up with French and Chinese as a leading developed and varied cuisine within its own borders. I believe it, but I assume that the guests at this establishment would prefer their own cuisine and this is satisfied by the linear footage of chafing dishes.

So far, my experience has been a delight on my Turkish travels - this is the first hotel where I have experienced snarky staff. Within less than 24 hours and only a few interactions, I have had two snarky staff members. Not everyone, of course. Our beverage waiter last night was very cute and eager to please, but incredibly inexperienced. The poor guy was baffled by a bottle of sparkling wine and the supervisor who was educating him also managed to send wine shooting out when opening the bottle and overflowing both glasses when he poured it for us. I guess they don't sell many bottles of sparkling wine.... What does that say about the clientele?

The Korumar Hotel is rated as 5 stars.... I'd say it is definitely showing it's age, - splattered paint, mold, chips in the stone and porcelain - though, it does have:

robes
slippers
coffee & tea in the room
toiletries - in this case it is gym soap on the wall, so, soap which can be used for both hair and body
safe
mini frig, with one bottle of free water

Sunset over the pool

Looking up at the hotel from the pool area

Swimming Pier

Protected swimming area with snack bar in the background

Protected swimming area

Beach area with scuba shop 

Kempinski Hotel, Bodrum, Turkey - a Review

I thought the hotel/resort was great, but I am writing this review after I have left and spent several weeks on a 42' sailboat.

We were in room 3608, I believe. We had a lovely large balcony, though it did overlook some roofs before one could see the sea, so perhaps ask for something on a lower floor... we were on the 6th floor. I was able to look beyond the roofs of lower floors....

'Green roof' looking left

Intentionally looking down to illustrate the roofs in front of the balcony

'Green roof' looking right

We dined both nights in their Asian-themed restaurant and were pleased both nights. Our service was excellent and we had a lovely local wine.

I'm afraid I didn't take photographs of the room and I don't recall if we had the toiletries, hairdryer, coffee & tea, etc. I believe they gave us a large bottle of water, though. And I remember it being clean.

Too many elevators - no straight shot from the sea to the rooms... it was labyrinthine; we needed to be escorted to find the restaurant - both nights. The restaurant by the beach was wonderful and the waiters there very good, though one needs to take a shuttle or walk to the beach.

I wish I had a picture of their spa, because that was wonderful. They have a gym, personal trainer, indoor pool and wonderful Hammam facilities.

Pool

Stretched out aspect of the hotel

Decked area at the sea

Part of the pool

I would recommend the Kempinski Barbaros Bay in Bodrum.

Marge Luttrell Encaustic

I am sorry I didn't get to speak to the artist at the Central Pennsylvania Art Festival because Ms. Luttrell's works looked great. I noticed that she incorporated old photographs in her work. He art made me think of another artist from Tennessee, Beverly Hayden, who we met here.

I overheard Ms. Luttrell talking with another admirer about her process - encaustic - and the fact that she teaches the process - this August in Peter's Valley School of Crafts in New Jersey. I found this definition of encaustic at the Encaustic Art Institute.

Encaustic is a Greek word meaning “to heat or burn in” (enkaustikos). Heat is used throughout the process, from melting the beeswax and varnish to fusing the layers of wax. Encaustic consists of natural bees wax and dammar resin (crystallized tree sap). The medium can be used alone for its transparency or adhesive qualities or used pigmented. Pigments may be added to the medium, or purchased colored with traditional artist pigments. The medium is melted and applied with a brush or any tool the artist wishes to create from. Each layer is then reheated to fuse it to the previous layer.

Ms. Luttrell explains her process as such:

Featuring torn letters, maps, bits of script and old ephemera from bygones past, Margie Luttrell’s encaustic collages tease the viewer by awakening a desire for the rest of the story. Fascinated by language, symbols and the textures of all things aged, Luttrell builds levels of meaning and information into each piece.
The goal is to take images from one time period in order to construct another, then exploring how the mind jumps back and forth between the two and transcends interpretation.
Marge Luttrell hails from Tennessee by way of New Jersey. A collage artist for over forty years she discovered the inherent joys of wax painting (encaustic) seven years ago.
She is the recipient of a Fulbright, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant and A National Endowment for the Humanities Grant. Last year she lived and worked as an artist/teacher in Switzerland.

I took this image from her web site:


It turns out Ms. Luttrell was at Jazz Fest in NOLA this year with another artist we talked about earlier. I am sorry I didn't get the chance to see her work when I was there. Also, interestingly, she was in Turkey earlier this year as well, according to her promotional card.

Recycled T-shirts, turned into skirts - Loveworn

I met BJ McHugh of Loveworn at the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival over the July 10th weekend in State College, Pa. BJ hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she makes new pieces of clothing out of recycled t-shirts. She will even make you a custom piece out of your saved t-shirts - you know those t-shirts you never wear but don't want to toss because they meant something to you once upon a time. (A skirt or hoodie seems more practical to me than a quilt, which is another idea for old t-shirts; or a rag rug, but you would never see the t-shirts anymore in the rug... Just thinking out loud)

Looking at her web site it seems that she has many more styles than she brought to the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival. Here are a few images I took from her web site:

Little Girl's skirt - had to be fun piecing this together

Woman's jacket - wouldn't this be great made from your old t-shirts?

Women's skirt with a cute pocket

I was disappointed that she only had a few in my size - maybe that says more about me than her inventory - but I bought a lovely black and grey short skirt with a draw-string waist.

I am disappointed that I didn't find a post on another woman I stumbled upon in New Orleans who makes wrap skirts from neckties. I bought one of her fun skirts, too. I will have to see what  have in my files and introduce you to her.

Searching the term recycle, though, I found another of my fiber artists - MsCrochetJig - who uses soda top tabs in her purses.