trabzon nights and coastal whispers

i never planned to end up in trabzon, but here i am, watching the black sea crash against the cliffs like it's got something to prove. the weather today? someone said it's 19.88°c but feels like 18.97°c. not bad, not great. just enough to make you want a light jacket and a coffee that burns your tongue. humidity's at 40%, so your hair won't betray you, but the sea breeze will. i just checked and it's... breezy and moody right now, hope you like that kind of thing.

"you haven't seen trabzon if you haven't gotten lost in the bazaar," a guy with a mustache told me while stirring his tea. i believed him, mostly because he looked like he'd been stirring tea there for 40 years.

if you get bored, rize and giresun are just a short drive away. i heard someone say the drive to rize is like driving through a green tunnel, but i also heard that from a guy who was two teas deep, so take it with salt.

*sumela monastery is the kind of place that makes you question your life choices-in a good way. i read somewhere it's built into a cliffside, which sounds dramatic until you're standing there wondering how monks carried bricks up that hill. someone told me the hike is "refreshing," but i heard that from a local who runs marathons, so maybe don't trust that.

for food, i stumbled into a tiny spot called kadirga hamamı. no website, no sign, just the smell of butter and the sound of locals arguing over tea. if you want something more official, check out trabzon restaurant scene on TripAdvisor. but honestly, the sketchy places are where the magic happens.

i met a woman selling kuymak* by the water. she said it's the best in town, and i didn't argue because my mouth was full. if you're into that kind of thing, yelp has a few recs but none of them will have her smile.

the vibe here is... unpredictable. one minute you're sipping tea in a cafe that looks like it hasn't changed since 1975, the next you're watching kids jump off docks into water so blue it looks fake. i keep thinking i'll figure it out, but trabzon doesn't want to be figured out. it just wants you to sit, eat, and maybe get a little lost.

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