It all began with a kind message I received on Instagram when Mark and I were discussing about a potential trip to the Black Sea Region. The message came from Selin, the owner of Nayino Dağ Evi (meaning Nayino Chalet). She was inviting us to stay in Nayino if we ever planned to visit the Black Sea Region. I had heard about this cute hotel before and it was absolutely the place I’d have wanted to stay anyway. As you can imagine, we immediately organized a trip for four days, two days in Trabzon and two days in Rize, which is another city a little further to the east.
We took a very early flight from Istanbul to Trabzon since we wanted to have our breakfast in Nayino. If you haven’t been to that side of Turkey yet, you may not know that you absolutely need to have a 4X4 vehicle in order to go to the highlands. Nayino is also on a very high hill so you will need that kind of vehicle to go there too. We rented a Dacia Duster and it was very comfortable. The majority of the cars that we saw during our trip were this brand anyway.
Nayino – Black Sea
It took us about an hour and a half to get to Nayino. A delicious breakfast with a magnificent view was waiting for us. We also had our dinners in Nayino, as in the evenings, the sky became very foggy and made it difficult to drive up and down the hill. Each night, they cooked different food and they were all very good. I also had a chance to taste Georgian red wine and I just loved it.
Nayino – Black Sea
Sumela Monastery is a must to see when you go to Trabzon. The monastery was built in Maçka district of Trabzon by two priests during the time of Theodosius I (375 – 395 AD), the Emperor of Byzantium. Unfortunately, Sumela Monastery was under renovation when we were there and we couldn’t see the inside of it.
Sümela Monastery – Black Sea
If you are looking for places to see in Trabzon city center, you will find a list of all the historical places. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend to visit them as they are all stuck between ugly buildings in narrow streets. Having said that, there is only one place I’d recommend, which is the Atatürk Pavilion. The mansion was built by Konstantin Kabayanidis in 1890 as a summer house and Atatürk stayed there in 1924 when he visited Trabzon. The mansion is now a museum.
Atatürk Pavilion – Trabzon
This was my first time in the east side of the Black Sea Region. Before we went there, there were many people who warned us that we could be very disappointed but this was not the case at all. To be honest, we didn’t have any expectations regarding the city center so we almost passed there with our eyes closed. It was sad to see all the ugly buildings and construction on the coast, but as I said we knew that already. The moment we left the city center and started to go up, the nature, the colors of the trees and the sky were just breathtaking. I realized that words weren’t enough to describe them. I’m so glad that we went there and I’m sure we’ll be back.
Nayino Dağ Evi
0505 241 79 86
nayinodagevi@gmail.com
No Comments