Where it is usual and unusual to see sheep in the street? Samsun - the city where the sheep flocked down the street

Turkish flag

I usually see sheep in fields in Wales and New Zealand. in New Zealand I asked the driver to stop so I could photograph a sheep in the field. As I stood by the fence taking my photo, up bounded another sheep, then another, until a crowd of them were behind the fence staring at me expectantly. Were they expecting to be fed? I was heavily outnumbered. I was quite scared and raced back to the car.

Often in Rural Wales you encountera street obstructed by sheep crossing the road, usually from one field to another.

Photo by Jonathan Billinger in Wikipedia under Sheep.

I loved the video which has gone viral on Facebook of a seemingly endless flock of sheep invading the city street dual carriageway. The sheep baaed and bleeted. The sheep bells rang. The traffic was stopped. The sheep dogs ran ahead. The shepherds brandished their sticks or shepherd's crooks. The river of sheep ran on and on.

Some sheep lost their way, like the one in the nursery rhyme. When I checked, it was not the sheep that were lost, but Little Bo Peep who had lost them, as recorded in Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes. (Why mother goose? Amazing the number of things you do not question as a child,or even an adult.)

Never mind. Here the lost sheep were not lost for long. The intrepid sheep jumped back straight through a seemingly impenetrable hedge to join the rest of the flock.

I had wondered whether the videoed sheep were in New Zealand. But a search on the internet for sheep in the street brought up a video of the sheep on the British Guardian newspaper with the vital information of the location. Samsun. Where is that?

Samsun, North Turkey
Samsun is in North Turkey, on the Black Sea coast. I tracked back and found the video was taken in May when the city was in a four day lockdown.

How many were affected? The population a million and nearly a half.

Giant Landmark Statue
I then checked what there is to see in the city from a tuouris's point of view. The main landmark is equestrian (horseback) statue of Turkey's revered leader Ataturk.

Museums
The Population Museum is about the exchange of Turks from Greece and Greeks from Turkey in 1923.

What else is there to enjoy in Turkey? Turkish coffee and Turkish delight.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Tourist_attractions_in_Samsun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ala%C3%A7am_Population_Exchange_Museum

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker.