Rent a boat....

Sometimes its MUCH better to rent a boat instead of a 2,5 hours ride in the car on a hot summer day to go to your favotite restaurant in Selimiye. That's what we did with our neighbours...
We sailed happily in the Hisarönü Bay with some magnificent views, like this old and abondened monastery..

Bazen Selimiye'deki en sevdiğiniz restaurantlardan birine gitmek için, sıcak bir havada arabanın içinde 2.5 saat yol  alacağınıza, bir tekne kiralayıp yola düşmek en iyisi oluyor. Geçtiğimiz günlerde komşularımızla aynen bu işi yaptık. Hisarönü körfezindeki muhteşem manzaralarda bonustu....İşte eski ve terk edilmiş bir manastır,

Or the teeth rocks,

Ya da dişli kayalar...

But finally the best view was the Sardunya (geranium) restaurant, when we were terribly hungry...

Fakat en sonunda en iyi manzara karınlarımız açlıktan kazınırken gözüken Sardunya Restaurant'ınkiydi....

We had good friends, good food, cold wine and great weather and the Mediterranean Sea right in front of us...

İyi arkadaşlar, iyi yemekler, soğuk şarap, harika bir hava ve önümüzde uzanan Akdeniz ile dolu dolu geçen bir gündü..

Kızkumu - Marmaris

Before the summer and the crowds hit us, we are trying to visit our favorite places around here. You might probably understand that summer is not a favorite season for us around here..So we went to Kızkumu near Hisarönü - Marmaris to have a walk on the sea..

Kızkumu is a very interesting geological rise , which allows you to walk a great distance in the sea without any difficulty while enjoying the boats sailing couple meters away from you..It's a huge tourist attraction during summer months. The reddish strip you see on the below photo would look like a crowded pedestrian street.

Bu sıralar, yaz ve kalabalıklar sahillerimizi vurmadan, bu civarlarda en sevdiğimiz yerleri birer kez daha ziyaret etmeye çalışıyoruz. Blogu takip edenler bilirler. buralarda yaz bizim çok da sevdiğimiz bir mevsim değildir. Geçen gün de Marmaris - Hisarönünde bulunan Kızkumu'ndaydık ve denizde keyifli bir yürüyüş yaptık..


Kızkumu denizin içinde bulunan ilginç bir jeolojik yükselti, ve size uzunca bir mesafeyi, birkaç metre ötenizde tekneler gidip gelirken, yürüme imkanı veriyor. Yaz aylarında turistlerin hücumuna uğrayan bu yerde, bu güzel Mayıs günü biz dahil sadece birkaç kişi daha vardı. Aşağıdaki fotoğrafta göreceğiniz kırmızımsı bölge, yaz aylarında, sadece yayalara açık son derece kalabalık bir sokağa benzer..

However it was a beautiful May day and there are very few of us yesterday..

After having our walk, we drove another half hour to reach the village of Söğüt where we had a lovely lunch. It's always grilled kalamari, a glass of wine and a small salad for me..

Yürüyüşümüzü yaptıktan sonra bir yarım saat daha araba kullanarak öğle yemeği  yemeyi planladığımız Söğüt'e ulaştık. Yaz aylarında menu benim için her zaman ızgara kalamar, bir bardak soğuk şarap ve ufak bir salata oluyor..Burada Denizkızı restaurant'ı ilk kez denedik ve çok memnun kaldık..

This weekend doesnt offer much sun, so we are planning to do some much neglected painting job at home..Wish you all a great weekend..

Bu hafta sonu hava biraz puslu olacak gibi, dolayısıyla evde kalıp, uzun zamandır ihmal ettiğimiz birkaç boya işini tamamlamayı planlıyoruz.. Hepinize harika bir haftasonu dilerim.. 

Marmaris - Before The Invasion

Marmaris is an important port and tourist destination on the Mediterranean  coast of Turkey and its only 70 km. away from Datca..Yesterday we were there to run some errands...It was so peaceful and quiet before the invasion of tourists couple weeks later.. It is quite the favorite of Bristish and the Russians....

Marmaris Akdeniz kıyısındaki önemli turizm merkezlerimizden biri ve Datça'dan sadece 70 km uzaklıkta yer alıyor..Dün bir takım işlerimizi halletmek için oradaydık ve Marmaris kalabalıkların bir kaç hafta sonraki istilasından önce son derece huzurlu ve sessizdi..İngiliz ve Rus turistler çok yakında şehri istila edecekler...

Kalkan

This past week we took a short trip to Kalkan to spent some time with the British side of the family (hubby's twin brother and his family), who are vacationing there.

Kalkan is a beautiful small and romantic town on the Mediterranean coast. Until 1920's mostly the Greek families were living here and the place named as Kalamaki during that time. After the population exchange between Turkey and Greece most old residence of this town moved to near Athens and established a new town there with the very same name.

 As it is located on a hill side, it is possible to get great view from all over the place

while hubby was catching up with his brother, I had great time reading under the shades of the bougainvilleas, while my little one enjoy the sunshine and the pool side. ( not the pool, because she hates water..)

Forgotten Christians...

Well, first Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends..Hope you will have a great holiday season..So on Christmas day I want to take you to a lovely church that is located in the southeastern Turkey. It is one of the two active churches in the city of Diyarbakır..It is the Chaldean Catholic Church of Mar Petyun..

I always find God in the most simple places. I have visited many grand temples around the world, old and new, which said to be built in order to glorify the God. However, I never felt God in any one of them but the ego of the one who paid for it..

Couple years ago I have visited this small Chaldean Church. At that time there were only 10 families in the city that were attending this church. They were having the mass once a month because they did not have their own priest but a priest from the Syrian Orthodox Church was helping them to organize one. It was a wonderful, warm and cozy place just like a home. Its naive paintings and plastic flowers were telling me that this place was built and sustained with love not ego, and I felt God.

This Chaldean Church is serving its belivers since the 17th century.I just hope that it will stay open many more years....

Love of Rumi

This past Friday, Dec17th was the anniversary of Rumi's death, or his wedding night as he likes to see his departure from this world as a reunion with his beloved...

Starting from my late 20s, I started to learn a great deal about my religion (Islam) as well as others. I was searching for something...and as Rumi said '' the seeker will eventually find what she has been looking for whether he goes fast or slow '' it was a long walk for me and at the end I became a rather spiritual person but not a religious one.

Among so many great teachers and prophets two of them really resonated with me. Rumi with his love and Buddha with his wisdom. They are the ones who lay the stones of my path..

The year 2007 was the 800th birthday of Rumi, and for the occasion there was a special train journey from İstanbul to Konya where his tomb is. I was one of the lucky passangers of this special train. We slept one night at the train and there were lots of discussions and poetry readings thruout the night. Very special..

Below are some photos from that journey..Starting with the tomb of Rumi..

Whirling dervhishes. It is a real treat to see a good show. They are meditating while dancing, you are meditating while watching..

 Their hats symbolizes their tomb stones..

As it is not possible to take photos inside the tomb I took the photo from here. It is very elaborate and peaceful.

One of the highlights of the trip was a speech given by Mrs Esin Çelebi; his 23rd generation granddaughter..

In the meantime Rumi's spiritual mentor and friend Shams said to be buried in a nearby place which is also used as a mosque right now.. Very simple place compare to Rumi's. The 3,5 years Rumi and Shams spent together in Konya is the most crucial time in Rumi's life as Shams friendship and teachings created the Rumi that we have known today.. As Shams death is a great mystery, actually nobody really  documented about his burial place. So this place is most probably not his real resting place..

Safranbolu - Saffron City

Finally the much expected winter hit İstanbul. We started to see snow flakes with lots of rain.. Our last week's short trip to Black Sea region and the wonderful weather are now looking like a distant memory..

So here are some photos from Safranbolu. A typical Ottoman city that has survived to the present day.. According to the information given there are more than 1000 registered historical artifacts in the city. Some of them dated from the early 14th century..

 It is possible to rent a golf cart and a guide for an easy tour of the city. It is so much fun, even Hera liked it a lot..

 From the 13th century on, it was an important caravan station on the main East - West trade route. It was also a trading place and a centre for growing the much priced saffron..Today saffron is still available in the city and you could buy and taste products such as: saffron tea, saffron cologna, Turkish delight with saffron...

 It is definitely a great place to see the well preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture, but it is also a living city...Life goes on smoothly despite the heavy tourist attacks..

 Once neglected houses are now a gold mine. If you cant afford a real one, why not buy a small one..

 Local artisans and the shops are serving the needs of the locals as well as th tourists. A blacksmith who is producing the traditional locks..

After lots of walking why not stop at a local restaurant and taste some specialities..My choice was the traditional Turkish soup: tarhana.. It is actually a dough prepared in summer with lots of vegetables, and yogurt and then dried for use in winter soups..A big favorite of mine since childhood...

I wish you a great weekend and bowls of hot soup if you happen to be on this side of the world.. We are freezing....