September

Shorter days, cooler mornings and nights, empty beaches are announcing the departure of summer. After a long and very hot season, these small changes are refreshing.
In 2 weeks time, schools will be openning and we wont hear the happy sounds of children anymore. Sad that a much expected season is leaving slowly, but we are also welcoming the best times of Datca. Here, eveybody agrees that September is the best season.
Much tolarable tempratures, Mediterranean behaving like a still lake and no crowds. Its all for us, the real lovers of this place.
Photo below is a warm reminder of this passing summer.Two kids are selling corn at the beach for some pocket money..
Have a nice September.

Limoncello

It looks like every liquer has a season in Datca. Last summer it was all about cherry liquer, this year it was limoncello. When I found out that all the ladies around producing litres of this marvelous drink, I immediately rushed to the market to buy lemons.

One hot afternoon hubby and I spent painful hours to peel the yellow rind of the lemons. We learned that only to get the yellow rind and not the white is the crucial point of the whole operation. Later I left them in the alcohol for 2 weeks in a dark place and then mix the content with water and sugar..

As we both love this liquer which is mainly produced in Southern Italy, it looks like we exagerated the thing a bit more and end up with 10 litres of limoncello.

If you want the receipe this one I found on the web is pretty similar to ours.

Flowers from the trash

While we were on our morning walk with Hera, we came across with a big bunch of flowers and leaves tossed to the trash. Probably pruned by the gardeners of our compound last night. They were still so beautiful and fresh..I just couldnt leave them there to decay while they still have so much to offer.

So here they are at our veranda, wishing all of you a colorful weekend.....

Blogger Friend at Datca

We waited them at the small harbour of Datca. The ferry was coming from Bodrum where they were vacationing.

When they were in İstanbul in the spring, we promised to see each other soon. They kept their promise and here they are. Our dear friends Phivos and Popi. I know most of you know Phivos from his wonderful blog Travelling.

It was so nice to see them.

Unfortunately they had to return with the afternoon ferry so we had only few hours to spend together but tons of place to show them in our small peninsula. Due to limited time we settled with visiting only couple places, a long lunch and lots of talking and sharing.

As you can imagine Phivos took hundreds of pictures which I am sure you will soon see on his blog. At the end of the day we had to say good bye to them but we were so happy to spent a memorable they with our friend.

Hope to see you soon Phivos and Popi..We already miss you.

How to make a wish in Central Asia

Where ever I travel people's different beliefs always amazes me and as you can imagine its not always easy and possible to observe people when they are in a ritual. But I was quite lucky to get some interesting shots as well as joining the crowds who were talking with angels while travelling in central Asia....

So lets start with some common ones, like visiting the tomb of a holy man or woman and rotate around the tomb couple times while praying.. (photo from Turkmenistan)

 or tying piece of fabrics to a branch that is close to the tomb..

What would you do if you need a house? Build a model one around a tomb where you believe a holy man lies

What about a baby? Start building a small crib and place it near a tomb which is known for answering the prayers for a child.

and what about if you want to see and talk with the angels. Here is me on the mission..Did I see and talk with them? Sorry I am not suppose to tell anybody, thats the rule...

Another way is to make a wish and try to rotate a stone on your finger. If it makes a full turn your wish will soon be granted. I tried... believe me its difficult.

To pass under a fallen tree trunk where the holy man once seated under it. İt might remind you of Buddha but these following two photos are from Uzbekistan from the tomb of Sufi Saint Baha al-din Naqshbandi. As being the founder of the powerful Naqsbandi sect in Islam, it is an important pilgrimage site for its followers.

and the last but the most dangerous one is again from Turkmenistan. There is a rather small hill which ends up in a cemetary. So if you have a wish, you are paying a small amount of money to the man sitting there and he is wraping you with a quilt and pushes you down. According tothe information given to me if you go straight, your wish will soon be granted, if you go left , no chance and if you go right there might be a possibility so you have to try it again sometime later.. 

Unfortunately I couldnt observe this ritual eventhough I waited for some time. The locals were very shy about the foreigners watching them. However our guide later sent this photo for my blog that he took couple years ago. Although it is not very clear it is still giving an idea..

 So have a nice weekend and I hope all your wishes come true whereever and however you are praying for them

Datca and Hubby at NY Times...

Today in the travel section of NY Times,there is a wonderful article about Datca and a photograph taken by hubby.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/travel/15Imprint.html?pagewanted=1&ref=travel

Unfortunately they did not publish the photo of beautiful Knidos, but here are couple for you.

Summer Pastime

Long, hot summer afternoons definitely require minimum pysical and brain activity. Reading some light novels as well as making some easy doilies are my favorite pastime activities. I do not usually connect much to internet during this time of the day as I feel like the heat coming from the computer adds to the heat of the room.

I usually read couple books together. Here is the one I read from English. Story of Rumi and Shams written by Turkish author Elif Safak. Novels about Rumi are quite popular in Turkey for the last couple years.

here is one of the 40 rules of love from the book,

'' Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side that you are used to is better than the one to come''


The author is a controversial figure here. She is a beautiful lady, markets her books and herself very well and become the role model of the newly established religious bourgeoisie. As the rise of Islam due to the governing Islamic party is a very scary issue for most of us, I am quite sceptical about her.

However recently she made a fabulous speech at TED. Stories about her childhood are definitely very interesting to listen. You can watch her speech from here