Kale Village - Day 8

We said goodbye to Jahun our driver and met Hasan and his son Hasan II who will be taking us on the boat to Kale Village which is 15 minutes away.  It was a very scenic ride with beautiful weather to our little village.  The village has a little over 50 permanent residents and there are only a few hotels and they each have 4-6 hotel rooms each.  It is very quaint and beautifully built into the limestone hillside.  There is an old castle that was originally built 4 BC by the Lycian and then modified by the Romans. We are staying at the Kale Pansiyon http://www.kalepansiyon.com/index_en.htm

Once we arrived on the island we had some time for relaxation before dinner.  Belinda and Margaret went for a swim and Belinda encountered something slimy stuck to the top of her foot.  Margaret got the mask out to  see that it was an octopus. 

Dinner was at 7:30 out on the dock area.  It was a very pleasant evening with little wind and was quite mild. The food was great as well the conversation.

Turkish Delights

Carl has been nice enough to take some pictures of some of the dishes that we have been sampling to give you a better idea of the dishes we are enjoying.

By the way, comments from readers are welcome :)

lovely salads everywhere we ate.  The tomatoes were so ripe and sweet.

The Helva shop.

Meatballs, rice, and green beans; always lemon.

Castle of St Peter, Bodrum - Day 8

Tuesday, June 5, 2012
After a good nights rest we ate breakfast at 7 on the rooftop terrace.  We then met at the hotel lobby at 8:15 to gather and head off for a walk to the Museum of Underwater Archeology in the Castle of St Peter.  The Knights Hospitaller (of St John) began construction of the castle in 1402.  It was very well maintained and contained many coats of arms.

This castle was built using the stones from the Temple of Halicarnassus (which was located on a hill in view of the castle)  which was destroyed by an earthquake in the middle ages.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, a satrap in the Persian Empire, and Artemisia II of Caria, his wife and 

sister.This is where we get the word Mausoleum from.

It was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

The castle wall meets the sea.

Coat of Arms at the entrance.

View of the bay and of Bodrum.

Roman Governor - Carlerilius

First Governor of Turkey - Mehmet

Sarcophagus for ashes

Peacock in the castle.

Cannon ready. 

The Castle Tower is the largest building built by the English outside of England.  This window is next to a seating area in a very large and ornate dining room.  The Castle Room is 3 stories tall.

The Castle also houses the Underwater Archeology Museum which contains the oldest excavated shipwreck in the world from 14BC.  The excavation was conducted by George Bass and Texas A&M. The museum had a short film showing the diving expedition, there were many artifacts including glass, ceramics, jewelry, bronze tools.  The ship was an Egyptian vessel that was shipwrecked in the Aegean.

It is the biggest museum of its kind devoted to underwater archaeology and boasts the largest collection of anaphora in the world.

One such shipwreck represented was Kaṣ-Uluburun shipwreck (14th c. BC) : 1982 - 1995; 10 tons of Cypriot copper ingots; one ton of pure tin ingots; 150 glass ingots; manufactured goods; Mycenaean pottery; Egyptian seals (with a seal of queen Nefertiti) and jewelry.

^]

A model of one of the shipwrecked boats.

Wooden anchor with iron weights in the bottom of the cross bar.

How anaphora (pointy bottom jugs) were packed.

A glass ingot from the 14th century BC

Gold death masks

We walked back to the hotel to pack our bags and left Bodrum at 10am.  We are taking a 7 hour trip from Bodrum to Kas.  We took a mountainous trek on the bus along a route that had a lot of construction.  We made our first stop a few hoursat a gas station.  The gas stations in Turkey are quite nice with self-service restaurants and shops.  Canvas shoes and duffle bag were the buying rage at the stop.

We stopped an hour later for lunch at a road side restaurant to refuel ourselves.  

Mehmet checking out the food.

Mehmet taking our order, the raising of the hands part is next to indicate shish or meatballs, or lamb.

The shish grill.

To the far right was the 

marble table and the oven where the pied (form of pizza) was rolled out and baked. YUM.

We then continued on the bus with wifi service and here I was worried about what type of Internet service we would have. We were hugging the road along the beautiful Mediterranean from Kas to a village named Ucagiz.  This is where we had to say goodbye to our driver as we are taking a boat to Kale Village where we will be staying for 3 nights.

Bodrum Arrival Day 7

We arrived in the seaside city of Bodrum which is a Turkish resort city on the Aegean Sea.  We are staying at the Marina Vista which has a magnificent pool for swimming.

The pool was awesome and the rooms surrounded the pool.

After checking in, Belinda took a very quick dip in the pool and then we met everyone in the lobby.  Mehmet escorted us to the bazaar for shopping.  Along the way we were admiring the large sail ships that could be rented for 3 hours or more.

Carl liked this boat.  Beautiful wooden boats for 3 to 7 day trips.  I must say that our boat was the best.

As we got further into the bazaar area there was one store full of textiles that caught the group's eyes.  After a lengthy time at this shop, the group started to split up with Jeanne and Frank leaving first, then Paul and I headed back to the pool, then Carl and then the 3 intrepid shoppers (Leslie, Belinda and Margaret).  Surprisingly, the best prices were to be had in this touristy town.

Margaret and Belinda bought sandals made in a small shop that is three generations along.

Every one thought Margaret was turkish.

Scarves with Oya (crocheted trim).  poo laa laa!

We all had a little time either at the room or the pool before we had dinner at a street side restaurant just a few buildings away from the hotel.

Outdoors again.  What is not to like.

The waiter set up the wine list for us.  Place the bottles on the table, choose the best looking label.

Salads were lovely and delish.

Dessert is special here.

After a nice social evening, we headed back to the hotel with some people heading back into the city, some heading off to bed, and a couple having a nightcap, poolside.

Didyma and Bodrum - Day 7

Monday, June 4, 2012
Today was a much more leisurely day as we did not need to get on the bus until 9am.  Belinda and Jeanne went to Mary’s House at 6:30am where there was a prayer service with some monks and nuns.  They picked up some peaches for Leslie at a roadside stand on the way back to the hotel.  Leslie and I ran into each other at breakfast and I accompanied her on a brisk walk along the Aegean.

Mary's House entrance after morning prayer.

Everyone boarded the bus at 9 and we headed for Bodrum.  On the way Mehmet found a post office to buy stamps for post cards.  Belinda, Jeanne, and Margaret had a great experience trying to buy overseas stamps in a local post office.  It was a challenge and the stamps are huge.

This is the Post office and Mehmet is peeling back the inside poster to reveal the cost of postage for overseas.  A phone call by the postal clerk resulted in this information.  Good job Mehmet.

Our first stop was to visit Didyma.  Didyma was built in the 7 BC and has the Temple of Apollo.   There is always a temple of Artemus nearby as they were twins. People would come to the Temple to visit an oracle.  To get there the road was closed but our resourceful driver found another way around the city to get to the site.

Tom 

Paul and a column

A double row of columns surrounded the temple.

The oracle would provide info to the Roman officials.

Carl and the column pieces.

Pieces left to be put together.

Another view.

The entrance to the area where the person would tell the temple priest the issue to be resolved.  The priest would take the question to the oracle.

We then ate at a local restaurant at noon.  The food was a typical Turkish buffet.  

We then headed off for a two hour drive to Bodrum.