Chasing Tiffany: July 17, 2012 Bodrum, Turkey

July 17, 2012 "Beaching it" in Bodrum

We all collectively decided (after coming together with the idea already cemented in our own minds) that Tuesday should be a day of pure relaxation. So while we ate our included Turkish breakfasts in the hotel garden at quaint little tables we made a plan to meet later at some beach that we’d take a shuttle to. Our breakfast was the same everyday, several slices each of tomato & cucumber along with 4 kalamata olives and a nice slice of white cheese, resembling feta but not as salty. They also brought bread with some herbed olive oil to dip in or jelly to spread on, hard boiled eggs and coffee or tea in the traditional tea cups. Very good, pretty light but filling enough. It was so hot already at 9 a.m. I wanted to stay inside our air conditioned room instead of venturing out but that would have been lame. Tony had told me first thing that morning when we woke “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is it’s only 83 degrees out right now. The bad news is it’s supposed get to 104 today!” I heard Turkey (or at least the areas we were in!) were having a heat wave, lucky for us.

We did a little wandering around before meeting up with Novi to find the shuttle to the beach meeting place. On our way we witnessed, or just missed witnessing, a scooter accident where I think a car turning left onto a street ran into a scooter riding down said street. I heard the crunch and saw the couple on the scooter tip over but it didn’t seem too bad to me, I mean there are scooters & motorcycles riding all over the narrow streets along with all the foot traffic and cars so I could imagine, sadly, that accidents wouldn’t be uncommon. The girl on the back of the scooter seemed a bit traumatized and she was helped to the sidewalk and given water while someone called an ambulance. We moved on since what else could we do? We went to the central bus station, just a few blocks walk, found the bus to Golturkbuku, which I guess was the name of the little resort village (LITTLE) on the other side of the peninsula from Bodrum, about a 30 minute ride similar in scenery to the ride from the airport. Just lots of wilderness, tall, gangly versions of the pine tree everywhere, olive trees, shrubs and beautifully colored bougainvillea. It was so pleasant…despite the fucking 104 degrees we saw a digital thermometer telling us it was, in Celsius. We got off the bus at the top of the resort’s long, steep, cobblestone, bougainvillea lined driveway and walked down. I couldn’t even tell anything about the resort, I guess it was small, one story & private since we just walked through a breezeway and were on the bay. There were small resort restaurants and then big, square docks extending out over the water, since there’s no “proper” beach anywhere it seems. We found our group, staked out on a bunch of beach recliners under umbrellas, so we staked out a few for ourselves and then hit the water. I hadn’t worn or brought my swim suit that day, like a brainiac, but I just went in wearing my shorts and tee shirt like it was no big deal. The water was SO nice, clear and warm. We got Teagan into her little yellow bikini and Tony took her out slowly so she wouldn’t freak out and once she was IN she was HAPPY! She is truly our little fish, just so at ease in the water and excited to splash and kick. Tony had her out for a while and then we tried getting Tyler out there which wasn’t as easy but he eventually went, though spent most of his brief time clinging to daddy like if he let go he would die! The rest of the time we just lounged, some people read their kindles or napped, I was actually blogging on my little “clamshell” notebook. I just can’t stand the sun, baking in it that is. If I’d brought my book I’d probably have been reading but I feel awful if I nap in that situation and I get bored so easily and though I love going out in the water, I’m totally exposed to the sun. I’m just not a sun worshipper. We eventually left several hours later, around 630 pm, all 11 of us squeezing into a mini bus shuttle back to Bodrum.

Back at the hotel we all got cleaned up and met up in the central garden patio area of the hotel, working on a bottle of vodka that was leftover from the wedding reception. Part of the group went one way at that point and we went walking to find dinner with Nate & Rebecca, Alison, Ray & Dawn. We settled on a non-descript place not far from our hotel where the owner put together tables out on the sidewalk for us and we had one of our best meals of the entire trip. Rebecca ordered some delish stuffed pepper that came with dolmas and a common yogurt/garlic/herb thick dipping mixture thing that was TO DIE FOR which we promptly ordered a second helping of and shared. The 3 veggies ordered the, aptly named, vegetarian casserole and just absolutely loved it. Again it was made with eggplant, mushrooms, tomato, potato, olive oil and herbs basically. SO FREAKIN’ GOOD!!

As per usual it was LATE – where on earth does the time go in Turkey?? It’s god awful late before you know it but everyone is still out. In fact it becomes totally mobbed with people at night and doesn’t let up at all until 2 or so. I guess it’s because the sun is down and the weather is cooler (80’s) and all the stores & restaurants stay open way, way late. Everyone else but us, Dawn & Ray, stayed out but it was already ridiculously late for the kids so we just went back to the hotel. It was crazy because there were these LOUD bugs in the garden surrounding the hotel, maybe crickets or cicadas or something similar, making SO MUCH noise and then they’d just stop, making it seem like it had been only one bug but how could that be? How could it be that one bug makes so much noise or that so many bugs could stop all at once and stay quiet? I don’t understand the bug world and I don’t care to, but it made me feel itchy & crawly so for that reason on top of the heat and slathered sunblock and sweat had me in the shower every night before bed, my 2^nd or 3^rd of each day!