Chasing Tiffany: July 19, 2012 Last day in Bodrum

July 19, 2012 Last day in Bodrum

It was our last full day in Bodrum and all we really had on the agenda was checking out the castle, maybe the mausoleum, and just general hanging out again. There’s not terribly much to do in Bodrum, it’s really just about not doing anything! Hahaha! It’s about sleeping very late, laying in the sun & dipping in the sea, eating & drinking after the sun has gone down (meaning late), wandering through the shops then dancing at the clubs until the wee hours. Lather, rinse, repeat.

After the usual breakfast with the usual suspects we made plans for whoever wanted to tour the castle to meet at the entrance at 1 pm. We walked down the narrow, ped-traffic-only shopping street checking out the shops for the few hours before 1, Tony breaking off at one point to take a dip in the sea to cool off and then rejoin us. There was a small art gallery that I enjoyed slowing down in and just taking in the artist’s brushstrokes, recreating simple but colorful doorway images, often painted on pieces of scrap 2’x 4’s where some of the natural wood was left to show through creating quite a unique, textural feel to the painting. I thought, I can do that. Then I thought, I MUST set aside time on a routine basis when I get home to explore my art or it is never going to happen and that would be a shame. I can’t get good at something by just daydreaming about it. We all have the same 24hrs each day, it’s just a matter of how we spend them.

That’s a spicy meat-a-ball!

We had a quick lunch at an outdoor table under a canopy of vines and next to a big banner that said “These Tables Are Not For McDonalds!” since there was a McDonald’s right next to this little eatery that didn’t have any room inside other than to stand and order. We learned a lesson at this meal which would have been better learned earlier in the trip, though we had our suspicions all that time, which is that if you don’t see a price on a menu you have to ask what it is because our theory is they price according to the patron. Hmmm, American, yeah we can charge them more! Maybe that’s not right to assume but it sure felt that way, esp., when we got the bill for this meal and the large fries (which weren’t that good nor very large) were the equivalent of $8! I don’t gather they eat many fries anyway and that mostly tourists order them so maybe that’s why they cost more. Our wraps weren’t so overpriced after all. I tried to brave the jar of peppers again, as I had way back on the first day in Istanbul when I tried one in the “Tantuni” Evin had bought, which apparently is a special, yummy Turkish thing – veal, parsley, tomato wrapped in a pita which doesn’t sound so unique or special so maybe it’s the veal or particular herbs they use. But she stuck one of these long, skinny, light green peppers down into the wrap and said that was common a “condiment” for the Turkish and indeed I’ve seen jars of these puppies at every eating establishment, small or large, cheap & sleazy or fancy, right next to the salt shaker & ashtray! Let me put it this way, they may be small but they are HOT! When I’d tried the tantuni (yeah I still can’t believe I ate veal but I was feeling like ‘when in Turkey…’) I wanted to get the full experience and though I’m not sure I could eat them all the time, or with every bite, it was yummy and made me feel very…cultured! Hahaha! Needless to say I hadn’t tried one again until now and after one bite I had to take the pepper out of my veggie wrap because it was just too spicy! J

“There wolf, there castle!”

We ended up touring the castle with Nebobi (I think I’ve spelled her name differently every freakin’ time I’ve written it and I still don’t know what’s right!), Alison & Jill (a friend of Alison’s who just joined us in Bodrum) for the next few hours. I have to say, it wasn’t so exciting. I mean, sure it was a cool, big castle, but there were a lot of stairs which was difficult with the stroller and a lot of open courtyards that were pretty but stiflingly hot since the castle walls blocked any breeze from coming through. There were some cool, old artifacts in those courtyards that weren’t so much marked or even protected which was bizarre and made you want to go sit on them or touch them and yet better judgment kept you from doing so. There was display along a long wall of a ridiculous amount of amulets in varying shapes & sizes with information who used them for what & when so I guess they were really important but you look at 10 you’ve seen all 100! There was a cool coin & jewelry display in a darkened room which made you think about what ancient hands held those coins (kept in a leather drawstring coin purse?) and what was purchased with them (fruit? grain? chickens? shack rent?) and how hard they had to work for them. The jewelry seemed so small, maybe the women had smaller wrists & necks & fingers back then. I had to bypass checking out the towers (there were like 5 of them, on all corners of the castle) because of all the steps, the heat and the kids so I sent Tony on with the rest of the group and later heard it really wasn’t all that. I guess you couldn’t go inside them, just walk around the outside, which of course provided amazingly beautiful views of Bodrum, the hills & the sea, but that view was the same from every tower and I’d already seen it from the highest point I made it.

We didn’t end up going to see the Mausoleum because we ran out of time and were told it too wasn’t all that. But we did get a chuckle out of the blurb in our tour book about it:

“The beating heart of the region, and the namesake of the entire peninsula, the town of Bodrum has been a dot on the map for thousands of years. It first rose to fame on the back of the Mausoleum, the spectacular tomb of the Carian King Mausolus, that Roman historian Pliny the Elder designated one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it’s known throughout Turkey and beyond as a posh paradise where sun-kissed travelers dance the breezy summer nights away.” Why did we chuckle about that? Because Tony and several of our friends have been so taken with Pliny The Elder beer lately, a specialty at Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa!

We were told there was a pool around the corner from our place that you could use and hang out as long as you want if you bought something from the bar/restaurant so in desperate need of cooling off after the castle tour we got changed at the hotel and headed for relief. We almost thought we were going the wrong way since it seemed like the super narrow alley-like “road” we took was going on forever. It had 8’ white concrete walls on each side bordering people’s homes & gardens, cascades of bougainvillea coming over as well as branches of olive trees or pomegranate trees. Doorways with hand-painted tile house number above them popped up every so often. I saw gardens everywhere in Bodrum, over these walls or in our hotel yard there are fruit trees, rows of tomatoes and other veggies, even sometimes in front of restaurants there will be a few pots like they are growing their own supplies! There are also vines and trees everywhere, usually the vines taking over the trees! It had a very tropical, lush and homey feeling, which to me doesn’t seem like 3 traits that generally go together. We finally found the pool, ordered a couple beers, set-up camp in the shade of a few umbrellas and took a dip in the salt-less water! There was a little kiddy portion of the pool right near our end so I took Teagan & Tyler in and then sat on my butt bringing the water up to my shoulders if I slumped as the 2 little ones stood at the edge, so excited to be “on their own” in the water, holding onto the edge for support. Teagan kept dipping her face down in the water and I was watching her so careful but she never seemed to take any in, she was just so happy splashing and bouncing and putting her face in. She actually sat down once, probably having no idea what was going to happen, and went totally under but even though she coughed a bit when I snatched her up she wasn’t freaked out at all and just went back to splashing. Tyler, on the other hand, got a little splatter on his face from his splashing and freaked out. So interesting how different they are. I stayed in until I couldn’t face the next phase of skin prune-age where the grooves get so deep and stiff and painful you’d rather just like to cut off your fingers! Tyler stayed in until we left, which wasn’t too much longer since we wanted to rejoin the group for dinner. Besides I’d just about had enough of the couple in the swimming pool that were totally wrapped around each other, coasting around in the water as one, only coming apart for air every few minutes.

After the typical garden meet-up we decided to go back to the restaurant we ate at the day before yesterday since most of us agreed it was so good. Ray & Dawn had actually gone back the next day so tonight would make it three dinners in a row for them! I wasn’t so thrilled about going back, not because I didn’t totally enjoy my meal, but why go back to the same place when there were so many others to pick from? I didn’t feel like making a big deal about it though since everyone else seemed so agreeable to it. I suppose I could have asked Tony for us to have our own dinner separate from the group but I wanted to be with the group. Well I don’t think the little restaurant was used to serving 11 people at a time because after we all finally ordered it took FOREVER and in fact our dishes came out in waves, the vegetarian casseroles first (for me, Alison & Rebecca) then the pidas (for Tony & someone at the other end of the table) then some other thing for a few other people. It was a mess. At least my casserole was delicious again. Teagan had been passed out in the stroller but was awake now and NOT happy. Pelin took her for a little walk and then her mom tried too but even once they handed her back to me all I could do for the sake of my sanity was to take her back to the hotel. My mood had kinda turned pissy anyway so it wasn’t such a big deal for me to have to leave the table. It was nice to get back into the air conditioned hotel room; I got a glass of wine from the front desk and just relaxed. Teagan stopped screaming and was fine not long after we got back to the room thankfully. Tony came back with Tyler soon and told me a bunch of the group (the young ones) were thinking of heading to this little town over the hill where there’s supposed to be some amazing dance clubs and he wondered if I wanted to join. I said no, maybe back before I had kids I would be up for the adventure but it was already pretty late, it had been a full day and besides, my requisite for fun these days just doesn’t come from staying out late partying. Gosh, that statement sure made me sound old. I love to go out dancing, but I didn’t have any club worthy clothes with me and the whole trip I’ve only put on make-up and done my hair once, ok twice, for the wedding & reception, not that I need to do either to go dancing. Meh, it just wasn’t where I was at. I finished up the blog I was working on though and told Tony I would like to go down to the water and have a drink since it was our last night in Bodrum. The biggest bummer about travelling with kids is not being able to share your last night on the beach with your husband listening to the waves lap on the pebbly shore while enjoying a nightcap, gazing up at the stars and trying to memorize the moment. C’est la vie! So I walked down to the water and did all of the above minus Tony. It was still lovely even though I missed Tony. I sat there for a while before walking back and crawling into bed. Sigh…