Chasing Tiffany

July 16, 2012 Bodrum, Turkey

The day after the big Maiden Tower reception was another late sleep-in for me and the kids but this time Tony got smart and went out to do some things. When I got up I went to exchange the Swatch watch Tony had bought me the last time I slept in with one that was a little more ME. Then we had to shift into high gear and get packed up since we were leaving Istanbul that day. We hustled to the airport shuttle, a short “city” walk away, pulling our bags, wearing backpacks or in my case wearing Teagan and pushing the stroller nearly toppling over with our bags as well as Tyler riding on the front. Of course I was the one to make it to the shuttle stop first but unfortunately it was too full for any or all 6 of us so we got on the next one that left in another 30 minutes. No biggie since we’ve learned our lesson finally in Turkey (a week into it) to allow plenty of extra time to get anywhere. The hour ride to Istanbul’s other airport than we flew into proved to us just what the tour books said about how expansive the “city” is. We met up with our group at the airport, killed time until the flight, nearly missed it waiting for Tony & Novi who were off getting coffee and farting around but soon were on our way to Bodrum, 14 of us.

Vacation Within A Vacation

There was a shuttle waiting for us all at the Bodrum airport, we packed in and were whisked away on a one-lane, windy highway past arid olive-clad hillsides and breath taking crystal sea views. There is an ordinance in Bodrum that no building, residential or business, can be painted any color but white and so the bustling holiday destination city takes on a feel of a Greek Island…although I’ve never been to Greece so I’m only thinking of photos I’ve seen. Most of us were staying at the same place, a little garden hotel where Evin & her family have been vacationing for years. It was located just a couple blocks off the main drag which to the right was lined with souvenir, leather, shoe & clothes shops and to the left lined with restaurants. Straight ahead? The harbor and Aegean Sea. After dropping our stuff in our room we went exploring and soon found ourselves sitting in chairs on the pebble beach, dipping our toes in the warm water and enjoying a drink under the stars. Aaaah heaven. We hung out there a little while with a bunch of our group then we wandered off a bit but ended up coming back to a neighboring place and having a little late night dinner with Evin, her sister Pelin & their parents. I ordered the pida but this one wasn’t nearly as flavorful as the one I’d had in Istanbul, though it was topped with a lot more “goodies” like corn, olives, pickles and red pepper. Tony had a shwarma-type wrap like the Arici (Evin, Pelin & their parents) family was having, although they all drank the Ayran “sour” yogurt drink, straw popped right through the foil on top. I can’t imagine. I really wasn’t *that* hungry and it was pushing midnight so after I ate that whole cheesy pida myself I was pretty irritated at myself. Oh well, that’s what vacation is for, right?

We walked the short few blocks back to our hotel and crawled in after another long day!