Leaving Kas today – it’s been fabulous.
On the way to Dalyan for a couple of days before home. Stopped off at Xanthos on the way – a really important site but not especially photogenic.
Ruins in the rain. Thunder wasn’t up to UK standards by all accounts, but not bad.
Then to Dalyan – view of the tombs across the river from the hotel.
Dinner in town.
Cheers!
It’s our last full day at our wonderful house in Kas. Thunderstorms were promised, and whilst there was a lot of rumbling, there was nothing spectacular – shame.
Usual difficulties in getting going, but took ourselves off to Myra in the afternoon. Wonderful tombs and theatres.
Then just a couple of kilometres to this church. The bishop became probably the most famous saint in the world. Any ideas (see bottom of today’s blog).
And here’s a first. Driving home and went round a corner and had to take evasive action to avoid this little fella. Least we could do was help him cross the road – just weren’t sure which side he was aiming for!
And up in the mountains gives a good sense of Kas. We’re in the middle – last house on the shoreline.
Couldn’t resist one last time!
And here’s the bishop. St Nicholas, or Santa Claus.
Usual start to the day …
Eventually roused ourselves to visit Kekova about half an hour away, and took a boat trip. This was our boat and captain – total number of passengers = 2.
Village and castle of Simena.
Then on to the highlight and purpose of the trip – the sunken city (earthquake in the 2nd Century).
The sunken harbour.
.. and the ruined church.
Dinner at the harbour – he is the owner and the chef.
And found a friend – the owner’s daughter who is exactly the same age as Jo, studying in Heidelberg and speaks great English.
And finally, submitted the application to star in Titanic II – eat your heart out Leonardo!
Pretty much the same as yesterday – sitting around gazing at the view, occasional swim, coffee and baklava etc. This is the view from above the house – pretty much the same,
Recognise this? Yup – same as yesterday.
Our little “beach”.
Dinner in town. It’s reasonably quiet here, but looking at the number of restaurants, we can only imagine it must be horrendously busy in summer.
Or a little bit lazy. Took a walk (about 30 – 40 mins and a couple of hills) into Kas in the early morning when it was wonderfully still. Our house is the one on the left.
The beach where we ate last night.
Hmmm. Needed a dip as it was getting pretty hot, but you’ll probably want to hurry past this one ….
View from lunch.
We did venture out to the theatre later on – it’s a low key Presidential election!
Same view a bit later on.
Dinner in town.
And found a friend called Rocco who has a crazy 5 minutes as though we’re long-lost friends, but then calms down to be good company.
It’s forecast to be another scorcher tomorrow – can’t see us doing much different!
That’s it for Istanbul – an early start and a flight south to Dalaman. Picked up the hire car and:
– came across a great new hire car idea – you think of everything apart from you having to pay to get out of the airport car park once you’ve collected it. It’s only £2 and I’m impressed!
– stopped by police within about 20 minutes. They waved us on pretty quickly.
A slight detour to Fetinye which Eileen had been to many years ago. Nice cafe for lunch.
And the answer to “what’s in a Turkish breakfast?” came back as “eggs, olives, cheese, a cigarette break, tomatoes, honey and Turkish coffee – who could resist!
And then a 2 hour drive to Kas. Driving fine so far – much better than Portugal. Liberal use of the horn and the hard shoulder when being overtaken, but no real aggression.
Then our house for the next few days. Not bad.
Even came across the local fauna in the sea!
But this is what is really special – the view from the terrace.
I suspect there will be a few more of these. And don’t be fooled by the clouds – it’s 32 degrees and getting hotter tomorrow.
So down to the local taverna about 15 minutes walk for the most fabulous fresh fish dinner.
Started off with a leisurely breakfast and found a friend.
Then more full on sightseeing, starting with Topkapi Palace. Amazing and mostly about 500 years old.
Then stopped for a coffee – that really is the Bosphorus.
Then a half hour walk (and a decent climb) to the Suleymaniye (the Magnificent) Mosque.
And decent views across the Golden Horn.
A rest and some packing before another rooftop dinner. Amazing sights, with ok food that again didn’t match the view but who’s complaining!
Sunset! And that is it for Istanbul. We came with high expectations and they have been exceeded by a long way. What an amazing city.
Early start tomorrow – taxi booked for 6.45 for an early flight and driving down to Kas on the Mediterranean.
And so to a mini-adventure of getting to St Saviour in Chora. It is a little way out of the centre and away from the tram line, so we splashed out £3 on a taxi.
– showed the driver the guidebook and he had never heard of it
– he stops at the next hotel and has an animated conversation with the staff
– google maps comes into play and we go on a magical mystery tour
– he stops, waves his arms and indicates it is around here somewhere
– we find it (or think we do) but we are wandering around the local mosque
– conclude we are miles away and hail another taxi who says we’re daft (in Turkish) and it is right there
– no signposts so ask in a local cafe
– at this stage even thinking of extending the mortgage and turning on data roaming …😂
But success! Others more scholarly than l probably wouldn’t define it as 14th Century bling (mosaics and frescos) but you get the idea.
And dinner at TurkArt Hotel roof terrace. Simply a feast (visually at least; food OK not as good as the views).
Dinner in a pot which has to be broken open.
Another multiple blog – it is a feast for the senses, and there is so much to share.
Early morning walk – the Blue Mosque looks very fine, and extremely quiet.
Booked another tour this morning. Part of it was to look at the Spice Market which we had seen yesterday. The Guide suggested we look at the station. Fabulous – and this is where the Orient Express started from.
Then on a boat up the Bosphorus – connected to the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmaris which I now understand. Mosque Sultanahmet – the largest in Istanbul.
The Asian side. Including in the distance the brand new biggest Mosque to be completed in a couple of months.
Lunch is the famous fish sandwich (no, me neither). But loads of cafes doing a fresh fish sandwich for about £1.50.
Then the 3 Turkish things you have to do all in one go:
– Turkish Coffee
– Turkish Delight
– Baklava
Eileen’s birthday present – dinner at what is allegedly Istanbul’s best restaurant which was booked ages ago. Happy Birthday – cheers!
Went for the Tasting Menu – note the 7 courses, although they slipped in 3 more.
Together with (we think – it was getting hard to keep count later on 😃) 7 different Turkish wines. Some of which were excellent, and without exception all much better than expected.
Oh, and it is on the 18th floor of a hotel on a hill, so the views weren’t bad.
