10.26.22

Over the past five months we have spent a significant amount of time in Turkey and Greece, along with two side trips to Bulgaria and Romania. We were in Turkey from December 2021, until July 4^th and feel we know it pretty well. We lived in the southern city of Antalya, and for 88 days traveled northward by motorcycle up the Turkish Coast and into Greece, where we toured the northern regions for 31 days in partnership with visitors and convention centers. The most amazing thing about Europe, at least from an American’s viewpoint, is how CLOSE countries are, and it is remarkably easy to travel from one to the next, and literally feel like you are in another world. The US, with 50 states and 3000 miles of land east to west, has variety, but except for Mexico to the south, there is no significant change in cultures. Even if you venture north into Canada, except for some nuances, it’s almost like being in America.

Now that we are settled into Greece (for now), I wanted to offer some examples of the differences between those four countries: Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, & Romania.

One of the big determining factors that give countries some identity is if they are part of the European Union, the EU, since that influences their immigration policy, their financial strength and cost of living, and their money. Along with that is the Schengen Zone factor which determines how long you can STAY in each country. If you want to know more, here’s a report I did several years ago: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Ae6665968-5467-45b4-85cc-d13cff4bcb7f

EU vs. Non-EU:

Greece is EU, which makes it part of a vast interconnected and interlocked community. Twenty-six (soon to be 27) countries all share a common “Schengen” passport which makes it easy to cross borders, whereas Turkey is an island alone and shares none of that. Turkey has its own individual culture and is predominantly Muslim, while Greece has commonalities with a few countries, like its neighbor, Italy, which is reflected in their foods. The two things they both have in common is a vast and impressive history, though most of the world knows Greek history much more than Turkey’s. Romania and Bulgaria are EU, but non-Schengen…

(Written) Language differences:

The world shares many different types of written language, from the variation of Asian/ Chinese Han symbols and icons, to the Cyrillic of Russia and the Arabian text. Turkey employs “English” letters which makes it easier for us to understand (somewhat), but Greece uses a variation of Cyrillic letters which is very difficult for us to interpret. Over the months we drove on the roads we were used to NOT being able to read the signs, but most had English translations, too. Romania uses Latin letters, whereas Bulgaria does not.

Money:

Greece uses the Euro currency, which is predominant throughout the EU, and currently the Euro/ dollar ration is almost 1:1, which makes calculations very easy. We’ve been in Greece for several months and our buying power is good, but not great. Turkey uses the Lira, which has been very depressed and offers us some of the best buying power in the world. The Euro is supposedly the currency of the EU, but Romania and Bulgaria are both members, but have their own currency; Bulgaria with the Lek, and Romania with the Lei. Buying power in both countries is better than Greece, but not as good as Turkey. BTW, our favorite country, Croatia, will become an EU member on January 1, and convert to the Euro from the Kuna. That does NOT make us happy, but even worse, they will be part of the Schengen, which curtails our residency powers.

We won’t go into conversions since they change and the bottom line is that ALL these currencies offer a lot of buying power in their respective countries.

COFFEE!: This almost deserves a separate post since finding the RIGHT coffee in each country takes real effort! You would think that something as universal as “cappuccino” would be the same, but even though most countries are similar, some are made with one shot of expresso, some with two. Some like them lukewarm, others (not enough!), make them hotter. The milk they add varies from cream to whipped to blended, and have all sorts of fat content. There are way too many variations of a simple cup of coffee, and finding the RIGHT coffee with the RIGHT atmosphere, with the RIGHT prices, is a chore.

Food:

In Turkey you don’t have to go very far to find a shop selling “chai tea,” and almost any street you walk down will have merchants out on the curb drinking it. Along with the tea, the breakfast “meal” I fell in love with included a simit, which is like a sesame seed bagel, usually very soft, and incredibly inexpensive. Some tea, a simit, a pack of black olives and cream cheese, and I was a happy man. But cross the border and what happens?: NONE of that!

It’s strange that something as man-made as a border crossing would change the world of food, but it does, and we found food in Bulgaria different than Greece, which was different than Turkey. The Greeks make really good salad and even have a salad named after them: Greek Salad, which is usually served with a healthy block of feta cheese on top. That salad is rare in Turkey and unfortunately, we rarely found crispy, crunchy, tasty salads there. Bulgaria and Romania also had good salads.

In the alcohol world, Turkey has raki, Greece has ouizo, Bulgaria has Rakia (similar), and Romania has Țuica. Beer is also highly popular in all four countries, and each one has their “country favorite,” and it always amazed me how we would see people drinking beer from early in the morning until whenever. But they were almost always under control.

Vive la Difference is a French expression which says we should appreciate the differences. As we have traveled over these past four years we have seen many differences, but one thing was almost always a commonality: most people are kind, pleasant, and wish to be friendly and courteous to these English only speakers from a Strange Land.

05.14.22

If a picture can speak 1000 words, a word can generate 1000 pictures, and the mere name of the city we just visited—Istanbul- conjures up many thousands of images! One of the oldest cities in the world, it was founded almost nine thousand years ago, and initially called Byzantium, then Constantinople, and it has been under the rule of Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Ottomans. It is one of the few cities that bridges two continents, and it’s magical, crowded, full of history, a gourmand’s pipe dream, and a traveler’s fantasy; Istanbul is many things. It has one of the busiest airports in the world and is easier than ever to get to.

In past blogs I shared the surprise I had when we arrived in Turkey in December 2021 and how the thought of visiting this country—let alone living in it—was never a thought in my head. But after 6 months and visiting just a fraction of the western coast, it is truly a jewel of the world. Since Kat and I are returning to the US for the month of June she suggested (insisted??) that we visit this town of 15 million people and almost 20 percent of the population. “When someone asks us if we got there, I’d like to say yes,” was her pitch, and I didn’t fight it. It wasn’t a big deal to me, but it was to Kat. I didn’t care, but we went to Istanbul…and here’s what happened.

The flight from Antalya was cheap, about $62, which is typical of most flights outside the US, where domestic flights are expensive. We found a nice AirBNB in “Old Town” which is where we were recommended to stay. It’s near the Golden Horn, the Bosporus straight, hell, pretty much everything we wanted to see, including several major mosques, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, and more. As it turned out we got there the second day of a three-day holiday called Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the 30-day celebration of Ramadan. Now that the faithful can return to normal activities, including eating, drinking (even water), and other assorted activities, they celebrate. During Ramadan even sex is forbidden, so that’s pretty committed to their faith.

Our flight was easy, as was the 90-minute journey from Sabiha Gokcen Airport, the newer one, which is waaaay outside of town. It required one bus and one metro, so that wasn’t horrible. The town was active, but well within reason, and when we arrived on day one, it was surprisingly quiet—until we got to the tourist area. Two of the major mosques are within a 10-minute walk of each other, so that is where the crowds were. We were told that after the three days were through things would get more “normal,” whatever that means.

Day II we got an early start and walked over the Galata Bridge, which was very cool in that the top deck was covered with fishermen and their lines hanging over the sides, and below that level was all restaurants. On the other side Kat spotted a very cool tower, Galata, so we climbed a very steep incline to find it. Packed, that’s what it was, so we didn’t go in, but enjoyed the area. The tower was built in 1348 and over the centuries had damage, rebuilding, fire, add-ons, and now it is a tourist spot. This was the big day for walking—12 miles—and that includes lots of hills since Istanbul was built on seven hills, following the example of Rome. Of course, back then it was called Constantinople and it was the gateway between Europe and Asia as well as the bridge between Christianity and the Muslim faith. I do have to add that as used to being in and around “old buildings” as we are, Istanbul was humbling. We spent several hours in their archeological museum and were face to face with statues, sarcophagus, coins, and other relics that were seven, eight, even ten thousand years old. Their statues were particularly impressive and since they had the entire country to get them from, they were probably the best of the best. I was particularly enamored with a huge exhibit dedicated to Troy, the real city, which they determined was in northern Turkey. It also was a city that was covered repeatedly with dirt and new constructs, and they had to dig through ten different levels to get to their origins.

We took it a little easier the next day, only 6.5 miles, and visited the Hagia Sophia, Suleymaniye, and Blue mosques, each different and spectacular in their own way. That left 3227 that we did NOT visit, since that is the estimated number of mosques in this very conservative, devout town. We saw far more Hijabs (head and body scarves worn by Muslim women), and everyone blended right in. The crowds in SOME areas were better, like around the tourist spots, but the Grand Bazaar and others like it were pandemonium. Most vendors were courteous, a few were pushy, but since we are very particular about what we buy (being nomads), we held our own. Dinner was at a great buffet where you pick your food dishes when you enter and it was terrific.

Our last day was a full one since we didn’t fly out until 8:30 p.m., but the roads everywhere were a mess and we had concern about getting to the airport, even though we left four hours early. It ended well due to a shared taxi ride rather than the city bus, and by the time we got home we needed a day to just recover.

Istanbul is what I call a “city on overload.”

Busy everywhere, though SOME streets were barren of traffic, and others were a parking lot. There wasn’t much in between. The buses and subways we saw were usually jammed, I mean sardine jammed, and made us both reluctant to use them. On top of the 15 million residents, I suspect that that number increases 20-30 percent with visiting tourists. As the largest city in Turkey, and in Europe, we heard scores of different accents, and far more English than we did in Antalya. It seems that Americans and Brits visit THERE before they go anywhere else. We found the affordability reasonable, as in “Turkey reasonable,” and imminently affordable. The weather and crowds must be factored in if you plan your trip since it gets quite cold in winter (they had snow this year) and pretty hot in summer, but the determining factor is more the crowds than the weather. We were there for four days and we could go back for a month and still not see “everything,” but for us, personally, since “cities” and crowds are not our thing this might be a One and Done.

05.03..22

Day X, April 18:

(If you missed part I of the story, here it is)

Our last night in Kaleucagiz was unique in that we had lightning and thunder! It never did rain, but it ended our perfect five nights there. I paid our bill, and considering we were there five nights, had one meal and the three hour boat ride…and the bill was about $250, I was good with that. After breakfast we rode into Kas and we dug that room, too! We were close to everything, and it was cute and pretty large. We had a balcony (which we love), and a really nice bathroom and shower. The bed was soft and we stayed for seven nights. After we unpacked we strolled downtown, found some restaurants pricey, others better, and had a nice meal for about $10.

Day XI, April 19:

Our first full day in Kas and we were surprised by an early morning rainstorm! There was nothing predicted, but by 0900 the sky was clear and we started our exploration. That usually means two things: 1) a good coffee shop and 2) ditto on a good simit spot. We lucked out on both!

Afterwards we walked a bit and explored and found a really nice campground, of all things. We have no camping gear, nor a traveling van, but they did offer bungalows for 600 lira: $40 USD. That is a lot for a bare room with no amenities, but the location of this place was extraordinary, so we may return at some point down the line. Meanwhile we found an almost as good location in a restaurant where we could hang out for the entire day. They had no “minimum purchase” (yet), though they will starting in May, so we worked, sunned, and relaxed for several hours.

Both of us got really good vibes there in Kas and plan to return in October (after Greece) for maybe two months. Subject to change, of course…

Day XII, April 20:

I guess we don’t need to document every day in paradise…and today was just that: paradise. Nice breakfast on the balcony, went to the beach for a few hours, and researched rooms for later this year…Yes, we plan to return for a month or two. And by the way, once again we were the only residents of this pansiyon. There’s about 8 rooms, but very, very quiet, which was fine with us.

Day XIII, April 21:

On my way from Bucharest home to Antalya in April, I covered much of the western Turkey coast. One of the towns that caught my attention was Kalkan, about 40 km north of Kas, which is where went. Riding through that town was beautiful as it starts along the state highway and slowly slopes right down to the ocean.

Today we checked it out, and it was VERY sloopy!

I can’t say I was as impressed as I expected to be, but it’s worth a visit, and we did get an invite from a local expat to stay at her resort next week, so we’ll see if that comes together (it did). As it was, we did not stay in Kalkan (yet), but we went 20 minutes further to Patara Beach, one of the longest in Turkey. It’s about 11 km and is pure white sand from one dune to the next. And there was hardly anyone there.

Kathleen and I have been so enjoying these two weeks and each day is as good as the last.

Day XIV, April 22:

What do you do when you wake up early, maybe from the FIRST “call to prayer” at 0450? You get dressed and catch the sunrise at the 2000 year old Antiphellos Amphitheater! So that is what we did, walking along the mostly dark street at 0545, but it was beautiful. There were a few stray cats hanging out, and they were joined by two street dogs who hung out with us. A good way to start the day!

Day 15 (and more):

We have been digging into Kas, looking at possible living places, and getting to know the town. There is a section of town called Cerciler which one of the local British residents told me about. It is more of a “locals” neighborhood, rather than a tourist-centric part of town. It’s up at the very top of the hill surrounding the town and some of the views are pretty spectacular. It’s also sparse of restaurants and feels a bit run down.

How much is it worth to live in an area you really don’t want to live in?

We faced that same question in Mexico, and lived in Colonia side rather than Portside. The difference in rent was considerable, and Colonia, though not as “nice,” was also not as crowded or expensive for food as well as rent. It looks like we can get something more or less “in town” for maybe $800 USD, which fits in our budget, so I decided that unless we could save $300 or more, we’ll look to move into the town proper.

Meanwhile, we found amazing beaches and coves, and though the water temp is still a bit cold, it won’t be long now! We stayed an extra day at the current pansiyon and have been invited to a very nice resort from the Welsh owner who appreciates our lifestyle. We always appreciate the universe taking care of us! It’s 15 days since we left and we’ll be heading back to Antalya next Sunday.

April 26

Reluctantly we finally left Kas and had an interesting offer: In the local Facebook page for the city of Kalkan I posted that we were looking for a room for a night or two. A very nice Welsh lady, Elle, has a six bedroom retreat/ spa that is she is just readying to open, and she invited us to stay for a few days. Which we did. It was magnificent with a full on ocean view and amazingly comfortable bed. We had full run of the house and chilled for two days plus went into “town” for a meal and to explore. We were more impressed than on our first go-round so decided that maybe this town does deserve a further view.

April 29-May 1

We had a few choices of how to route our last leg home, so we stopped in Demre (again) for a quick snack and trucked on down to Adrasan, a small, out of the way, beach town that was very laid back. Kat found us a great pansiyon for a good price, so our last few days were spent there, enjoying the little stream outside our window along with the ducks quacking over there. We had a great fish dinner, very inexpensive, and the room was nice, as was the coolish night temperature. Since we are already “packed” Kat wanted to visit Istanbul before leave for the US in four weeks, so we will rest for ONE day, then fly to Istanbul. Oh, well, I knew we’d get there eventually, so why not now?

This 21 (actually 23) day Beta test did actually what we wanted it to do. We were able to pack the bike and take with us what we needed to live. In 60+ plus days we will do it again, but that trip will be about four months. Most of the time we’ll be in warm temps, but towards the end it may get chilly so we have to incorporate that into our packing plans. We will “end” in Northern Greece and we have several options of where to go from there, but it looks like south to Athens then ferry back to Turkey is the most likely case. Stay tuned…

04.17.22

After four months in our apartment/ hotel, Villa Tulipan in Antalya, we checked out, and we move into our new apartment May 1. That means we had 21 days in between, so what do we do?

Road Trip!

This will be a Beta Test for our much longer bike trip coming up in July, when we will ride back up the coast of Turkey into Bulgaria, then head west into Greece, where I will be hosted by several resorts, hotels, and visitor’s bureaus while I write a travelogue on their behalf. Very exciting!

Meanwhile, every journey starts with the first step/ mile, so here is what happened before and during.

Day I, April 9: We had several options, including heading south and hitting Cappadocia and possibly taking a ferry to Cyprus, but when I saw the beautiful coastline coming south from Fethiye, I wanted Kat to see it, too. Day one was beautiful and the hazy air from a Sahara windstorm that plagued us for the past two weeks was finally clearing. The amazing Taurus mountains, that we used to clearly see every day, was back, after being concealed behind a curtain of brown.

On the way north I saw the off ramp for the Olympus ruins, which we were at in December, but were unable to see it due to a swollen creek. I asked if she’s rather see it NOW, on the way out of town, or on the way back, and the response was, “Now…my butt needs a break!” so we rolled down the back, windy roads to Olympus.

It was different than I expected, and the most noteworthy thing (to me) was the location at the ocean’s edge. What a beautiful setting! Unlike several of the ruins we visited lately, this one did not blow my mind. We stayed for a few hours and had an amazing trout dinner at one of the neighboring restaurant. The entire trout, fries, and some veggies for $4.75 which we even shared with the very polite cats, and headed back out.

The ride from there to Finike took us along the waterfront and some amazing scenery near a park called Mavikent Plaji. (Plaji is beach in Turkish). The road climbed up, down, and both directions and we enjoyed some magnificent shots from on high.

For day one I rate it a solid 7 on a ten scale and look forward to the next 20 days.

Day II, April 10: A lesson was learned today: even with an ocean view room, DO NOT get one fronting a major highway! There was noise most of the night and truthfully, we weren’t here long enough to really appreciate the view. We had a decision to make over breakfast; stay one more night, chill, and NOT have to pack it all up, OR take off. We decided noise or no noise we would head north to Demre, the next city on our journey.

The ride from here to there is only 17 km, but they are some of the most majestic miles along this coast, and the same road I hit a month ago on my way back from Bucharest.

The weather was picture perfect, and even though Kat had a bit of fear (still getting used to being a bike passenger…) we got to Demre and found the road that paralleled the beach. Since our hotel breakfast offered no coffee, we found a nice coffee spot right on the water and started digging into room options for the following nights. After researching AirBNBs and hotels, we walked a few hundred feet and checked out some right there, since we knew we could at least see them beforehand.

We found this less than 4-star pansion run by a lovely lady who spoke no English. She had two room options and we negotiated $19 a night for two nights, $38 total. Mind you, it’s nothing special, but it did have a kitchen and the ocean was two minutes away. We were good with that decision so decided to explore more and found an amazing beach, Suluklu Beach, and a funky hotel with one apartment right on the sand. It was a one bedroom wooden cabin that was more than we wanted to spend, but hey, you only live once, so after our two days at the other place, we went there. It also adjoined a restaurant just as funky, so we had three days to explore the area.

When we returned to our prior room in Finike I notice that Limyra was there, a major and significant historical site just a few miles away. So the start of day three included that and another amazing ride up those amazing 17 km along the beach.

Day III, April 11:

The Limyra ruins was a letdown so we rode by and moved on. The wind was gusting pretty hard and luckily the distance to Demre was not too great, but even so, as we got on the road the buffeting wind off the mountain cliffs was troublesome. Luckily we were not in a hurry so we took it very slowly and even though we ran into some light rain we made it to Demre with a great sigh of relief. Small, light bikes are good for some things, not so good for others.

We got to our room, called Turkmen Boutique Hotel, paid our reasonable amount, and got mostly unpacked. Since we carry everything in two backpacks and a gym bag, efficiency and logistics are paramount. Fortunately, Kathleen is a super packer and more organized (and conscientious) than I am. The lodging, which has a living room, kitchen and two bedrooms, is very spartan and when Kat pulled a blanket out of the second bedroom armoire, four eggs fell out. We suspected the chickens around the house got inside and laid them, and we felt bad that we broke them. And we believe the Momma chicken knew what we did…

One of them was able to get inside, we had to chase her out, and it was a truly laughable, memorable moment.

It was time for lunch so explored the smallish downtown, had a great lunch for less than $7.00 (for two) and discovered that the Myra ruins we just a mile outside town, so we headed there, spent an hour exploring and it was one of the more noteworthy places we have been. The necropolis (crypts) are actually built into the side of the mountain several hundred feet up, and it was a chilling and amazing site. The stadium was just as memorable and in great condition. Even though the entire area is not as large as many we have visited, it is a definite “must see” if you are in the Demre area.

The wind never did let up the whole day, so we are hoping tomorrow dawns with sunshine and calm air.

Day IV, April 12:

A very, very cold night, but the 4^th day was beautiful and much warmer. After a light breakfast we decided to check out Kaleucagiz, the ferry port to the island of Kekova, which everyone recommended we visit. It has (more) ruins, plus a sunken city, which we look forward to seeing. We really liked the very small port town so checked out some rooms and found one where we will stay for the next few nights. Again, amazing prices, and off season is definitely the time to travel.

When we got home I told Kat we really needed to check out the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, the true man behind Santa Claus. It was under renovation, but quite lovely with nice murals and the final resting place of the man who supposedly performed miracles and was the protector of children.

Tomorrow we have one more local museum to check out on our way  to the next stop, and for two days we plan to kind of chill…

Day V, April 13:

We arrived in Kaleucagiz and the reality of staying in this room was even better than we thought, so plan on maybe five days or more. From here we can veg, catch up on writing, hike, visit Kekova Island, check out Kas (our next destination), and play it by ear. Truth is, we have four windows in our room plus a door to the balcony, and every room overlooks the water. We can’t do much better than this so decided to take advantage of it.

Day VI, April 14:

It was insanely quite last night and the nasty wind finally stopped blowing, which means it got nice and WARM (66°F)—finally. Our room includes breakfast, which was a great traditional Turkish buffet, and that suits us just fine. Afterwards we hiked a bit of the Lycian Way (540 km the entire way), and what little we did was lovely.

Day VII, April 15:

We “found” Kas, and it truly IS amazing. The view from atop the hill was as breathtaking as the place we are staying now. We traversed around the perimeter of the peninsula and checked out a few rooms. Kat found this amazing place with an infinity pool and in most parts of the world it would be 4 star, but here: about $50. It was further outside town than we wanted so we checked out the downtown area, had a bite to eat and fond a nice pansiyon for half that. We decided that we’ll return next week for one week and use Kas a new base to look beyond.

The weather is finally really nice, it hit 70 today, and even though the water is not QUITE ready to dive into, it’s close! Regardless, Kat and I are enjoying the hell out of our journey and we’re just 1/3 through it.

Day VIII, April 16:

When we got here in Kaleucagiz a few days ago I knew we had to get over to the actual island of Kekova. There are boat tours, but the owner of our hotel, Ibrahim, also has, in addition to his restaurant, a boat, so we took that over for all of 800 tl: that’s $54 for two people and we were the only ones on it.

First stop was a 10 minute ride to the island of Simena, and the Simena Kalesi castle on top. The hike was moderate and the views from the top were spectacular. I swear, sometimes coming up with new superlatives is a challenge! After we were there for about an hour we continued on to the actual island of Kekova  and the “sunken city,” which is more an oceanfront area where buildings used to be. We could see sunken Roman baths and evidence of buildings along with archways and such, but regardless, it was very cool. A bit later we pulled into a beautiful cove and anchored there for about an hour, soaking up the sun, and even jumping into the Mediterranean, which was very cold! We had the boat to ourselves and felt like we were living a fairy tale.

We are grateful every day, especially when we can enjoy such luxury for such a low cost.

Day IX, April 17:

Happy Easter, and a day to relax. After breakfast we took a short hike up the Lycian Way in the other direction and explored the sarcophagus along the waterfront and stumbled into a dry dock where many boats were undergoing renovation. This is our last day here, the sky has been overcast since early, so we’re catching up on work and messages and things like that. Tomorrow we check out to Kas where we will spend seven days, possibly more. And as of tomorrow we will be halfway through our 21 day journey.

03.14.22

I was inteviewed on Big Blend radio, a podcast for travelers/ traveling, and shared my new book “COVIDstories: Positive Lessons that Started Very, Very Badly.” You can listen here:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/big-blend-radio/2022/03/12/travel-writer-and-author-norm-bour–covid-stories

02.o1.22

Kathleen and I were given the opportunity  to share our “Travel Younger” journey with Warren and Julie Knox, fellow nomads, who educate others about nomadic travel through their YouTube channel. This video gives a small overview of how we started our adventure, how we afford to travel the world, and why we love what we do. We hope it will help inspire others who have always wanted to do the same, but were too afraid to take the leap…  please check us out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBsVeeLmm4Y

01.21.22

It’s a cliché: we use the expression, “all the tea in China,” to indicate that you would not do something “for all the tea in China,” which means you definitely will not do it. I think I can amend that to read, “for all the tea in Turkiye,” too.

I remember walking into a grocery store when we first got to Italy a few years ago and being awed by abundant displays of pasta on the shelf. I mean, it took up an entire aisle! It may be a stereotype, but it’s still true: Italians love their pasta! But so do many other countries.

Meanwhile, here in Turkiye, their style of eating is unlike others we have encountered in the world, especially pertaining to breakfast. It is a Muslim country, so bacon and eggs are uncommon. A traditional Turkish breakfast is more like a European buffet spread: cold cuts, hardboiled egg, and then they add other more native delicacies. Nuts, figs, dates, and a whole collection of cheese. And don’t forget the bread! Pita of course is very Turkish, but you can get bread anywhere in many flavor choices. As the New Yorkers have their bagels, here they have what is called a simit, which is a little skinnier version of a bagel with lots of sesame seeds, and is very, very good.

And the point to this entry is that as the Italians love their pasta, here they love their tea, and it comes in many different assortments of flavors and styles. Turkish tea, also known as chai tea, is served anywhere and everywhere, and just walking down the street we see the merchants and vendors sitting outside enjoying their tea. Hence the reason for this picture of an entire aisle of tea!

I have grown to like their tea and have at least one cup every day. As a matter of fact, if someone asks you if you would like some, it is rude to decline. And of course, I don’t want to be rude! Turkish coffee is a “thing,” and it is very thick and dark, though not as strong as some regular ground coffees. I like it but not enough to drink it regularly, and prefer tea, which is the national drink, not coffee.

If you have read any of my blogs over the last 3 years you know that food is an important topic of my conversations. From the initial foods we discovered in Spain, then Italy, then Croatia, followed by different parts of Eastern Europe. Later it was onward to Greece, the Far East, Thailand, etc, and finally on to Mexico where we were stuck for 15 months. Yes, food is important although I do not call myself a foodie. You wouldn’t know that considering that I have dozens if not hundreds of food photos on my Facebook feeds!

So far no food has been a total turn off, though what they call Turkish delight, is too sweet for me, and their ice cream is too thick. I do miss my strudel and my more western style breakfast pastries, but overall, the food here is much healthier.

01.10.22

12.10.21

#127

12.10.21

Goodbye Croatia, Hello Turkey

I remember about a decade ago I was watching a TV show with my (then) wife in my very comfortable living room, in my very comfortable chair, in very comfortable Orange County, CA. A TV commercial came on advertising the country of Turkey, possibly from their visitor’s bureau. I recall thinking, maybe even aloud, “Who the hell wants to visit Turkey?”

A few years later a friend of mine, Sara, told me she was visiting Turkey and I expressed the same thoughts, maybe even to her: “WHY Turkey?” I don’t recall her answer, but she was amazed, impressed and so were the pictures she shared.

So now I am IN Turkey, and I was on a call with my cousin a few weeks back and when I told her where I was going she posed the same, “Why Turkey?” question. What is it about this country that made/ makes Americans pose that question? I admit I had preconceptions and imagined a primitive country more Morocco-like than European-like. Over the course of Kathleen and my travels since 2019 we planned to visit the country TWICE, and we even had tickets but had to cancel them at the time.

Tunisia in 2019 was our first Muslim country and both of us were unsure how that would feel, but it was lovely, as were the people. It took about a day to get over the attire, the 5 times a day “call to prayer” which sounded over loudspeakers, and the language which was much different. Regardless, the food was delicious, and the people were as curious about us as we were about them. Turkey has the same prayer calls, but is VERY contemporary, with more selections of food, clothing, jewelry, and anything you wish to buy. At insane prices…

Since she and I are cold weather wimps, and it is now the start of “winter” (per the calendar) we kept searching for warm or warmish weather. We looked into Greece and their many islands, plus Malta, and Cyprus and then one day I looked at the map and found the furthest south place we could stay before running into Africa or having to trek to Asia. That city is called “Antalya,” –in Turkey–and that is where we are.

We did some research on the country and found it to be remarkably tourist friendly with one of the best railway systems in this part of the world, which was a very nice surprise since our usual haunts in Southern & Eastern Europe have poor rail systems, and per wiki, “an active network of 12,532 km (7,787 mi) of railways, making it the 23rd-largest railway system in the world.”

We’ve been here less that a week and every day we discover new “AHA” places, events, and views. For instance:

• The town is located in a bay on the Mediterranean and it has loads of history. Hadrian’s Gate was the entrance that the emperor entered in to back in the time of Christ. Likewise, there is a Tower, Hidirilik, which is undergoing renovation and that is also 2000 years old, plus some of the most beautiful mosques I’ve ever seen. Very close is the amazing Duden waterfall (look it up), plus within a view hours bus ride there are towns like Cappadocia, with unbelievable landscapes, and Pamukkale, with thermal pools flowing down travertine terraces.
• The difference between the US dollar and the Turkish lira (TL) is at an all-time low, which is hard on the natives, but means our dollars go far. Breakfast for two, including omelets, bread, and two cappuccinos are about $5.50. Last night we had a huge burger, which came with fries and a small salad, plus I added a Mediterranean salad and a glass of wine, and the total was $10. This also means our rent is cheap…Our planned AirBNB visit did not pan out so we are staying at an apartment/ hotel which is in “Old Town,” 2 minutes to an amazing viewpoint, and within 5 minutes’ walk to more restaurants than we need.
• Residency. One of our biggest hurdles over our three years of travel has been the common 90-day visa limitations. Albania and Georgia were possible destinations for us to get around this (12 mo. visa), but Turkey has the easiest residence process than anywhere we’ve been. Our plan is a one-year visa which easily transitions into a two-year permit and if we do that for eight years, we are full time residents. That is very tempting!
• It’s almost Christmas and I am writing this at a café with no jacket on and 63-degree temps. It IS rainy season, but it’s been warm so far and we don’t expect weather to be restrictive.

So if you share this blog and someone asks, “WHY Turkey?” you can tell them why!

Happy Holidays until my next post.