What’s happening in Marmaris

The poster on the left is the one advertising the felt and painted stones exhibit.

KEÇE VE TAṢ BEBEK SERGiSi translates as An Exhibition of Felt and Stone Dolls.

KURSiYERLERDEN explains that the art is from the courses.  I’m pretty good at translating words with my dictionary.  It’s conversation that stumps me.  I’m not even attempting the other poster at this point which mentions something about the courses are free.  I’m not even attempting the other poster at this point other than to point out the courses are free.

Felted purses and things

Felt baskets: mine is the one with the white roses

I loved this one; it’s so bright and fun.

But someone loved it before me; it was sold.

I liked this one too, but would have liked it better with just the frame and no glass.

Wild flowers of Turkey

A felted purse decorated as a tuxedo and a scarf or something covered with flowers.

Taṣ Bebek   Stone Dolls

The exhibit runs until the afternoon of March 7^th.  I’m to collect my red felt bowl after 4 pm.

Starting out bright and chipper from Marmaris

There was lots of impromptu al fresco diners along the beach; a sign Spring is coming soon in Marmaris.

About half way. 

If you follow the shore line around to the right side of the photo and keep going you will get to Netsel Marina. 

Water stop: Robert, Rick and Mary. 

Robert is here from California visiting his mom and dad for a few weeks. 

The outdoor tables were filled so we ate inside

Turkish Tea

A flame heats the boiling water pot which heats the boiling tea pot.  Turkish tea is quite strong so first you pour some tea into your tulip shaped tea glass and then you pour some hot water in to dilute the tea.  The trick is you have to hold both pots at the same time, pouring first from one and then the other.  I filled myself up on the tea so didn’t fill myself up on the bread.  Across from Robert is Teal (sp) a retired geologist originally from Switzerland but now mostly a traveler.  I sat between Teal and Jennie from Yacht Marina. We talked about travel and where we’d like to go next. Actually Mary, Rick, Robert and I were the only Netsel folks doing the walk.  Some of our Netsel pals had opted to bike so were on their way back just as we were arriving. 

Traditional Turkish brunch.  The round plate with the small dishes were spreads that you could tell were “home made.” 

My plate

Olives, baked eggs, white cheese, herbed pepper spread and something made with pistachio bits and syrup and something that might have been dried quince slices.  I definitely ate more than my share of that.  About 8 kilometers worth of food.  

Some serious eating happening

Tazina, Rick, Mary

We met Tazina our first stay in Turkey.  She has done an extended Great Wall hike and is in training to walk the Camino De Santiago trail in Spain. 

Mary wants to fatten Robert up a bit before he goes home and meals like this will do the trick.  I passed my fried cheese börek along to Robert which is why he has two on his plate.

They have the best salad greens in Turkey especially the wonderful  nutty/peppery arugula.  It’s in season now so quite cheap.  Seasonal vegetables here in Turkey taste great and are very inexpensive at the open markets.  There’s no excuse for not eating healthfully here in Turkey with the wonderful vegetables, fruit and olive oil.  Unless, of course, you hit all of the bakeries in town.

Catching the dolmuṣ back to Iҫmeler.

Listening to the morning NET over the VHF radio system.

Checking email.

Walking through the Bazaar on our way to the Thursday Market.  Most shops close for the winter season.

Waving at old friends at Toys Toys

Outside the market thinking about what to buy

Cheese…

Possible distant relations…..

Our Thursday Market purchases….simit, veggies, bananas and a bag of stringy mozzarella cheese to melt on toasted simit.

Then everything had to be put away

Time to go out for our lunch date with Deena

Café latte after a lovely salad lunch at Yoder with Deena who treated us both!

Back on the boat and taking a peak into the engine room to make sure it was still there.

Maybe read a little

Maybe sip some Rakı with dinner

Just sitting around

Rhino Randal and I went to the market with Mary, Rick and their son Robert who is here visiting from California.  Mary took part in this silliness happily snapping photos of Rhino Randal and me.

Not sure when Rhino Randal’s next adventure will be…luckily he is just a pretend Rhino or he’d be too heavy to fit into my backpack.

I put this hat on the first cold day and will take it off when the daily temperature is finally in the mid-70s.

Any geologists out there have a clue what the read in these rocks would be.  Close up it looked like petrified wood. 

Parts of the trail were clear but definitely not wide enough to explain how they transported the power towers up here.

Though the trail may have gone on to the rocks up above, we stayed on the lower bits.   We hadn’t planned on doing more than locating the trail so didn’t want an all-day adventure that might take hours and have us ending up who knows where.  We’ll save that for a day we bring snacks!

We didn’t climb very high, but it was enough to have some nice views though the day was too hazy for good photos.

Working our way back down to …somewhere  in Marmaris.  The Beldibi bakery would have to wait for another day. 

Not sure if this is a turtle, tortoise, or terrapin as I haven’t a clue what the difference is any way.  This guy was certainly larger than my outspread hand, not that I would have tried to pick him up.  Some of these critters snap!  He was actually right where I wanted to place my hand to balance myself as we were  going down the hill.  As it was I had to balance myself to take the photo and Mary had to just hang on to her spot while I did it.  It wasn’t very steep but there was no level area for standing around waiting for someone taking a photo.  He looks as old as Turkey.

So this is where we came down….somewhere between Beldibi and Marmaris with no bakery in sight.

In Marmaris, if you miss one bakery, don’t worry; you’ll find another.

Gὄzleme was my choice; the middle shelf on the left.  Soft thin dough is rolled out into a huge circle and then some kind of filling is spread on top.  Then it gets folded over and folded over and cooked.  I had spinach and cheese.  Mary was a good sport about my lunch choice as she had done a bakery run in the morning bringing back goodies for breakfast. 

What I really wanted.  For some reason there are several stands in town that sell cotton candy.  Guess it’s their version of sea-side taffy. 

This is Tuesday…Monday the street looked like a street.  Winter is the season to renovate and half the building seem to be in the process of being torn down and then rebuilt.  Same with the roads.  The green and yellow grocery store is a landmark for cruisers.  When you want to give someone directions, you start off with, “you know the green and yellow market?”  It’s called Perihanoḡlu or close to that.  It’s taken me this long to come that close.  The inside is always bright and cheerful; not crowded but busy.  This mess can’t be good for business.

There’s one last photo I debated whether to include.  Just near where we started the trail swastikas had been painted on two houses with the words Sieg Heil on one and Heil and the Swastika on the other.   Not pretty.  In all our travels outside the U. S. I can’t remember seeing it before.  I say outside the US because someone painted a huge swastika on the Reform Synagogue in Roanoke. The non-Jewish neighbors helped clean it off.   You see the old Roman symbol of the revered image, but that’s different, though for me, still startling.  I don’t know if people in the houses were targets of hatred or promoting it.  It seemed totally out of place in my experience of Turkey.  That’s why I included the photo to point out how “not expected” this kind of thing is. 

Yuck.

This is from the standing billboard outside near the tables.

We each ordered a simit with goat cheese and olives which was listed on the actual menu where the simit were called bagels.  And tea which is only served hot here in Turkey.  If you want ice tea you buy it in a can. We all ordered the “big” tea as we were thirsty from our walk.   “Big” tea comes in a regular English tea cup.  “Small tea” is served in those tiny charming Turkish tea glasses that holds about 3 sips.

Simitland warms their simit rather than toast them.  I like toasted better.  But it was cheap and good and now we can say we’ve eaten in Simitland.  Simit are not Randal’s favorite so when he’s home we’ll stick to Aciktim for their chicken dὄner.  My orange backpack went quite well with the orange chairs. 

While were eating this young boy road past on his unicycle with his smaller brother chasing after him…. no doubt to pick up the pieces if he crash landed.

Monday was another sunny day so Mary and I went walking just to walk.  Sunny days are still not so common that you want to miss taking advantage of “getting off the boat and stretching your legs.” 

We decided to walk around Old Town Marmaris.

Old Town Marmaris has white washed homes with paint of that Mediterranean blue used on doors and window trim making everything look like a postcard.  You can see Marmaris Castle in the background.  It will be re-opened in April after this winter’s renovations.  Most of these building were constructed on the hill that sits just by the harbor.  When we were on B dock I took a zillion photos.

The decorative flowers and blue eye were ruined by the graffiti that seemed to be everywhere.  During my walks our first visit to Marmaris and even my early walks  this year, I don’t remember seeing anything like this much graffiti.  It really does spoil the beauty of the white washed structures.

This lovely door had been ruined too.

These folks need to exhibit their artistic talent in the new Arts and Culture Center and leave the white washed building in peace.

This isn’t just a tourist area; families live in these building which also house several restaurants and a few shops.

These girls were coming home from school.

Jane Parker, champion of stray dogs in Marmaris, lives in this lovely home.  The colored ribbons on the bare tree branches are “wishes.”

There were odd bits of decorative hardware.

One rusted and one well cared for door knockers

I bet early in the morning you would see plastic bags of bread hanging here for the home owner.

I’m guessing these guys are carrying supplies up to the castle for the renovation work.

Exploring the walkways is really lots of fun.  We’d gone to check out the Panorama Restaurant up on the hill top, but it was closed. 

A very narrow walkway that took us back to the waterfront promenade.

All dressed up for Valentine’s Day and waiting for the party to start.

Staying warm by the fire

The wine seller looks on as Collin, Jane, Sandy, Mary and Rick test out the red.

Her leggings attracted almost as much attention as her wine.

Netsel fashionistas look on from their shop window.

About 7 ish we wandered over to Fellini’s for dinner.  It’s a cute small restaurant where most of us had never eaten.  Now it’s a favorite.

The night was a bit chilly and damp so the fire felt good.

This was some kind of beef dish that comes on a small sizzling cooker.  The waiters served it.  Rick had ordered one and Collin and Jane shared theirs along with an order of fried calamari.

Mary had salmon on a plank with a covering of mashed potato laced with cheese. 

Rick’s sizzling meat dish is in the corner.  Everything was presented beautifully and cooked to order.  We had to wait about an hour but they served crispy toasted bread and several meze…all complimentary while we waited.

My incredibly wonderful grilled to perfection sea bass.  It came with fries and arugula, tomato, carrot, radish and onions.  It was really, REALLY good.  Really good.

Rick, Mary, Collin, Lee and Jane.  Randal is in China and Lee’s wife Zehra is in Ankara. 

After dinner they served us tea, coffee and a lovely fruit tray…all complimentary.  And then they gave us a Netsel Marina discount!  I had ordered 2 glasses of club soda with mint leaves along with my meal.  My entire bill was 25 TL which is about $15 US.  I left a 5 TL tip so that made it about $18.  It was a bargain at that. 

And you didn’t have to dress up!

We finally left about 10 pm and the weather gods were smiling so there was no need for the umbrella I carry everywhere. 

Really lovely evening.

All dressed up for Valentine’s Day and waiting for the party to start.

Staying warm by the fire

The wine seller looks on as Collin, Jane, Sandy, Mary and Rick test out the red.

Her leggings attracted almost as much attention as her wine.

Netsel fashionistas look on from their shop window.

About 7 ish we wandered over to Fellini’s for dinner.  It’s a cute small restaurant where most of us had never eaten.  Now it’s a favorite.

The night was a bit chilly and damp so the fire felt good.

This was some kind of beef dish that comes on a small sizzling cooker.  The waiters served it.  Rick had ordered one and Collin and Jane shared theirs along with an order of fried calamari.

Mary had salmon on a plank with a covering of mashed potato laced with cheese. 

Rick’s sizzling meat dish is in the corner.  Everything was presented beautifully and cooked to order.  We had to wait about an hour but they served crispy toasted bread and several meze…all complimentary while we waited.

My incredibly wonderful grilled to perfection sea bass.  It came with fries and arugula, tomato, carrot, radish and onions.  It was really, REALLY good.  Really good.

Rick, Mary, Collin, Lee and Jane.  Randal is in China and Lee’s wife Zehra is in Ankara. 

After dinner they served us tea, coffee and a lovely fruit tray…all complimentary.  And then they gave us a Netsel Marina discount!  I had ordered 2 glasses of club soda with mint leaves along with my meal.  My entire bill was 25 TL which is about $15 US.  I left a 5 TL tip so that made it about $18.  It was a bargain at that. 

And you didn’t have to dress up!

We finally left about 10 pm and the weather gods were smiling so there was no need for the umbrella I carry everywhere. 

Really lovely evening.

6 am this morning I got the inspiration for Gwen’s birthday card; a cake decorated with garlic cloves.  Gwen loves my garlic paintings.  There was no trial run so the garlic look a bit like strawberries.  I used the glitter paint my Roanoke Art Buddy Sarah had given to me so it did shine!  Mary, who has good penmanship, wrote Happy Birthday Gwen in the left-hand corner.  My gift to Gwen was a small garlic watercolor painting in a little frame.  It looked like a garlic.

I was skeptical, but Mary spied a glittery tiara in a shop window and suggested we buy it for Gwen.  I went along with the idea, but it was brilliant…no pun intended.  And since she would have a crown, a scepter was needed…hence the golden wand.

Mary crowning Gwen “MS Netsel Marina” and placing the diamond tiara on her head.

Gwen knew they were garlic cloves and who painted the card….everyone at the lunch signed the card so there were lots of languages as we cruisers come from all over the world.

Lee, Zarah and Gwen hiding behind her beautiful flowers.

Roasted, glazed onions and arugula were some of the pre-meal meze and then folks ordered from the menu hoping they would recognize their dish’s name when it was called out.  I missed mine as I was expecting it in Turkish but they were using the English names for the dishes. 

This was Joanne’s choice; minced, spiced meat wrapped in bread with tomatoes and a yogurt cream dip.  I had eggplant mush and steak kebabs. It was okay.  I like eggplant in any form and the meat was flavorful and tender. But I thought I was getting eggplant kebabs, not eggplant and kebabs.  But, as the saying goes, “You pays your money and you take your chances.”   Gwen tells the story of ordering a truck load of cooked chickens and receiving a truckload of frozen turkeys.  Things can get lost in translation but almost anything you do get tastes good. 

There were about 40 folks at the lunch party, some from Netsel Marina, some from Yacht Marina, and many expats who live around the Marmaris area.

The cake candles sparkled even from behind the water bottle!  See the gold wand!!

Dishing up the cake which was really good with real whipped cream and mashed banana filling.

Jane and Ginny were had designs on Gwen’s tiara.  It was very sparkly. 

This is Gwen from her life as a State Department employee gallivanting around the world.

Gwen brought it to show off how cute she was, but we think she looks great now!  After all if 60 is the new 40 then 70 is the new 45! 

  Mary’s sketch of Gwen and her cat Simba.

Jane with her finished gourd.

Notice the rows of very tiny dots along the neck.  Jane drilled those and filled them with tiny beads that allow light to pass through.   “Make sure you ask to see all of the gourds so you can pick the perfect one,  “ was her advice.   They come already dry; if you shake them you can hear the seeds inside.   You do have to cut open the bottom and scrape clean the insides.  And drill all of the holes too.  And find the beads and buttons than fit and let light shine through.  I might need to have a gourd before we leave Turkey…but not one made by me as I’m still knitting the second plain square that will be the back side of my vest.  Jane said this took her about 30 hours.  Hers really is quite lovely. 

Bridget holding the gourd so I can photograph the inside. 

She is wearing one of the beautiful sweaters she knits.  Such creative folks at our Wednesday Group!  And all the experts willing to patiently help the beginners.

Crystal balls and plastic blue buttons were inserted into holes that Jane drilled.  I liked the gold painted around the holes too. 

Those are the  very tiny holes with tiny beads inserted….

Unfortunately there was no really dark place in Sailor’s Point for us to test the light effect  but you can get some idea. 

Kerstin and Sune brought wine and chocolate for Valentine’s Day!

Some info about a Turkish Gourd Artist with examples of his work. 

http://www.northerndipper.com/news34.php  talks about Turkish artist Nurettin Taskaya.  “Seven years ago, a gardener gave Nurettin a bag of gourds with which he created a few lamps for his terrace. That got the ball rolling, and now Nurettin’s gourd lamps are showing up throughout Turkey and in other countries around the world!”  http://www.turkishculture.org/whoiswho/applied-arts/others/nurettin-taskaya-1209.htm also talks about Nurettin Taskaya.