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agean

    Fall Break: Didim

    The Turkish coast is so beautiful. We spent two nights in a beach town called Didim. Didim is on a peninsula about 100 miles south of Izmir. Thousands of people from the U.K. have purchased summer homes there. We visited at the very end of the tourist season. Most of the shops and restaurants were in the process of shutting down. The major tourist attraction nearby was the Temple of Apollo, but we decided to relax by the beach. We strolled around the brick walk and rented some beach chairs for an afternoon. The water was cool, but warm enough to swim. We liked that it wasn’t too crowded.

     

    Turkish coast

     

    Didim beach

     

    Beach view

     

    Seaglass and shells

     

    David eating at Ikbal

     

    Pretty purple flower

     

    David and Leah in Didim

     

    Didim brickwalk

     

    Leah on the boardwalk

     

    Didim at night

     

    Moon reflection on water

     

    Where we stayed:
    We spent two nights at Arden Apart Hotel, which was so refreshing after our last hotel. This place was clean, had a nice view of the water, and had a gazillion TV channels.

    Where we ate:
    We ate at Nigel’s the first night. It was okay, but overpriced. We ate twice at Ikbal’s Restaurant: once for coffee and a yummy fruit cake and again for dinner. David had an excellent steak and I had some delicious calamari. Ikbal’s has an interesting approach for being in Turkey; they call themselves a no-hassle restaurant. They don’t bug you to come inside and don’t pressure you to order more.

    After our two nights in Didim, we headed back north!

     

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    Weekend Trip to Bodrum

    We had a 3-day weekend last weekend and took a quick trip to Bodrum, Turkey! Bodrum sits on a gulf that’s part of the Aegean Sea. We left Friday evening after school and flew back Monday.

     

    Map of Ankara to Bodrum, Turkey

     

    We rented a house with three of our friends in a neighborhood just outside of Bodrum called Bitez. Our friends discovered the website Airbnb and used it in some of their recent travels. People can list a room or their house on Airbnb. Sometimes the owners are in the house when you’re there, sometimes not. There are places to rent all over the world! We found a house and it ended up being a lot cheaper than staying at a hostel. We loved having a place to ourselves. It had three bedrooms, a little kitchen, and a living room area. We had breakfast on the roof Saturday morning. Here was the view from our bedroom window:

     

    View from window in Bitez

     

    And here was our morning breakfast view:

     

    View of the sea

     

    We took a dolmuş into the Bodrum city center to check out the town. The weather was gorgeous our first day – sunny and mid-60’s! There was lots to see around the port.

     

    Bodrum palm trees

     

    Sailboats

     

    Fish for sale

     

    We toured around the castle (also known as the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology). It was a beautiful place to explore! We got there a little late in the afternoon, so we had to rush through to see as much as we could before it closed at 4:30. I’ve heard it said the cure for anything is salt water: tears, sweat, or the sea. There’s something so calming about watching and smelling the water!

     

    Bodrum Castle Museum

     

    View from Bodrum Castle Museum

     

    There were different exhibits about underwater excavations and the history of the area.

     

    David as a statue

     

    Inside the castle gardens we saw PEACOCKS! I love peacocks. I’ve had a fascination with them every since I was little. My older brother’s high school girlfriend owned peacocks and she would bring me feathers. So pretty!

     

    Peacock

     

    Friends in the Bodrum Castle Museum

     

    After the castle, we snacked on hamsi at one of the restaurants along the water and then headed back to Bitez. (We did a lot of eating and reading over the weekend at the house!)

    While we were walking around, we saw this sign and realized we were in town the same time as the event. Oh goodness, wait till you see the pictures and hear about what we saw:

     

    Camel Wrestling sign

     

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