Category Archives: Food

What we are eating and where we mention food.

Welcome to Izmir, Turkey

Posted on by
3

Izmir, formerly called Smyrna, was occupied by humans between 6500BC and 4000 BC. It was settled by Greeks around the 10th century BC. It is believed that the famous author Homer was born in Smyrna. In 95 AD, the apostle St. John wrote a letter addressed to seven fledgling churches located in what is now western Turkey, Smyrna being one of them. The letter was canonized as part of the bible and is called The Book of Revelation. Under the Ottomans, Smyrna emerged as an important port city and became multi-national and contemporary. They also exported many popular products to Europe, such as raisins, figs, and carpets, and were known for their unique musical style. Smyrna was the center of the war between the Turks and Greeks post WWI, which left the city completely destroyed. Today it is the third largest city and second largest port in Turkey.

We were still on the main highway, and we drove about half way around the bay before we realized we were lost. We pulled over at a gas station and asked for a map. No maps. Eric remembered that he could pull up a map on his cell phone. He expertly navigated his way into downtown using the cell phone. From what we could see, there were sections of town from the turn of the century that were neglected and dilapidated, and sections of town that are brand new and gorgeous, and everything in between. The buildings here are colorful, which is a stark contrast to Bodrum where they are all white. The bay has a large commercial container port area that dominates a big section of the bay. There is a fleet of military ships in the bay near the container port area. The roads are really great — wide and well maintained, with excellent signage. All the streets are two ways, many with nicely landscaped medians. The drivers are just as bad, though, and driving is still pretty scary. And, despite the fact that this is a huge, contemporary city, we saw goats running in the road at one point. Here is a typical street in downtown.

imgp5893-small.JPG

We had skipped lunch and were starved, so we made a stop for food at a little hole in the wall along one of the main roads. The boy behind the counter spoke no English at all. He pointed to Continue reading →

Dry Dock Work and Touring the Bodrum Peninsula

Posted on by
Reply

Our first task of the day was to wash out the chain locker. We cleaned out all the salt and dirt and picked up all the debris that had collected at the bottom. It wasn’t nearly as dirty as we had expected it to be, but there was more debris in the bottom than we expected, which affects the water’s ability to drain.

Once the locker was done, Eric Continue reading →

Kosmos Haul Out and More Turkish Food

Posted on by
Reply

Recently, someone e-mailed us from Bodrum, Turkey. He said he read our blog, admired our trip, that he owned a boat yard, Yatlift, and would happy to be of service if we needed work done. He generously offered to haul us out for free. Wow. We have mentioned a couple times now that we really needed to give Kosmos some more attention. We weren’t planning on taking her out of the water to do the work, but this was an opportunity way too good to pass up. Most of the work to be done would be easier out of the water than in.

Yesterday we spent the day preparing for the haul out. Christi did laundry and housework. Eric found and read the manuals pertaining to the various jobs he was planning on doing, and also gathered together the tools, which required some digging into storage spaces.

We did go out to breakfast and dinner. For breakfast, we got a traditional Turkish meal, which consists of one egg, cheese, sliced meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, white bread, honey, butter and a cup of tea.

imgp5749-small.JPG

For dinner, we tried coban kovurma, which turned out to be Continue reading →

Exploring Turgutreis, Turkey

Posted on by
1

After we arrived back to Kosmos, we rested for a little while, and then went into Turgutreis for dinner. Once you finally manage to escape from the enormous marina complex, downtown is only a few short blocks away.

Earlier in the day, when we went to and from the bus, it had been pretty quiet. There weren’t many people out. What we gather to be the center of town consists of a large open area along the water. There is a small park and a beach. The opposite end of the square is lined with restaurants, with a large mosque dominating the scenery, looming magnificently just behind the restaurants.

Tonight was a whole different story. In the previously completely empty town square there were now several rides set up for kids, including little cars and an astro jump. The previously deserted playground near the town square was full of children. There were quite a few families out walking around, and a lot of people gathered in the restaurants around the square. It felt like a family oriented community. It has a completely different feel than inside the marina complex, just a few blocks away.

imgp5750-small.JPG

We wandered along the town square until Continue reading →

San Diego to Crete, Adjusting Back to Life Aboard

Posted on by
Reply

When we got back to Egypt from the US, we had a hard time getting over the jetlag. For three days we slept a lot, slept at weird hours, and were incredibly lackadaisical. This time the jet lag has been much worse, with us sleeping even more and at even odder hours. Today is day three back in Agios Nickolaos, day 5 back in Greece, and our bodies are still out of sorts. Of course, it may be possible that this is our way of decompressing from the fast paced lifestyle back in America.

It is also really, really hot outside here in Greece. Last time we went home, we had a hard time adjusting to the cold weather in Southern California (compared to Egypt and the tropics, at least). We were actually happy to go back to the warmer weather. This time the weather in San Diego was idyllic, and we are having a hard time re-adjusting to the heat.

In between all the sleep, we have managed to do a few chores. Unpacking and lots of laundry topped the list, of course. We had to do some reorganizing of storage spaces to put away the stuff we brought back. We filled up the stabilizer oil, which sounds easy, but is in fact a messy, two person job for us.

Eric also tried to fix the slow draining sink in the master bathroom. It seemed like just a simple clog. He undid the pipes and cleaned out all the goo, then put the pipes back on. It was better, but still not draining quite right. And now the pipe was now leaking. Hmmm. He must have broken the seals on the pipes. He brought out the plumbers tape and taped up every area where it could be leaking from, then put the pipe back on. He tested it out. Still leaking. He re-taped again and used silicone. The second try did the trick, so no more leak. But still draining slow, and we can’t figure out why.

Costas and Koralia and a couple of their friends came to visit us yesterday. It was good to see them. We spent a low key evening catching up on the last few weeks and getting to know their friends.

We tried more new foods. The first is called keleftiko. It is a leg of lamb that is amazingly tender, juicy and delicious. We think it is cooked pot roast style, and it is cooked with assorted veggie chunks, including carrots, potatoes and zucchini. The second is called stifado, and is a tasty beef stew. We are partial to stewed meats. We like how tender they are. The third was thin slices of pork wrapped around prunes. It is really good, and we don’t remember the name of it.