Category Archives: Europe

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 →

History of Turkey

Posted on by
1

Modern day Turkey is located on what is literally a land bridge that joins the continents of Europe and Asia. A small part of northwestern Turkey is within the European continent, where it borders Greece and Bulgaria. The rest of the country is considered part of Asia, bordered on the west by the Aegaen sea, to the north by the Black Sea, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and to the east by Iran, Iraq, Syria, Georgia and Armenia. Because it lies in a major crossroad between civilizations and cultures, it has a rich and vast history. We are only visiting western Turkey, along the Aegean coast, so this history summary is going to focus on the west. Continue reading →

Exploring Rhodes, Greece

Posted on by
Reply

Continued from yesterday”¦ From the museum we headed over to the palace, and on the way we passed the living quarters for the knights. The Knights were grouped together according to the language they spoke, and each group resided in the same house. The houses are lined up one after another on a long street. The houses were built at different times, ranging from the early 1400’s to the early 1500’s. All have a similar exterior façade, though if you look carefully you can see nuances that make each a little different. All of the houses are now government administrative offices. We don’t know if you are allowed to go inside. We didn’t try. One door was open and we peeked in and saw a courtyard with a beautiful garden surrounded by a rectangular building, very similar in layout to the hospital. There are also some floor plans on the informational signs, and they are definitely bigger inside than they look outside.

imgp5662-small.JPG

The palace is Continue reading →