Another visit to one of our favourite restaurants in Didim - The Meandros

We had another night out at the Meandros this week with our friends Nicky and Mary and Aunt Esse.



We tend to frequent this particular establishment both for it's extensive menu and for consistently good food.

These guests were made welcome too.

Apart from the tables outside and inside, this place also boasts huts and tents in the bedouin style

where you can sit around on cushions eating or drinking at the low tables, all very relaxed.

Another visit to Doğanbey

We took some friends (Pat and Don) to the charming little village of Doğanbey. Once it had been a Greek village, but with the exchange of populations after the war, it was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

Now many of the homes have been restored to their former glory.

and aren't they so picturesque?

and some of them have really pretty gardens

and views to die for

We also discovered that the visitor centre is now open for the Millipark (National Park) which runs from here across the mountain range and down to Güzelçamli (not far from Kusadasi). At the visitor centre they have a short presentation as to what wildlife you might find in the park, such as wild boar, squirrels, foxes etc; there were once leopard, but they died out at the end of the last (20th) century.

They also run guided tours through the park, although you would have to be fairly fit to follow the route over the mountains and down to the other centre in the park, a route of about 15Km.

From the old Greek village we followed the road down to the present village of Doğanbey, where we had a lovely meal at a local fish restaurant.

Better pictures of the new hotel

Yesilkent Hotel

Not a brilliant photo, but it was from a phone camera, and from the boat while we were sailing ... it gives an idea of the progress.



We'll try to get a better picture soon.

The Mosque

September the 1st and hey presto ... the weather has cooled by 10 degrees and we can get out and about a bit more, so more pictures for the blog .... oh and hey, we had our first spots of rain today since May as well!!



This is the Mosque and as you can see, there is still a long way to go. They started it in 2008 and to be fair, it is being used for prayers, but the construction continues.

New Produce Market

We now have a new produce market that happens every Wednesday in the area that was the old market.

It's lovely, as it only has fruit and vegetables, and therefore not of much interest to tourists; so it's quiet ...



and no hassle; just good quality goods at reasonable prices.

Nejdet's House

Do you remember the fire a couple of weeks ago?

Well you'll be pleased to know that the bottom floor of the house has been stripped out, re-tiled, re-plastered, re-wired and plumbed, re-painted and refurnished.

It has new doors and windows, the outside has been re-painted and Nejdet, Nurten and Lutvia are now back to normal again.

Fire

Many of you will know our neighbour Nejdet and his family. Unfortunately, this morning, although the emergency services were reassuringly swift, the bottom floor of his house was gutted by fire, and the other two floors were smoke and water damaged.



They all got out OK thank goodness, although Lutvia was really overcome by deep shock. All the neighbours are doing what they can to help, but, as with most Turkish families, repairs and replacement furniture etc will be very expensive for them, so if anyone reading this thinks they would like to help at all, please just contact us.

A Barbeque with friends

We were invited along with other friends to a barbeque at Noel and Lucy's.

There was a good mix of Turkish and European and a lively time was had by all.

The hit of the evening , especially with the children, was Mary's pup (Oisin).

A pool of our own

Keeping cool at his time of the year is always a problem. We've finally succumbed to a pool. We do prefer to swim in the sea, but by the time you've walked back, you need another dip to cool off again.



So here we are having a refreshing dip

Dragonflies

As we haven't ventured far recently, these dagonflies have been our companions as we shade bathe, trying to keep cool.

Annual clear-up

The Annual clear-up of the park has begun ... this year by two men with strimmers

Street Party

Mustafa, a good friend , invited us to join a street party in Yeşilkent with our Turkish and UK neighbours.

and here's Mustafa showing us how to dance Turkish-style ...

As night wore on, things got sillier ...

But it was a lot of fun and we all had a good time.

Sunset at Mavesehir

Mavişehir night market is now in full swing, and we had a nice relaxing evening shopping in the cool evening breeze, followed by gözleme on the sea-shore watching the sun set.

We have some good sunsets in Yeşilkent too

Holiday Time

With 2nd year uni exams finished, Hayley (our grand-daughter) and her friend Cate came to "chill" in the sun and wind-down.

While they were with us they found plenty to keep themselves entertained. 

They came sailing with us ......

They also did some kneel boarding and water-skiing ....

Cate also enjoyed "driving" Gary's boat ...

We oldies also had to join in ...

They enjoyed one of the local boat trips ...

and enjoyed sampling the local cuisine ...

but all too soon it was time for them to leave, we miss them both.