Are you still here?
I have been to Uzbekistan and Australia and still managed to post. But this past week I have been on a boat in the south of Turkey and not managed it at all. No wi-fi, no nothing. I am just crossing my fingers that all is still well in the wonderful blogosphere and you are all still out there!
And what was this boat trip you may like to know. Well, here it’s known as a mavi yolculuk or blue cruise due to the fabulous iridescent blue of the beautiful Aegean sea. You go from one enticing bay to another in a traditional wooden boat complete with masts and all. Every day you drop anchor at one or another and swim or maybe go ashore for a diverting trip as we did at Dalyan. We saw the famous caretta caretta turtles, rock tombs and an ancient site and played in mud baths. It is fabulous.
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| this is how it is |
Of course eating and drinking play their part!
We had a very competent young cook called Nasuh. Every day he cooked two meals for 12 of us + 4 crew. There was also the small matter of breakfast…..
This was typically Turkish with the sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, white cheese and olives. My usual, in fact. Somehow they managed to keep the bread fresh on a daily basis because usually it turns to stone at the end of the day. But one of the delights of staying in these bays are the services provided by the little boats that zoom round the bigger boats and yachts.
Here is this local young woman who came up alongside us offering brownies she had made, cake and baklava, plus bread made by her sister and still warm. How could I refuse? It wasn’t particularly cheap: 5TL for one but never mind. The day before she looked more rakish in a little off-the-shoulder number but she still had her hat…
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| tied up alongside our boat |
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| special bread delivery! |
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| it looked like this … |
Under the guidance of Nasuh, a BBQ was lit at the end of the boat. This fish is çipura or sea bream and he managed to grill and bring to the table all 12 simultaneously.They were delicious: moist and perfectly cooked.
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| freshly grilled çipura |
Salads were simple but always fresh. At the beginning of the week he brought 36 kilos of tomatoes on board and such was his skill, he eked them out perfectly so at the end ie this morning, that was that: all gone.
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| just a simple salad but always fresh |
There was also the ice-cream boat and then this old codger. I loved his boat: just look at the colours in this pic. He offered nuts: fresh almonds and also pistachios. Not cheap, 30TL for two bags of them. But we liked them with drinks so of course we bought them and they were worth every penny. He had figs from his garden so a couple of kilos of those were added….
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| another boatside vendor …
What a wonderful way to end the summer! Now we are back in Istanbul and it is a wrench.
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I always enjoy the best food on Gulets. I'm impressed with the delivery service – this has come on since my days on a boat.
that is so very very cool!
What a lovely trip that must have been!
What a lovely lovely vignette into that trip; I wish I could peek into the glass case of goodies on the lady's boat.
What a WONDERFUL vacation!! beautiful scenery and beautiful food! So glad to have a break from the blogasphere – and we're still all here !
Mary x
lucky you!! what a wonderful way to end the summer – were you at Kalkan area at all? hope you had a dive for us all and enjoyed the glorious food!:)
Hoşgeldiniz – back to the blog world, that is. 🙂 Looks like you had a wonderful trip and I'm sure we're all still here. We're getting excited now, waiting for the weather to cool in the south of Turkey then we can go for a long walk and appreciate the beauty. Seems like an age since we've seen it. 🙂
Your sojourn on the sea sounds so wonderful. Have a great Sunday.
Welcome back ashore! We are currently suffering from cabin fever – having building work done so we never know when it's safe to venture out. We've never done the blue cruise but you make it sound like fun.
This looks like an amazing trip aboard one of those boats on the beautiful Aegean sea. I've always wanted to go on one but have not managed yet…..that's so awesome that these lil' boats come around with great goodies.
Glad you enjoyed the fabulous and beautiful scenery and delicious foods…..
erica
Ohhh so you ARE all still here! Thank goodness for that!! Thank you all so much for your enthusiastic comments. I recommend a blue cruise to anyone: it is one of the best holidays you can have I think. The colour of the water is unbelievable – well I could go on and on but you get the idea!!
Wow – that all looks so delicious! Have you seen this? http://bit.ly/ahoy-foodies It's on the evolution of the sailing chef throughout time. Thought you'd get a kick out of it.