Our first stop was Starbucks after going downhill from the hotel to the city center (with a short visit in between to the market with fresh fruits, vegetables, spices and much more from the farmers). It was almost noon, the sun was shining and it was hot. We needed a Frappuccino to gather our strength for what was to come.
Next stop was the Bodrum castle and the Museum of Underwater Archeology where we’ve spent hours going through the castle which was such a labyrinth that we got lost several times and looking at all the beautiful archeologic findings.
We needed another break after the long walk in the castle which went down and uphill and on very steep stairs. We returned to Starbucks for yet another Frappuccino and to check the map and make a plan of where to go next.
We continued our city visit with the promenade and the marina, the plan was to make a small detour to the mausoleum but we missed the street and went too far so we had to check the map on the phone and follow the directions on how to get there. We passed small streets where not many tourists pass by and it was nice to see how locals live, where they work and how the men gather around a table to chat in the afternoon.
The mausoleum is one of the seven world wonders but unfortunetely not much is left of it. I was pretty disappointed.
We had to adjust our initial plan which was to visit the Ottoman and the Tiger Towers on the promenade, the Myndos Gate and the famous windmills (which seem to be the symbol of this town) after the mausoleum because this big detour took longer than estimated.
We decided to leave the towers, the gate and the windmills for next time because of the long distance to get there and then to get to our final destination. Instead we searched for a way to climb uphill to the main street and find the Antique Theatre. We found it easily but it was difficult to cross the main street with so many fast cars. The life of a pedestrian here is like living on the edge!
Our final destination for the day was the Oasis shopping center where we planned to have lunch/dinner and do some shopping.
We walked around a bit and checked the stores but we discovered this nice restaurant called Urfa Diyari which I absolutely recommend if you are there. I chose a small lentil soup which was served with bread fresh out of the oven.
I also drank an Ayran (special turkish drink with yogurt mixed with water and salt) and ate a Lahmacun as a main course, it’s a turkish pizza with a thin crust topped with minced meat and sauce. Unlike anywhere else where I’ve seen this (where this pizza was pre-prepared and simply heated up), this restaurant prepared it and baked it fresh in their stone oven and served it with a big plate of parsley and lemon wedges. The friendly waiter explained that the parsley is for filling the pizza and then I should roll it up. You can pick how spicy you want it, I chose little spicy since I don’t know the usual spicy levels here but I think I can handle more next time.
The Lahmacun was so delicious, even if I haven’t even used half of the big plate of parsley (I am not sure how much I am supposed to fill in) but I tasted enough parsley as it was. After devouring the entire thing, the waiter told me that Lahmacun is actually their specialty and his grandfather was a Lahmacun baker (can I call it baker???) and theirs is the best in the entire Bodrum. It didn’t sound like he was making this up and it was really good so I believed him.
We continued the shopping spree but I got pretty frustrated because I couldn’t find anything I liked so we stopped at Cafe Midi for a turkish coffee served with Rahat Lokum/turkish delight (when in Turkey…! 😉 ) and I craved for something sweet so on the recommendation of our waiter we ordered Kazandibi, a turkish rice pudding.
I was kind of disappointed to see that it wasn’t home-made and the presentation pretty much sucked but it tasted actually surprisingly good. I will try this dessert again if I see it at a place where they make it themselves. i might even attempt to make it myself when we get back.
I found it pretty funny that at every place we went to, we were greeted with an English menu. Apparentely we don’t look local and we don’t really blend in here at all.
Anyways we tried again to shop (third time is a charm? Not!) but failed yet again. I got a bit angry because some stores were completely empty and I was chased by the employee the entire time so I couldn’t really browse or the employees were having coffee in front of the store not caring about me wanting to buy something. I eventually gave up and we took a cab back to the hotel.
There is some kind of party on the restaurant terrase tonight so we quickly got away from there and frankly I am really tired after this long day, walking whole day so I am skipping the gym too (I don’t think I need to train legs today as I planned to, all that walking and climbing up and downhill was more than enough) and I will just rest this evening. Tomorrow is a new day and we’re going to the beach again! Yaaaay!
Fitbit stats: 21 172 steps, 14.69 km, 56 floors.
Exploring Bodrum pictures (upload in progress)
FitGeekGirl 