28 February 2015 - Picnic at the old windmills and hillside of wildflowers

As today is Saturday, the kids wanted to do something different to differentiate weekend days from school days as every day was feeling same-ish.  I was in agreement with them as I feel I have been on a treadmill of doing school with Luke which seems all consuming and I need a break, too.

Tim and I went on another lovely walk to the shore just to look at the Aegean Sea!  The thunderstorms last night were so noisy but in such a hilly place, the water drains quickly and there were virtually no puddles.

Twisting side streets and interesting buildings

Always eager for a cat chat...

We played some Skip Bo and did a bit of school work.  I packed a picnic and we set out for the old windmills.  We can see them in the distance from our window and as they are mentioned as a tourist site, we thought it would be good to go there for a picnic.  Built in the 18th Century for milling flour, they were used until 1970's.  It was a pity to see them run down and graffitied.  The walk up the hill (s) kept our muscles pumping and as we neared the wind mills were good see a path through wildflowers to get there.  Unfortunately, there are broken bottles and rubbish  along the path but the wildflowers were lovely!

Group of men singing and dancing to their friend's Turkish version of bagpipes - mournful sound.

This guy had 5 dogs with him.

 There are beautiful planters all along the marina - all different and all depicting Bodrum!

Olive planters

Prickly pear planter

Octopus!

 As we walked up the hillside, the wildflowers are just starting to herald springtime.  Beautiful daisies and an orchid and dozens of wild red poppies..

Wildflowers

So many wild red poppies!

Approaching the mills.

Panorama looking northwest

Panorama looking north

Looking over to Gumbek - next town.

We were offering chocolate chip biscuits after lunch but weren't entirely sure that they didn't contain peanuts so we told Luke he couldn't have one.  He told us that "It was beginning to feel like a "deservement" - a punishment (!) due to his biscuit nicking episode earlier in the morning.  I think the word will stick around in our family for a while!  "Deservement" - love it!

Lunch with a view!

Windswept!

Panorama looking north

 

Shame about the graffiti

One of 7 windmills

Distant mountains

Semi-restored mill

Sad that it is in ruins but beautiful none-the-less

Stately!

Bodrum Castle from a different angle

Old city walls

We walked back along the marina with Luke pulling us towards the fishermen but we were not going to buy any more fish.

Dolphin phones!

More beautiful planters

Plenty of these cock-a-doodle-doing around Bodrum

Saturday night menu: home made kebabs and sitting to watch : Jason and the Argonauts.  We all enjoyed the meal and the movie.  It was good to claim Saturday as a different day.  Everyone was so much happier at the end of the day!  The movie was perfect. Good choice Tim!  We could relate to the old buildings and bit of marble here and there in the scenes.

27 February 2015 - One of the seven wonders of the ancient world and an infestation

Sunshine!!  What a lovely spring morning greeted us.  Tim and I enjoyed an early walk through the backstreets near the port and discovered all sorts of interesting everyday things!.

The Traditional Turkish Evil Eye/Eye of Allah, which apparently protects against evil forces is everywhere here in Bodrum.  It is a belief dating back to the Ancient Egypt and is believed to protect the owner against jealousy and all evils in general.

Turkish eyes are everywhere!

Leunig-esque

Leunig must have visited here...or maybe Vasco Pyjama!

Morning walk scene

House wall

The eyes are watching you.

Spices at the market!

By the time we had finished school for the morning, the clouds were gathering and the weather was cooler and rain threatening.  We headed out and discovered the market with spices and citrus fruit and cakes!

Farmers' market

Turkeys in Turkey

 Then on to the highlight of the day: The Mausoleum at Halikarnassus. This is listed as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and in fact the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne was modeled on its design.  Artemesia who was both Mausolus's wife and sister, had this mausoleum built for him when he died.  She was so grief struck that she drank his ashes and commissioned Greek artists to build the tomb.  The word mausoleum comes from his name.

The mausoleum toppled in 13th Century due to earthquakes and bits of it were used to build the Bodrum Castle.

LOVE walking on history!

Chatting on a piece of marble from 2500 years ago!

Random columns...

What a privilege to walk through this!

Luke was very keen to buy fish from the fishermen again by the marina.  I think we bought mackerel today which Luke inspected and dissected (a bit) before eating!  The little bones were the problem.

So excited about buying the fish!

Anatomy lesson on fish by Luke!

I was just sitting down with Luke for some late afternoon schoolwork when I noticed him scratching his head...OH NO Head Lice!!  We are still completely puzzled as to where and from whom the little beasties came.  So, we gave Luke a buzz haircut and Annika and I braved the fierce thunderstorm to walk to the pharmacy to buy Head Lice treatment.  After a bit of charades and 100 Lira later, we walked back in the dark and drenching rain.  The sky was an amazing colour in the storm. We were really cold.  The urgency of treating the lice meant that dinner was really late.  The last thing I wanted to be doing was head lice treatment.  Luke was quite practical about the whole deal as he had done an assignment on head lice last year and was fascinated by them.  So, this first infestation was really quite fun as far as he was concerned.  Not me, though.  Of course, it is common to feel itchy around lice so Annika and I also treated our hair and then I gave Tim a haircut and treated him, too.  Karl was completely nonplussed and indicated that we were making a fuss about nothing and I really don't think he believed us at all.  As for me, I am TIRED.  The usual frenzy of washing linen etc isn't an option when there is no spare linen so I do hope the lice information people have it right when they say all the washing is unnecessary!!

Bakery treats for today!

26 February 2015 - Ancient theatre in Bodrum (which I had previously and mistakenly referred to as an amphitheatre) and other street scenes

Today was the warmest day so far in Turkey.  We were in knee deep snow a week ago!  Warm enough to wear a short sleeved shirt when walking which was nice!

I am trying valiantly to spend one on one time with each of my children doing something other than school, as they are all feeling consumed by the education program and I am too!!

Luke worked really well this morning and declared that he wanted to keep on working rather go out this afternoon!!  Was I hearing right?!  Now that's an answer to prayer!

At morning break time, Luke and I walked down the hill to the shops to buy some supplies and special morning tea.  We came back with meringues - so tasty and "homemade", pistachio sort of baklava and a sort of nutty fruit paste compound which I suppose is used with cheese like quince paste might be!

Our walk today was to Bodrum Theatre (Tiyatro).  Now this is ANCIENT -  4 th century BC!  This theatre is amazingly well preserved and a relic of ancient Greek city of Halikarnassus.  Thanks to Chris Little who corrected me.  I had called it an amphitheatre (as do the tourist sites!) but amphitheatres are round or oval generally Roman whereas Greeks built semi-circular theatres where they held plays.  

 Halikarnassus was part of the Persian Empire until it was captured in 334 BC by Alexander the Great! It was astonishing to think of who might have sat watching plays there over the many centuries!

Note Bodrum Castle in background..I could easily hear the kids from up high!

Love those steps...how many have walked on those?

It was most likely built in the reign of King Mausolus and was enlarged during the Roman period.  As it stands today, it is quite safe to walk up and down the steps and sit on the rows and check out strange purpose built holes that we suspect may have been "public (very) conveniences!

Very public convenience!

Admiring the hard work of the stone masons in 4 th century BC!

Panorama of the theatre

Cheery daisies with their roots in ancient soil...

Of course, there are always challenging columns to climb!

Ruined!

 Across the main road, we stepped into old Bodrum with its narrow streets and quaint buildings and cats (of course!).  The domed structures we often see are water storage tanks which were used to ensure the town had adequate water supply during the hot summer months.

Water cistern

The roof was off this one...grimy water but good perspective!

Old stone cottage complete with cat!

Down to the Aegean

We walked to the marina and along the esplanade with the call to prayer echoing from the mosque nearby.  It is a really pretty spot with beautiful tiled planters, a great children's play area and outdoor gym.  The boats and rattling masts in the breeze, the castle in the background and the Aegean Sea sparkling and the cats symbolise all that is Bodrum.

Pretty planters

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I really wanted to spend some time with the big kids but first Luke was insistent that we buy sardines from the fishermen!  We asked for just 8 sardines, which weighed almost nothing, and we were given them for free!!!  Luke was delighted and trotted off with Karl whilst the big kids and I went in search of my longed for coffee!

The eye that watches over all....

Our cafe time!

Happy after my coffee...waited DAYS for this time!!!

Cat protector!!

It was really just so nice walking along the marina and we found a cafe with good prices.  The big kids were really hoping for iced chocolates but these are only offered in summer apparently so they settled for hot chocolates instead.  I had a nice but strong cafe latte and a pleasant sit down by the boats and chat to the big kids!

Look who the diver dragged up!

Luke delighted with his sardines!!!