The Gulet Boat Adventures and More: Part One

After leading a tour as extensive and intensive as the tour we did of Israel and Turkey, what do you do for an encore? Well, before the encore….. we went to the beach. A really nice beach, Chesme (which means fountain), on the east coast of Turkey, and not far from Izmir, which served as a sort of home base. And Chesme means……. well…. this…

And this….

And this…

In case you are wondering, the Aegean is cool, but not cold in late May, early June. Myrtle Beach it is not, but it is very pleasant. If waves are not your thing, you will like it even better, as it’s more like being on the Gulf of Mexico, than on a ocean except when there is a storm and some wind. The water is mostly calm.

Of course there are other fun things to do, like sit in a funny chair and read….

Maybe not this funny chair….

And you can hang out with family and friends and enjoy walking around the little seaside villages like Chesme and Alachati… here’s Levent and Natalie Oral, he owns Tutku Tours, and has sponsored many of these adventures.

And here’s the Chesme gang….

These little villages have their charm and curiosities, and in some ways, its Christmas all year round at the beach… everyone is in a celebrating mood.

Just walking the streets and peering into shops and other buildings is fun.

There was even a repurposed beautiful old Orthodox Church to see….

And of course, of course, no good trip to the beach could be complete without eating some great seafood…..and Ferdy Baba’s fried octopus was the best! But this fish stew at the other restaurant we went to the next night was good too.

All good things eventually do come to an end, so we went back to Izmir for a day before we headed out on our Gulet boat ride from Marmaris, and whilst there we enjoyed a sunny day, a walk on the promenade by the sea, watching the parade of sailors, watching a wedding in the hotel, and an evening meal at our favorite spot— Mezza Luna, an Italian restaurant by the sea (though it was a little cool that evening).

An evening meal by the sea….but come the dawn, we will be off and then sailing south!