From Turkey With Love

Day 26

A trip into Adana today. Enjoy!

Day 23

A road trip to Kiskalesi turned into a pretty cool adventure. We went to the beach and from a distance I could see the Maiden and King Castles. They were spectacular to look at. We could have paddled out to the Maiden’s castle but I needed to save the lira (Turkish currency) for the Cafe Rain.

In this post, I want to focus on the two castles and the folklore surrounding them.

The Maiden's Castle

There are several stories surrounding the Maiden’s Castle. The most popular is as follows…

The King loved his daughter and wanted her to marry well. She, however, followed her heart and fell in love with a common man. To prevent their union, the King built a castle in the sea where he kept his daughter. Some of the tales go on to say how the valiant young commoner fought through the waves, only to die in her arms at the land’s edge. Other versions of this story say both died from grief and the King had no heirs. Tragic.

Another tale surrounds prophecy. In it the daughter is fated to die tragically by her 17th (some say 16th) birthday. So, to save his daughter, the King built her in a castle in the sea surrounded by his most trusted guard. All food was checked and there was no expense spared for her safety. On her 17th birthday, a snake (which had been sleeping soundly in a basket of apples), bit her and she died. The King had no heirs. Tragic.

The King's Castle, Kiskalesi

Either way it gets my imagination going! LOL. The water was crystal blue and warm. You can swim to the maiden’s castle but there was para sailing going on…and I wasn’t too sure they’d pay attention to anyone in the water.

Sometimes you just see things here that you’ve never seen anywhere else. The bread guy was one of them. He walked around the beach selling bread. Just bread. Stacked neatly on a tray sitting on his head. There were Chinese tea sellers and Vodka shot sellers as well. I snapped this shot while he was walking up the beach.

Bread for sell!

Tomorrow I’ll show more pics and tell a few more stories.

Happy birthday Brannum!

Peace, I’m out!

Day 20

There are some days where the job just kicks your ass. Today was one of those days. We had a lot of cargo to move and a very short time to do it in. But in between the rush we took some time to laugh, smile, joke, and pose for pictures. I regret that I couldn’t put everyone’s pictures up, but I’ll be posting more in my facebook this weekend.

Self pic. Turned out blurry. *sigh*

Le sigh. These pics always seem to mess up. There was another one taken of me but I was dripping in sweat and had a smear of dirt on my cheek. Not fun. lol.

Her job was hardest of all. Damn packing lists!

The phone never stopped ringing and the paperwork had to keep flowing. Loggies do it best when under stress!

Ervin on the forklift

Ervin and Drell kicked ass with the forklifts today. They kept up the pace for the entire day, and let me tell you, it was a scorcher! Working in the warehouse all day definitely made me appreciate AC. LOL.

This was the 12th pallet of the day.

By now we were all running on autopilot. The occasional joke was said and some fun was had, but we just kept kicking out cargo.

Look, he's in FOCUS! LOL.

At the end of the day we were all exhausted and ready for the day to end. Will post more pics on my facebook later.

Hard at work!

I wonder what amazing adventures tomorrow will bring…

Hope everyone has a good day.

Day 14

It was delicious! Carrots in fresh lemon juice. Absolutely refreshing.

You’ll have to forgive the graininess of these pictures.We were in very low light and I had to blind people with my flash in order to get any of these pics. I promise the food looked far more appetizing in person. *sigh* I should have really paid attention to my husband and his photography tips from his own food blog.

For Drell’s birthday we went to a sushi place called Frend’s. That’s right, I said sushi. Unfortunately, however, THE sushi guy was on a two week vacation so we had to order off the main menu. I promise you I was NOT disappointed. They brought out a delicious flat bread layered with Mediterranean flavors. Before I could taste it, however, the waiter brought the condiments and asked that I please try the bread with them first. Who am I to ignore a waiter’s request when it comes to food? They should know better than me. The first one was a garlic mayo. Delicious, but I’m not much of a mayo girl so I tried the other. It was ketchup but sweeter than any ketchup I’ve ever tasted. It was fabulous with the bread, and I never thought I’d say that! LOL.

It was time to order and I’m creative when I go out. Several people had been there and were giving suggestions. “Try this, it tastes like Chinese food,” or “this tastes just like a stir fry from back in the states, only with curry!” I just came from the states so I’m not homesick for those flavors. Yet, anyway. So I pointed to something that seemed impossible to say and asked…has anyone tried this? They all said no. I asked the waiter to pronounce it for me. He couldn’t do it either, but he did tell me it WAS chicken so I said why not. It was called Champselyees. The bit of research I’ve done tells me it’s either a recipe based on the Avenue des Champs-Élysée which is a famous avenue in Paris, France named after the Greek Elysian Fields (home of the blessed dead…should I have worried?) OR it’s based on a kickass cocktail that has about a thousand different versions. Either way, it was delicious.

Chicken sauteed with red peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach, and a little something with a kick made the main course absolutely mouth-watering. The menu described the dish as “with spinach, very sharp.” I suppose very sharp means a bit on the hot side. At 11.50 ytL, it was also very affordable.

They also brought wine glasses with carrot slices and lemon juice. Lemon, the waiter told me, makes the raw food clean. He’s not the first to tell me that, and while I know it does destroy bacteria, it also made those carrots refreshing. I can’t help but wonder if my husband will make his own version. I’ve heard they make them with cucumbers as well.

For dessert we received a complimentary fruit platter with all sorts of decadent selections. Fresh grapes, mango, honeydew, and a few fruits that I only know the Turkish name for.

The pictures I took of the main dish look terrible, so I don’t think I want to post them.

Drell enjoyed his 26th birthday among twenty or so friends and I got out and tried a taste of the culture.

Oh…did I mention? Frend’s is an oasis camouflaged by…a gas station. Only in Turkey.