The Western Med

(Days 4-10 are missing because it was difficult to post from the boat, but we are summing it up for you and will post soon. Check back for the sailing part of our trip)

Days 11-13

• Drive to France
• Montpellier
• Nimes
• Uzes (our favorite)
• Barcelona

This part of our journey had really no plan at all – totally Jason’s style.  All we did was book a car from Barcelona airport on Saturday knowing we needed to be back to that airport to fly home on Tuesday, but in between was totally decided last minute each day.

Day 11
We began with an early flight out of Palma to Barcelona, which was like nothing either of us had ever encountered.  There was NO AIR CONDITIONING on the entire flight! Okay, it’s just a 30 min flight, but we sat on the tarmac for 45 min in a full plane in August heat in Spain, it got HOT in there.

We finally got our car, which Jason loved driving because it was a stick shift and handled great.  We had no plan so first things first, we headed out of Barcelona to a little shore town called Calella to grab lunch and wifi to make a plan.  We decided today’s plan was to get to Montpellier.  Jason had fond memories of this town from his time covering the Tour de France 10 years ago, so we booked a hotel and had a destination.  Meanwhile, I should mention that this little restaurant was excellent.  They took such good care of my allergies here and were really lovely.

The drive was really beautiful, especially in southern France, but pictures just don't do it any justice.

After some traffic, we arrived at Montpellier, and it’s quite a town! It’s so pretty and has such a unique vibe.  It’s full of young people and vacationing French people, not really many foreigners at all.  The architecture is stunning, both old and new, but the city has a grittiness to it, maybe it’s French hipster? We walked as much as I could, then sat for a delicious steak dinner under an awning at a place called Chez Borris while it started to gently rain around us.  It was beautiful!

Day 12
I can’t believe all that we saw and did today.  We went to bed thinking we would be heading to Carcassonne today to stay in a fancy hotel near the castle, but I woke at 6:30 and did some research, only to read that Carcassonne is super touristy, inauthentic, and really not our speed, we assumed it was like Rhodes, so we made another plan.  We decided to go north a slight bit more to see the Roman ruins in Nimes and the little town of Uzes.  With our plan made, we decided to grab breakfast and stroll the town of Montpellier a little more, which was really lovely.  It was a Sunday morning, so the shops were all closed, but the little streets were really so pretty, and we found this wonderful coffee shop, too.

Once we got our bags, first stop was to see the remains of Via Domitia at Ambrussum.  We had heard of this road, Via Domitia, when we were in Rome, they told us the soldiers build this road throughout southern Europe to connect Italy to Spain, and they lined the road with fruiting trees to provide food and shade along the way.  Well here in France, there are parts of this road still intact, and we walked on it, a 1,900 year old road.  From it, we could see the remains of a bridge that was built, and it was so beautiful!

pics of Via Domitia

Ancient road

There were several of these arches, connected to make one large bridge.

We didn’t go further at Ambrussum because we wanted to save my foot for Nimes, so we left and drove on.  Nimes was really something.  Immediately we noticed that this must be a wealthy city, the homes, the apartment buildings, the streets, everything was so well maintained and beautiful.  The ruins were really interesting, too, so cool to see the ruins incorporated into a thriving city, just sitting in the center of a plaza would be a large theater, or incorporated into a lovely 17th Century park would be a temple.  It was really beautiful and interesting how proud this city is of it's Roman heritage.

one of the beautiful homes with a tree growing through!

view from the top of the tower above

My foot couldn’t take anymore, so we decided to skip the amphitheater and head to Uzes, hoping to see the amphitheater tomorrow.

So far, Uzes has been the highlight of this trip, believe it or not.  First of all, the drive to it was spectacular, with wineries, olive groves, and tree lined streets, but the town itself was really special.  If you’ve ever read Pillars of the Earth, you would love this town, it’s a Medieval walled city just like in the book, but the wall no longer stands, now where the wall was, is a boulevard that circles the little town.  The streets and building, though, are really stunning and charming, and quaint.  We got to our hotel, which is a private mansion turned hotel, so pretty!

Beautiful square

We ended our walk with the most romantic and delicious dinner

We squeezed quite a lot into one day, we crashed in our comfy bed and plan to walk this town a little more tomorrow before we have to head back to Barcelona.

Day 13
Our last day before we fly home tomorrow was bizarre.  So Jason wasn't feeling great, and because of that, we didn't do much other than drive back to Barcelona.

First, we walked our little town of Uzes a bit more and promised we would return.

From the top of one of the towers in the town, you can get a view of the tight, maze like streets of the city.

And then we made one pitstop to see the amphitheater we missed yesterday in Nimes.

And along the way we saw cool castles, monasteries,  and other beautiful buildings in the distance.  They were hard to get a picture of.

But the really strange part was that when we got to our hotel in Barcelona, John from our sailing trip walked up to us at check in!  Apparently they had booked the same hotel for this last night.  They were supposed to be traveling through northern Spain, but last minute decided to spend more time in Barcelona and picked the same hotel as we did.  If Jason wasn't feeling sick, forcing us to drive straight without stopping to see more stuff, and if John's iron in his room hadn't broken, forcing him to come to reception to ask for a new one, we would never have seen them or known we were both/ all in the same hotel!  Fortune on our side, we went for dinner together for a last night in Spain, had a glass of port at the hotel, and went to bed.  Tomorrow we fly home. 

Sailing Turkey

Days 16 – 18 Marmaris to Istanbul

Day 16

For our final day, we decidedly took our time.  We woke up, read, swam, paddled, ran along the coast (Leah and Ian did) and then sailed off in the direction of Marmaris.  Along the way we made our plans for our next sailing adventure (Seychelles maybe?). 

Once we got to Marmaris, we checked in, and Jason and I went into town for dinner while Leah and Ian stayed back to eat at the marina.  We had such a great time in Marmaris, not because we loved the town (it reminded us a bit too much of Bodrum), but because the restaurant was delicious, with a great view and a delightful waiter who made the experience even better.  Jason had the best lamb he’d ever had. 

We all spent our last night on the boat, ready to fly first thing in the morning.

Day 17

We woke up in Marmaris, took our car service to the airport (though he actually dropped us off at the wrong terminal, so we had to walk quite a ways to the right one), flew to Istanbul, and took another cab to our hotel.  After that exhausting day of travel, we headed right to the hotel roof for a drink.  What a view!

After some walking around to hit the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, we decided to have dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel.  I know you’re tired of hearing this, but it was our best meal yet!  Jason got Testi Kebab, which he had been pining for, and Leah, the lamb aficionado, got to eat the best lamb she’s had on the trip… all of us were thrilled with our dinner, which was the last one for our friends in Turkey (we’re here another day and half).

Day 18

The next day was spent mostly shopping and walking neighborhoods we hadn’t been to yet since we’d been to all the touristy spots already.  We took the ferry to the Asian side of the city to Kadikoy, where we walked around the market and into the neighborhood of Moda.  I loved it there, I think if we decided to move to Istanbul, it might be where I would want to live.  It was full of adorable apartment buildings, the best little ice cream shop in Istanbul, little cafes, a pretty little park where people we picnicking, unusual art galleries, even a Christian high school! 

We still hadn’t been to Dolmabace Palace, and had planned to go tomorrow morning, but found out it was closed tomorrow, so we thought we should head over and see it while we can.  We took the ferry back over to Europe and stood in an hour-long line waiting to buy tickets…  while waiting, we really noticed that there was a strange group of people waiting in line, something just odd.  I can’t lie, it wasn’t great…  We were on the English tour, but our guide didn’t tell us anything at all!  We just walked quickly through the building, unable to actually see anything.  All of the tourists were banging into us and cutting in front of each other, and the building was in pretty bad disrepair.  Such a waste of time, we didn’t even take pictures.

Next we took the funicular up to Taksim to grab a snack and drink, and then headed slowly back to the hotel, stopping to look at paintings to bring home for our walls.

Our hotel’s concierge suggested a restaurant for us to try on our last night in Turkey and even arranged for transportation for us.  We asked for someplace romantic with a view and great food.  One out of three aint bad, right?  It was lovely, actually, just not exactly romantic… and the view wasn’t really of the city, but of party-goers in the streets below and the across the way at a restaurant.  But the food…  so good!  We loved every morsel.  And were entertained by the fun and dancing across the way.

Sailing Turkey

Days 13 – 15 Butterfly Valley to Gocek

Day 13

When we woke, we set off to hike up the cliff to the restaurant above for breakfast.  There were two trails, so we took the first of which led us to a waterfall and butterflies.  This valley has many species, but they are usually all out in the spring, so we only really saw the one species. 

Then we took the other trail up to the top of the cliff.  It was a challenging climb at times, but loads of fun.

And the view and the breakfast was well worth the climb.

We noticed how the Turks had well mastered what Leah termed the art of lounging.  All along this trip, we saw people of various professions finding a shady spot and resting, lounging, talking, playing games… the good life. 

As we descended from our mountain top, we could not believe the number of noodlers surrounding our boat.  The thumping music and loud horns to call noodlers back to the boat were an assault to the ears!  This was becoming a theme for us, we find a spot for the night, wake up to hike or swim, and then come back to a swarm of noodlers so we have to hightail it out. 

Our next destination was Gocek, another place we remembered very fondly, so we gave that part of this trip 2 nights as well.  As we approached the Gocek Bay, our first stop was Ruin Bay (also known as Cleopatra Bay because it was said that she and Antony honeymooned here).  Much better than Kekova, these ruins we could actually swim in and around, and, while while there were a lot of yachts around, we didn’t mind these, they were other sailers like us, not noodlers. 

After some fun swimming, we decided to head to the bayside restaurant for some dinner.  Turns out they don’t take cards and this was our most expensive meal so far, but the owner said, “No problem,” and gave us the name of his fishmonger brother in the town of Gocek who could run our card whenever we got to town.  Very trusting of him.

Day 14

Today, inspired by the Turks we’ve met along the way, and by the thought of Cleopatra enjoying this bay, we decided today we would devote to the Art of Lounging.  We woke up when we felt like it, did a little paddling around the bay at our leisure, read on the boat for a little bit, then casually made our way to the town of Gocek.  Leah and I wanted to get some shopping in, while the men looked for a part they needed for the boat, paid for our dinner last night, and got some more food for the boat.

First we had to eat at Jason’s destination:  Kebab Hospital.  He took a picture of the restaurant last time we were here because he thought it was a funny name, but then a friend of his saw the picture and remarked on how much she enjoyed eating there, so we had to go find it and try it. It was worth the trip!  Another fantastic meal.

Leah and I shopped for gifts for friends and ourselves, she even had a necklace made right there on the spot.

Then we skipped off to a beautiful little anchorage for the night

Day 15

We woke up and hiked up a little ways to the ruins of an old Roman town that was pretty amazing.  Honestly, these ruins really looked so well made and there were villagers who still live among them. 

When we returned, guess what we found?  NOODLERS!

It is uncanny how this keeps happening, we anchor in a spot that’s beautiful, wake up and have it to ourselves, then run off when the crowds of noodlers arrive.  Actually, turns out we’re doing it right.  So, we pushed off to make it to Ekincik for dinner.  Along the way  (as our intrepid captain is want to do) we found a little private cove to pop into for a quick dip.

Finally, we made it to Ekincik for dinner, and it was lovely.  Such a pretty spot for our last night, and they brought out the freshest fish for us to choose from.  It was honestly so delicious.  We keep saying how great the food has been, but in every spot the food is great, we drink amazing local wines and beers, and have desert but still pay way less than we would anywhere in the US. 

Sailing Turkey

Day 12 Kaputas, Patara and Butterfly Valley

This morning we left Kas for the last time this trip and we wanted to show Leah and Ian one of our favorite spots in Turkey, Kaputas beach.  This is how we remembered it…

And this is how it looks now…

A little disappointing, but we came, we saw, and then we left.  We decided to go to Patara, which we actually didn’t like as much last time, but this time we loved it.  The wide sandy beach was a welcome change of scenery from the majestic cliffs and mountains we were used to seeing. 

As we anchored the boat off the shore, we saw an adventurous young couple in the distance.  I leave you to find them in the picture. (NSFW)

Also, last time we were here we didn’t go to the ruins of Xanthos, which were really something.  Every time we see different ruins, we remark on how different they seem from each other.  These were being rebuilt to look like they once did, it was so interesting to see the process.

We had a long sail ahead of us, so we pushed off and went along our way to our next eventual stop, Butterfly Valley.  On the way there, though, we saw what looked to be a restaurant tucked away in the landscape and we decided to scope it out.  As we got closer we noticed something not quite exactly right, so through the binoculars, I tried to read the signs in the distance.  It was a backpackers hippie camp, filled with interesting characters… dreadlocked young men, fit older men with long hair, leathery skin and exceptional frisby skills… free-love, organic, granola, bean baggers with questionable hygiene.  We didn’t exactly fit in coming in from our yacht anchored off the shore, but they accepted us just the same and we broke bread together.

While sipping on mojitos, Leah and I remarked on a very attractive woman in a sexy bathing suit, Leah said, “what great shoulders,” Ian noticed some “unfortunate” acne which he attributed to her youth, then Jason chimed in by saying, “I’m pretty sure that chick pees standing up.”  Once that was on the table, we all saw it, too.  And it was all accepted in hippie camp.     

After the nice little stop with our young friends, we set off to see Butterfly Valley, and boy what a sight.  The stop at hippie camp meant that we would be turning the corner into butterfly valley as the sun was setting, which made it a stunning entrance.  The orange glow of the low sun gave the mountains an even more majestic feel as we slowing made our way.  It was breathtaking.

For perspective, we came around from the left of this picture toward the beach in the video

We dropped anchor and sat on the back of the boat in this magical spot and watched the sunset.  Our most beautiful anchorage yet.