Saturday, October 02, 2010

The Turkey Diaries - Day 4: Friday 17th September 2010



Today was all about exploring the marina side of Bodrum, which starts at the end of Bar Street/Bodrum Castle. It's a more upmarket side of the city, marked by yachts and the distinctive Gulets (Turkish boats) moored all along the seafront, and a number of very nice restaurants and stylish nightclubs.

After a walk along the seafront, we had lunch in one of these very nice Turkish restaurants, where we were mistaken for Belgian tourists (! - a change from the usual Irish/Germans)....oh well, it's time for some gratuitous food photography: chicken, sweet potatoes and the ubiquitous green chilli.


Following lunch, there was one thing on our holiday agenda which we had to do. It's not every day that you get to see one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, so being in Bodrum presents you with the opportunity to see one of them: the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus - the tomb of the ancient ruler Mausolus. The Mausoleum is just a short walk back from the Marina and it was fascinating to get so close to so much ancient history. Many of the Bodrum guidebooks don't give very favourable descriptions of what's left of the Mausoleum, but despite all that I still felt that it's well worth a visit. More background information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Halicarnassus



Tonight brought dinner and more traditional Turkish resort entertainment at one of the beachfront restaurants, where Friday night meant belly dancing/dancing waiters/breakdancers/Michael Jackson....anyone who's been on holiday in Turkey in recent years will be very familiar with this line-up. Yes, Jacko is alive and well, and if you don't believe me...

It was great fun tonight, although we didn't expect to be part of the entertainment :) anyway that's the joys of audience participation in Turkey, and you really don't have a say in the matter!!

Suffice to say it was a challenge to my two left feet to get involved in the Cha Cha Slide/Macarena/Kiss Kiss/Saturday Night dance routines, but a great laugh nonetheless.

Friday night, and Bodrum is buzzing even more than usual. And what a great place to be: although the partying is cut short as we need to get up very early tomorrow....

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