Yalıkavak

ETA 7/24: Pictures added!

We left our hotel in Selçuk this morning after the usual breakfast-and-shower routine. We paid the bill (less than we were expecting!), left, then at the gas station realized we hadn't paid for our laundry. Even though Marcos' clothes had a funky smell, he still felt like we should go back and pay for that, so we turned around. The man (the grandfather of the family, from what we inferred; he spoke very little English) only charged us for 1 load and gave us a bunch of grapes plucked straight from their vines. It was very sweet!

I am so excited about free grapes.

We decided to visit Mary's house after all, because Marcos imagined his grandparents would not be very pleased to find out we were so close and didn't go. 30 TL later (ugh), we made our way down the path to her supposed house.

The exterior from the front

We evidently got there between tour groups, because there weren't too many people, and I was able to go into her house without waiting.

Unlike these poor suckers.

Pictures aren't allowed inside, but it was a very simple display with a statue, some art (I have a terrible visual memory, sorry), and a candle. Even as a non-religious person, I thought it was a very nice display.

You could take two candles, but as I was not sure what I was
supposed to do with said candles, I did not do so. Apparently you
light them and put them in these boxes?

I'm bothered by the emphasis put on her virginity, of course, as though her "purity" is the only impressive thing about her; I would much rather we celebrate her for her clearly stellar parenting skills (say what you will about Christianity [let's face it, the Crusades weren't the best], but Jesus was a class act). Still, I'm glad we went. There's a wishing wall of sorts, where you tie something to the strips of cloth and pre-existing knots and make a wish; Marcos and I both did so with a half of a receipt each.

I retroactively changed my wish to something more relevant to the site, but I hope Mary would be okay with that!

Then we headed down the road, stopping at a roadside "diner" of sorts to eat, as my tummy was rumbling. We got gözleme again (3rd time in 3 days, score!), this time potato and cheese (me; turned out the potato was in the dough itself, not as a filling, which was delicious) and spinach and cheese (Marcos, though I ended up eating about a third of his, too) with a side of tomatoes, olives, and peppers.

Potato-cheese (upper left), spinach-cheese (upper right), and assorted veggies (bottom)

Altogether? 8 TL. Plus 4 TL for iced tea and a 2 TL tip––a very filling lunch for $3.50 each! Not too shabby.

I did work in the car, and the inability to figure out how to format a spreadsheet made me grouchy, but the return of seaside helped!

Oh hai there

Such a gorgeous color.

Pretty!

Prettyyyyyyy.

Yalıkavak is a town on the Bodrum peninsula, so named for Bodrum, the "St. Tropez of Turkey".

Some buildings (presumably part of the same development complex)
on the way to Yalıkavak

We decided to stay here instead of in Bodrum proper because it's somewhat quieter––Bodrum is known for being a rather wild scene at night. It's very pretty, with palm trees and lapping waves, and feels very resorty.

Living the high life.

While I rested, Marcos went into Bodrum and got reservations for our boat trip tomorrow, and when he got back we went down to the waterfront (a 3 minute walk) and wandered some. We ate at a Bosnian place not on the water (as good Lord were the ones on the sea expensive), but Marcos said it was not the most authentic Bosnian he'd had.

The sea is the same color as the ring I bought myself!

I forgot to take pictures, but it's cool, it wasn't Turkish food (that's the logic I'm using, anyways). We got meatballs––mine were in little sausages, Marcos' was one big patty––and pseudo-pita, which was a bit greasy for me and the portions were disappointingly small, but it was food and relatively filling. I wanted baklava, but we weren't able to find any place that had it for less than 10 TL for 3 or 4 pieces, and I was not about to pay that much!

Jetty! (iskele)

Now we're watching some Turkish TV and winding down for the night. We have to wake up relatively early for the boat tomorrow, around 8:30, so an early bedtime is imperative!