bodrum & kos

well emre has survived his first flight(s)!  we had a wonderful holiday in bodrum with the mentz family, which even included a brief excursion abroad (another first for emre, outside of the womb at least). 

first flight!

mommy was just a touch proud of her little traveler

 we arrived in bodrum around noon on friday, settled into the hotel & set off in search of adventure.  first stop was bodrum town (bodrum is also the name used for a large peninsula, which we explored many areas of while we were there), where we strolled and enjoyed beautiful weather with minimal tourists.  turns out this was the perfect time of year for a visit to bodrum.

boardwalk by the marina

stick with agatha - she'll get you on a yacht!

the boys enjoyed touring a boat with their mom and exploring the many playgrounds around the marina while we walked and took in the views.

these boys are always on the go

that evening we packed into the silver bullet (as eric named our rental van) and headed to the bay of torba to find a fish restaurant.  i had run into a friend on the plane who had just been to bodrum and highly recommended 'gonca.'  we were so glad she did - the setting was perfect, and the kids loved playing on the playground & at the beach!

thrilled

lovely setting

ben made friends with the staff

we took turns walking emre up & down the beach - he loved to look at the water

first family pic!

the food was INCREDIBLE.  probably the best meal we had - and pretty much every meal was amazing, so that's saying something!  they made an amazing grilled octopus, grilled calamari and these huuuge shrimp, cooked in garlic & butter... yum!

srimps

aegean sunset

the next day we headed out in the morning for the beach.  luckily, it was not far from our hotel, since the boys were serious about getting their beach on!

emre waited it out in the shade

funny face

in the afternoon we headed into town where ben and i strolled the boardwalk while agatha & eric took the boys to tour the old castle.

emre has fun pretty much everywhere he goes

that night we ate at another fish restaurant, this time on the boardwalk, before heading back to our hotel, exhausted!

sleepy baby

on sunday we awoke bright & early to catch the ferry to the greek island of kos.  it's just a 30 minute ferry ride from bodrum port, and having agatha with us, we felt confident we'd have a good tour of the place!

approaching kos

enjoying his first ferry ride with mama

the boys were excited to get back to their homeland

upon our arrival, agatha & eric had the brilliant idea of taking a 'train ride' around the island to get our bearings before we set off on foot.

mentz family

balkaya boys

we absolutely loved our little glimpse of greece.  kos is not like the traditional greek islands with the white & blue buildings, but we saw glimpses of that.  we also saw glimpses of the horrible economic depression that is destroying greece.  and yet, the hospitality was wonderful, everywhere we went.

eric & agatha served as our interpreters (eric served a post in athens, where he met agatha, a few years back) and introduced us to the incredible greek cuisine.  it was a day of eating.

fredo capucino - a frozen cup of awesomeness

'i'm not going to lie to you - you are a weird group': the restaurant owner's words to eric as we left.  everywhere we went it seemed people were fascinated by us: an aussie-turk, two americans, and a greek!

buying the boys some greek soccer jerseys

eric took us to a gyro place for lunch that he'd been to last year... and it was amazing... and just in time!  i was feeling faint after the frozen cappuccinos and not eating enough.  breast feeding will do that to you.

giant spit of gyro meat - the guy boasts his is the biggest in town (the meat, that is).  the crookedness of this picture captures how out of it i was.

salad, gyros, tzatziki & pida & french fries, covered in oregano

why can't we have this in turkey?

after lunch we jumped in two taxis and headed for the beach...

...where we found the beach culture to be the same as in turkey.  seriously, europeans?  seriously.

the boys had a blast and exhausted themselves.  we befriended the owner of the bar we sat at who was really friendly, and also kind of confused by our group!  all in all it was a great first taste of greece.  we will be back!

that evening we strolled bodrum's 'grand bazaar' and ended up at another decent restaurant on the beach, a great spot to watch the sunset.

bodrum castle

getting love from aunt aggie

monday was our last day in bodrum, so we got a late check out from the hotel & headed to golturkbuku, a bay on the northern side of the peninsula.

view from our hotel room balcony - where we spent our evenings after putting the kids to bed!

golturkbuku

we enjoyed one last day of sunshine & beach before heading back to ankara.  golturkbuku is a favorite spot we had visited while on the boat, and it was fun to go back & introduce agatha & eric to it.  

ben & steffanos enjoying the shade

these poor guys did a lot of carrying the boys on their shoulders, as their backs can attest

unfortunately the trip was extended a bit when our plane was delayed about 3 hours, but these kiddos just settled in & got right to sleep at the airport.  

we really enjoyed staying at a regular hotel & touring the bodrum hot spots rather than being stuck at an all-inclusive.  renting a car was the best decision we made - that and visiting kos!  all in all it was an awesome vacation with the mentz family.