Europe Holga

Photos taken with a Holga TIM half frame camera. Sometimes I forget to take the second shot. Photos taken in Turkey, Italy and Barcelona.

Sailing the Mediterranean Sea

Sailing the Mediterranean Sea has been a highlight of our trip thus far. The 4 day voyage with Alaturka Blue Cruises takes you along Turkey’s southern coast from Fithiye to Olympos. The voyage included stops at St Nicholas Island (where Santa Claus died, apparently), Butterfly Valley (no butterflies to be seen due to the Turkish spring break party that was underway), Kas, Kekova Island and Smugglers Cove (where the Blue Cave is located).

There were 14 onboard our blue cruise, with people from NZ, Australia, Canada, Germany and Hawaii. Our friends Gemma and Jo, who we met in Selcuk, were on the cruise. We also met Jenna, Ryan and Tilley, Australians who were living in London and traveling through Turkey, and Jo who was from NZ.

Our days were spent jumping into the Med Sea (which is so salty you can bob like a cork for hours), playing cards and sipping Turkish wine. At Smugglers Cove we snorkeled, waterskied and partied at the Turkish disco.

Our final stop was Olympos, a tiny village with roman ruins that is nestled in between the Mediterranean Sea and huge cliffs. Olympos is renowned for being a hippie retreat where people live in treehouses. I could have stayed for days at Saban Treehouses, which provided free and delicious breakfast and dinner, but unfortunately we were only able to stay for one night.

The food served onboard was good but became somewhat repetitive after 4 days at sea. Cheese for breakfast was a plus! Whilst anchored at St Nicholas Island, a small boat with an old man and woman came past to serve us freshly cooked gozmele – the best fast food I’ve ever had delivered!

The cruise blew our budget to some degree, however sailing was far the best way to see this beautiful part of the world. Take me back!

Ephesus & Pamukkale

From Istanbul we flew to Izmir and headed to the small town of Selcuk. The Roman ruins of Ephesus are located a short distance from Selcuk so we based ourselves here to explore the area.

While in Selcuk we stayed at Boomerang Hostel, which featured a beautiful courtyard with trees and loungers. The hostel also had a badly shaved Persian cat who I loved! It was here we met Gemma and Jo, Australians who had been living in London and were travelling home via Eastern Europe and South East Asia.

From Selcuk we travelled by bus to Fethiye with a stop off in Pamukkale, a series of calcium pools that have formed naturally on the side of a hill near the city of Denzili. We swam in the pools while looking over the blinding white calcium and valley beyond.

Food during this portion of the trip was nothing to write home about and cheese was lacking. The journey south through Turkey was beautiful though and it was refreshing to be out of the city.

Istanbul and the cheese shops

Istanbul is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. We stayed at the Agora Guesthouse and Hostel, which provided amazing views across the Old City to the Marmara Sea from it’s rooftop terrace. Agora was our first experience at dorm rooms, which wasn’t too bad really. The hostel also served an excellent breakfast that included cheese, tomato, bread and yoghurt.

We spent our days wandering the small cobbled streets surrounding the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, both of which are stunning sites. We met Jess and Andy, friends from Berlin, for dinner in Beyoğlu. This was our first taste of Turkish cheese with an excellent platter featured on the menu. At 11pm on a Tuesday night, Beyoğlu was busy with hundreds of people on the streets enjoying late night food and shopping.

The food has been delicious with lots of kebabs, hummus and gozleme. Baklava tastes like honey and sunshine! A visit to the Spice Bazaar delivered the cheese. Rows of Turkish delis sold a range of hard and semi-hard cow and goat milk cheeses, as well as fetta, Turkish mozzarella and salty blue cheese. Cheese mongers worked outside their stalls, slicing portions and providing samples to the punters. I was in heaven! I settled on a semi-hard cows milk cheese and a bug wedge of blue, which we ate with a bottle of red looking over the sea.

The other great thing to note is Istanbul has loads of cats. They’re everywhere! Some would describe this as a cat problem, but I describe it as a city asset. The cats mostly live on the streets but are super friendly and always keen for a pat (which is why hand sanitiser exists).

Currently sailing the Medaterian Sea off the coast of Turkey. Living the dream!