Turkey – Travels of John and Flo

June 8, 2014October 19, 2020

Sailing in Turkey & Greece, Spring/Summer 2014

In the Spring of 2014 we returned to Turkey and Greece to once again join up with Jack & Yvonne on their 75′ gullet Teodora, this time with Jack’s daughters Kimi and Karen joining us, along with his granddaughter Malaika. The timing was similar to our trip last year, two weeks in length and starting from the same place in Bodrum, but a few new places were added to explore in both Greece and Turkey. Teodora’s hull had been recently painted, the wood varnished and new white cushion covers added so she looked really good sitting at the dock in Bodrum. We flew in from Nice to Istanbul but our flight was late landing and getting to the gate, and then the immigration line-ups were very long so we ended up missing our connecting flight. Fortunately they had another one latter that day and we finally arrived at the boat around 11PM.

June 10, 2013October 20, 2020

Istanbul, Turkey

On our way back from Bodrum we stayed in Istanbul for a few days. This was when protests had been going on for two weeks in Taksim Square over a park that is supposedly going to be turned into a shopping center and parking lot. Seems this was the “hair that broke the camel’s back”, as the protests grew into anger over what some of the Turkish people see as Prime Minister Erdrogan’s strong Islamic position that he is trying to bring more into what has been mostly a secular country up to now. On the Saturday when we left the army came in with water guns and pepper spray and ousted all the people from the park who had been camping there. I don’t think this is the end of it though.

June 8, 2013October 20, 2020

Bodrum, Turkey Sailing Trip

After our Cappadocia trip, we flew back to Istanbul, catching quickly another domestic flight that took us to Bodrum on the southern coast of Turkey. We arrived at lunch time and met up with our hosts, Jack & Yvonne, at the boat. The boat is a wonderful 70 ft motor sailboat, a copy of the German-made Jongert, a boat that Jack has admired for many years. When he saw it for sale last September in Bodrum, he bought it that same day. Very spacious, especially with deck space, making it more comfortable cruising than your traditional monohull sailboat. This would end up actually end up being more of a “motoring” than a “sailing” trip, as there were adjustments still needed to be made to the sails, and the the mizzen’s mast was cracked and needed to be repaired. But that didn’t stop us from having a good time!

June 1, 2013October 20, 2020

Cappadocia, Turkey

Cappadocia is a place that should be on everyone’s bucket list for places to visit before we actually “kick the bucket”. We visited at the beginning of June in 2013 for a couple of days, before heading out on a sailing trip through Bodrum, staying in the town of Urgup at the boutique hotel Meleklerevi. A nice place with great hosts (Arzu & Muammer) who gave us plenty of great ideas of what to do and see while in Cappadocia. Muammer has a map he can supply you with for all the places you should try to fit in while in Cappadocia. We were there for three days, which seems to be just about the right amount of time to get to know the area without rushing.