Blue Cruise

I have fallen way behind on blogging again, and will try to catch up over the next month. The beginning of May, the boys, Nathan, and I stayed on a wooden gullet boat on the Mediterranean Sea, with our good friends Victoria and Brett, who live in Istanbul. We would have loved Eliza to join us, but we knew that being on a small boat and in the water for 4 days would have been challenging for both her and us, so she stayed with our nanny, Kadem, and her family and she had a great time with them. We met our friends in Istanbul and flew to the coastal city of Dalaman together, then took at 3 hour drive to Kekova, where we got onto the boat for the next 4 days. The kids are great travelers and were excited to get on a plane, even for a 4am flight :).

Getting on the boat after early morning travels.

The hallway of the boat. Kitchen to the left, our room to the left, the boys room to the right, and Victoria and Brett’s room straight ahead.

The kitchen where all the magic happened. We had a captain and a chef on board, and we were very spoiled by the delicious Turkish food that the chef cook for us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Nathan and my room and boys looked the same. We had a small bathroom and enough room to walk on the side of our bed. It was small but comfortable quarters.

Setting sail! Each day we visited 2-3 harbors and would stop at each one for a few hours to swim. The temperature was perfect to be outside. The water was a bit chilly, but we all got in to enjoy it. The boys practically lived in the water for 4 days.

Brett and Victoria. They are special friends from Jordan and we are thankful they are in Turkey with us.

They brought adult floaties, which was a great idea to easily relax in the water.

In their happy places. On a boat in jumping distance of the water.

We also got floaties for the boys, but they swam around most the time.

The food was so good. I don’t remember everything we ate, but it was all amazing.

Can you see the boys on the rock?

On board, there was a paddle board, kayak, and a dinghy boat. To get to shore, we would use them (the captain took us in the dinghy). 

The boys loved taking out the kayak and the paddle board themselves. Many harbors had small islands and rock formations and the boys would paddle over to explore. It was a really neat to watch them enjoy this freedom.

This was one of the most scenic harbors and was such a pretty sunset. We stayed here the first night. 

The next day we went were off to see more harbors.

This harbour had a bat cave nearby, and the captain took a few of us at a time inside the cave to see...lots of bats.

Then we paddled to shore and took a hike to see some Lycian ruins. We would sometimes put the 4 of us on the paddle board, and Brett and Victoria on the kayak if we all wanted to go to shore. It was a convenient mode of transportation.

After getting back from the hike, we moved to another harbor and passed a sunken city of Dolchiste, an old Lycian settlement, along the way. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in the 2nd century.

You can see some of the sunken homes above the surface. It was an interesting site.

The evenings got a bit chilly and we enjoyed wrapping up in big blankets.

More good food!

Our boat was called the Kekova II.

The next day was a bit rainy, so it was a perfect day for a hike. The dinghy took us to shore and we got to explore some old Roman tombs and ruins.

There was very few people there, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

Roman tombs.

And great stones for rock skipping.

History of the area...

We went to the next harbor where we stayed for the evening and enjoyed more delicious food and playing some card games after dinner.

Early morning kayak and swim.

Next we went to a beautiful harbor called Aquarium Bay. It was a very popular bay and was visited by several day-trip boats with. This bay wasn’t quite as relaxing in comparison because there were so many people there, but it was still beautiful.

Then we explored the cute village of Kalekoy, only accessible by boat, for a few hours that day. We visited the castle at the top of the island, walked the narrow streets, and enjoyed some home made ice cream.

Prom pictures:)

The Turkish Evil Eye (Nazar Boncuğu) in Turkish, is everywhere, in order to keep the bad energy away. People have them hanging in their homes, cars, in restaurants, pretty much everywhere you go. This wall seemed pretty well protected!

Back to the boat.

Sometimes you just need to a nap.

Dear friends ;)

The next morning our family had to leave around 5am to make the 3 hour drive before our 10am flight. It was such a fun and unique trip to take with Brett and Victoria, we greatly enjoyed the experience and time with them. They continued on for a few more days to Bodrum, and we headed back to Ankara to get Eliza.

Eliza had a fun time while we were away. She was a little sad the first day, but after that she had a great time. She was with Kadem and her family during the Bayram (Eid) holiday, so they did lots of traditional things such as visiting family, going to parks, and seeing friends. They kept busy and had fun. Here are some pictures from their time together. Enjoying Turkish breakfast and tea each morning.

Eliza loves to help in the kitchen.

It rained quite a bit while we were away, but they got out to enjoy some parks and sites around Ankara when the weather permitted. Eliza with Kadem, her husband Mustafa, and their younger daughter Ebru, at Atakule, a famous landmark in Ankara.

Atakule tower. Eliza calls Mustafa ‘baba’, which means dad in Turkish. It’s really cute.

Their eldest daughter, Ezgi, came to town for the week as well. Eliza enjoys spending time with her when she is in town.

Kadem had a birthday while we were away. Here is Eliza singing the happy birthday song in Turkish. Eliza was only exposed to Turkish while we are away, since Kadem’s family doesn’t speak much English. Of all the kids, Eliza knows the most Turkish and understands quite a bit, from being with Kadem and Ebru the past year and half.

One day they went to a farm and Eliza picked a couple eggs and flowers for Bayram (Eid).

Another traditional thing Turks do during Bayram is visit their families. Kadem has a large family in Ankara, and they have been excited to meet Eliza. Apparently Eliza wasn’t into the crowd of unfamiliar people, but they did get to meet her briefly.

Ebru and Eliza had sleepovers in Ebru’s room or the living room each night.

We are thankful that Eliza had a fun few days with their family. It was a special time for Eliza and Kadem’s family, they adore our children and treat them like their own.