Sunday 11 May 2008

The Birthday Girl

Hi from Clare,
Last night's trip to the Hamam (Turkish Bath) was a fabulous experience for Pat and me. Not so for the boys unfortunately as yesterday turned out to be a girls only day. Pat (who had never had a Turkish Bath) and I enjoyed a few hours of Sauna, scrubbing, washing and massage. Water was poured over us starting at body temperature and gradually working down to ice cold, making the experience both relaxing and invigorating. We were squeaky clean and soft as silk by the time we floated out of there. Andrew and Ron could have gone today only we had a day trip booked. Perhaps they will get a chance to enjoy a Hamam before we leave Turkey.

Today we went on a bus trip to see St Nicolas's Church built around the 8th Century, (Ron claimed to be upset finding out that Santa wasn't true). The ancient city of Myra with it's Lycian Tombs and Greek/Roman theatre built 200BC. We then went on to lunch at a trout farm high in the mountains. The food of endless warm Turkish bread, gorgeous salads and a whole trout per person was magnificent. After lunch we went on to the Lycian city of Arykanda dating back to 2000BC. It was perched high on a hilltop with sweeping views of the valley below. The city, although decimated by a earthquake in 141AD was still in remarkable condition.

We arrived back at the boat at 5.45pm and before attending the cocktail party at 7pm, we had enough time to give the boat a wash with fresh water in preparation for leaving first thing in the morning. The cocktail party was hosted by the Finike Marina as a Public Relations exercise for the Rally. Drinks and nibbles were in abundance and before the evening was over, the people celebrating a birthday were presented with a birthday cake. Pat and Ron had just left the party and were back at the boat when Pat's name was called. So I doubled for Pat and accepted the birthday cake thanking the organizers for the unexpected acknowledgement.

Tomorrow morning we head out at 4.30am to travel down to Kemer. This is a 45 mile trip and the weather forecast indicates that we will be motoring most of the way due to lack of wind. However one can never be sure, we will see what tomorrow brings!

It is now 10.30pm so I must away and get some sleep.

Attached photos:
Andrew and Ron at the Santa monument at Demre.
Ron, Pat, Clare and Andrew - lunch at Trout Farm.
Theatre at Arykanda with spectacular view.
Pat's birthday cake after attack.

Love CANDY