And a happy Sunday to all of you - wherever in the world you are! Besides my readers growing at a modest rate, the number of readers from different countries is also increasing which is great!
Since I am not getting much feedback, I don't know if I am on the right track and keeping you interested with my posts - so for the time being, I will continue doing what I am doing and will make adjustments based on your requests.
Today is Day 7 of my trip to Çeşme and I am having a lovely time! I am relaxing on and off, but I think I will definitely "need a vacation from my vacation" - isn't that the best kind of vacation anyway?
This post will include info on some of the things we did on Day 6 of my vacation to give you a flavor of what you can do while you visit Çeşme too.
I always say this and I will say it again.. weekend traveling is great and I have done many long weekend trips while working full-time, but always be prepared for extra crowds and possible problems with service during weekend vacations to resort areas.
For this reason... and since I am here for an undetermined number of days, we preferred to stay at home during the day yesterday instead of heading to one of the many beach clubs in Çeşme and Alaçatı. It gets too crowded, there is more traffic to get there and service is affected.
After a lazy-hazy day at home, we decided to have a quiet family dinner right in the neighborhood in Ilıca with sis, brother-in-law, nephew and my sis's mother-in-law as we planned on heading to 7800 Çeşme beach club for a live music and DJ performance in the evening.
We went to a local favorite which has been around since 1964... it is called Apo'nun Yeri Biz Bize and it is a short 10 minute walk from the house. (5152 Sokak No. 81/C Plaj Evleri - Ilıca ; Tel: (0232) 723 10 40). The main branch branch is at Inkilap Caddesi No. 6/A Çeşme (Tel: (0232) 712 93 40)
This longstanding family style meat/kebab restaurant is one of the favorites in Çeşme. The menu includes all sorts of meats (köfte - Turkish style meatballs; meat on a skewer; chicken dishes; pide - open faced pastry stuffed with meat and/or cheese; döner desserts. Also, the prices are modest and beer and rakı (local Turkish drink similar to ouzo) are also served.
After we ordered, we were served (gratis) lavash bread and an assortment of pickles, shredded cheese (something similar to Parmesan), mushrooms, haydari - a plain yogurt based dish and ezme - a spicy tomato based dish. I took pictures, but food photography is something totally different, however, I will still post them.
Before our meal arrived and we all ordered different versions of köfte and meat on a skewer, we were each served (gratis) mini round lahmacun (similar to a pizza but with chopped meat and topped with melted kaşar cheese - cheese is normally not used, but this version of lahmacun had it and it was delicious). We all shared a piyaz salad which is prepared with navy beans, chopped lettuce and onions).
We ate too much and shared a dessert called künefe which is served warm and prepared with shredded wheat, cheese and syrup... it was very very good!
The family dinner was a success and we walked back to the house at around 11:00pm and then changed to get ready for a night of partying with friends at 7800 Çeşme Beach Club.
I wrote about this place before a few posts ago if you want to read more about it. A beach club and restaurant by day, it turns into a bar/club by night with DJ performances and from time to time live music acts appearing on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer.
We got there around 11:30pm and met a few friends (we were 9 people in all) and found places to sit at the bar as it wasn't crowded yet but within an hour, the place was packed! They also have bar tables and lounges for seating lined up around the stage, however, it is more expensive to sit at these places and there is a high minimum (more than likely you have to open a bottle of liquor at least). However, you can hang out at the bar and order drinks. There is no cover charge for the music. Wine was 20 TL glass and mixed drinks vary between 25 TL and 30 TL.
The live music part of the show included Hüsnü Şenlendirici - a Turkish saxophonist and he did his own interpretations of certain songs with oriental and Turkish accents - however, to be quite frank, he didn't "wow" the crowd. However, afterwards a very popular Turkish DJ U.F.U.K. starting spinning and the whole place was full of people dancing up a storm. When we left at 4:00am, there were still people there! I didn't take any pictures at the club as it was very dimly lit and didn't want to intrude on the revelers fun by placing their photos in my blog.
So... day 6 was full of relaxation, family fun and dancing to the wee hours of the morning - a great combination indeed!
Dani
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