Selcuk Region

We left Friday, October 4 and drove to Selcuk.  It took about seven hours.

Selcuk is a town of about 28,000 people.  We stayed at  Jimmy's Place Hotel in the center of Selcuk. We arrived about 6 pm and walked a couple of blocks to supper.  "Jimmy" was behind the desk when he arrived.  He was pleased to tell us that Barb Higgens (CFCN-TV Calgary, mayoral candidate in 2010) is his good friend and that she had stayed at the hotel.  It's not unusual for Turks to ask where we're from and to posses a knowledge of Canadian politics, and geography.  We walked a couple of blocks to to find a restaurant.  We were greeted and served in English.

In a tourist town like Selcuk it is common to be waited on by people with excellent English. In one restaurant, over the weekend, our waiter spoke to us in English and then spoke to the folks at the next table in French. Unlike Canada where wait staff are a mix of men and women, it is rare to be waited on by a woman.  Sometimes there's a woman behind the scenes in the kitchen though. It's not unusual for the man who greets you on the street to wait on you in the restaurant (6 or 8 tables) and to also cook your meal; sometimes he has a helper.

Saturday morning we ate a Turkish buffet breakfast at Jimmy's: cucumber, fresh sliced bread, tomatoes, olives and as a nod to the tourists, hard cooked eggs, and three kinds of cereal.  There was tea and coffee and juice. Afterwards we stepped out the door and wandered through Selcuk's Saturday market. There were lots of tourists. They were looking at knock off watches, purses and clothes.  We bought figs, nuts, a hat for Sam and a can opener. 

We stopped two blocks from the hotel for a drink and a toasted sandwich. After a rest, we drove to a nearby town, Sirince, known for it's beautiful mountain side views and fruit wines. 

Dodging cars and tourists in Sirince. Lots of goods (scarfs, jewelry, ceramics, table cloths, leather purses, spices, Turkish delight and wine) aimed at the tourist market available for sale in the village.

Narrow cobbled street, typical in this village.

The shop in the background provided jewelry and artifacts to the movie Troy.  The young man on the right is encouraging people in English, to stop and try the fruit wines. Lots of opportunities for tasting and buying wine in the village.

More wine for sale.

At the top of the hill a Christian church in honor of John the Baptist.

Somebody with Nicole's initials was careful to leave their mark over top of the frescoes. It's not unusual to see frescoes "defaced" - quite literally with the faces scratched out.

I love old wooden doors.

Cam in the center of the church. 

Outside the church is a place to drink and taste wine.

The museum in Sirence.

The museum from a different angle.  It was once a school.

Inside the museum there is information about felt making and lots of felted goods for sale. Cam decided he needed a different kind of hat so we encouraged him to try their wares - but he didn't buy.