November 2008 - Turkey

November 30, 2008 Sunday Hike above Kemer

November 30. 2008 Sunday Hike above Kemer

November 30, 2008 Kemer Sunday Hike above Kemer

November 30. 2008 Sunday Hike above Kemer

November 27, 2008

Al and I were in charge of planning and hosting Thanksgiving this year at Kemer. We were here last year so we had a great example to follow. Fortunately we only plan the meal and decorations not cook it:-) We even have cranberries this year that someone brought back from Israel. Best of all lots of Americans and others to help!

Turkey | Kemer| Thanksgiving nature collectors for decorating

Turkey | Kemer Turkiz Marina| Thanksgiving Display for Navigator Restaurant Terrace by Elly

Yesterday a group of cruisers gathered in the morning to hike around Kemer and gather nature to be used for making decorations for the Navigator Restaurant Thanksgiving Dinner. After lunch a group of ladies put their artistic talents to work and made lovely arrangements to hang around the restaurant. Our committee also asked for people to make cornucopia baskets for the table center pieces. Everything looked so festive when we were finished!

Turkey | Kemer Turkiz Marina| Navigator Restaurant | Thanksgiving dancing

Turkey | Kemer Turkiz Marina | Navigator Restaurant | Thanksgiving turkeys presentation

Turkey|KemerTurkizMarina|NavigatorRestaurant| Thanksgiving Roger, Helena, Evo, Ulla, Sven, Annette

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast and as in years past the Navigator Staff out did themselves. They stuck sparklers into our roasted turkeys and paraded around the dining room before carving them. We had fun music and dancing after dinner.

Turkey | Kas | Successful Visa run waiting for our passports

Greece | Kastelloriso Island| Kastelloriso Harbor quay|Agios Georgios Church anc Clock Tower

Greece | Kastelloriso Island| Kastelloriso Harbor view

November 25, 2008

We went with a group from Kemer to renew our Turkish visas. We had a bus take us to Kas where boarded a Turkish gullet to take us across to the Greek Island Kastelloriso about 5.5 nm. We had a nice walk around and above the town. We picked up some porkchops and had a nice lunch on the quay. Now we are good for another 3 months.

November 23, 2008

Hi everyone Another week in Kemer flies by and our fantastic news to share is Chris and Mary are expecting our second grandchild sometime in early June:-) They had an ultra-sound this past week and all looks well and Mary is feeling great.

We had some rainy weather so we got some more boat work done. We changed all the hoses on our head. It was a difficult, stinky job but well worth the effort.

Turkey | Kemer | Kemer Turkiz Marina | Artemis | Circular Dinner -main course- Chicken Cacciatore

Last night November 22 we had a Circular Dinner (similar to a Progressive Dinner) 27 boats were involved and our "sealed orders" sent us to one boat for starters, our own boat for main course, and another boat for dessert 3 couples were on each boat including the owners. No one knew who was coming to join them on each boat. So it was great fun and we got to know 6 other couples a bit better as the night progressed on.

We have our travel plans for coming home. We arrive in Chicago Sun. Dec. 14 at 5 PM. Then we fly to Minneapolis Mon. Dec. 22. We fly to Syracuse, NY to see my Dad Jan. 10-17 then back to MN. We babysit Josie the first week of Feb. Then fly back to Chicago. Feb. 9-17. Our final leg back to Turkey is Feb. We fly back toTurkey Feb. 17 arriving in Kemer Feb. 18. We hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Love and God Bless Sally and Al

Turkey | Mountain hike and trout lunch| Francesco and Enrica, Annette and Eno

Turkey | Sunday mountain hike | views

Turkey | Sunday mountain hike | views

Turkey | Sunday mountain hike | views

November 16, 2008

Sunday Hike this week was a mountain village hike and trout lunch. Another beautiful day with gorgeous views.

November 15, 2008

Hi to All We are keeping plenty busy here in Turkey. Al and I've become more selective with our activities or we would be always on the go. Our weekly Sunday hikes continue to be a highlight. Last Sunday we visited two ancient sites Aspendos and Perge.

The Kemer Quartet (members of Antalya Orchestra) gave us a great performance here at the marina this week and last night we went to Antalya to the Symphony concert. We thought we were to hear Handel's music and were pleasantly surprised with a program change. It was an evening of Ataturk's favorite folk music. Ataturk is called the Father of Turkey. He is loved and remembered for westernizing Turkey. His picture and statue is found everywhere in Turkey. The hall was full and the Turkish people were quite enthusiastic.

Al and I bought tennis rackets and are taking advantage of the free tennis lessons and court time at the marina. We may even play in a tournament but it'll be a while before we are ready to do that. Believe it or not we have found time for a few boat projects. We spent a day cleaning sails. We put on our swimsuits and climbed into the large tile bath with our sails. We spent 8 hours scrubbing sails and hoisting them to dry. It was a nice set up but a big job. We had our first rainy day (morning) this week so we changed oil in both engines, transmission fluid and fuel filters. It's nice to scratch off some of the jobs on our list.

November 9, 2008

We took a bus from Kemer Turkiz Marina today to two wonderful Greco -Roman ruins east of Antalya. Aspendos has one of best preserved Theaters and Perge is site where many of the statues housed in the Antalya Museum were unearthed. We brought picnic lunches along today to enjoy at the site.