After some days in Istanbul, we were ready to head out to meet up with our Turkish friends who summer here on the coast. But first we had to get our rental car. Throughout our time in Istanbul the driving was chaotic. There are little side loops off of main roads through the city that are shared by pedestrians and (supposedly) one-way vehicular traffic but on more than one occasion during our walking we encountered two cars nose-to-nose on one of these narrow side roads (and their angry owners yelling at each other about who would back up). Needless to say, I was pretty terrified of driving the rental car. But it turned out to be way easier than I expected -- the highway was only a few blocks away from the rental car office and, once we were on it, the driving was easy. But we had no idea what we would encounter farther afield.
The highway took us across the Bosphorus into the Asian side of the city. We passed green suburban areas with upscale housing. We crossed İzmit Bay then climbed the ridge of Samanlı Mountains to descend near Lake İznik, which looks like a great vacation area. Our drive was about 5 hours so took most of the day.
We had been given some driving advice, and we saw it play out in real life. In Türkiye, drivers keep to the right unless passing (something we see in Europe and wish Americans would do better). When you do want to pass, you need to look way far back in your rearview mirror before changing lanes. There could be someone coming up on you at over a hundred miles per hour. Not saying it is legal, but it's the way it is. There was not a ton of traffic so other than remembering the safety protocol it didn't cause any problems for us. We elected not to drive so fast ourselves.
Rest stop food in Türkiye is cheap and good. I suppose it mostly is normally eaten there. Maybe the residents feel like it is just fast-food versions of the same things, but I'd put it up against our chain fare. Do American truck stops still have home style food, I wonder?
Our rest-stop lunch: doner meat over sliced tomatoes.
Once we got into the town of Altınoluk, we were confronted with a different driving challenge. This was clearly a small, old beach town built before every family owned one or more cars. We were driving down streets with cars packed along both sides, on the sidewalks, with barely room to get through. Toward the town center there were tons of people walking around. We managed to find our friends' house, but there was no place to park near it.
Altınoluk Sahil
We called to let them know we had arrived and they came out and helped us get parked, assuring us that we were ok on the sidewalk and slightly sticking out into the street. They led us up the stairs to their condo and showed us in. Then our jaws dropped for the amazing view right outside the balcony.
Altınoluk beach scene, right from our friends' balcony.
Our friend had grown up spending summers in Altınoluk and had family that lived or summered here still. They were staying in their condo with their two boys and with his wife's mother. We had not wanted to make too much of a crowd and put anyone out of their space, so we immediately offended them by announcing that we had made a hotel reservation down the street. Our guide in Istanbul had warned us this would not go over well.
If you visit anyone in Türkiye, be prepared for them to host you completely. Take the best host gift you can think of, because they probably won't let you spend a nickel once you are under their care.
And speaking of host gifts, we didn't want to arrive empty-handed so we stopped at a fruit stand, one of many we passed along the drive. We picked out some fruit and also a block of cheese from a chest refrigerator. Our friends had a good laugh at us when the cheese turned out to be a bar of olive oil soap.
Vesta Butik Otel
Our friend acquiesced to our use of the hotel, however, as it made space for all the kids to stay together. Or, I should say, young adults. They went with us to move the car and check in, which definitely helped with the language gap. We were staying at the Vesta Butik Otel. As I recall, our room was small and hot, with only harsh ceiling lighting. But it was an easy walk to our friend's place, and even they admitted later that it was a better choice than all being piled up together.
Chops and steak from the live-action grill.
Dinner in Akçay
At dinner time, we drove to the nearby town of Akçay. Writing this up much later, I am not sure of exactly which restaurant we went to but it could have been Itsayon or As. We were seated out on the beach. There were plenty of courses, along with a big showy grilling of fish. Showy, like using alcohol to make big flames but without charring the meats.
We had noted the stray cats of Istanbul. This area also has the cats, and also a lot of stray dogs. They are always around begging for food, but I think they must have learned to behave themselves pretty well or they wouldn't be tolerated. Our host has a big soft spot for them and was feeding them. There is one in particular that I remember, because he was so big he was at your elbow instead of under the table. And he had a really good puppy dog eyes for coaxing food.
We hung out with our friends until fairly late. When we got back to the hotel we found it abuzz with nightlife. All the little stores were open and people were doing their shopping. I mean real shopping, not tourist shopping. Whole families were hanging out, with kids screaming and playing. There was music and dancing. This all went on until around 1 in the morning. It made it hard to sleep, but it was also great.
