Travel Journal, Part VIII

My last couple of days in Bodrum were mostly more of the same, but fun nonetheless. Dre and I went to the sauna Friday morning, and then went swimming for a little while. That night, we went out to a spanish restaurant in downtown Bodrum. This was one of the greatest meals I've in my life.

The meal began with a complimentary shotglass of sangria, which we sipped casually as we perused the menu. We finally selected steamed mussels in a white wine and tomato sauce. Following that, we had a squid cooked in its own ink, which is easily one of the tastiest foods I've eaten in my life. Around the time we finished the squid, it was starting to rain, so we carried what was left of our meal inside and sipped drinks while we contemplated another order of appetizers. Carl wanted to surprise us by showing up in Bodrum, so it was about that time that he and his friend Monty crashed our little dinner party. We ordered another couple plates of appetizers and a fresh round of drinks, and then hit the bars.

Monty's a bit of a drinker, so by the time we'd finished our drinks, he'd tossed back three martinis and a long island. We figured it was going to be one of those nights, so we caught the bus back to Gumbet to be closer to the resort when we got too tipsy.

Monty had apparently drank a little that morning, and a little more at the airport, and then a little more on the plane, and then a lot at the restaurant, so we ordered a fish bowl in hopes of catching up. We had a little time to sip on it while he went and bought a diamond necklace from an all-night jewelry store. We made a heroic effort, but nothing keeps you sober like somebody twice as drunk, and it wasn't long before we stopped trying. The three of us had only killed about a quarter of the drink by the time Monty came back from the jeweler, five thousand lira poorer and a good bit thirstier. He continued to pack it away while we kept half pace, and the night pretty much ended early with us hauling him back to the hotel.

The next morning, we woke up, tucked into some cheese omelets, and then went back to bed. Andrea and I woke up again a few hours later, and went out for a walk. We had some cappuccino on the terrace by the sea, and then wandered into town. After a while, we had kabobs for lunch, and poked through a couple shops. Carl went out to meet up with us, but unfortunately we had taken the sun screen with him, and he got a little more heat than was healthy during the walk down. I wasn't feeling very well myself, so we went back to the room and cranked the AC for a while.

That night, I went out one last time, but after three straight nights of partying, I was done being crazy. I had one beer, and spent the rest of the time just walking around the city, checking out some of the all-night shops.

I still stayed out and about until well after two in the morning, because I hadn't had a good chance to explore Bodrum proper what with all the happenings and goings on. The stores in this city stay open well after midnight, so got to do a little window shopping (watch my facebook page for a photograph of a very interesting chess set) and sample a little street food.

Our flight was at seven AM, which meant that we had to leave at five. Since we'd woken up well past noon every day all there was no point in trying to fall asleep before the wake up call, so we just stayed awake. Unlike Istanbul and Ankara, the airport in Bodrum was poorly air conditioned and filled with mosquitoes, so it was a very unpleasant wait. As has become our custom, Andrea and I picked a window and aisle seat, in hopes that the middle seat would remain unclaimed and we'd get to spread out. On this occasion, however, a man with particularly unpleasant body odor decided that he wanted to sit in between us instead of in one of the several empty rows of seats. We didn't feel bad about making faces at him as we got out of our seats and relocated to one of the numerous empty rows. I mean, fine, I was up all night and probably a little ripe myself, but I didn't deliberately insert myself between two other people. If you are lonely and want strangers to sit with you, take a shower first. S'all I'm saying.

After an hour or so on the plane, and half that in a cab, we arrived back at the place that has come to feel very much like a second home. I was hungry and needed food, I was smelly and needed a shower, and I was tired and needed to go to bed. Despite my best efforts, the latter ended up being the first priority, and before ten in the morning, I was unconscious.

After four days and nights, I can honestly say that I got all the excitement and entertainment out of Bodrum that I could handle. I certainly wouldn't mind going back some time, but right now I'm honestly looking forward to a couple of days sitting around Andrea's apartment, maybe watching a movie or something.