Üzümlü, Village of Shawls

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In many of Üzümlü's houses, sheds and garages, women are in business with their looms. Doors open up to show an Aladdin's cave draped with hand-woven silk and cotton, often adorned with tassels, sequins, and beads. These are both showroom and workshop, and part of the charm is in the enthusiastic demonstrations of the weaver's art. It didn't take me long to pick out a cream shawl with pink-and-purple details. With the sale completed, we toasted the finished transaction with home-made wine and roasted peanuts. Now I just need summer to come around, so I can wear it without exposing the delicate threads to Britain's winter weather.

Pide, Turkish Pizza

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I first had Turkish pizza in Brussels, of all places, when we ended up staying across the road from a Turkish pide restaurant - it was cheap and tasty, so we went back and ate there a couple of times.

So when we got to Turkey, I was curious. Would it be the same? Or even better?

In the end, I'd say the best pide we had (pictured above) was maybe slightly better, although very similar in philosophy: huge chunks of fresh vegetables (onion, tomato, and pointed green peppers in this case), smothered with a generous helping of cheese, and fired in a wood-oven. A simple and perfect combination of flavours. I was half way through eating before I even noticed the lack of tomato sauce, such as you'd always find on pizza in the UK. Plus, it always makes a meal more fun if you can watch your food being made. Technique seems to vary between pide chefs, on whether to stretch the dough with your hands or just roll it out (it didn't seem to affect the taste, either way).

I haven't found any recipes that look exactly like what we ate, but this spinach pide does look similar to one on the menu in Brussels.

Beehives on the Lycian Way

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Never before have I felt bees. On some sections of our Lycian Way walk, surrounded by hives, the air buzzed with such force that you could feel the vibrations. Parts of the path had even been re-routed to avoid walking through clouds of bees.

You can buy the delicious honey from various places along the route, as well as on the market in local towns like Fethiye. We couldn't bring any home (I think honey counts as a liquid for carry-on luggage!) but we did have toast and local honey for our breakfast a few days.