Welcome to Bodrum, the Turkish Riviera

An hour long bus shuttle brings you to town. When we passed a loose donkey on the walk to our apartment.

Bodrum started out as a  sleepy fishing village and is now seen as the “Saint-Tropez of Turkey.” There’s a massive marina in the center of it with what looks like more sailboats than homes.  It is decidedly off-season right now, despite the weather being perfect in the low 70s. Sea captains are lounging at the union tea house and construction work is underway everywhere.


A few cafes are still open with tables on the beach for lunch.

This vintage scooter truck was zipping around taking down election banners.

There are lots of tiny whitewashed holiday apartments like ours around a pool. And some really beautiful stone summer homes with lush, wild gardens and bright gates.

There’s still call to prayer five times a day, but it is quieter. I think I’m actually going to miss it when we go to Greece. The walk from town to our apartment takes a shortcut through the ruins of a 4th century Roman gate, complete with moat.

The main thing I like about Bodrum so far is how it smells: orange blossoms, roses, jacaranda, jasmine, geranium, salt water and a hint of diesel. It’s so SPRING here, you almost expect lambs in blue satin bows to be popping around the corner.