I’ve brought back some wonderful treasures from around the
world. From Paris, floral
amethyst earrings; Provence, lavender perfume; Rome, linen harem pants; Nairobi, a
painting of running gazelles; Masai Mara, a wedding necklace; Egypt, jasmine oil
and giant prayer beads; Peru, baby Alpaca sweaters; from Mexico an enormous conk shell and from Turkey eleven carpets
and a husband!
Every summer we visit my husband's family on the Mediterranean coast
and then visit our friends in the small beach town, Olympos. Home to Lucian ruins, an pristine coastline
and tree house hotels, this is our rustic and relaxing holiday.
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| Our first home, Kadir's Top Treehouses in Olympos |
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| The Olympos Beach Coastline |
We then go inland to a small village, Seydisehir to
Suleyman’s families’ garden where we spend our days eating. Turkish food revitalizes the taste buds;
breakfast consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, tahini, fresh goat
cheese, watermelon with feta, jams, jellies, borek, baklava, Turkish sausage, potatoes, eggs
and honeycomb. This is just breakfast - and with a Turkish mother at the table you have to be sure and eat everything!
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| Breakfast |
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| My mother in-laws Baklava |
After spending a week eating and visiting family we then end
our trip in Istanbul where we buy more treasures at the Grand Bazaar to sell at Nomads. We also visit our manufacturer to discuss ZuZu Apparel’s new collection. This year as we once again travel to Turkey, so it is only appropriate that our Fall ZuZu
collection is inspired by that country's rich history, in stores now.
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| ZuZu Apparel's Lale Blouse and Dervish Skirt |
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| ZuZu Apparel's Harem Dress |
Turkey has many intricate layers of history starting with the
oldest civilization and temple at Göbekli
Tepe, and the most well preserved Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites at
Catalhoyuk. The Hittites, Greeks,
Lucians, Romans, Persians, Byzantines and Ottomans have all left their mark on what is
now Modern Day Turkey. There are ruins
of civilizations buried under other ruins of civilizations.
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| The Ancient Greek City, Ephesus |
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| Mount Nemrut with it's enormous statues of Greek, Iranian and Armenian Gods |
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| The Byzantine Church the Hagai Sophia |
The complexity of Turkey’s history and its
culture, its turquoise coast and Anatolian food, is a love affair for me that will never
grow old, no matter how many times I go back.
NOTE: Want to visit Turkey? Email us at info@magiccarpettraveler.com for more information.
