Turkey

We arrived safely after 15 hours of flying, 5 hours of layovers and 3 different countries, finally landing in Izmir about 5pm Friday night - Leanna and Jared picked us up from the airport and arrived home to a home cooked Italian dinner of lasagna, salad and bread - we snacked on oatmeal peanut butter cookies, carrot cake and banana bread while we played cards until bedtime.  It was such a great day, looking forward to all that is in store for us this week!

Day Two - I got up early and made some of Framma's coffee cake and we hung out in our jammies and watched Megamind until Willie had football practice, then got dressed and drove to the Goztepe Academy in Izmir to watch him workout.  It had rained all morning, but let up just in time so we could check out his mad skills on the pitch (soccer field).  It was well worth it as he scored a hat trick, and then added a fourth for good measure!  What fun.  After practice we headed to Agora, the mall.  We had a Starbucks and walked around - they had some recognizable stores and some we've never heard of.  There were a ton of people and it was pouring rain, so we didn't stay long.  We headed home to have dinner and play cards.  Potato and Tomato soup was on the menu as was Calzones, all homemade by Lani.  It was all delicious!

Day Three

We started off the day with some coffee, fruit and banana bread, then Jared, Leanna, Otto, Gillie and I headed out for a walk to the sea!  It was beautiful especially after the rain and the sky cleared of clouds.
After a quick shower we headed to Yoruk for kahvalti (breakfast).  The drive was beautiful, along the coast for a bit, then inland to Urla and the restaurant.  It was nestled along a small roadway, in the pines and  a meadow full of green grass and wildflowers.  We let Jared and Leanna order and just sat and talked while we waited in anticipation for fresh cream and honey, fruit, cheese, olives and other delicacies to be delivered to our table.

Above you will see some of the great food - blackberries and cheese, a pepper paster, olives and cheese.  To say it was wonderful would be an understatement.  Definitely will be back for more of this during the week.  

Outside the restaurant.