We are back safe and sound in Marmaris after a 3 week holiday hiatus in December that had us on: 4 flights to the USA (Dalaman to Istanbul, IST to Heathrow, LHR to Chicago and ORD to Grand Rapids. For New Years we visited Liz, Craig and Ella in Louisville, Kentucky, which featured a total drive of 12 hours to and fro followed by the 4 flights back to Belvedere left snug in Marmaris Yacht Marina. The time difference of which is +9 hours right now due to daylight savings time, which being the rebel country it is, Turkey doesn't recognise. Personally, I think it is way past time to get rid of it anyway—but for half the year my nearest and dearest are all an extra hour away making Facetime catch-up a little more difficult. We are now 11 hours difference from Chip and Mark in Palm Springs which means they have mimosas while I grab a glass of 'Facewine.' But like all the people in your life you can't live without you make it work.
We have many of our friends and family already making plans from April to July and I expect those numbers to go up the closer summer approaches. It looks like 2022 is going to be very busy. If you think you want a holiday aboard Belvedere you best start the wheels in motion and check with us for available dates. I'll be putting together a quick reference guide for the best airlines and ways to get to us in the next couple of weeks and I'll put the PDF on our website for you to peruse should you be serious about seeing all the amazing things Turkey has to offer in person. While we love Greece (what's not to love?), Turkey offers more and costs a LOT less so it truly is a win-win. Most people fear Turkey thinking its festering with Toyotas loaded with gun toting ISIS fighters. Nothing could be further from the truth and you owe it to yourself to enjoy these wonderful people, their country and their food.
Suffice to say we've not done the kind of traveling most people want to see in a blog that is supposed to showcase turquoise seas, blue skies and warm sand beaches. Right now, until yesterday its been torrential rains, howling winds and temperature ranging from 0-12°C/32-53°F—so there will be none of this for at least a couple more months. I am hoping to do a few small land-based trips to: Pummakale (pum-a-ka-lee), Cappidocia (cap-a-dok-e-a) and Ephesus (ef-u-sus) and a new one, suggested by Katherine at the marina happy hour, Mount Nemrut. I've never heard of some of these places in my life and everyone of them looks like a must-see to me. Do yourself a favour and quit reading this and do a google search for images. Hell, I'll make it easy for you, but give them a minute to load and change to English if you don't speak Turkish: https://kvmgm.ktb.gov.tr/TR-44428/nemrut-dagi-adiyaman---kahta.html and https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/pamukkale-hierapolis-tr-de-pa.htm that is only two, but I trust you to figure out the rest.
Richard Baker Claus, a lifelong friend of the family that I know as Uncle Rick, gifted us with a GoPro10 and a ton of mounts so we can make some video blogs for this site as well. This means Captain Jeff (and I too when possible) will be learning the art of video editing in our spare time. In addition to a friends and family-packed time in the US we've been making many new friends from all over the world, each with their own interesting lives I can't wait to share with you. I'm working on doing some bios of a few, one of which will be Tazeena Firth, a set designer from the UK that proves age is no barrier to your dreams— eighty-six years young and still living the dream and traveling on her sail boat. Even her name (especially her name) is a great story I promise you!
Until my next post please enjoy the following photos of our sojourns to date. We feel so lucky to be doing this and love that you've come along for a ride if only from your living room, toilet or wherever. Please keep in touch and drop an email anytime. Happy New Year!
Below: the new Istanbul Airport (IST) which has amazing food and is very modern and well-run making it a breeze to get through and very efficient:
Christmas in Grand Rapids, Michigan and New Year's Eve in Louisville, KY:
And finally, back to Marmaris playing pool and watching a yacht burn (3rd fire in a month on a yacht). Apparently, there is a lot that can go wrong whilst on the hard and having repairs done, who knew?
Can't wait to see the Go-Pro footage that you'll take! And Ms. Firth...any relation to Collin or Peter? Thanks for letting us live vicariously through your travels :-)