Market Day in Bodrum

Tuesday is Fabric Market day in Bodrum. We had an amble around there — it was held inside a big building by the bus station, and was pretty hot and airless. We got hassled to buy, but the stall-holders weren’t too pushy, and I don’t think we ended up buying much.

In the afternoon we went to Gündoğan to look at another house.  It was absolutely massive, a single level monstrosity, with lots of rooms and plenty of outside garden. It was in a really rural, out of the way section of the village, and it looked like really run down.

We were meant to see more houses today, but to be honest, we’d made our mind up on one of the house from the first day, with the marble floors and lots of potential.

So we went back to see it, one more time, just to make sure — and sure, we were!

Meet the “new neighbours”

We met the neighbours on either side. One was an older Turkish guy, who was plastering a wall, and offered to plaster our walls if we bought it.  On the other side was a retired couple, I think they were lecturers, and their son who spoke good English. They invited us to tour their house – nothing better than envisioning the potential of “our house” than by seeing somebody elses, who’d spent a lot of money renovating it.

The landscaping looked great, and they’d converted one of the kitchens into another bedroom. The house still looked large, even with furniture. They’ve even removed a couple of layers of bricks on the roof top balconies, to improve the view – an idea we intend to leverage.

We had Turkish coffee – and I practiced my Turkish for the first time in a non-restaurant environment. I noticed a cat, so pointed and said “Kedi” – to much amusement and laughter from our hosts.  I felt like a 4 year old, just learning to talk – I kept looking around for a dog so that I could practice saying “Kopek” – disappointingly, none arrived.

We could imagine living next to these folks, and seeing the potential of the house, solidified our decision.

We wanted it!

Back in Bodrum

We had coffee in a new cafe, and then wandered along the beach to kill some time, waiting for the US to wake up for the day, so I could arrange the transfer of some dollars to Turkey, to use as the deposit. My bank was great, and I had no problem transferring the money.

We went back to the hotel for a nap – we’re definitely getting used to Siesta time!

Then out at night to a Tapas place called La pasion – it was down a side street, through a door into a central courtyard. Such a nice place – but we were the only customers… so the service was great! The food was great – but quite expensive – but this was a celebration.

Thinning Out

We’ve really started to notice the drop in the number of tourists. When we first arrived, Bodrum was mobbed.  It must have been the last week for school holiday, and all of the restaurants and streets were really busy.  But this week, the place looked like Pied Piper had been through town, and taken all the tourists with him.

I really like this new Bodrum.

Making the Call

Tomorrow we’re putting in a call to the seller to make an offer for the house. It was a hot, sweaty night. Even after a few nightcaps at the hotel bar, we found it difficult to sleep. We had lots on our mind, and Red is a little anxious.

We both really want this house, and can’t quite believe we’ve been in Turkey less than a week, and we’ve got a property lined up.  We’re both really excited, and I’m just running the financial numbers in my head.