Splendid Isolation in Kusadasi

I think I'm a competent, and definitely confident, driver but I was apprehensive of driving over here.  I've driven extensively in the UK since 1974 when I got my full licence and I've also ridden my motorbike in northern Europe.  With the bike, the only thing to remember is to keep to the right hand side of the road, particularly when turning left.  Also there are some minor differences in road layout and the lights but basically, it's a doddle.  I've also driven an automatic in Tenerife and having 'fought' with the Spanish to get a parking space in a busy supermarket car park, it wasn't too bad.  My only experience of Turkish traffic was observing it in Istanbul and Antalya where the traffic was one major traffic jam with everyone vying to get in to a tiny space ahead; not too dissimilar to what I observed in New Delhi.  My thoughts, to make life easier here, were to hire an automatic but I was given a very good deal (there's always a deal to be ...

I am so grateful to my young Turkish friends who are shopping for me whilst I'm on enforced lock down, due to my age.  They have young children and their own older parents to consider too.  I do feel like a bit of a fraud, as I'm a fairly fit and healthy 65, soon to be 66 year old, very independent and probably at no more risk than them but I'm respectful of the Turkish government's instructions. Apart from doing my shopping, Gulsah and Muzo have on a few occasions brought me and another English resident, meals and snacks, all home made and delicious, which I jokingly call Posh Meals On Wheels. We have had Russian Salad, chicken soup and yesterday I was presented with the dish in the photo; a tasty rice and vegetable dish with a lettuce, dill pickle and herb garnish.  As I'd already eaten yesterday, I saved it for today.  Lezzetli! (delicious).

I originally started this blog on Face Book but my Turkish friend suggested I did it via blogger.com to reach a wider audience so that's what I'm now doing.  I'll be revisiting some of the posts I made on FB as that was only open to my personal friends. Originally, I was trying to avoid reference to the coronavirus but it will become increasingly difficult as it impacts my daily life here and it did lead me to start a blog as part of my entertainment whilst I can't get out and about.  Below I'll give the background of what led me to decide to stay here rather than return to the UK.  From January until early April, I didn't have British TV other than via a VPN on my laptop and I used it for catching up on Death In Paradise, Last Tango in Halifax and my guilty pleasure, Ibiza Weekender.  Prior to that, I could only rely on coronavirus news from my friends in Tenerife via their 'Tenerife Lockdown' page, Turkish news translated in to English and Aljazeer...

Due to the restrictions, I can't get out for walks along the beach, so I'm getting my exercise by walking round Lavender Residence complex and I've taken the opportunity to photograph the lovely flowers that we have here.  I'm not a gardener (I could kill silk flowers 😉) so some will be cultivated and others weeds, I don't really know, but they are all beautiful.   We also have, around the complex, olive trees, banana trees and lemon trees; I even found a lone lemon last week and I had earmarked it for my gin and tonics but the gardener harvested it this week to squeeze on the office team's lunchtime snack of olives.....          

So having explained how I ended up in Turkey, maybe I should tell you more about where I am.  My apartment is on Lavender Residence, a very modern, luxury complex of 28 apartments; either one bed/bath or two bed/bath, with 4 five en suite bedroom villas with their own pools and gardens next door.  This might start to sound like a sales pitch but it really is a fabulous complex for me!  One friend has visited so far and also fell in love with it and the family atmosphere we have here.  Although she only came out for a holiday with no thoughts of buying, now she is hoping to buy one of the apartments for her retirement.  The complex is located a short distance from Kusadasi centre, on a steep hill on the side of a gorge, named Pine Valley, on the southern outskirts of a rural village, Sogucak which is actually pronounced Sojak with a soft 'j' as in 'jus'.  Although it's on a steep hill, the complex has been cleverly located to be easily accessible for all w...

This blog is about my time in Turkey since buying an apartment in Kusadasi , a place I'd never visited until I came to view the apartment I subsequently bought.  I started the blog when on enforced lock down due to the Coronavirus pandemic. To go back to the beginning, I decided to take early retirement back in 2018 and my last day was at the end of September that year.  I'd always had a desire to spend more time in the sun and as I made frequent trips to Tenerife to visit friends, that was where I thought I wanted to buy a holiday home.  Also, I reckoned Spanish would be a relatively easy language to learn and I started taking lessons back in the UK.  Tenerife is very expensive to buy property due to the year round summer weather so I also considered mainland Spain where property is considerably cheaper but nothing was catching my eye when I went on line. In March 2019, for the second year, I went to the A Place In The Sun exhibition at Manchester's GMEX. I wand...