I did not think my summer Tükiye trip would be one for wine tasting, particularly since alcohol is not big in Turkish culture and many restaurants, especially more traditional ones, don’t even serve wine. Knowing all this, I was quite surprised when I found a Turkish wine tour in Cappadocia. I immediately booked it.
Wine tasting in Cappadocia – surprise!
Dan and I spent a very fast two nights in Istanbul on our July trip to Türkiye last summer, only staying in Istanbul because we needed to fly out of the Istanbul airport. We have been to Istanbul previously, but we didn’t explore the Asian Side of Istanbul, so we stayed in a hotel on the Asian Side and also booked a food tour in a local, and adorable, neighborhood of Kadıköy. This article reviews our delicious food tour, which would be relatively easy to recreate on your own!
The first stop of the tour was for breakfast, at a small spot that our guide frequents with her friends after a big night out, LOL. Cay Tarlasi & Cafe is a family-owned restaurant that is open all day, every day, from 8 AM to midnight. We squeezed into a table on the second floor and were immediately served Turkish tea, which is basically black tea in a curved glass. Turkish Tea is common alll over Türkiye, and locals drink this tea all day in all weather (including the hot summers!). Turkish Tea is a bit bitter but not difficult to drink, especially if you add sugar. For breakfast, two large pans quickly graced the table. The first was filled with menemen – one of my favorites! Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast of eggs, peppers, and tomatoes mixed together with some spices (I had a great one at our hotel in Cappadocia). Think a mix between scrambled eggs with toppings and an omelette. In any case, menemen is great, and this version was particularly good, especially paired with the local bread. The second pan contained muhlama, which is another local dish consisting of cheese, butter, cornmeal, and water mixed together and cooked. The muhlama was also very tasty and reminded me a lot of our at-home Raclette machine, yet also of Southern grits. I preferred the menemen between the two dishes, but suggest trying both in Türkiye. We left Cay Tarlasi & Cafe stopping ourselves from eating more.
Menemen. This dish is easy to find in Turkey.
Muhlama. The consistency was like grits.
My plate with the black Turkish tea.
Storefront for those interested in visiting. The owners were welcoming and spoke English. Visitors may need to wait for a table.
Click here for an interactive map of the Conrad Hilton Rangali Island!
Dan and I returned to Rangali Island in the Maldives in November. We, again, stayed at the Hilton Conrad Rangali Island (and we rebooked for a third trip this upcoming November!). Since this was our second stay, I compiled 15 tips that I think many people visiting Rangali would want to know prior to visiting. These are not necessarily “budget” tips, but tips to make your trip more enjoyable!
Maldives!
This post reviews our experiences at the Al Dhabi Lounge by Lounge – Abu Dhabi International’s only Priority Pass airport lounge at the time (it has recently been removed from the PP network but may return). Dan and I used Abu Dhabi International’s Al Dhabi Lounge three times last year (including when we flew in in the above cover photo, that’s the F1 track in the pic), and we had a relatively OK experience each time. I wouldn’t kill yourself to visit this lounge, but if you have a decent layover and no other options, it probably makes sense. While it can get crazy during busy periods, the Al Dhabi Lounge is a sizeable space with edible food and decent drinks, in addition to good wifi and complimentary showers.
Abu Dhabi city! This was it decked out for the World Cup.
The Al Dhabi Lounge is located in Abu Dhabi airport’s Terminal 1 at the end of a very long corridor, which is accessible via Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 without re-clearing security. We walked to the lounge from Terminal 3, and it probably took us 15 minutes walking at an average pace. The Al Dhabi lounge is open 24/7, and it is open to almost all travelers as long as its not full (i.e. anyone can buy a day pass to this lounge). The Al Dhabi Lounge’s entrance is located on the ground floor, and the lounge is directly above it. A check-in desk, which is shared with the Abu Dhabi Airport Hotel (read about our stay there here), check guests in pretty quickly, although on one of our visits there was a looong line (due to the F1 race and the World Cup in Qatar). Once checked in, guests go up one floor to a second check-in desk, where they check in once again, LOL. Information, including wifi passwords, are provided at this second check-in desk. Once cleared on the second floor, the lounge is to the right and the hotel is to the left. Guests cannot enter the hotel without a reservation, so no safety worries if you are staying there!
When we visited Turkey last summer (July 2023), I really wanted to visit the proper Turkish Riviera. We seriously looked at the towns Bodrum, Kos, Alaçati, Çesme, and Izmir, and choose Izmir, even though its not the real Turkish Riviera, due to its proximity to the airport and Ephesus historical site and reasonable price. We also needed Marriott nights, and Izmir has a lovely Marriott. I was fine with our decision but wanted to experience the Turkish Rivera, at least for a day. Enter a boat tour from Çesme and an afternoon strolling the town. This article details our experience. In brief, Çesme is a cute tourist town and the boat showed us gorgeous coast, but I am not sure I would squeeze a Çesme day into an Izmir itinerary again – it deserves its own couple days!
Çesme. This reminded me a lot of Rhodes, Greece (which is quite close by).
Çesme, apparently meaning “fountain”, is a small Turkish town on the Aegean sea at the tip of the Çesme peninsula. The name Çesme also refers to the greater Çesme area and includes the popular destination town of Alaçati. Çesme is a favored holiday destination with Turks, is slowly becoming more well-known with the international crowd, and can get quite crowded in the summer. Numerous tourist lodging options crowd the area, with a modern highway connecting the town of Çesme to Izmir, the closest big city and international airport. In terms of a destination, Çesme is a very cute little town and enjoys gorgeous views of the Aegean. One could easily waste away a few days enjoying the sun and sea.
A ship statue in Çesme. Everything seems to have a nautical theme here.
For tourist purposes, Çesme is most famous for its Ottoman old town and its ruined castle, of which the walls are fairly well preserved. Tourists can visit both on foot in a couple hours. The real point of Çesme is to relax and enjoy the day.
Welcome to Çesme!
We got to Çesme by taking an Uber (yes, the American app) from our hotel in Izmir. The ride took about 45 minutes. We took a taxi coming back, as we could not find an Uber. Alternatively, a bus runs regularly between Çesme and Izmir (we probably should have taken this but were lazy).
