Assos

Somehow, when it's my turn to drive, I have the gift of "discovering" a back road...a longer way...the road less traveled? Upon leaving Bozcaada and arriving on the mainland, I took a wrong turn and ended up tacking on an hour to our next destination: Assos. Oh well! I really prefer to drive through the tiny towns and on the back roads, although certain other family members prefer the straight shot. It didn't make the kids any less eager knowing their good buddies were only kilometers away and good times were to be had at 'The Dove', the hotel where we met up with Matt, Angie, Chase & Amelia Bond. Beach-time, ping-pong, ball-games & hang-out time with the Bonds was awesome...they are our great friends and we could have good times regardless of where we are. But 'The Dove' itself was strange-ish, deserted...kind of like a ghost town. The hotel was dated in strange ways...and they kept farm animals on the grounds (rabbits, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, etc). I kept wondering if I was in a strange dream. Especially when the 10 of us entered the dining hall that evening and there was A TON of food set out banquet style...like they were expecting 500 guests or so. Every place was set and there were like 20 staff members on hand. So weird...but we ate all we could and wandered outside for a game of basketball. Finally, a couple of hours later, two full-to-bursting tour busses appeared out of nowhere... and somehow we felt more at ease that more people had arrived!

Jake: stone-faced

Kids playing on the beach

Rock-skipping

Family Ball

Group pic at 'The Dove'

Pillars-an amazing view behind

Temple of Athena

Poppies

Hudavendigar Bridge

Ry & the littles

Frog hunting

Snake hunting

Flower picking

Homeward Bound! The Bonds left early the next morning. They had already explored Assos and were heading on to Bozcaada (we were heading in opposite directions). So we packed up our car and headed out to see the ruins of Assos, which are settled on top of a hilltop overlooking the Aegean, with a beautiful view of the water and the Greek island of Lesvos. We enjoyed the climb up the hill, which was packed with vendors selling toys, textiles, Turkish copper, and all kinds of trinkets. I think I enjoyed that walk as much as I did the ruins. How many Temples of Athena are there in the world, I wonder? I think our favorite part of the day was stopping at the Hudavendigar Bridge on our way out of town, a beautifully preserved 14th century bridge where we hopped out and let the kids play down by the water. In truth, the kids don't need history or ruins to show them a good time. If there are flowers to be picked or frogs to hunt, then bring on the fun! That afternoon we retraced our driven steps back to Canakkale, crossing the Dardanelles, and drove home along the northern tip of the Marmara Sea. We will always remember this roadtrip as the trip we almost strangled each other, the trip we watched Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked way too many times, and the trip where we oversang "Somebody Like You" & "Somebody that I Use to Know". Were we ever glad to be home!