Belgium

The Flea Market in Bruges

This trip to Brussels was fairly sunny and warm. Our last trip there was during one of the coldest ever March weekends, so it was a lovely change to be able to walk in the parks and enjoy beer and chips in pavement cafes. We went of course to see Jack who is still living there. We spent Saturday in Bruges which is a very pretty town and I must have walked every cm of every cobbled street. On Sunday we visited the Parliamentarium, my second visit there and I still haven't taken in all the information. It has made me realise why it is important that we stay in the EU and any people with doubts should go and visit. It is one of the best information places I have seen.

EU Parliament

Beer and chips a tradition it seems after work on a Friday.

We had dinner in a book shop come music shop.

The European Commission

Bruges

A Beer Shop

Smile!

yum

The Old Town in Brussels

Another Sneaky Week!

Hil had a week's holiday left and it was half term so we decided on a last minute booking and headed off to Datca. Today is our last day of what has been an action packed, fun filled week catching up with old friends and generally enjoying the sunshine. It has been tinged with sadness for Turkish friends who have been caught up in the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul and other cities around Turkey. However sleepy Datca was safe for us with just a couple of noisy but peaceful demonstrations.
Here are a few photos of our time here.



Breakfast at Papatya with Sylvia

 We always catch up with our lovely and very glamorous friend Sylvia and usually have breakfast with her. This time it was at Haldun's restaurant and it scored very highly on our best breakfast top ten - probably number one!  All of the food was home grown or home made and his Aunt's strawberry jam was the best ever. We lingered for the entire morning chatting and watching the world go by, later we were joined by Ruthie Babes and Alan for more laughs and chats. A perfect morning.

Our attentive waiters who filled the table with the most delicious and very fresh food - no supermarket lables here!

Haldun, the owner of Papatya. His restaurant is in a lovely position overlooking the harbour with comfortable chairs and delicious food. We have known him for 20 years and he looks just the same now as he did then! My female friends enjoy visiting as he is very handsome and very charming!!!



Ruthie Babes and Alan joined us for coffee.



Fevzi - my favourite Datca pooch, here on his holidays from England for 6 months!



In our quest to try every breakfast spot in Datca, we visited Beyaz Amca, another of our favourite restaurants. This was also very delicious and nicely presented. The restaurant is on the harbourside and well worth a visit.

The Mercan beach bar very near my house and very nice for afternoon tea.

The sea at Palmut Buku was very wavy!

Intrepid Hil rising from the waves.

The trip back from Palamut Buku.

Perili Kosk Hotel on the outskirts of Datca was the first hotel we stayed at in Turkey over 20 years ago. Then it was a Sunsail Club and just perfect for our family. Now it is an all inclusive resort and much bigger than when we used to go there. We went there yesterday for a look round and found you can get a day pass for 30 euros. For this you can eat, drink and use the facilities.





The thermal pool in Datca