from here on in, all flights head west. woohoo! olympos is a glorious glorious glorious place to spend the last while though. GLORIOUS.

so from singapore i took my bug-bitten arms to london (really, what kind of dumbass goes to a botanical garden on a rainy day in a tropical country without any bug protection?? DUMBASS) via kuala lumpur, a wretchedly long 13 hour flight. thank goodness for the first season of grey's anatomy on the video screen in front of me.

i would like to give another massive shoutout to Leona, and the whole Felton clan, for another lovely weekend in and out of london. their hospitality on both ends of my journey have been extremely generous and much appreciated! thanks dudes!

and then came turkey.

it's a bit scary going back to a place that's been a favourite. you're never really sure how much of it was the place itself, how much was the journey you had taken to get there, the weather, accommodation, food, etc etc, but most of all the people. fethiye was crap, let's be honest about that. kaş was not a whole lot better... the gluey lentil gloop, dried-out cucumbers and rancid yogurt had me a bit freaked out about my decision to come back here. the bus rides made me feel woozy. on the road out of kaş we sped around a corner, screeched to a halt and then backed up... i figured we had just passed by someone waiting to flag down the bus for a ride. but then the guy sitting across from me got out, and hauled something back onto the bus... and low and behold, it was MY backpack. a bit dirty and looking kind of sad, but at least it hadn't fallen out of the bus on one of the cliff turns that plummets to the ocean... but i guess at least then i wouldn't have had to do all my laundry. there's always a bright side, right?

anyhoo it took a while but eventually i got to olympos. it took me about 4 seconds to wonder why the hell i'd waited so long. it is so awesome here, i can't even describe how much i love it. and being a returning customer, meral has been kind enough to let me into the kitchen to see where the magic happens. i get to stir! and mash garlic! and taste-test the soup! yesterday she actually let me grate zuchini and onion and then mix it all with my own little hands! and the zuchini fritters turned out fantastically well.

the food is incredible here. seriously incredible. the deep fried eggplant with garlic yogurt makes me cry it's so good. the imam beyeldi ('the imam fainted' - or stuffed eggplant) is incredibly delicious. the soups... oh the soups! it's hard not to take a second bowl even though you know there's a buffet of delights in front of you. even the salad is magical. i'm beginning to think that meral sprinkles everything with crack.

and just when i was craving something sweet, the baclava truck drove past. helloooooooooo. i'd trade in a dicky dee ice cream truck for a baclava truck any day!

so yeah, it's great to be back.
only 3 more dinners til i leave again though. but this time i'm taking the recipes with me.

peaceOUT!