Just a day in the village

One thing we can say, is that since moving here to Uzumlu, we have met some lovely, lovely people and yesterday when we walked down to the village it was no exception.

As always we have been working hard in the garden and last week David put a metal framework up above the outdoor settee for plants to eventually climb up and over. In the meantime however, it is a tad hot sitting on it in the full sunshine. Consequently we decided to put some screening on the top, so yesterday we walked to the village to buy some from our local builders merchant.

On our way down the hill a car pulled up beside us and a couple asked us if they were on the right road to Cadianda. We explained to them how to get there and told them they were in for a treat as it is such a fabulous place to visit and with wonderful views on the way up there. Their English was fluent and we thought they were Americans.

Anyway, we continued our walk down to the village, went to the builders and bought the screening and then as Friday is market day decided to have a wander through the market. We were pleased to see the spice man was back as he had not been through the winter and we bought some garlic salt - the best we have found around here and a barbecue spice mix (with chillies in) which we are looking forward to trying.

Market day is a social occasion too.

Market day in the village is not just about buying and selling, it's a chance to chat with people too. We asked after spice man's mother and father both of whom we know well and we stopped for a chat with another of the other market traders we know. Then we carried on up to the square and sat for a while with our friend Nur who owns the plant and dastar material shop there and along came another English friend of hers who had just returned from a long stay in the UK, who we had never met before. So we stopped and had a chat with him.

David outside the new taverna style cafe in the village

All this chatting makes you a bit peckish and as a couple of weeks ago we had noticed that a new cafe had opened up along the side of the road on our way home, we decided to stop and try it out. It kind of reminded me of a Greek taverna and it was a great place for people watching on market day sitting on the side of the street. David had a potato borek and a cup of coffee and I had the Turkish breakfast and an apple tea. The lady sat on the side of the road and cooked Davids borek and my khavalti was all village produce and we both really enjoyed it.

David had potato borek ...........

............. freshly prepared ..........

........ and cooked by the side of the road ............

............ and I had the Turkish breakfast (khavalti) which also included the most amazing egg 

We were just leaving the village for home when the couple who stopped us earlier for directions to Cadianda drove past us coming back. They pulled up and said they wanted to talk to us and went to park. We wondered what had happened. Were our directions so bad they still hadn't found it two hours on? Did they hate it so much that they needed to tell us we were mad people for saying how lovely it was? Whilst they parked we felt like naughty school children summoned to the head masters office.

But no! They had so enjoyed their time at Cadianda they just wanted to tell us about their trip. What a lovely couple they were and we stayed chatting with them for a good half hour. It transpired that they were a retired German couple on holiday in Sarigerme.  Volker and Ingrid if you read this it was a pleasure meeting you and if you ever stay in this area again, please look us up.

So finally we set off for home discussing as we walked, the lovely people we have met since we came here, when a car pulled up beside us and an English gentleman who lives in the village but whom we had never met offered us a lift home. How nice was that? It was hot and the hill is steep so we gratefully accepted and he insisted on taking us up our track and virtually to our door.

So yesterday we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the village and meeting new friends along the way. Gosh we are so lucky to be living here.