After Olympos, we had one day to go for one last swim in the sea at pebble beach, pack up, do last minute shopping and hit our favorite piyaz/kofte place Mustafah's. They have become friends as well as our cashier and security guard at the little corner store where we stop to get soda water every morning. We said our goodbye's and went to Barish's for the night. Deniz cooked us a goodbye meal and we had a good time just enjoying the whole family together for the last time this season. (this is the night I started to have bowel issues) We got up early the next morning and Barish dropped us off at the bus station before work. It has been fun to watch the two brothers together. They are SO different yet so much alike. Hugs and kisses and we went to find kahvealti and a bus ticket to Denizli. No time table and the next bus was at least a couple hours out so I read a book and Suha looked around. There wasn't much to do but wait. On the bus there was a guy who basically acted as steward like on a plane, serving us snacks tea and water every hour. We drove up out of the city and had quite the view. We have been driving around Antalya for two weeks now, and I had no clue the city was THAT big! We climbed up a huge mountain range to a high flat area that went a long way, past a couple villages and then descended down into the valley of Denizli.
We jumped off the bus early at Ozan and Ebru's University Hospital. Its a research hospital like OHSU. Ozan is a geneticist and Ebru is an ophthalmologist. Ozan met us and took us to his office. We waited till his shift was over and then he took us down to the oldest part of town. We walked all over which was a nice stretch for our legs. The 4 hour bus ride plus lots of sitting was not what we were used to on this trip so far! There were lots of eye glasses shops and Ozan took us to his friends one because they would let us use their bathroom. He said, at least I know it's clean. 
Unfortunate for me it was a classically turkish squatty potty as I so endearingly call them. He took us to the "old castle" which doesn't exist anymore except that where it stood is a mass of shops in a maze that spirals up and down and you don't even realize you have traveled underground till you come out again. Along this maze were some metal smiths making tubs and ovens and all kinds of tools for your home. You could hear some banging away, some welding, others sitting have tea. There was a cami hidden in the middle and the call to imam happened while we were there. 
They pointed out a man among some henna dresses washing his mouth and face preparing to go in for prayer. We eventually made our way through the city to a restaurant where we met up with Ebru and the boys. We had a lovely dinner with many courses and the best kunefe I have ever tasted. I told Suha he needed more practice ;-) We went home and put the boys to bed, and watched a movie IN ENGLISH!! While drinking wine from their friends vineyard in Izmir and cay. It was a rough night so I hung around the house that morning to see if I would get better while Suha and Ozan went to the bazaar for veggies and Ebru went to meet a patient. Can climbed in bed with me and we read the Richard Scarry Book "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!" We found goldbug on every page and had a great time. Needless to say I couldn't be 15 minutes from a bathroom all day so we went no where. Really it seemed like the whole family didn't mind having a lounging day. We played with cars and mr potatoe head. Watched some National Geographic and How It's Made. Can told me about all the plants they were growing on the porch. He really is a smart kid. 
By the next morning I could go an hour without a bathroom so we went to Pamukkale aka Cotton Castle. There were great bathrooms all along the way through the ancient city and they were free! It worked out great! It was really hot out so the kids were super excited when we hit the pools even though it was warm water.
Can asked why they had never gone there before. Poor thing, its a touristy area so locals from Denizli rarely visit unless they have visitors themselves. I told Can I would come again and we would skip the ruins and go straight to the pools next time.
If we hadn't been so hot tired and hungry we could have stayed and played in the pools. As it was, every thing was super expensive and we thought we had packed enough but didn't. We headed back to town to a restaurant where I had seen cooked sheep heads in the window that first day and Ozan said don't worry, no sheep heads, you will love it...and I did :) On the way home Can was sad and didn't want us to leave. Ebru said if felt like we had been there a lot longer that a couple of days. "Its like you live here and it just feels right!" I had to agree. I was going to miss mornings with Can reading books. Playing with toy cars with Can and Deniz. Cuddling on the couch. Wine with Ozan. Conversations with Ebru. Really we had an amazing, VERY low key, relaxing weekend. We hated to get on the bus and say goodbye. Lucky for me it stopped twice over the 8 hours so I could run to the restroom. We hit Konya about 5:30am and paid out the nose for a taxi instead of waiting an hour more for a bus. It was worth it. I went to bed and don't remember much till about noon. I walked out on my balcony just in time to see Baba and Anne pull up in the car. So I went down to haul up all their goods and our luggage etc. It was perfect! I got to welcome them home like they did in Antalya to us :) Now, Konya....what are you like???
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