I am sitting at a table under a tree in a garden surrounded by roses and oleander. The table has a cheery tablecloth on it.
Plop!
Something drops on my hat.
“What the heck?” I look up.
My guide, Emre, chuckles, picks whatever-it-is out of my hat and hands it to me. “It’s a mulberry. We are under a mulberry tree. Here, eat it,” he says.
I look at the mulberry skeptically, then look up through the branches and see that the tree is just loaded.
Plop.
Here comes another one.
“It’s white! Is it ripe? ” I pop it in my mouth and marvel at this perfect gift.
“Of course, yes. We have both black and white mulberries.”
I am in Kirazli, Turkey, on an e-bike adventure for the day, and while I’ve only been here a couple of hours, mulberries are not the only thing we have found. Weaving along dirt roads that skirt the vineyards and olive orchards, I found myself pointing at various trees and yelling, “Wait, are those cherries—the ones that are $12 a pound at home?”
Emre pulls over, clearly amused by my amazement. He grabs a couple so I can taste them.
“Is that okay? You can just take them?” I ask.
“Of course. I know the owners.”
Sure enough, a car stops and a friendly conversation ensues. Emre tells me they are the farmers and wanted to say to me, “Welcome to our country.” With a smile and a wave, we are off again.
As we peddle through the hilly countryside, there small farms and vineyards all around us in the valley. In the course of thirty minutes, we stop and taste cherries, two types of plums, and apricots – all from the side of the road. “I can’t believe this stuff is just growing everywhere,” I say enviously.
Emre has been a guide in Turkey for over 20 years. As an avid cyclist, he’s branching out into e-bike tours. When I contacted him several months ago, he asked me if I was game to try out a new tour that he wanted to do. Of course, I said yes!!!
Now sitting at the restaurant, Emre tells me he’s ordered a typical Turkish breakfast which must include tea. “Turks drink tea like 20 times a day,” he explains.
“But what about the famous Turkish coffee?” I ask.
“Coffee comes after the meal – it’s too strong and not good on an empty stomach. If you drink it after a meal, you don’t need all that cream and sugar.” My mind is reeling! I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life.
Suddenly, a very muscular waiter appears and starts delivering tray after tray of small bites. As they are spread out before me, Emre starts pointing, “That’s hummus with pomegranate, green olives, tahini and molasses which we mix and he tells me says to dip my bread in and tell me it also is good on baked chicken.
There is local honey, assorted soft cheeses, three types of bread, black olives, green olives, sour cherries soaking in syrup, donuts, fried squash fritters, fried cheese sticks. I don’t know where to begin! Bahri, Emre’s intern, hands me bread. “Dig in,” he smiles. Emre tells me that everything we are eating has been grown or made locally. “Even the olive oil?” I marvel.
Kirazli is a town just outside of Kusadasi, the main port where cruise ships stop. While most guests head to the incredible ruins of Ephesus, I had already been there twice – once 30 years ago and then about six years ago. After discussing my love of wine and olive oil, Emre offered to custom make a bike tour and include a village visit and a local wine tasting. He and Bahri pick me up in his gorgeous BMW and off we go to his office/bike garage where I am outfitted with a bike.
Upon first glance, the area seemed to have more in common with Tuscany. Rolling verdant hills, fields of grapes, wild flowers and olive trees seemed plucked right out of a movie set.
After we gorged on breakfast, our next stop was the village of Kirazli. “You are lucky! Today is the start of cherry season, and this is a market day,” says Emre, as we weave our bikes on foot through the crowd of villagers shopping around us. “Kirazli means cherry so this is Cherry Village.” Amazing, I think as I pass table after table piled high with perfect-looking cherries in every shade of red.
Since I am a travel agent, Emre decides that I must visit his friend, Haldun, an architect, and see his new project, a boutique hotel in the village. We do a couple of quick, seemingly impossible turns, avoiding narrow walls (careful not to hit any cats) and stop outside a colorful staircase. Upstairs, we emerge in a beautiful courtyard with an infinity pool. We are warmly greeted by the Haldun’s wife and urged to sit.
By now, I have now learned that you are not going to escape visiting a Turk without having either something to drink or eat – most likely both. Emre reveals that Haldun is also a master jelly maker, and the next thing I know, Haldun disappears into the kitchen, emerging with an artistically arranged platter full of different jellies and crackers. He explains each one as we taste them. They are all delicious, but the tomato jelly steals my heart.
We say our goodbyes and take off through the valley heading to the Yedi Bilgeler Vineyard Winery, our final stop. Along the way, I see this insane flower. We all stop our bikes to discuss it and Emre says it’s a voodoo Lily very rare to see one this big.
At the winery, upstairs on the outdoor patio, we sit facing beautiful views of the valley. Emre knows the owners (of course) and we have a fantastic time, tasting various wines and eating some small snacks. Afterwards, down in the gift shop, he gifts me with his favorite bottle of wine to take home and enjoy.
A couple weeks later, I decide to open the bottle and share it with my husband. Crisp, fruity and perfect for summer, the first sip transports me straight back to the Turkish countryside. The scent of the orchards, the taste of peppery olive oil, the sun-warmed cherries picked right from the tree and, of course, the hospitality of the people comes flooding back.
I couldn’t resist sending Emre a photo of the wine on my counter top via WhatsApp. He replied soon after: “I hope you like it!” As a matter of fact, it was delicious.
Lillian Martin is a Senior Travel Advisor at Reece Worldwide Travel. To book your next trip, click here.
Read more of Lillian’s travel stories here: https://wheretowandernext.com/all-blog-posts/
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