White-washed houses with blue doors dripped with grape vines and colorful flowers.
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| The simple life in Bademli K�y�, Turkey. |
Lush mandalina and real lime trees were growing in the small front yards.
Wild chickens and their chicks crossed the road while nearby old farmers sat on buckets selling their fresh, unpasteurized milk.
During the recent Ramazan bayram holiday, we spent the long weekend with friends at their family's summer house near Dikili, a coastal town along the Aegean Sea in Turkey. This is a local vacation spot, with no yabancilar, which I loved!
We actually were able to relax, take walks along the beach, hike through groves of old olive trees, chase the village street cats and play with our friends' 20-month-old daughter.
About a 10-minute walk away from the family's summer house is a Turkish village called Bademli K�y� (about 1,200 population). Our Turkish friend, Murat, told us the village had a Greek population at one point, but I couldn't find out much history. I tried to find the remains of an old church, but did not.
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| A Greek sign above the door of one of the houses in Bademli K�y�. |
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| Here's what looked like an old Greek building, because of the inscriptions on it, with the village's mosque in the background. |
Well, we popped into the village every day to pick up fresh ekmek (bread) from the bakery. Every day, we greeted the people we passed with a smile and a hearty g�naydin (good morning). I'm sure they wondered why two blond-haired yabancilar were in their village.
Maybe it's still the Midwest girl in me, but spending time in Bademli K�y� made me want to give up the big city life in Istanbul and move to a Turkish village like this one.
I fantasized about buying fresh milk, eggs and village cheese every week. I imagined having my own white-washed house dripping with grape vines and a courtyard filled with my own fruit trees.
Then, down the road, I would own a field of olive trees and learn how to make my own Turkish olive oil every year. I would be able to see the Aegean Sea in the distance.
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| Look at this amazing old olive tree located outside of the village! |
Yes, that would be the life, I thought.
However, I did have one stipulation - as long as I would be within an hour's drive from a big city. Lucky me, Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, is just an hour away from here.
I guess maybe you can't take the city girl out of me after all! Could you move to a Turkish village like this one?
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| Big and cheap the sign says. This 200 sq. meter-building is for sale in Bademli K�y� , Turkey. |
To get here: There is a dolmusthat departs from Dikili city center to Bademli K�y� every 30 minutes.
Here are a few blogs I regularly read that feature people whom have given up the city life to live in a village:
Sara in Le Petit Village
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| Local farmers bring in their veggies via an old horse cart to sell in the village. |
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| Just like the Midwest! Ha! A pomegranate tree growing in the middle of a cornfield. |
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| A man walking his goats on a leash! This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in Turkey. |
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| The Ramazan drummer walked through the village, asking for tips. |