Foca, Turkey was established by Greeks in the 11th century BC. Ever since its founding, it has been an important city for multiple countries and kingdoms. This is where @doctorcypto and I spent the night after visiting Pamukkale earlier in the day.
I only have a handful of photos from our stay here, so this post will be less dense than most of the posts in my City to City Tour.
The drive from Pamukkale to Foca was about 4 hours. We took our time and enjoyed the drive to the coast. At one point we drove up on a car that someone had left parked in the middle of the highway. I had raise my voice to make @doctorcrypto aware that the car wasn't moving. We had been driving fast and we were talking and came close to crashing into the stopped car.
Other than a little adrenaline rush from the near crash, the drive was easy and beautiful.
We arrived in Foca in the afternoon. We got a room at Siren Pansiyon and dropped off our bags. The we walked down to the water to explore the city.
I instantly fell in love with this little city. The waterfront area was pretty and functional. There were nice little restaurants, bars, and shops next to the water, and the people here seemed more relaxed than in most places. It just had a good vibe that I really enjoyed.
For more than 3,000 years, Foca has been known to produce expert fishermen and sailors. That tradition continues to this day.
Foca has castle at the end of its boardwalk area. We didn't go inside.
Foca is more town than city. It's a cool little place on the sea.
There's something about kids who grow up with easy access to boats that makes me envious. It seems like growing up on the water would be awesome. I think these guys were getting ready for a fishing trip. Or maybe they were just doing maintenance on their boat.
@doctorcrypto and I found a restaurant next to the water and had some dinner. I don't recall what we had, but it's a pretty safe bet that it was something doner kebab related.
This street is just so perfect for me. The vines growing across the street keep the area nice and cool. The little shops and restaurants were ideal for stopping and relaxing for a while.
From our hotel we could see more of the city.
After the sun went down, we headed back to the waterfront to look for a place to have some beer. We found a great place with a nice atmosphere.
The bar had my new favorite bar food ever. Not popcorn, but cucumbers with salt and lemon. I couldn't believe how good these were to snack on while we drank. We must have asked for 3 or 4 plates. I couldn't stop eating them.
When I went to the bathroom I saw this sign on one of the doors. It cracked me up when I saw it.
After a few drinks, @doctorcrypto and I went back to our hotel and turned in for the night.
The next day we checked out of our hotel and locked our bags in our car. Then we went to the vine-covered street for breakfast. We took some photos and tried some serious/contemplative poses.
I think my pose looks less contemplative and more constipated than I'd like.
We had doner kebab for breakfast! In the background is a jar of spicy peppers that I love. Everywhere that I had food, I asked for the peppers.
We also enjoyed some coffee and tea after our meal.
After having our breakfast, we got on the road and made our way to our next destination. We weren't sure where to go next so we had asked at the bar and at our hotel. We were given some suggestions on where to go next and we made a decision.
Every time we stopped for gas, I checked to see if they had any unique snacks.
I like chips and I like seeing familiar brands with unfamiliar flavors. This was the first time I'd seen "Turca" flavored Doritos. They were OK, but I came across other flavors that were better. I'm not a big Doritos fan to begin with.
That concludes our tour through Foca. Looking back, I think Foca was my favorite town on our road trip. It was so pretty and relaxing that I couldn't help but love it. I'm glad we ended up seeing a lot of Turkey, but I wish we could have spent more time in this lovely little town.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we continue our road trip towards Istanbul.