We are heading north, inland away from Aegean Sea toward the Black Sea.
There is an organic farm in the middle of nowhere that looks very cool.
The drive is uneventful and we arrive with our two bottles of wine from Lucien Arkas Buğlari, both thirsty.
Our host is Aziz, and he is having a late lunch with his parents, fresh made tomato soup. Aziz offers a serve but we both need a shower and it is only an hour until dinner so we pass.
Aziz has built everything here. The restaurant and the rooms for boarding. His house is on the property. He shares a video of breaking stone as the snow falls and I wonder how long I would last doing the same.
Aziz seems reluctant when we ask for wine glasses and a corkscrew. His restaurant is not licensed. I look around and wonder how often the police find themselves checking for alcohol in the middle of nowhere.
We have finished the first bottle when dinner arrives. Everything is grown by Aziz and his family, or locally sourced. It is a cool evening and the odd rock formations that are peculiar to the area throw shadows over the tables. We are eating outdoors and I think we might need to stay two nights.
We finish the second bottle over dinner and it is now cold. You miss the cold living in Dubai. Somewhat drunk, I am ready for bed and the chance to warm up instead of try and stay cool for a change.
Aziz has installed under floor heating and the room is a furnace. My slight drunken buzz is now a little nauseous. Aziz turns it off, but the damage is done, the room is far too warm.
Aziz has headed into the nearby village to watch his team Galatasaray play so he can’t do anything about the electric water pump that is turning on every three minutes. It is so loud the room vibrates. All night we slowly drift to sleep only to be jolted awake by the pump.
“Am I sleeping? Have I slept at all? This is insomnia.”
Chuck Palahniuk
We wake up exhausted the next day. Aziz doesn’t not seem to grasp the magnitude of the problem when I explain it to him.
We eat a delicious breakfast and depart for Sapanca, thoughts of staying another night a distant memory.
