May - 30 continued

On previous trips, James always stopped at the Yaman Peynircilik cheese store for lunch and to see how much cheese he could get for 1 Lira. Since we had just been fed by the construction workers, our cheese appetite was very low but the increasing temperatures made us stop at Yaman anyways and rest in the shade of the trees near the patio. We really hoped they did not mind us staying there without being customers.

I am not sure how much time passed because we both fell asleep for a while, but shortly after we had woken up, the owner walked past us to serve some customers on the patio. When he saw us he asked if we wanted anything. We denied, not wanting to spend money on food we did not need since we were still overloaded by what Vasilius had given us. But Caner waved us inside and insisted we have some tea. Okay, some tea is fine. My first tea in Turkey was a delightful experience. Here they drink tea out of small, pear- shaped glasses placed in small saucers, usually served with two sugar cubes and a cute little spoon to stir. (Just realized I have not taken a photo of these glasses yet. Will do shortly). Caner refilled our glasses as soon as they were near empty. Then he also brought us two bottles of cold water, two cups of Ayran (mmmm!!!) and a container with an odd substance which sort of looked liked crystallized honey. It was minced, sugared cheese!! Soo delicious!

After numerous funny attempts to try to get everybody to smile in a group photo it was time for us to continue on. As we wanted to pay, he would have nothing of it but instead handed us a bag with two round cheeses, half a kilo of white cheese and a loaf of bread....for on the road. WHAT! WOW! So nice. I hope Bicyclette will forgive me the extra weight I made her carry that evening in addition to everything else she had loaded already. She was so heavy I could not lift her anymore. Just getting over a curb was a minor feat.

THANK YOU CANER FOR THE WONDERFUL WELCOME AND FOR ALL THE CHEESE. WE LOVED EVERY BITE OF IT!!!