We arrived in our village of Behramkale, the Turkish name for Assos which overlooks the Aegean, yesterday afternoon after a journey of about five and a half hours from Istanbul by fast ferry and then car with a stop in Çanakkale for shopping. There is a national religious holiday, Kurban Bayramı, the Feast of the Sacrifice, which starts tomorrow afternoon, Monday, and the whole week is off!
We have just come back stuffed from a sumptuous dinner at our favourite restaurant here, Hayrettin’s, whose place is actually called Yıldız Saray, literally Star Palace! In Turkish it doesn’t sound so bad. Bayram is round the corner so he is all ready with a cabinet of mouthwatering mezes that he has made himself. All you do is look and choose. I hope he gets lots of customers.
We also had a look at the fish and had our pick: a sea çipura for Turhan and a lüfer for me.
While we were eating, the catch of the day arrived and we have reserved our fish for tomorrow!
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| you can't get fresher than this |
Our favourite table was all ready for us: in the corner by the fire, which was lit although it really isn’t cold. It just looks so inviting. And the yummy village bread was toasted on it.
Hayrettin is an absolute character: he himself does the cooking and he comes out to chat in between courses. He was in an advert for Yeni Rakı and isn't averse to a bit of rakı himself!
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| Hayrettin himself |
He has three daughters: one is doing a Ph.D, the next has just completed a degree in Tourism and Management, while the last is only fifteen and still studying. It's amazing to think what that family has achieved in just one generation.
