A Birthday Celebration and Gluten-Free Pizza in Yalikavak

Today was my son, Murat's 17th birthday.  Because of this special occasion and Hasan's departure in two days, my sister-in-law, Duygu and nephew, Nezih flew in to see us.  Going along with Duygu's suggestion, we went out to watch the sunset over the Yalikavak Marina; it was a beautiful sight to behold.  The Marina at Yalikavak is a wonderful place with little cafes and bars hidden within nooks.  As we were leaving, we stumbled onto a secret garden; it was a small restaurant/bar and an art gallery.  They had Bodrum paintings on display that were quite nice.  After talking to the manager about the works on display, she invited us to stay for a drink but we had to leave and promised to return another evening.

After the sunset, we left the marina in separate cars - there was nine of us... As we started to make our way back home, my husband called us and said he found the perfect Italian restaurant right across the street, so we turned right around.   It smelled wonderful and I sat down with a heavy heart to another night of having just a salad while everyone else enjoyed delicious Italian pizzas.  As it turned out, there was a big surprise in store for me, when we inquired, jokingly, if they had any gluten-free pizza, the chef ran back in and came back with a box of gluten-free flour and asked if I could wait a little longer.  I was so ecstatic about this development that I told him I could wait till midnight.  It turned out to be a fabulous pizza with real Italian bacon on top, and I was all smiles as I ate the same thing with everyone else at the table.

Everyone around here has a story to tell and I am dying to hear most of them. After the meal, we chatted for a bit with the owners and discovered that the chef used to live in Holland and the proprietor had just moved back from Canada.  There was a sense of camaraderie as we exchanged stories about living abroad and life in Bodrum.  For that moment in time. life was perfect.... with family, friends, good food, wine and lots of laughter.  My 83 year old mother-in-law who has spent most of her days at home, on the balcony due to the heat, put the final touch of the evening with her statement -  'When I go back and my friends ask me about Bodrum, all I can say is that there is a wonderful nightlife.'

The information about the above mentioned places are as follows:

Yalikavak is one of the most popular seaside towns in Bodrum with a world class marina.  Over the years, it grew from a little fishing village to a major holiday spot with beaches, hotels, restaurants and a bevy of cultural activities.  We reached it by taking the main road after the Ortakent intersection; After a while it becomes a winding road that has incredible views of the bay and catching the sunset here is a must.  There are a lot of little observation points all along the way to just stop and drink some tea and enjoy the view.

Here is the link for the marina -
 http://www.portbodrum.com/en/marinaplus.asp

The Restaurant was:

O'Sole mio                                                         O'Sole mio Restaurant
Cokertme Caddesi                                              Cokertme Avenue
Ozkan Sokak No: 23                                          Ozkan Road No: 23
Marina Baslangici Karsisi                                     Across the street from the Beginning of the Marina
Phone:  0533 697 91 12