One of the best hidden secret in Bodrum's highly competitive restaurant and bar scene is the Alla Turca Pub, tucked away on the upper floor of the open terrace of a building located inside the compound of Bodrum's exclusive Marina Yacht Club.
For several years in a row, Illy spends several months in the year tanning herself up in this upmarket resort on the southwestern coast of Turkey's Aegean shore. Bodrum has always been one of Illy's favourite sunny spots on the Mediterranean coast, alongside Symi, Valencia, and the Ionian islands.
Eversince Illy's very first visit to the renown resort town almost a decade ago, Bodrum has changed a lot. Still a relatively quiet (by Spanish Mediterranean standards at least) and elegant seaside resort catering to wealthy Turks and not-so-wealthy British holidaymakers, Bodrum nowadays has become a sprawling busy place all year round, with a summer population up to almost ten times the number of officially registered local residents in this fast developing St. Tropez of Turkey.
With this huge influx of tourist population, chic and trendy cafes, bars, restaurants and resorts have been springing up all over the Bodrum Peninsula at a supersonic speed. Although many people still associate Turkey's Aegean coast with cheap mass 'bazaar' tourism - and this stereotype does hold true in many resort towns, including some parts of downtown Bodrum - it is noteworthy that most new places that have appeared on the scene over the last few years in Bodrum have all been gearing towards to high-spending, luxury niche end of the tourism business. Just take a casual look at Bodrum's crowded Marina Yacht Club, with its permanently booked out berths full of expensive glittering mega yachts and a waiting-list of up to two years, one would instantly realise that this place is ambitiously positioning itself to become a destination of choice amongst the high-flying jet-set club of the rich and the famous.
For several years in a row, Illy spends several months in the year tanning herself up in this upmarket resort on the southwestern coast of Turkey's Aegean shore. Bodrum has always been one of Illy's favourite sunny spots on the Mediterranean coast, alongside Symi, Valencia, and the Ionian islands.
Eversince Illy's very first visit to the renown resort town almost a decade ago, Bodrum has changed a lot. Still a relatively quiet (by Spanish Mediterranean standards at least) and elegant seaside resort catering to wealthy Turks and not-so-wealthy British holidaymakers, Bodrum nowadays has become a sprawling busy place all year round, with a summer population up to almost ten times the number of officially registered local residents in this fast developing St. Tropez of Turkey.
With this huge influx of tourist population, chic and trendy cafes, bars, restaurants and resorts have been springing up all over the Bodrum Peninsula at a supersonic speed. Although many people still associate Turkey's Aegean coast with cheap mass 'bazaar' tourism - and this stereotype does hold true in many resort towns, including some parts of downtown Bodrum - it is noteworthy that most new places that have appeared on the scene over the last few years in Bodrum have all been gearing towards to high-spending, luxury niche end of the tourism business. Just take a casual look at Bodrum's crowded Marina Yacht Club, with its permanently booked out berths full of expensive glittering mega yachts and a waiting-list of up to two years, one would instantly realise that this place is ambitiously positioning itself to become a destination of choice amongst the high-flying jet-set club of the rich and the famous.
Generally speaking, tourism scene in Bodrum can be divide into two broad categories: those catering to the European holiday package-tour market (most of which come from Britain, Holland, Belgium, France and Germany), and those that aim at a much more lucrative high-end market that compose mostly of affluent Turks and discerning independent travellers with high spending power, who are looking for stylish places offering top class service, views and comforts.
Anyone who has lived in Bodrum as a resident for some time knows very well that this lively seaside town, famous for its impressive Castle of St. Peter a.k.a. Bodrum Castle, built by the Knights of St. John's from Rhodes, is 'divided' into two parts: the cheesy, somewhat kitschy tourist miles to the east of the castle - known to both locals and foreign tourists as the Bar Street; and the more exclusive and elegant marina areas to the west of the Bodrum Castle with its expensive boutique hotels, pricy bars and attractive rooftop restaurants offering great view of the sea, the marina and the castle.
It is one of the most exquisite pleasures in life to spend the afternoon and the evenings on the terrace of one of these rooftop bars and restaurants, have a icy, cool sundowner, while admiring the views of the amazingly beautiful Aegean and the coast around the Bodrum bay. It is a view I could never have had enough of - I would often take my laptop with me, go to Cafe Alla Turca, take a table which offers a splendid view of the Aegean and the Bodrum Castle, have my lunch there, then order a Mojito and proceed to work on my scripts until they close at midnight.
I came across Cafe All Turca by sheer coincidence. A friend of mine came to visit me in Bodrum a few years back, and we were looking for a place to watch the annual regatta which took place in September. A local friend told me the roof top terrace restaurant inside the Marina Yacht Club would be a good place to watch the race, so I went over to the Marina Yacht Club, and was immediately enchanted by the view of the Bodrum Bay from the restaurant's terrace, with the majestic castle in the background and the mystic blue Aegean opening out across the horizon right before my eyes. Ever since then, this place has become a must for me whenever I return to Bodrum.
The best time to enjoy the view of the Aegean and the Bodrum Marina with the Castle in the background is in the early evenings, when the sparkling blueness of the sea gradually begins to take on a shade of dreamy peach-pink and orange-golden tan, just as the gulets and yachts were returning to the harbour from their daily excursions. The blue sky, the gentle sea breeze that swipes away the annoying heat of the day, the beautiful sunset over the horizon that follows, and the amazing night views of the Bodrum Castle in a velvety black night sky. Unforgettable sights, unforgettable atmospheres.
The Cafe itself is quite well equipped, with plenty of comfortable outdoor seatings with sofa and cushion chairs, an open-air swimming pool, sun loungers and deck chairs available to restaurant guests and users of the Marina Yacht Club, and an indoor area for those who prefer to hide away from the burning summer sun of the Bodrum Peninsula.
Copyrights@2011. All text and photos by Illy the Shiba Inu. All Rights Reserved.
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