February 2025 • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

February 15, 2025February 15, 2025

Fun Stuff Scotland

there’s not too much here but if you’re interested in fun stuff Scotland there’s plenty of it. The Scot’s have a great sense of humor, love to talk with visitors and have very interesting stories to tell. So when you’re in Scotland just go around, relax, talk with people and take lots of photos of interesting stuff.

a fun entrance — This was the entrance to my very nice bed-and-breakfast room. It seems obvious that this was a servant quarters. The people living here had enough money so they didn’t have to challenge this kind of entrance.

Standard Scottish breakfast — this is a very typical breakfast with the ham and eggs, blood sausage and mushrooms. You find this pretty much everywhere since it seems to be the standard breakfast. But I think that’s true pretty much wherever you go, the standard breakfast is served. Some of it sounds a little bit odd with the blood sausage, haggis and some other interesting names but actually they have a lot more flavor than what you get in England. I think it’s too bad that Scotland took their basic breakfast ideas from England but at least they made it much better.

A Pictish stone — I have some other photos of this monument up close but this is one of the inscribed tablets from the picts. It is well encased and very nicely displayed. The reason I like this photo is it kind of looks like an alien monolith in the Scottish countryside waiting for the invasion.

An old temple covered with bushes — This is one of the old temple mounds which they decided they didn’t want to maintain over the Covid era so I just got swallowed up by the bush

Sheep everywhere — The legacy of the Sutherlands, sheep everywhere

February 13, 2025February 13, 2025

Interesting stuff in Istanbul

you can find lots of interesting stuff in Istanbul. There are many different kinds of people living here, many different kinds of cuisine and many different cultural things to experience. If you go to the different sections of the city you will find there are different kinds of people living there. I found one such area where the Uyghur people evidently live and work and where you can find that kind of local food.

Interesting garb — he looks like he’s some kind of religious individual communicating with a very modern tool

Market entrance — an interesting hallway which leads to some market area

An old foundation — Early foundation highlighted in front of the restaurant

Ice cream shop — at the shop, the guy stirring some thing is actually ice cream and he plays a game with customers who come to buy at his shop which is kind of interesting

Celebration marker — A celebration of the Republic of Turkey

Commemorative monument — The explanation below will tell you what this is, a commemorative monument for the republic

Incorrect time zones — I have heard of different time zones but this is a little ridiculous

Café memorabilia — Going up to a rooftop café has some interesting memorabilia on the way up

Delicious ice cream with sweet caramel inside

A view from the top — A view of Istanbul from the top of the café

Narrow streets — Many of the streets are very narrow

Taksim Istanbul shopping area — This is the Taksim area which is seemingly the place where Turkish people love to come and go shopping even though it is an international market area. It’s very alive, has some great Turkish restaurants at reasonable prices and has some interesting places to eat and drink from all over the world. There were two very good Thai restaurants here which were related

Honda is popular in Istanbul — This is a delivery motorcycle but unlike many places in Europe and theBalkans Honda seems to be doing very good business here especially with the PCX model, the same model I drove around Thailand

A restaurant — The restaurant with the food below

This is Uyghur food. You’re probably familiar with that place which China has claimed is part of the communist China regime.

Cable car in Taksim — InTaksim they have a cable car which runs up and down the street and is very popular with a tourist. It runs by electricity as you can see with the cables above and not like in San Francisco where that one has pulled by the cables under the ground. This one goes very slow so pedestrians can get out of the way

New shop — A shop in the Uyghur part of town newly opened

Teacup — All Tea in Turkey is served in the shaped glass. It’s difficult to drop it but it is still hot when you first get it so kind of hard to grab onto when it’s so hot

More Uyghur Food — This is another Uyghur food

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_cuisine

A mosque — I just like the architecture of the mosques

A garbage can being lifted — Among theInteresting stuff in Istanbul the sheep’s foot on the lower right is attached to the garbage truck. What he is pulling out of the ground, that giant thing, is a garbage can which can hold a lot of garbage and only needs to pick up every so often. I found this to be an interesting way to manage garbage. And I’m guessing there aren’t too many rats because there are millions of cats.

Dumping the garbage can from the bottom which opens up

February 11, 2025March 5, 2025

Ocean and windmills in Bodrum

what you can expect to see our ocean and windmills in Bodrum. It’s kind of a one Walking Street Ocean facing restaurant and shop tourist attraction. You can find many boats there at the port offering to take you on different kinds of excursions including scuba diving and eating entertainment. While I was not that excited with the city itself since it seems to be fairly limited to that one ocean facing street, there are some interesting attractions. There is an old castle which you might want to approach on foot since parking is a little limited, well actually very limited. I never did find a place to park so I didn’t go see the castle and it was a long way from the hotel. And then you have windmills. But the one interesting part of the area for me was the little fishing village of Gümüşlük. Below there’s some including a Google Maps location for a restaurant I was recommended to but found was closed when I got there. Be careful with Google maps trying to get there because it wants to take you on a direction that has no road for some reason. There seems to be a road on the south end but I parked up on the cliff and walked down. Don’t set your Google maps to this restaurant because it won’t take you down to the village. Enjoy these photos by Bill Smale Adventures.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aarg24a8Ad1YH6A67?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Typical Turkish breakfast — This was the breakfast and seems to be fairly typical in Turkey. There is an egg of some kind and maybe something else that’s hot and then there are little things in their natural form without any sauce.

Olive trees on the way to Bodrum — All the way to Borum you’ll see mostly olive trees. I saw some fellow harvesting the olives but did not stop to take a photo.

My hotel in Bodrum — This was my hotel. It’s a very relaxing place and would be very much fun in the summer

Various Asian food in Bodrum — OK, you tell me what this is. Indian food and Chinese food and Japanese food all in one complex with separate entrances. Most of Europe you just see one entrance to a single restaurant and it says “Asian cuisine”.

Calamari lunch — Down at the one street on the port I had some really fantastic calamari. As you can see it’s very typical to get olives served with almost every meal.

Bodrum dogs by the ocean — I made a couple friends on the way

A night snack — When I got back to the room I saw this by the bed and I thought some customer got into my room by mistake and left some half eaten cake. But when looking at it closely the fork was clean and the cake pieces were cleanly cut so it’s obvious this was a treat left by the hotel people. It tasted very good.

The Aegean sea — A view of the Aegean sea. What I found is interesting on Google maps is that the towns from Bodrum North are listed as on the Aegean sea. South of Bodrum they are listed as on the Mediterranean Sea.

A Citroen electric car — I was surprised to see these Citroen little electric cars which are kind of cute and very practical. This is the kind of car I think is perfect for electrification, around town driving.

Raki Is the national drink of turkey — This is the national alcohol of turkey. It is made from the aniseed and grapes. It seems to me to be the same as Uzo in Greece and Galliano in Italy. Several years ago the government put a gigantic tax on alcohol so this little bottle which is no bigger than a can of Coca-Cola it’s about $18.

City next to Bodrum — There’s a beautiful view of the next Ocean City

Wind — The blades are not here anymore since they are being used

Mysterious building — I saw a couple of these and I’m not sure what they are

This is the Bodrum Castle viewed from the windmill Hill

Sheep on the hills — This is where a lot of cheese comes from

February 9, 2025February 9, 2025

Outer Hebrides of Scotland

WithThe outer Hebrides of Scotland like the Shetland and Orkney Islands you can be amazed at the remnants of ancient people’s activities in thisvery cold and windy environment. Another interesting thing I found is that the driving is in very rural areas and sometimes very isolated. This seems a little unusual for such a small series of islands. One problem they have here is the decreasing population. It’s a difficult place to live and to make a life. But for visiting I highly recommend it. It’s just so different from the Scottish mainland. So enjoy the photos by Bill Smale Adventures.

Ancient stone circle — of course there are quite a few ancient stone circles. If you’ve watched the TV series “outlander” you will recognize the significance in ancient times of placing stones in some configuration.

A recent memorial — This is just a recent memorial

Rural homes — You can see how rural a lot of the land is

Beautiful small beaches — There are many beautiful small beaches around. This would be a great place to come in the summer. And the water is so clean.

A lighthouse and the outer Hebrides — of course you need lighthouses around the islands

Ancient houses in Scotland — Replicas of 6000 year-old houses

Outer Hebrides fire pit — I can’t remember what this is but I think it was a fire pit

An ancient mill — And of course you need a mill

Soggy terrain on the way to an ancient circle — it was raining off and on so the terrain was pretty soggy. I decided that since I didn’t have waterproof boots it was best to take photos from the distance. Thank Buddha for my Zoom lens

Ancient circle explanation — an explanation of this ancient circle

North pointing stone — This was a standing stone alone by itself pointing exactly north

Replica of an ancient structure — I’m sure this was a replica or rebuilt

World War II memorial — a World War I memorial

February 8, 2025February 8, 2025

Intriguing Fethiye Tombs

When you arrive in the city you will find the Intriguing Fethiye Tombs. The largest one is the Tomb of Amyntas. You go to the busy center of the city which is very touristy but also interesting and then walk to the very back streets up the hill and that’s where you will find the tombs. You can get an inexpensive hotel down in the city center and just walk around. It’s kind of a fun place to stay.

The tomb has been emptied — This is the **Tomb of Amyntas**. They charge €3 to walk up the steps and then over the rocks for the next 5 m. The two obviously has been emptied but you get a great view of the city and the port from up here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Amyntas

City view — It’s a great view of the city

Snowy mountains beyondFethiye — you could see there is snow on the mountains in the distance

Intriguing ancillary tombs — I guess these also are tunes but I did not walk up here of course.

https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?SectionId=MFA01&DistId=MRK

Boat tours in Fethiye — In town, like with the other ports along the Aegean/Mediterranean seas, you will find tour boats for day trips or longer, fishing trips and feasting adventures. Some of them have phone numbers posted outside so you can call and make arrangements.

Ancient structure — Some other ancient structure on the hill

Strange structure — I’m not sure what these are. I have to ask somebody

Small space is inside — The inside of the tomb. It seems like quite a large endeavor for such a small space. But I guess the people they were building these for were considered respected.

Wall marking — I wonder what this mark on the wall indicates

Washing the windshield — I took this photo just because I wanted to show you this gas station attendant is washing the car windshield. I haven’t seen that level of service since Japan. The process at the gas station is to get the attention of the attendant so he can fill the tank. And normally he will give you a printout with a QR code which you take into the shop to have it scanned and they will print out two receipts, one which they stamp and then is to be handed to the attendant to allow you to leave.

February 7, 2025February 7, 2025

Batmobile in Turkey

The Batmobile in Turkey is quite an interesting surprise. Of course this one is an exact replica but I think if you visit the museum you will enjoy not only how they display the Batmobile but also the Batcycle which is the original. In addition, of course, as you can see from my previous phlog there are many olden antique cars as well as motorcycles to enjoy viewing. If you’re a car enthusiast I really encourage you to stop by here if you have the means to get here kinda out in the countryside.

February 7, 2025February 7, 2025

Key Automobile museum near Selçuk

Key Automobile museum near Selçuk, Turkey is kind of an interesting presentation of fairly recent antique and very interesting automobiles and motorcycles. I think it’s worth you visiting if you have an interest in cars. There was some extensive displays of BMW motorcycles and cars. When I saw the attraction on Google maps I thought it might be interesting but then it showed the Batmobile and that meant I had to visit. I backtracked on my journey for about 40 minutes since it was closed the day before. I’m very glad I got to see it. Enjoy the photos.

There were a couple interesting things about this car. The front is very unusual and the doors don’t open out, they slide forward to let you out.

Triumph of TR series — We used to see these fairly often on the roads in California. A friend of ours even had this vintage triumph which they never drove due to some problems with getting the right parts to fix it.

Austin Healey — If this was completely white it would be the same color as my sixth grade teacher’s Austin Healy, Ms.. Dicarlo”s car she drove from San Francisco which was quite a ways.

MG A — This MGA was one year earlier than the one my dad bought. He arranged to have the wall between the seats and the trunk taken out and two seat seats put in facing backwards for us kids which was great fun because we could see where we had been. The story was, my dad wanted a sports car and my mom said it was OK if the whole family could ride in it. You will notice there are no door handles. You had to reach inside the car and pull a cable to open the door. This meant you couldn’t really lock the door which was an interesting idea?

Museum coffee shop — The coffee shop (Coca-Cola) inside the museum

Ford Mustang pool table — A replica of a 1965 Ford Mustang as a pool table

MG roadster — I love this design and it kind of reminds me of the TV show “the avengers” but I think that John Steed’s car was a Bentley.

Thunderbird at the key museum — This Thunderbird was definitely worth buying. After that series Ford decided to make it less sporty looking and not very interesting

Amphibious car — I had a matchbox version of this car and thought it was so cool. You could drive it on lakes

Corvette stingray — This car started quite a revolution for Chevrolet and for kids as well. Just after this car came out bicycle manufacturers started making the stingray bicycle which had very high handlebars and was very sporty looking.

The original Corvette — This was the style Corvette used for the TV show “Route 66”

Nude Mercedes hood ornament — This was an interesting Mercedes hood ornament

Old Renault — This old Renault has the typical sloping front and that’s how you tell the old Renault

Bread delivery truck — This is kind of a funny looking bakery truck. Remember in those days they used to deliver bread and milk

Gangster car — This is such a typical 1930s gangster car. Look at the running boards

Old pump calculating price — I found this fascinating. On the pump above you can see this price per gallon and then a chart for what the price is for how many gallons. If the price changed it would be quite a job to switch all of these out

The old barbershop — An old barbershop. On the very right you can see a display stand and inside they have collars with collar buttons which you could buy

Ford Edsel — The one car that I totally loved when I was a kid and was not on display in real size, only in miniature, was this Edsel

Country leaders limousine minus a bodyguard — This is probably a limousine for a liter of a country and it looks like somebody has already taken out one of the bodyguards

Old gas pumps — The reason we call these things at gas stations “gas pumps” is because they actually had to pump the gas up into the cylinder above to fill the cylinder with the amount of gas the customer wanted. Then gravity would pour the gas into the gas tank.

Visible measuring canister — This visible measure concept was introduced to avoid suspected scamming by the gas station. You could see exactly how much gas was going to be put into your car through the glass measuring container above.

Blue ring octopus Jeep — The blue ring octopus is deadly and this looks like the markings of a blue ring octopus. I decided not to touch theJeep.

Tire pressure pump — Tire pressure gauge and air pump

February 5, 2025February 5, 2025

Sailing to theOuter Hebrides Scotland

Sailing to the outer Hebrides in Scotland you’re going to find some very interesting things besides just sheep. The roads are narrow, the wind is strong, the weather can be tough but you can find a lot of tranquility as well. Located here is the famous Harris Tweed and some other things you would not expect. The towns are small but you can enjoy the big hearted hospitality of the people here.

Foggy day sailing — Foggy day on the boat

Ferry boat seating — Luxury seats on the ferry, very comfortable

A recruitment sign for the Hebrides — People are leaving the islands so now they want to recruit people to come and live there so the areas do not just die out. You will find quite a few abandoned homes which is not a good sign but don’t let that spoil the beauty of the Hebrides.

House building advertising on the ferry — How to build a new home

Learning Gaelic while sailing — Good idea to learn some Gaelic

Gaelic signage comes first — Boat information priority is in Gaelic

Land in the distance — Beautiful view of land in the distance

The mainland view — Behind us is the mainland

Harris tweed advertising — The famous brand of the islands. There are hundreds of people, companies and private individuals, creating tweets for resale and shipment all over the world. A lot of the material is used to produce something in another country and then shipped for export. There is very strict certification processes for Harris Tweed so when you get Some with the label you know it’s original

Ancient house — Thousand year-old housing style

GPS governing — You can see the same GPS governance provided the captain of the ship as you walk towards the restaurant

Surfing Scotland and the Hebrides — Now you know surfing is quite a sport here but I’m not sure I recommend it in the winter, it’s pretty cold.

February 5, 2025February 5, 2025

Walking in Podgorica, Montenegro

Walking in Podgorica, Montenegro you might find some interesting things here and there. It’s the large city in Montenegro so you can expect a lot of traffic and everything that goes with a big city. After a couple nights here I recommend you go out into the countryside and also the beachside areas. There you will find much more relaxing atmospheres, beauty and historical treasures. Enjoy these photos with Bill Smale Adventures.

Walking to the San Francisco Café — I saw this after getting out of the taxi and so I went here before going to the hotel. How could I miss going back to my hometown.

Reminiscing about songs — Somebody knew about this famous 60s song

Live football game — They even had a football game playing on the TV live

Casinos in Podgorica — in most every town in Montenegro they have these casinos. I didn’t go into one but I think I know what to expect. Las Vegas is a distant memory. I regret not going to see Dean Martin at the Sands casino and hotel

The original Budweiser beer — This of course is the real Budweiser beer, not the fake one they made in the US which is pretty much just flavored water, not that I have an opinion.

Graffiti on the walls in podgorica — Graffiti is very popular

The center tower — The famous tower in the center of town

Mosque tower — Walking around you will see these towers in the mosques

Walking down a small street in Podgorica I did not expect to see a US real estate company

Cyrillic street names — in the old part of town you can see the addressing system and street names in Cyrillic

Famous Maradona artwork — Maradona is so revered

The town center river — The river in the center of town

Old town artwork — Artwork here and there in the old part of town

Decorative graffiti walking in Podgorica — Not sure what it says but it is very decorative and a lot better than just having a plain gray wall

I found my cigars — I found my toscanellos

Kids driving small cars — Teaching the kids to drive at an early age

Hard Rock Cafe in Podgorica — of course they have a Hard Rock Cafe, not sure if it’s a real one

Memorial obelisk — a memorial of some sort

Residential Podgorica — Typical residential area

High school artwork soccer player — Walking around you can see another famous soccer player. This artwork was done near the high school

High school soccer team — And this was the name of the high school soccer team

February 4, 2025February 4, 2025

Investigating ancestors with a historian in Belgium

Investigating ancestors is best done with somebody who knows what they’re doing. Bob Nellis arranged in advance to meet with Jean Pierre Petre and Michel Henry, respectively an historian and Michel who lived in the area and was not only a language assistant but also knew a lot about the goings on in this area. With them Bob was able to fill in a lot of blank spots in his information needed to complete some of his sleuthing. Of course it was a very educational day but also encouraged us to appreciate what these beautiful towns represent and how they might have provided a life, good or bad, for the previous inhabitants. After all, many of them left other countries.

Evidence of destruction during the war — There was of course massive destruction during the war

Outside the church — Finally Jeff enters the photo

A prominent owners house — The house of a very prominent family in the area

A large farm and house — One of the major houses with large farming concerns

Chalk making furnace — A chalk making furnace

This is how it was made and that used for fertilizer and possibly some other things

Working on the roof — Working on a roof on an old house

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