One of the highlights of the trip was meeting a Turkish couple in
#Alanya, Meral and Omar, who run a wonderful seafood spot called Karides. They lived in the Netherlands for many years before recently returning to
#Turkey, and you can really feel that blend of perspectives in both their food and their hospitality.
There’s no fixed menu; just a kind of daily, evolving kitchen. You begin with meze and rakı, and for the main course it’s whatever fresh catch they have that day, often served simply, sometimes with their own twist on fish and chips.
As a cook, I’m not easily impressed, but this food was genuinely exceptional.
What stayed with me even more than the food, though, was the spirit behind it. Meral and Omar are both travelers and bikers, and as a biker and traveler myself, I connected with them instantly. There’s something very open, grounded, and borderless about them. From the moment you walk in, you feel at home, t felt less like visiting a restaurant and more like reconnecting with old friends I hadn’t seen in years.
Meral was also kind enough to share tips on beautiful spots along the road to
#Fethiye, which made the journey even more special.
I think one of the greatest rewards of traveling is meeting people like this. They go beyond nationality, they’re simply, genuinely human.
