I can't believe that I've already been back for almost a week! It almost feels like I never even went. Antalya was not quite the city that I had expected. The last sun holiday that Matt and I had been on was to Santorini in Greece. The place where we stayed was a few steps to the beach and the whole boardwalk outside our hotel was shops and restaurants. I guess I expected the place in Turkey to be a bit more like that. More like a resort somehow. The flight landed in Turkey at around 11:00 p.m. After being ripped off at customs (if you're from England you pay 10 pounds to enter the country, but if you're from Canada and live in England you pay 30 pounds!), we got our luggage and boarded the bus to the hotel. I never like arriving at night because you don't really get a sense of the place or what anything looks like. The restaurant was shut so I had a lovely dinner of peanuts and pretzels at the sports bar while Matt feasted on beer.
The hotel was extremely nice. We booked at a travel agency and so got a really good deal. I probably never would have stayed at a Sheraton hotel otherwise. The room was booked in my name so when we checked in we were greeted as Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein. This also happened when we in Paris. Despite my highest hopes, it seems unlikely that Matt will ever take my name and become Mr. Goldstein. A girl can dream.
Breakfast buffets are usually my downfall but this buffet was aimed at people who enjoy cheese and meat for breakfast which I do not. There was such a strange mix of food. Who likes lentil soup at 9:00 am?For the past 6 months I haven't been eating wheat or dairy. On this trip, due to very limited options, I was basically on a bread and cheese diet. Some days were delicious but others were frustrating. I would say the lack of Sarah friendly food was really my only complaint of the trip.
This was meant to be a purely relaxing trip. This meant not feeling guilty for not signing up to tours every day and not feeling the need to explore every single thing. I have a tough time relaxing. I excel at napping but sitting still and doing nothing are a struggle. I stayed by the pool most days but did manage to read 3 1/2 books. That is my idea of a holiday! Nothing to do but decide when to eat and what to read.
The beach turned out to be mostly rocks so the pool was the better option. I would say the funniest poolside experience involved an older, very tanned German man by the pool. It's not as if I (or Matt) was checking out his package on purpose but it was impossible NOT to look. This man was wearing very tight swim trunks and he walked around the pool with quite a swagger. This man appeared on day one of the trip which meant that the rest of the week featured large 'package' jokes ;)
Turkey is well known for having textile factories. The cab drivers always felt the need to point this out and try to take us to the textile (or sometimes leather) factories or outlet stores. The cab drivers were nice but one essentially kidnapped us and took us to the waterfalls on the outskirts of the city. First he was telling us about the waterfall and we said we would go another day and then Matt said ok to something and then we were on our way to the waterfall. It turned out really well since the driver took us on a tour around the waterfall and was our personal photographer even telling people to move so that we could get a clear shot of the waterfall in the background.
There were two cultural activities that Matt and I did engage in. The first was a Turkish bath. You wear your bathing suit and first go into a sauna and then a steam room. I passed on the steam room because I get light headed really easily. After the sauna, you are taken into another steamy room and laid out on a stone slab. A woman comes over and scrubs you up and down, front and back. This is not your typical spa scrub, I had bruises from my scrub down! After the scrub, water is dumped on you and then there is a bubble massage before a shower. After this was an oil massage and face mask. Matt and I were separated for the first half and had the massage and face mask together. It was an interesting experience!
The second was a half day trip to the ancient cities of Perge and Aspendos. I find ancient ruins to be really cool and I like imagining what life must have been like hundreds of years ago. I also wonder what people from the future will think when they see ruins from our civilizations. Ever the cynic, Matt pointed out that buildings today are put together so badly that there won't be anything left for people from the future to see!
I'm glad that I went but I don't think that I will go back to Antalya. I would still really like to go to Istanbul though. It was a great trip and nice to have time with just Matt. I'm still surprised and delighted by the fact that we can spend 24/7 together and not kill each other.
