A FULL week of nothing but relaxing and hanging with the people we love. It had been a while since we really treated ourselves to a nice hotel, and stopped logging every single cent we spent daily - but we decided to just enjoy life and be present to soak up the turkish sun this week as we made our way to Antalya, and stayed in a jet-setter recommended hotel on the water (thanks for finding that gem, Mel!). We took a quick 3 hour bus ride to the hotel from Pammukkale, and were pretty much stunned with the view when we walked in the lobby. Amazing blue water, white white white sun chairs, umbrellas, and bars, as well as sunny skies for days. We headed out to the pool and realized we hit up the daily happy hour on the beach (hello next 5 days at 5:00pm), watched the sun set over this huge mountains that were behind us and felt like we were in paradise. We spent the next few days doing not much more than laying out by the pool, then laying out by the beach, then the pool, then the beach- oh yea, then having some drinks and food - then going back to laying by the beach. It was amazing. We read lots of books, had so many fun conversations, and even met some new friends. Colin made yet another best friend - Mustaffa - the local (and quite dirty) stray dog. This dog was not as friendly as Raul (colins stray dog friend in Pammukkale) - but we loved him nonetheless. We also met some great people who were so adorable in planning their wedding from Newport Beach (of all places), and Switzerland; great meeting you Alyse and Matt. They were adorable and we chatted with them for about an hour about travels and people we knew in common as we sipped on our happy hour drinks. The pools were lined with "beds" with super soft terrycloth covers over them, all full of umbrellas and little buttons for you to call your waiter over. There were lots of burned boobs and butts to be seen, and even a few adorable kids - yes, strange combo but in Europe it seems to work.
Perhaps the highlight of Antalya was the water park. Yes - you heard me, another water park. But this one was free, and full of lots and lots of scary slides. It should be noted that, personally, I hate water parks. I have to walk around barefoot on hot, dirty pavement - get in water that who knows what is in - then go down slides that make me want to pee myself they are so scary. No thank you. But for the boys (and there were also quite a few smiles from Mel) this was a dream find. They went down crazy slides with giant grins, screaming like little girls, and going again and again and again. Within a few minutes of being there I was of course coerced into joining in their fun - and I am hesitant to admit... It was a blast.
We also spent some time in the town of Antalya, drinking in hole-in-the-wall places... like seriously, we drank inside the wall of an 8th century building. Then found a gem of a place that overlooked the town and water for dinner. Our last night we decided to try out a little place with a garden we found in some travel book - and the cab driver and hotel bell boy both looked at us with a crazy face saying - why do you want to go here? We then became skeptical but went with our gut and found ourselves in another great find trying buffets full of traditional turksih food, and drinking yummy beer. We ended the last night in true form, playing backgammon and smoking hooka in the downtown area of Antalya - spilling drinks everywhere and wondering why we would ever leave this place.
Reluctantly - we said goodbye to Mel & D that night, as we were to part ways early the next day. Gosh - we felt so lucky to have 2 of our favorite people with us for two whole weeks on this adventure. We felt lucky to be able to celebrate such a special birthday with our sweet Mel, and share in so many fun memories together with the 4 of us. We love you guys, and love you even more for making this trip happen. Can't wait to see you back in the states!!!
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