Turkey is a Great Vacation Place

I am back from my Turkey vacation... It was a spontaneous trip... I was there for four weeks... After over three years it was quite interesting to be in Turkey... I sometimes felt so happy to be there, to be part of it, however there were times that I felt so alienated... It was certainly very good and joyful to see all my close friends and spend time with them... I understood that I missed them and the nature of Turkey... Having drinks in a coffee shop, eating all those delicious food with old, real friends, being served sincerely and respectfully by the waitresses in those restaurants and cafes, beauty of the nature surrounds us were priceless...

However, the traffic and almost everybody is smoking was a very shocking incident for me to witness... Istanbul is a big city as New York and probably has the same number of cars in traffic everyday... Obviously Istanbul has a big public transportation problem and higher exhaust limits... It takes hours to go somewhere it would take normally half an hour... I couldn't breathe because of all that exhaust gases... Another thing is that surprised me was seen that many and that much various luxurious cars in Istanbul... Even in New York I haven't seen some of them...

And the children... I have never realized before that children are this much spoiled in Istanbul... They are crying to get whatever they want and unfortunately families are helpless... It made me so mad at parents that they could not even talk to their children to tell a child what she/he is doing is wrong and annoying... Children are the kings now...

I travelled in the country a bit, went to Sinop and Unye (small cities at Black Sea region)... Last week of my vacation was spent in Assos (Behramkale), Canakkale with my friend, Esra... Even though I had to change plans and go somewhere else than I had planned before, thanks to Esra, my vacation ended perfectly...


Assos which is one of the hidden paradises of Turkey was the holiday place instead of Antalya... The weather was great and that blue sea, oh, that Aegean blue (Ege mavisi) sea... It was worth it every single minute... Assos is an antique little town in Canakkale, across Lesbos (Midilli) Island of Greece, with narrow streets, stone, authentic houses which are used as hotels nowadays, and with the history of being home for Aristotle for several years... Hand woven kilims, bags, and scarves are sold by natives who are still wearing folkloric clothes and talking with local accent... Feels like you live in a fairy tale... However, my pleasure was to be in that amazingly beautiful sea; to be able to swim in it... First, it feels cold but after a few minutes you don't want to get out... Although it is deep, you can see the bottom of the sea and the fish swimming around you...

Evenings were especially nice... Wind which is around often during the day stopped in the evening and we sit on the pier with a glass of wine while it got darker and the moon rose... It is a very romantic place... Esra, and I didn't want to leave the sea... We wanted to swim all day and at least close to the sea in the evenings... We only slept for a few hours and go back to the sea in the morning... Feeling it, was so precious...

"I Left My Heart In The Aegean.
And she will be loved!"

==========================================

P.S.: The place we stayed was sooooo cheap and clean, breakfast included, Tekin Pansiyon (+90 286 7217099), I can recommend it to anyone who is going to stay in Assos with no doubt... Owners are kind and sincere... The only con about this guest house is that since it is in the village, you will need a car or you'll have to wait for shuttles to get down to the bay, to the harbor... Other places to stay click here.