TravelStream™ news feed for member familyhirsch on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/familyhirsch en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:18:05 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206875700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206875700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206875700/tpod.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:18:05 -0400 The Hirsch Family Trip to Turkey

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Istanbul, Turkey

We got off to a slow start, on this, our last day in Istanbul. Firstly, we had to "spring forward" at 3am for summer time, and secondly, the only sight that the kids really wanted to see was the Aya Sophia. It was also probably the coldest day of the trip, with overcast skies and a fairly biting wind.

We got to the Aya at about 12:30, and were impressed, to say the least. At one time, the largest man-made structure, and for many centuries, the largest church in the world, it had been built by Justinian in the 500´s. The interior is still lined with frescoes that had at one time been plastered over, but are now very visible with restoration work. I think the most impressive feature was the sheer size of the place.
We wondered round for some time, and Asher and Gracey actually discovered the video capability of their cameras, and both made short clips that they plan to post on YouTube.

After the Aya Sophia, we walked around the Sultanahmet area again, shopping for some more souvenirs and taking in the sites for the last time. Then somewhat tires, we returned to the hotel to pack and prepare for the trip back.

Our last night dinner was spent on the roof-top restaurant of our hotel. The view was great, the food was great and the company was fantastic. The conversation was really about the journey, what we had enjoyed most, what our favorite sites were, and what we would see the next time we returned to Turkey. A great evening to end off the trip!

One last thought about museums and archeological sites in Turkey: They are really quite inexpensive, and for most of the time, we only ended up having to buy two tickets for the three of us - the kids got in free. Our tickets were never more than 10YTL (about $8 US), and usually less.
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Istanbul, Turkey

The flight out of Milas-Bodrum airport was at 1:45pm, but we had to return the car by 12. It was a 35 minute drive to the airport, and we were met at the door by the car rental man at the appointed hour. There was only one restaurant in the airport, and the prices were exorbitant. When I asked the waitress why a cup of coffee cost 9YTL (about $7 US), she was honest enough to tell me: "Airport prices!".

The flight was on time, and we were met at the airport by our hotel transfer guy for the drive back to the Antik Hotel. We checked in, and then set out for the Egyptian Spice market at the request of Gracey. We sampled and bought Turkish delight, and also acquired a couple of souvenirs. Even though it was getting late in the afternoon, the place was crowded, and mostly with locals. After that we walked across the Galata bridge to the Karakoi area for dinner. And this was where we faced our one and only rip-off attempt. We picked a restaurant with a view over the Golden Horn back to the old city, after establishing that a bottle of wine was 12YTL. The meal was actually very good, but when the bill arrived, the total was for 92YTL, with the wine costing 30YTL, and one of the meses (starters) 10, instead of 4YTL. An argument ensued, and I calculated that the meal should have cost 66YTL. Fortunately, I had the exact amount in cash, put it on the table and walked, to the feigned dismay of the waiter. There were a number of other local customers in the restaurant, and not one batted an eyelid. This was clearly not something that they had not experienced before!

To the delight of the kids, we caught the tram back to the hotel, and were cozy in bed less than 30 minutes later.
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Olympos, Turkey

The reason why we went to Cirali was to see the chimaera, the flaming mountain. But we did lots of other things. We went down to the beach. This beach was even bluer than Antalya, and it was sandy, which made it easy to walk on. We walked on the beach to Olympos. We climbed a mountain in the evening to see the flaming mountain, and had a big picnic. Some guy even gave us hotdogs to cook them in the flames. It was so cool! The legend is that there is a dragon under the hill, `cause nobody knows how the flames are formed.
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Kas, Turkey

Kas is small and beautiful. The sea water is blue. The second day it was very windy, and we sat and watched the waves break on the shore. My Mom got scared when a big one was coming. She even had a little scream! In our hotel, there were tortoises living outside in the garden. We got to pick them up and pet them. On the second day, my Mom got a pedicure, my Dad got his ears burnt while he was getting his haircut, and Hayley and I got a new hairdo with French braids. I was so tired that I went to sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206195540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206195540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206195540/tpod.html Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:19:58 -0400 The Hirsch Family Trip to Turkey

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Antalya, Turkey

We found the greatest hotel in Antalya. It was big and had lots of fun stuff. The bad thing was that we didn´t spend that much time in it. Antalya was very hot. We went on a boat that rocked as it sailed. The ocean was seriously blue. I played tennis with Asher and my Dad.We had a Turkish bath at the hotel, and we used it twice. One afternoon we walked to the beach, which took a long time. There were only rocks on the beach and it hurt my feet. My brother Asher and I played this one game where we weren´t allowed to touch the water. Antalya was great fun, and had lots of cool sites.
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Urgup, Turkey

Cappadocia was the coolest place we have been to so far. We saw lots of ruins and lots or Troglodyte caves. We saw an underground city which was really awesome, because it was so big and had lots of remarkable things. We went climbing a lot on mountainsides. The hotel was really quite big. It had a common room with two computers, which my brother and I spent a lot of time in. There as another common room where there was music and a piano. There was a kitchen, and in the morning we had breakfast on the patio.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206345180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206345180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206345180/tpod.html Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:19:47 -0400 The Hirsch Family Trip to Turkey

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Kas, Turkey

We pulled into Kas and followed our tried and true plan for finding an optimal room for our family of 5: We drive up to the nicest hotel, in the nicest location, and ask for their biggest and best room. Then we offer them half price. We have yet to be refused, and everyone has been only to happy to have our business. Off-season travel has it´s perks. The upside is that it has saved us countless hours of driving around, and we have seen some really impressive suites. The downside is the kids are getting used to a way of travel that they really shouldn´t.

Anyway, we ended up in two bedroom suite on the top floor of the hotel with a terrace with beautiful views of the Mediterranean. Kas has a really laid back feel and we took a nice stroll around town before ending up at the beach. We got to play some backgammon at a local beach joint while the kids ran around on the rock formations.The restaurant was run by two very friendly brothers. Then we spent a good portion of the early evening just reading on the terrace. Thankfully, Asher has finally discovered Harry Potter. We finished the night with a fabulous meal at Bi Lokma, literally Mamma´s Kitchen. A great dinner on a terrace! We had originally considered going back to the beach restaurant for dinner, so we were pleasantly surprised when the two brothers walked in to dine. We took that as a ringing endorsement! Home to the Jacuzzi and bed.
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Olympos, Turkey

After a two hour drive from Antalya, we landed up in what has to be one of the more layed back cities in Turkey. Even the call to prayer in the morning was an hour and fifteen minutes later than other cities. In fact, the morning rooster beat the muezzin by a good hour.

The contrast between the mountains and the beach are dramatic. Our hotel was set in a lovely orange grove, and the aroma of the orange blossoms was indescribable. The entire village feels as if it is set in a nature preserve. After a relaxing afternoon on the beach, the highlight of our stay was the nature walk to the chimaera, where we had a picnic by firelight. We truly felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere, and that this place had not changed for hundreds of years. But here is the odd part: I was able to place a crystal clear phone call to my family in St Louis to wish them happy Easter. I can´t even make a call this clear from my suburb in Cincinnati!

This village really needed more than a night´s stay, but we had used up an extra day in Antalya. No regrets.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206691380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206691380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/familyhirsch/2/1206691380/tpod.html Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:07:47 -0400 The Hirsch Family Trip to Turkey

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Bodrum, Turkey

It was raining gently as we drove out of Gokova. The road led pretty much straight up into the mountains, almost above the cloud line and out of the rain. After that, we drove through farming country until the turn-off to Bodrum. The approach into Bodrum was lovely. The peninsula is surrounded by islands, and the water was the typical blue, even though the wind had stirred things up a bit. We found our way to the road in fron to f the marina, and landed right outside the Marina Vista hotel. The whole drive was little over 2 hours from Gokova. Patty secured a lovely family room using our usual strategy, and we then set of walking. The town is centered round St. Peter´s castle, now a museum, which separates the larger bay into two smaller bays. This town was one of the first to experience the tourist boom, starting in the late 80´s and early 90´s, and parts of it certainly had a more cosmopolitan feel. Other area had a very typical local feeling. There were fish markets going along the ocean front, and a fairly hustle-bustle feel to the streets and walk-ways. We were more in the mood for wondering around and shopping, and the market we found extended along the bay away from the marina. We bought some souvenirs, and ended up in a small restaurant which fronted right onto the bay. The waiters were fantastic, and ended up playing cards with the kids. Patty and I relaxed, had a glass of whine and planned the next stage of the trip. After that, we took a circuitous walk back to the hotel in quite windy conditions, and set in for a relaxed evening of reading and writing.
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Gokova, Turkey

We were up early, had the simple hotel breakfast, then set out on a lovely walk around the top of the bay. It took us through boat yards, with men (not to many) feverishly working on getting the charters and fishing boats ready for the summer. The extent of the walk took us across the bay from our hotel, and gave beautiful views of the city and the surrounding mountains - some even with some snow still present. Really beautiful views! The weather was still lovely, but there were clearly some threatening clouds appearing. After checking out from the hotel, we set out for at that time, an unclear detination. We had it in our minds that we might go all the way to Bodrum, unless something else came up along the way....

After about two and a half hours, a little way beyond Dalyan, we pulled into the small coastal town of Gokova (with a light rain falling). We immediately new that we had hit the jackpot! A small river, passing through what appeared to be marshland entered the sea at one end of a small, completely sandy beach. A number of restaurants were spread out along the beach, mostly closed, but one centrally located open for business. We ate lunch there, then found a lovely family room at the Yecelen Hotel. This hotel is located over a large piece of land in the town, with a good part of it fronting onto the ocean. Natural springs that flow through the property have been channeled into beautifully arranged pools and channels, and the entire area had a lovely calm. After setting up at the hotel, we set off on a long hike into the forest and adjoining camp-grounds of the town. Most of the time we had a full ocean view, and the weather had cleared for us so we had incredible light and blue seas. We were in our element, and this only underscored our need to camp again.

After the walk, we bought some refreshments and hung out on the beach until it was almost dark. The kids played on the beach, digging holes in the sand and playing in the shallow, still water. Then it was off to the same restaurant for dinner.

Gokova is lovely, largely untouristed and quiet, and not yet a feature in any of the guide books. We hope it stays that way.

(Travelpod could not identify a location for Gokova, so we defaulted to Dalyan for the purposes of the map pin.)
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