2025 - Fall in Europe

The last two days have involved long hours in the car as we've travelled from Eastern Turkey south to the Mediterranean coast.  It was truly a joy to see the sea again.  We stayed one night in Mersin in a hotel with views of the beach and last night was spent in Alanya, very much a beach resort city.  Actually, it was the first place I ever set foot in Turkey as it was a stop on an Azamara cruise about three years ago.  Our hotel was across from the beach and, after watching the sunset from my room, I headed down to the terrace to have dinner with Atahan.  It was about 25' and we had an enjoyable evening with great food.  The hotel was a bit quirky, however, as I had a bicycle hanging over my bed, there were "odd" signs all over and the hallway on my floor was lit bright red like some sort of bordello! Our delicious charcuterie board And yummy chips Leaving Alanya this morning, our destination was Sagalossos which was to be the last of our cultural/archaeol...

After our early morning visit to Mount Nemrut, we drove for just over 3 hours to the town of Halfeti.  The beauty of starting out so early meant we reached our destination by around 2 pm, even with a couple of short breaks along the way.  Our arrival time was  perfect as I was desperate for a nap.   We stayed at the Turkmen Konagi Halfeti Butik Hotel and it was quite nice and decorated in the traditional style.   We went into town first to have something to eat – just a light snack – before going back to the hotel where I had a nap.   We drove down to and back from the water as neither of us were too keen on walking down and back up a hill after what we'd done in the morning!   Atahan  arranged a private boat tour on the water for us for about  4000 lira or around $130 CAD.   It was perfect as we picked up the boat at the marina and then were taken along the river to see the historic scenery such as some Roman ruins and then to what was ...

One of the well-documented iconic experiences to have in Turkey - in addition to balloon rides in Cappadocia and visiting the ruins of ancient civilizations - is the experience being on Mount Nemrut at sunrise.  So, we had planned to do just that when we'd finalized our itinerary.  We stayed in Adiyaman and left there just before 4 am yesterday morning.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to get to the base of the mountain and from there, you have to hike up to the site.  The "trail" is a combination of stairs and stone walkway, most of it very uneven and, in the dark, more that a bit tricky.  To be honest, there was more than one time I considered giving up and turning back.  However, the increasing glow on the horizon promising a sunrise and multiple stops to catch our breaths, we made it to the top.  We reached it just before 6:30 and what we were rewarded with was one of those unforgettable moments one experiences in a lifetime.  It was breathtaking as...