Marhaba Alanya '15

You might remember from last year that I had a somewhat disastrous vacation, because I was sick the entire trip! This year when I went to Turkey on a holiday, I made sure to prepare myself fully by abstaining from "dangerous foods" the week before, and loading my suitcase w/ lactase pills and painkillers.

We chose an early morning flight, so we could enjoy the rest of the day at the hotel and getting settled in. The hotel we stayed at offered an all-inclusive concept and was located east of center, just outside of the busy part of the city. This was a big plus for me, because we were away from noise sitting on our balcony or hanging at the pool(bar). We had a gorgeous view of the sea and some mountains, and ate our bellies full!

Apart from chilling at the hotel and wandering around in the city center, we also wanted to see some of the culture and history the city and surroundings had to offer. First, we took a day-long boat trip, which provided us w/ the most marvelous views of the city wall and red tower, the Alanya coast, mystery caves and dolphins, ánd gave us the opportunity to lay in the sun tanning during all of this! Several swimming breaks were also included, and the water was lovely once you got used to its temperature. For lunch we had grilled fish, (also included) and we did a mini photoshoot w/ a parrot lol.

Having seen the red tower and city wall from the sea, we obviously also wanted to see the sea from the wall! We had to drive all the way up a mountain to get there, which was a bit scary, but the view was totally worth it!

I really wanted to visit the Dim Caves, where one can admire cave formation. At the end of the (somewhat slippery) walk through the cave a breathtakingly blue lake can be found! Unfortunately I could not take a good picture, because the lightning inside was really at a minimum.

Another thing on my Alanya bucketlist was to have lunch on the Dim river.

One of my favorite places to walk past in the center was not one out of a hundred boutiques for shopping, nope. I was completely head over heels with a kitty park! We just happened to pass through at night and noticed the presence of many cute kittens. When we visited the park again, this time by daylight, we learned that the amount of cats present was not a coincidence. The park was actually dedicated to them!

One of our favorite places to eat outside of the hotel, and also located near the kitty park, was the Red Tower Brewery. I have had some of the best steak in my life there, for ridiculous prices (about €15 for an entire meal, which is practically nothing for good quality steak)!

In the Antalya region much is to be experienced outside of Alanya if you are willing to travel outside the city. We visited Side and Manavgat, where an ancient Roman city called Seleukeia is located.

The ruins are located up in the mountains near a village, where people still live in the same stone houses that were build probably decades ago. 

Also to be found in that area, is the Green Canyon, a beautifully turquoise colored waterway.

Of course we could not leave for home without having tried out some local food! I was already in love w/ Turkish cuisine from my experiences in NL, but the food at Güven Lokantasi made me swoon. 

I actually got through the entire vacation stuffing my guts, without getting sick! To conclude this wonderful holiday, I wanted to try out some cajun style chicken strips w/ delicious fries at a hip (yet affordable) place in the center called Duggan.

And then we were off to home again, unfortunately!

Lobi,