Looking Back.

2007 has been quite a momentous and enlightening year with all its usual ups, downs, and plateaus. Encountering severance from someone who practically used to be the center of my life left me… empty. It’s like trying to fill that hole with all sorts of waddings, yet the pit seemed bottomless. I tried to patch it to at least cover the hole. But really, sewing has never been one of my assets. Still, this hole was yearning to be filled.

The whole situation forced me to betake myself to a quest; a quest with an unknown destination. Which turned out to be everything but fruitful, as it’s really hard to quest for something when you don’t even know where to start – let alone what you are looking for in the first place. I tried to find some orientation by formulating the real issue I had as accurate as I could: “I want to move on with my life, and fill the hole as I go.”

The search for my quest’s destination was so obvious, but I was caught up in other major life-boggling issues for kids my age that I failed to see the woods for the trees. My new quest’s destination is:

Me.

So I started new hobbies, had a new passion, went on great trips, met new people, made new friends, widened my horizons, grew up a bit more. 2007 was not that bad after all. Come to think of it, if I never had this heart-breaking experience in the first quarter of 2007, I would have never got into doing all the other refreshing stuff.

I also found out that this hole that keeps on haunting me was actually the new chapter of my life’s book in disguise. It’s now ready to do some major rocking. No wonder its bottomless. For as Mr. S. Tyler once said: “Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

You live, you learn. Funny how some childhood hits first start to make sense as you grow older.

As of the present, I’m starting to get ready for tonight’s party. Food, music, dance, wine, cocktails, and eye candies are some of tonight’s agenda.

Let’s end the year with a big “Thank you!” and welcome the new one with a warm hug.

Bring it on, 2008. I’m ready.

Alanya, Gözleme, and Tavla.

We went to Alanya for some shopping today and visited the Citadel which was built during the 13 th century. The castle stands on a peninsula, and one can get a marvelous view of its tips while standing on the castle’s seaward.

I skipped breakfast as well as lunch today, and I was really running out of energy and stamina (not that I had a high level of such, though, hyak hyak) from all that hiking and hill-climbing so it was high time for me to refill my calorie tank again. While driving downhill we past by a local homey tea garden. And stopped there as a matter of course. It was no coincidence that they had snacks too. Lucky for me. Instead of having a çay, I decided to go for an ayran (a refreshing Turkish yoghurt drink), as this tastes better with gözleme (“goez-leh-meh”, a Turkish pancake). I had one filled with feta cheese and minced meat. What a soothing relief to my hungry palate.

We ended the day hanging out and chilling in the same café bar we were in Manavgat yesterday, playing tavla (Turkish backgammon) and smoking nargile.

 

Manavgat and Titreyengöl.

I was having some probs with my turkish SIM card (i.e. I still wasn’t getting any network coverage) so we went back to the outlet in Manavgat where I purchased it to check things out. I was very determined to hone my Turkish a bit more after that mild dispute.

Apart from that, the day was very lovely again so we strolled along the Manavgat river and enjoyed the sights.

 

There was a pedestrian bridge over the river with some cafés and eateries which were quite busy during that lunchtime. We stopped by at a chic café bar a few meters away from the bridge along the river, had some warm drinks, and indulged in the sun. On our way back home, we stopped over in Titreyengöl (a small district in Manavgat) and watched the ducks on the sea. Some were bathing, others were dozing off. One sat on the bench and smoked.

When we came back to our hotel I got my first SMS from my Turkish provider. Full network coverage

Resort Impressions 2.

A Day at the Beach 2.

I really must have caught a chill while strolling through Kumköy without wearing a jacket 2 days ago. I had fever last evening and felt so miserable that my body decided to simply recuperate and rest for 12.5 hours straight. I woke up the next morning on 11:30 a.m. all damp and sticky. I must have evaporated all the inner heat and pain I’ve suffered from yesterday.

Enough of the moaning. Today was a beautiful sunny day, so I decided to start it with a hearty lunch. Soup, salads, pasta, rice, stews, bbqs, dessert…I stuffed my face with everything my potbelly could digest that midday (a good sign that I was recovering very well). Sated and energy-regained, I took a walk along the beach and checked out the happenings.

“From a little shell, at the bottom of the sea, was the Earth and the Moon, and the Sun above me.”

Some “leftovers” I found:

 

 

The watchtower in three different views.

 

 

Busy kids at play.

“Take me somewhere I can breathe, I’ve got so much to see, This is where I want to be, In a place I can call mine…”

 

 

Standing in Ali Baba’s Shoes.

I was in desperate need of some bedroom slippers as it was no fun moving around barefoot even in the comfort of my hotel room. So I just got the next best ones I could.

Antique Side.

I lost my friend while strolling along the busy Manavgat market, and I was starting to feel kinda chilly – so I left the bazaar and set off for Kumköy, changed my mind seconds before the Kumköy-bound bus came, and decided to make a detour to check out the antique Side city instead.

Although I was not feeling well that afternoon anymore, the wandering sure was worth it.

 

I traversed the remains of the old city and roved through the ruins while trying to visualize how these monuments used to look like during their best days. One used to be the agora (3rd pic on the upper right), and I recall seeing a sign which pointed to what supposed to be a hospital once; not sure which one that was anymore, though (1st pic on the lower left perhaps?).

I made a quick break at the beach shore to catch my breath and enjoy the warm sun rays; check out who I met along the way (1st pic 2nd row). That guy was definitely ready for a ride.

My last stop was the Apollo Temple at the end of the beach promenade. I did some research and learned that it used to be a hexastyle peripteral Corinthian temple. It’s really hard to overlook all the Greek influences they had in their ancient architectures.

The best holiday tip I had so far was the sign I saw on the bus (2nd pic 2nd row) I took on my way home (i.e. our hotel resort in Kumköy – for now and the next 10 days, at least).

Manavgat Bazaar.

The tea was great and I was still pondering about whether the lucky charms would eventually bring me luck or not. Tired of not finding any signs from greater mights, I left the café, attached two bracelets to my bag and headed for the bazaar. I’m not the superstitious type, mind you (although I read my horoscope whenever possible and forget about it right away). I just thought that two amber-colored bracelets matched my bag very well that day so it was more out of stylish reasons.

Some dainty and funky discoveries I made were:

– Turkish Delights. A Turkish confection made of starch and lots of sugar. Available in many different flavors (e.g. pistachio, rose, walnut, coconut).

– More Souvenirs. Too bad my baggage capacity is limited to measly 20 kgs only.

– Jeweler. The mascot would make a perfect ring model. Look at that pose!

- T-Shirts.

Wow, I’m really not a supermodel myself, but I swear I could have built a tent and camped in one of those shirts with my cat together.

Cay and Lucky Charms.

After that banana-incident I decided to sit down and enjoy a cup of ςay (tshai) - a Turkish black tea (remember Ying-Yang? Those were one of those moments). I was sipping my ςay and listening to Putumayo’s Arabic Groove when a sweet little Turkish girl approached and tried to bring me into trading an Euro for 10 lucky charm bracelets. Oh well, she seemed nice (and quite hungry) so what the heck. She ended up giving me an extra bracelet as a present.

Oh lucky day.

Market in Manavgat.

We drove to Manavgat today to visit the market and bazaar (that’s a town nearby about 7 kms away from our resort).
As expected, there were some amusing goodies to marvel at.

There were lots and lots and lots of “nargile” (water pipe) in all colors and sizes to choose from. Shoes in “Ali Baba”-style, wooden figurines,

ashtrays, masks, instruments, games, tea, and many other cheesy and yet somehow cute stuff were just everywhere.

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter. Sugar and spice, and everything that’s tasty. Yummy!

 

Herbs (camomile flowers), nuts (sorts I have never heard of), green / black olives, and luscious pastes…gourmet heaven!

 

The Manavgat market offers a wide range of fruits and veggies as well. I’m not sure what that red veggie was, but I would say it was red radish.

The Turkish tangerines looked juicy, and the huge cabbages really made me crave for a nice hot and hearty bowl of cabbage soup.

 

This gentleman was selling bananas from Alanya (known for its banana plantation). I was just about to discreetly take a snapshot of him…the next thing I knew I was holding this Alanya-Banana, begging me to savor its sweetness.

It was so sweet I had to get something to drink to quench the aftertaste.