For the first time, I slept (mostly) through the night. I
was faintly aware of the imam's chanting before dawn, but I stayed more asleep
than not despite it.
Since we hadn't repacked the night before, we did in the
morning. We were scheduled to fly from Istanbul to Izmir at 1 pm. From the
Izmir airport, we'd planned to rent a car and begin what would be a three city,
week-long road trip down the Aegean coast of Western Turkey.
We were not taking everything we'd brought to Turkey for
that part of our trip. The hotel we'd booked for our last three days in
Turkey in Istanbul had agreed to keep our big bag for us for a small price
while we were gone gallivanting along the coast.
So, we separated out the important stuff and our beach
gear and packed it into our two backpacks brought as carry-ons, and we threw
everything else into the big suitcase we'd checked on the international flight.
We then wheeled that bag over the cobblestones and through the back alleys of
Sultanahmet to the Metropolis Hotel. My god (or Allah), what a difference a
couple of blocks makes! It was calm and quiet. From the facade you could
see the difference in accommodation immediately. The street was only hotels, so
the hotel was nestled back off of the main drags and the surrounding area was
devoid of hollering shopkeepers and restaurateurs. We walked in and we
were greeted by Cesar. "You must be Bradley," he said with a
wide smile. We chatted back through the arrangements we'd made and our
upcoming stay in the near future. Then, after the business was attended to, he
said--"Please go upstairs to the rooftop terrace. Have a Turkish coffee
with us."
We did as we were told and we were blown away as soon as
we stepped out onto the terrace. It was shrouded in grapevines and there
was an unadulterated view out over the remainder of Sultanahmet out to the
Marmara Sea and the Asian continent part of the city. The sun was shining
and it was warm and we couldn't believe we'd soon be staying here for three nights.
It would be the perfect place to finish off our trip. We couldn't contain
our excitement for our return to Istanbul.
Nevertheless, we made our way back to our hostel, ate
breakfast, and then grabbed our packs. We jumped on the tram, switched over to
the metro, and arrived at the airport with ease. We breezed through the
airport and our flight to Izmir went off without a hitch (beyond a bit of
turbulence [Becca was white-knuckling again--I had the bruising to prove it]).
The next phase, a new adventure within our adventure was at hand.
We deboarded in Izmir and made our way to the rental car
desk. After waiting in line and struggling to communicate with the gentleman we
walked to the part of the garage in which our carriage awaited--a Renault
Symbol with only 13 kilometers on the engine--a brand new car. I was
pretty nervous getting behind the wheel because I hadn't driven a stick for
many years--since we road-tripped through Portugal in 2011 or so. But, I eased
into it and picked it back up fast.
Driving in Turkey has been one of the only aspects we've
been told was truly dangerous in terms of our itinerary. Aside from the
occasional car bombing by on your right as you are exiting a roundabout to that
same right side or those vehicles which pass on blind, switchback corners--it's
really not so bad. We made the hour drive from the Izmir airport to the
resort we'd booked in Kusadasi without issue.
I used the word resort, mind you. The place--the Hotel
Charisma De Luxe--is very much a luxury resort. We came from a dilapidated
hostel in Istanbul and walked into another world. The view from our balcony is
an expanse of the Aegean Sea. The soundtrack is a consistent slosh of waves
rolling onto rocks. There's a spa, an indoor-outdoor pool, and a big deck with
chaise lounges and reading chairs to sun and chill in right on the Sea with
ladders down into the Sea itself for one to swim freely in the salty green
water (within the confines of the swimming area anyway).
Becca was thrilled upon seeing our room and what this
place offered. It was a completely different look, to be sure. We quickly
changed into beachy garb and hustled out to the deck. We chaise lounged in the
sun and swam in the sea. The water felt cold for a hot minute, but wasn't at
all. Not really. After some time, I decided to splurge on a mai tai and
Becca ordered an Efes. We got a bowl full of pistachios with our
beverages.
Two food items that I'll never view the same way moving
forward: eggplant and pistachios. I could give or take pistachios prior to this
trip and I really didn't love eggplant. But wow, I just needed the Turkish
touch to eggplant--it's a beautiful thing! And I now truly appreciate
pistachios as well.
Anyway, after sitting and swimming and imbibing and
snacking, which is largely the itinerary for the next couple of days, we got
cleaned up and made our way down to the buffet. The mezes were numerous, but
the mains were delicious: whole, pan-fried fish (sea bass?); incredibly moist
and tender lamb; various kofte (meatball) iterations; and dolma (stuffed
pepper), among others.
I had feared this sort of resort-y tourist trap would
come at the price of Turkish culture all around (the biggest loss to me would
have been the food). Thankfully, the food seemed to align with what we've come
to know as traditional fare. Never mind the fact that no resort patrons seemed
terribly Turkish and the live musicians crooning and strumming beside us were
playing such Turkish classics as: "Wild World", "No Woman No
Cry", "Hotel California", and "Wish You Were Here" and
singing in English.
At any rate, dining on delicious eats to some
well-executed tunes while the sun worked it's way down over the Aegean Sea was
nothing less than spectacular. And we'd done the "rode hard and put away
wet", hostel living, walk everywhere, plan everything, etc., brand of
travel we've done and loved so much our first three days in Istanbul. It was
amazing, but so is this--just in a different way.
Thus far, everything had gone according to plan and
swimmingly (as I knock on wood). Our goal for our honeymoon was to find
an affordable place to visit that offered an interesting culture, history, and
food excursion allowing us to reclaim our travel-heavy glory days and a place
where we could be pampered in the sun and kick back a bit,
honeymoon-style. Turkey has proven beyond capable of checking all of our
boxes. The man, the visionary, and the legend who predicted such an
experience--Zio Niko Pace (Uncle Nick) deserves a tip of the hat and a hearty pat on the
back.
No comments:
Post a Comment