five

"You're going where?!" My parents were slightly concerned and less than thrilled when we told them that we had booked a trip to Turkey to celebrate our five year anniversary.  I can see where they were coming from... no parent would be thrilled to hear that their daughter and future son-in-law are off to visit a county that borders Syria AND Iraq. However, we quickly reassured them that we were headed to the opposite side of the country in a touristy area that was only a 30 minute ferry ride to Greece. With their blessing, we were off to explore the sunny beach town of Cesme in the Turkish Riviera!

The trip was off to a bumpy start when we arrived at the airport to find that our flight was delayed about five hours. I bet you can guess how we passed those six hours in the Munich airport. Yep, we played Gin Rummy. Oh, that wasn't your guess? Don't worry, we didn't disappoint you. We drank several liters of beer, too.

We arrived in Izmir after 10 PM, hailed a cab, and headed for our hotel in the city center. Despite the time, we had yet to eat dinner, so we immediately asked for a restaurant suggestion and hit the town. We didn't have to walk far to find a great Turkish restaurant. Quick side note: I can't believe I went most of my life having not really experienced Turkish food. It is pretty easy to find in Munich as there is a high population of Turkish people. However, our recent trip now affords me the opportunity to go into detail about just how much I love it. Let me explain. Some of my most favorite foods include pizza, cheesy bread, and Spanakopita. On this first night in Turkey, I ordered some Pide. Plain cheese, of course. It may as well have been the stuffed crust of a stuffed crust pizza. I can eat this the whole trip and not even feel bad about it since it's the "local cuisine"? Deal. I was in heaven.

The next morning, we faced a bit of a challenge trying to navigate our way from the hotel to the Cesme bus. Where is the Metro station? Nothing is in English nor does anyone speak an ounce of English. Where can we even buy tickets? You get the picture. Once we finally found the bus station, it was a quick 30 minute bus ride, and we had arrived at our resort for the next three nights. Since we were now in the off season, we basically had the resort to ourselves. I will try to refrain from bragging about our trip too much, but to sum it up, here is a list of things we enjoyed during our stay:

Virtually private sandy beach
Swimming in the warm sea
Buffet breakfasts
Massages
Thermal spas, pools, and hot springs
Saunas
Turkish baths
Romantic private dinners at empty restaurants
Ryan wearing pashminas at dinner
Sunsets over the sea and Greece
Impeccable customer service
Stray cats (hey, I said "we" and this has got to be one of Ryan's favorite things)

The only thing that could have improved our trip was if the neighboring water park had been open.

Now on to the photo evidence.

anniversary dinner

a stray.

attack!

Until the next post!

xoxo
L & R