Picture Heavy Vacation Post

I am so glad to be back home. Almost a month of vacation at 7 different places to stay was a little too much. Opening and closing suitcases and bags get tiring after a while. We have had very good swim days and I ended up with a tan I never had before.

Despite knowing each other for over 50 years, it was clear that my friend and I have different interests. Would I go with her again? Yes, but not for so long. A week should be sufficient. With that said, we still had a very nice time and made it back home safe and sound.

Our first stop was a place owned and run by Central Bank of Turkey which my friend retired from. The place is only available to the people who are or have worked for the Central Bank. My father's organization had two places that we used to go to like this when I was young. Many Government organizations used to have such places the workforce to have a decent and low cost vacation when the Government was more of a social government. Most organizations were forced to shutting those places down by the more Capitalist Governments over time. Only a handful of organizations have been able to resist.

Think of a simple resort with a limited selection of food, no alcohol (rolling my eyes at that), beautiful and well kept grounds and a sufficient beach. We stayed in a two bedroom unit and it was clean and comfortable. The first few pictures are from this place.

Rooms and Suites

The Beach

Our Dinner View 

Head of Medusa anyone? @Apollon Temple in Didyma on our way to Bodrum

Our second stop was Bodrum, a favorite spot for vacationers local and foreign. We stayed at a hotel that was on top of a hill overlooking the Bodrum Bay. Below 2 pictures show our view from our hotel room.

Bodrum has a very nice Castle and right in it, there is a beautiful underwater museum of archaelogy full of artifacts collected from under the sea. Here is a link for details about the following pictures. The ship below dates back to around 1024 BC. It is assumed to have set sail from Syria towards a glass factory somewhere unknown in the Byzantian Empire. Lots of amphoras, glass artifacts, broken glass and coins were found. 

Here is a video of Bodrum where we had beer and snacks on our first night. Look at the water and how clear it was.

There are many more pictures and videos that I plan to post. Gotta go and sleep. Need to get up early to take my car for it's 60.000 Km. Service in the morning.