ESL Blogs

A week ago, I visited a magnificent country - Turkey. If you like beaches and watersports you will be happy to go there. It was a very agreeable feeling walking by the delightful rocky coast and lively street of Antalya.

Antalya is a very old city. It has an interesting history and a colossal mixturing  cultures. I am very proud to have stayed in the heart of this town - Kalechi. Every day I strolled from my hotel to the modern part of Antalya and passed by narrow streets. There were a lot of vendors of everything: beautiful dresses for belly dancers, ornamented carpets, sweet, bitter, yummy spices for cooking, abundant souvenirs and so on, just among the streets.

I am thankful to the town folks who kept Kalechi  in such good condition. I think many years ago there were many adventures in those ancient walls. They breathe with victorious and brave spirit.  I was eager to know its history when the guide told us the story of their emergence.

There were a lot of jolly tourists in Antalya. Antalya is pretty noisy and busy. There are a lot of people trying to sell something and everything.  

Many people are walking and bumping on each other. There are too many people who want to touch you, speak to you. A lot of them who sell items on the street didn’t seem very friendly. They want to trick you. And when you bargain, you are forced to speak a lot about prices. They tell you high price and you have to ask for a lower price. It’s like a game. It’s a tradition in Turkey. Everybody bargains.

As for indigenous people of Turkey, they are  very  faithful, kind and jolly. But I don’t think that they are calm or obedient because if I think of their ancestors - Ottoman Empire who won half of the world, I would say they were once upon a time, conquerors. By the way I was very surprised to know that in Turkey, there are not so many old-fashioned women wearing burqa. Moreover some of them wear modern brief skirts or short dresses. As for Turkish men - a lot of them apply gel on their hair. It’s so funny and looks some greasy.

During my journey, I stayed in 2 places: delightful, old Antalya city and beach country Beldibie  which was very boring for me. I didn't go to sea for swimming because it was quite cold. But in our hotel there was a beautiful deep pool and I swam there . The hotel is called Castle. It was not very big but was very cozy. It was such a good hotel that I highly recommend it to anybody who wishes to travel to Antalya. Whoever stays there, will be happy.They served pretty nutritious breakfast with juicy fruits, hot omelette, fresh vegetables, melted and usual cheese, sweet honey, flaky pie, chilly juice, numerous sausages. Nothing was rotten or filthy. I tried a lot of delightful Turkish desserts that tasted like a mixture of a lot of sugar and fruits. It was very good and tasty.

The weather changed swiftly. On our first two days , it was rainy and damp. The next days, it was sunny and breezy. I stayed in Turkey and was happy to see a wonderful, cuddly world around me. I saw a lot of mammoth size mountains. I saw the mixed colors of the Mediterranean sea (one part is dark blue, the other was light blue). I saw hilly fields and crooked, bumpy serpentine roads around the mountain. It was divine!

Some day I will return to Turkey but I think my next stop will be Istanbul. Merhaba!