Photo Shooting in the Lobby

I  know, there are only pictures with me, it's kind of narcissistic :). But all of this is about me, in the end, isn't it?

Perge, Turkey

If you are not the 5-stars-hotel-swimming-pool-restaurant-sleep-beach type, there is plenty to see and wonder in Southern Turkey. While I did what you saw above with Radu and Mara, Bogdan rented a car and took Runa for a ride in Perge, near the city of Antalya. Is not far away from the hotel, about 30 kilometers, it took them 20 minutes to get there. In the afternoon we went all together at Side, but about that we'll talk later.

As per Wikipedia, Perge was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia and the capital of Pamphylia. Today it is a large site of ancient ruins 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Antalya, on the coastal plain. Located there is an acropolis dated back on the Bronze Age! During the Hellenistic period, Perge was one of the richest and most beautiful cities in the ancient world, famous for its temple of Artemis. It also is notable for being the home of the renowned ancient Greek mathematician, Apollonius of Perga. 

Perge is today an archaeological site and a major tourist attraction. Its ruins include a theatre, a palaestra,  a temple of Artemis and two churches. The very famous temple of Artemis was located outside the town.

Perge, transformed by artisans into a city of marble, was truly magnificent, with a faultless layout that would have been the envy of modern city planners. In order to fully appreciate its grandeur today, you should pay a visit the Antalya Museum to see the hundreds of sculptures from Perge now housed there.

 

Mara and Friends

Because in holiday is best time for Bogdan to take pictures, every evening he picks up some kids from the group and take them "on location" to portrait them. Sorry I couldn't decide on two or three, I had to choose from hundreds! I like them all... I decided on few.
Today: Mara, Tamara, Daria and Andu.
Location: Papillon Zeugma beach, Belek, Turkey.

Papillon Zeugma, children's holiday

I like Belek for its beautiful beaches with fine and soft sand, and we are in Papillon Zeugma Hotel for the second time. It is the same hotel as the first time we came in Turkey, 6 years ago, but I have to confess there is a big change in services between our two visits. 

The pool bar I used to remember with such pleasure disappeared to make place for 2 water slides and a kids swimming pool. The inner yard pool increased its dimensions, and there is a new and big playground for kids. I miss the pool bar, but for kids the water slides are, of course, much more fun.

But the big problem are the services, I never saw worse in Turkey until now. Not in a 5 stars resort, anyway. The day we arrived we came to dinner in the buffet restaurant with all the kids hungry (we are a group of 19 persons, from which 8 children), the restaurant was so full, we couldn't find a free table to eat for about half an hour. Mara lives with fresh air, but Runa and Radu went kind of crazy when we told them we need to wait for so long.  There are three a-la-carte restaurants in the hotel, they can be used if the kids are bigger, but with small kids the buffet is always the best option. Most of the waiters are very young and inexperienced, they forget what you ordered or even to bring the order, like yesterday with my coffee.

Anyway, this is just a detail, because the hotel is beautiful and the distance to the beach is very convenient, so we can spend our mornings in the swimming pool and the afternoons on the beach, playing with the kids in the sunset.

The schedule is very chaotic and we are very tired. Radu woke up for about 3 times by night, Mara fell down from her bed,  Runa got something in her eye, so she cried and yelled for about 5 hours.

In the first evening Radu fell in his head, in the second he got his arm caught in the sliding doors from the restaurant, all the time he want to take the elevator, no matter where we need to go.

Runa wants to stay very late in the night to see the shows. Radu wants to sleep early because he is tired, as a baby I should say. Mara wants everything, everywhere, everytime.

We decided, years ago, that this is the children's holiday. So, they are the passengers, we (me and Bogdan) are the crew. We watch them and we take care of them, while we enjoy the journey together. 

Belek, Turkey

We begun our holiday on Saturday but, since we gathered all our guts and came alone with all three kids, I didn't have any time to blog (or think). It was our third day of holiday today, since we arrived on Saturday afternoon, and I don't know where the time flew. 

Well, I actually know: on the sea shore, in the swimming pool, under the beautiful Mediterranean sky...

And I'm really sorry, but I will only load few pictures and go to sleep, the kids seem to have a plan to kill us :). We need to outmaneuver them successfully tomorrow morning, so I have to rest. Wish us good luck!

Music

Since Monday I started again to pick up Radu and Mara from kindergarten. Many kids left for holiday, so the transport car is not available anymore.

We usually listen to Radio Itsy Bitsy, a local special radio for kids. Is funny, is cute, broadcasts nice and happy music, very appropriate for listening in the car with the whole family.

Imagine my surprise when both of them asked me to stop the radio. 

- OK, I said, what would you like to listen then? 

- You had some music yesterday, do you still have it or it was on the radio? Mara asked.

I had to think a little bit... then, I suddenly remembered!

Here it is what Mara and Radu wanted to listen. On heavy rotation. Hope you'll enjoy it either!