Honeymoon - Days 9 10 11 - Paradise / Akyaka
Not much to say about these days, where we simply relaxed under straw beach umbrellas and strolled the village for three days (or four, I've lost count of my days - yay!). We stayed an Akyaka for three days with only a 3 hour jaunt to Oludeniz - super touristy, not that great. Akyaka, however, has a special place in my heart forever. I love tiny airports, tiny towns, and now tiny beach villages. Lovely. Because the village was so small, we became very familiar with it and that made the stay even more relaxing.
Families were everywhere - family businesses where the kids are working for the summer, families on vacation with babies playing in the ocean with grandmas. There were couples, too - it is a very romantic place. We ate fish every day - sometimes twice a day. Fried fish sandwich for lunch and whole grilled fish for dinner. The first night we stayed at Nova Aparts, the low budget suite hotel (that was super clean, had a private balcony, free parking, and the guys there were so friendly). Everywhere in town is central because it is so small there. The remaining nights we stayed at the extravagant-feeling (but not expensive) Yucelen Hotel, which has been around for 25 years. The place was immaculate, had a restaurant and bar attached (breakfast was the bomb - kahvelti buffet and omelet station practically on the beach). The best feature - a semi-private beach. It was cordoned off from the main beach (not that long a stretch to begin with), and then everyone who stayed at the hotel got a free lounge cushion for the beach chairs and a pink towel. Few non-guests wandered in, even though they would have been able to use the chairs, too. It was 10tl for 2 beach chairs under an umbrella. I had to get out there by 10AM each day to reserve a good seat!
The staff were constantly cleaning this hotel in an unobtrusive way - gardening or hosing off the driveway. Around the clock, low-key maintenance that resulted in a pristine setting with green grass, flowers, orange trees, blooming bushes, happy ducks and kitties. Everyone was happy. The same guests sat in the same beach loungers each day. We recognized our fellow guests while out and about town and greeted each other with friendly smiles. It seemed EVERY guest gathered at the tables at the (open air) bar for one happy hour drink at 6PM before getting cleaned up for dinner. When we would return in the evenings, the lobby would be filled with all the families until midnight or later, with everyone (even very young kids) - playing cards, playing with this one adorable feral kitten (i know.... but he was really clean and cute), playing backgammon. The vacationers were German and Turkish, too, but Germans really seemed to favor this hotel while we were there.
One day we drove to a nearby beach (2km from our hotel) called Cinar Beach to scope it out. It was gorgeous. Maybe only 20 beach umbrellas there. Pretty deserted. We said we would go there one of the days but we never made it. It's tough to beat rolling out of bed into your practically reserved beach lounger, a good book and the Aegean lulling you through the afternoon. Having to get into a car for even a slightly more secluded beach was not worth the trouble once we had gotten into our Yucelen groove.
One night we went to dinner at a restaurant that was a 20minute walk from town, called Orfoz. Again, we had a restaurant in mind but asked for a recommendation, too. We took the rec for Orfoz and had the most (hands down) the most the most the most romantic night ever. Gosh, it was so romantic there! And the food was out of this world. I'm so happy places like that exist where people can be as happy as we were that night.
We reluctantly left and drove to Dalaman Airport. The car return is right at the airport; like you're dropping someone off for a flight. So convenient. Then, an hour later, we were arriving in Ataturk Airport in IST and going to our new airbnb flat in Cihangir, a trendy neighborhood near Taksim.
Families were everywhere - family businesses where the kids are working for the summer, families on vacation with babies playing in the ocean with grandmas. There were couples, too - it is a very romantic place. We ate fish every day - sometimes twice a day. Fried fish sandwich for lunch and whole grilled fish for dinner. The first night we stayed at Nova Aparts, the low budget suite hotel (that was super clean, had a private balcony, free parking, and the guys there were so friendly). Everywhere in town is central because it is so small there. The remaining nights we stayed at the extravagant-feeling (but not expensive) Yucelen Hotel, which has been around for 25 years. The place was immaculate, had a restaurant and bar attached (breakfast was the bomb - kahvelti buffet and omelet station practically on the beach). The best feature - a semi-private beach. It was cordoned off from the main beach (not that long a stretch to begin with), and then everyone who stayed at the hotel got a free lounge cushion for the beach chairs and a pink towel. Few non-guests wandered in, even though they would have been able to use the chairs, too. It was 10tl for 2 beach chairs under an umbrella. I had to get out there by 10AM each day to reserve a good seat!
The staff were constantly cleaning this hotel in an unobtrusive way - gardening or hosing off the driveway. Around the clock, low-key maintenance that resulted in a pristine setting with green grass, flowers, orange trees, blooming bushes, happy ducks and kitties. Everyone was happy. The same guests sat in the same beach loungers each day. We recognized our fellow guests while out and about town and greeted each other with friendly smiles. It seemed EVERY guest gathered at the tables at the (open air) bar for one happy hour drink at 6PM before getting cleaned up for dinner. When we would return in the evenings, the lobby would be filled with all the families until midnight or later, with everyone (even very young kids) - playing cards, playing with this one adorable feral kitten (i know.... but he was really clean and cute), playing backgammon. The vacationers were German and Turkish, too, but Germans really seemed to favor this hotel while we were there.
One day we drove to a nearby beach (2km from our hotel) called Cinar Beach to scope it out. It was gorgeous. Maybe only 20 beach umbrellas there. Pretty deserted. We said we would go there one of the days but we never made it. It's tough to beat rolling out of bed into your practically reserved beach lounger, a good book and the Aegean lulling you through the afternoon. Having to get into a car for even a slightly more secluded beach was not worth the trouble once we had gotten into our Yucelen groove.
One night we went to dinner at a restaurant that was a 20minute walk from town, called Orfoz. Again, we had a restaurant in mind but asked for a recommendation, too. We took the rec for Orfoz and had the most (hands down) the most the most the most romantic night ever. Gosh, it was so romantic there! And the food was out of this world. I'm so happy places like that exist where people can be as happy as we were that night.
We reluctantly left and drove to Dalaman Airport. The car return is right at the airport; like you're dropping someone off for a flight. So convenient. Then, an hour later, we were arriving in Ataturk Airport in IST and going to our new airbnb flat in Cihangir, a trendy neighborhood near Taksim.
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