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| See how hard it is to leave beautiful Alanya? |
Moving never gets any easier. Losing yet another home is hard and no amount of excitement for the next stage quite masks the hollowness you feel as you pack up the house. The feeling is always the same. The oppressive heat (I always seem to move during summers and in tropical climates), and the intermingling smell of chemicals (cleaning and paint) and slight dustiness as I disturb the softly sleeping piles of stuff that I have not touched in a year.
I hate to see my imprint leave a place. That mark I accidentally left on the wall has been painted over, as if it was never there in the first place. My clutter retreats as the forces of impersonality invade once again, immaculate and alien. My comfort is turning into a stranger before my eyes and I am powerless to stop it.
With most relationships, both parties are hurting and reminiscing and putting on their nostalgia goggles. There is a sense of validation with the mourning process. Yes, this actually happened. Yes, you meant something to me even if we are going our separate ways. Moving is not like that. While I stare fondly at my butt indentation on the couch, the couch remains indifferent to my presence.
This is the nineteenth home that I have had (I'm counting moving dorm rooms and shifting as a vagabond). This is also the longest that I have lived in one place since I graduated from college three years ago. Alanya/Turkey and I have had our minor differences (usually over the exorbitant price of alcohol), but on the whole I have loved living here. This is a magnificent country that is filled with pretty much anything you could ever want.
History? In spades. This is the nexus of so many empires that pretty much every stone is a historical artifact.
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| Thirteenth century ruins here in Alanya, Turkey. |
Beaches? There is the gorgeous Mediterranean, Aegean, Bosporus, Black Sea, etc.
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| Optimal beaches for levitating in Alanya, Turkey. This is Cleopatra Beach. |
Mountains? I watch the sunrise over the Taurus mountain ranges from my balcony whenever I stay up ridiculously late.
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| Gorgeous city surrounded by mountains! |
Friendly folk? Yup, Turkish people are amazing.
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| Who doesn't love a good sense of humor in Turkish men? |
Food? Kahvalti is to die for.
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| Kahvalti (Turkish breakfast) is my favorite meal here. |
An Occupy Movement? Just check the news.
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| Barriers set up around the Ataturk Statue in Taksim Square in Istanbul for the May Day protests. |
In honor of my latest home, I have compiled a photo post of my year here. Twenty-one visitors, numerous trips to Istanbul, Antalya, Cappadocia, Side, and Perge (and yet still so much left to see!), plenty of sun burns, a lot of skin scraped off during Hamam (Turkish bath, and seriously, my dead skin all gathered up could make a mini-mountain), a dead hard drive, my fourth anniversary with the Boy, my twenty-fourth birthday, SOOOOO many statues of Ataturk, entertaining pirate ships, enough cay (tea) to bathe in, enough baklava to get a million cavities, daily calls to prayer to let me know the time, the gigantic sun that almost seems too big to be real, and a ton of kofte consumed: Thank you for being a wonderful home.
While I have written a guide for
Istanbul as well as
Cappadocia, I have yet to do one for Alanya. This is just my farewell, so stay tuned for an Alanya guide!
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| The castle walls and old shipyard in Alanya, Turkey by night. |
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| Where else would I get to celebrate Christmas with Ataturk? |
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| We have Turkish flags, cruise ships, diving ships, and pirate ships here in Alanya, what more could you want? |
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| The Turkish men love to pose on the pirate ships here in Alanya |
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| One of the many caves in Alanya. This is Damlatas Cave on Cleopatra side. |
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| Why would I want to leave the land of enormous vegetables? This was taken at one of the daily markets. |
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| Love the random leaping fauna here in Alanya. |
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| I will miss the dramatic views of Alanya. |
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| Daredevils on the castle walls in Alanya. |
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| There are ridiculously gorgeous sunsets here in Alanya. |
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| Yes, that is an actual rainbow around the sun as a halo here in Alanya. |
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| Here is a double rainbow in Alanya. |
Now onto the other areas that I have visited and loved in Turkey.
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| Antalya is the largest city near Alanya (about two hours away) and it is a fun place to visit. |
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| I couldn't resist getting a photo of Ataturk holding the moon. |
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| Glass guy making a nazar (an amulet which wards off evil) in Antalya, Turkey. |
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| The moon with a mosque in Antalya, Turkey. |
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| It's my pansiyon! |
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| Holding the sun with some hot air balloons in Goreme, Cappadocia |
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| Posing in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. |
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| The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia from the water. |
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| Light beams and mosques make a good combo in Istanbul. |
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| Ruins all to ourselves in Perge, which is just fifteen kilometers outside of Antalya. |
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| No crowds waiting for photo ops! |
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| Greece doesn't have all claim to columns since these are in Perge, Turkey! |
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| More columns in Side, Turkey. |
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| Apollo's Temple in Side, Turkey. |
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| My last pose in Side, Turkey. |
I hope you enjoyed my tribute. If you haven't been to Turkey, I highly suggest you hop on the next plane over. If you have been, then I hope that you share my fond memories of this fantastic country.
Goodbye Alanya, I will see you again someday.
