Weathering the Storm with the WP #164

Hey good afternoon and welcome to May. Here in New England, spring has finally sprung, or maybe it has not. The weather changes remind me of Minnesota, the many years I lived there. It is only in June, when the weather seems to stabilize and by then, I will not be around here or at least not all of it, but that is for another post. Lots of things are happening this month and most of them, I also will not be here, traveling across the pond once and traveling to parts south twice, but ever working on my valued clients travel around the world. It is a good month, as well, as it is Travel Advisor Appreciation Month and more than anything, I appreciate what I can do for my clients and their travels to corners of the earth, planning their adventures and being able to do it from wherever I happen to be. With all the craziness that has occurred over the past 27 + years, I have been doing this, and I am still doing it, for the foreseeable future, is a testament to the passion I have for what I do. Thank you and Happy Travel Advisors Day to me and all of my colleagues in this amazing industry!!!

---

This past week was not necessarily normal, but the packing, downsizing and general preparation for the move later in June continues. I brought more boxes from the much smaller storage unit to go through and as before, getting rid of paper and more paper was the deal of the day. It is amazing how much had been accumulated that in the rush of life, I had not been able to go through, but in a less busy client moment, I dug in and reduced, reduced, reduced. I still have things, but I believe I could take essentially everything I have left and put it into my vehicle, as a storage unit across the pond, which is still being decided, but for sure, when I return from across the pond, those decisions will be made, to take or to leave, and there are reasons on both sides. Then, it is only the artwork, puffin mostly, my stamp collection, which my maternal grandfather started me on when I was 6 and while not active, in the process anymore, grew over the many years, I was a collector. Some say sell it and Rosa says I do need to keep some things or that sort. I am really at that point of the sentimental journey of things, as more core things are gone or what will go with me. What says you?

As promised, however, the last of our honeymoon in Turkey and in all honestly, the last few days probably were the best with all the experiences we had for those last few days, two in the city and around the city and two based by the water. We switched hotels in the city, as I did not care for the chosen hotel and since you could meander around the old town, we switched, my choice, not Rosa’s. The town itself, especially the views of the bay from the old town are beautiful. We meandered the narrow streets, checked out different shops, bought some teas, seasoning blends, all local and had some nice conversations with the locals. We tried Turkish gelato, which is much “stickier” than Italian gelato and Rosa actually said she liked it better than the gelato back in Italy. For my wife, this is a statement. The kid doing the “show” with it when we ordered our ice cream was very entertaining. The gelato stuck, even turned upside down. Reminded me of a blizzard at Dairy Queen, but the gelato tasted so much better. We recommend it when you go to Turkey in the future.

Our guide the next day was excellent as we explored more ruins and an intact amphitheater and the bridge over a river built by the Romans, or at least its base which was used in the new construction and the not so straight bridge. Another highlight was the local food. Unlike some of our other experiences, when we were driving, we stopped at someone’s home, essentially, and had a very nice local lunch experience. The beauty of this land can’t be questioned, nor the authenticity of its people. Beyond the politics of the world and as mentioned in a previous post, we were there during the election season for mayoral races all across the country, the people we met were genuine from the Kurdish family we met that owned a travel agency, a B & B and tour company, the owner of the restaurant, who we met at his restaurant, but also bumped into him at a market many, many kilometers away, I took away from our honeymoon, the warm feeling for the people of this country. ​

After our time in the city, we took the trek, about 1 ½ hour from the city to our second experience and the “resort” in a very isolated beach area. Now, in retrospect, and it still being off season, enjoyed the place we stayed, called the Olympos Lodge Hotel in Çirali. This sounds very impressive, but really, it was simpler, and Rosa liked it, as it was on the beach. In the distance was ancient Olympus, but to get there would have taken a bit of time. We saw it, but did not there, but we did so much in the next couple of days. At first, we simply wandered around the area, saw some beautiful beach areas and the mountains I the background. When we went into town and this is a one-horse town, there was not much open as it was still, as mentioned before early in the season and things were just starting to open. I can imagine what it would have been like later with all the bungalow resorts and lodges, and how busy it would become. In a way, I was happy to be there then, versus in high season and how crazy with one road down to this little area and one way out. ​

While we were wandering, we found a little respite and stopped for a smoothie and chatted with the owner that had moved there to get away from the city and had opened last year. After we left there, and he said, unless we had a rental car, and we did not, we felt like we were a captive audience, but when we turned the corner, after seeing many closed doors, we saw a store, that also was a tour operator and travel agency and spoke to the owner, one member of this Kurdish family I mentioned earlier. We discussed renting a car and he suggested that we have them do the driving, which turned out to be the right decision, as the next day, we had the most fulfilling day. ​

We went back the next morning, met this gentleman’s father, who became our driver and guide for the day. We drove to the base of the mountain, and took the cable car to the top, which gave us such amazing vistas, spending an hour up there in the thin air. Afterwards, we went to a totally different town, about an hour away, and had a chance to explore the town, the markets and best yet, the fruit and vegetable market and everything else, again meeting locals and trying different sweets along the way. In the end, when we came back, we met the rest of the family at their bungalow lodge, which was so well kept and would recommend and enjoyed our time there. The highlight of the day ended up hiking up the mountainside where the payoff was the eternal fires at the top. The hike was challenging and at the top, Rosa found some tree branches and we had walking sticks coming back down. This was something she wanted to do, and we did. When we returned to the town, we asked to be dropped off at the restaurant where we had dined the night before and bumped into the owner at the fruit and veggie market, to end an amazing last full day. 

The next day, it was the trek back home, with the nearly 2-hour drive back, and the two flights back to Rome. We did, as I did purchase business class back on Turkish Air, spent time in the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul, which if you have never experienced it, is magnificent. It seems as large as some airline terminals and the selections they have. Rosa did not want to leave. I think she likes it when we can hang out in an airport lounge before a flight, but she won’t necessarily admit it. In the end, we returned to Rome, getting there late, overnighted at the airport Hilton and the next day, enjoyed Easter with the family. Crazy to think this was already a month ago, but it was and the time flies towards being back “home” again, where I know I am supposed to be. ​

As always, I hope you have enjoyed my offerings each week and appreciate that you have read my blog posts and look forward to continuing with sharing. As always, thank you so much for your support of Rosa’s and my little world now that they have been merged into one. We truly appreciate your support and congratulations. Stay safe, healthy, and most importantly happy, and as always, your shared comments and thoughts are most welcome!!!