January, 2022

Welcome to Turkiye?

No, that is not a typo, we are now in the country of Turkey after finally getting back on our “Travel Younger” road in October, starting with Croatia. But first, about that new spelling of the country of Turkey, “Turkiye,” which was announced in December 2021, by their president Erdogan. Their official statement says, this new spelling “represents and expresses the culture, civilization and values of the Turkish nation in the best way,” and on top of that they confess it has something to do with our favorite American Thanksgiving dinner, the bird of turkey. Regardless, I think it’s cool and now they can honor their culture with less teasing.

So, going back in our time machine… in our last posting, Kathleen and I were just getting ready to meet in Newark, NJ, and head to Croatia, which we did, on October 2. Our trip was surprisingly effortless, COVID and restrictions notwithstanding, and when we landed in Split Croatia and saw NO ONE wearing masks we let out a silent (maybe audible…) yay! After South America and Dubai, the restrictions in Croatia were lax and no one, even law enforcement, wore masks. And they had a VERY low incidence of COVID, so, go figure. Aside from some grocery stores and surprisingly, shoe stores, no one made an issue of masks.

We had a 3-day AirBNB stay in a small town outside Split, Kastel Stari, and it felt like home since we had spent quite a bit of time there two years ago, pre-COVID, and we loved it. The town was familiar, we had some friends, and it truly felt good to be “somewhere else” again. We weren’t sure exactly how much time we wanted to stay there, but ended up staying for eight weeks in two different locations in Split town, including one RIGHT ON the water front. A lesson we learned a while ago, and are teaching you, is that if you have the chance to travel OFF SEASON, do it. The downside is, less businesses and restaurants are open, but the upside is that lodging is really affordable. We ended up paying $800 USD for a one bedroom that had been totally remodeled just a few years ago. To walk down the stairs and have the ocean/ marina/ coffee shops right there made it all the more special. We knew when we got there that we only had 90 days and our next stop had to be somewhere WARM, if possible.

That was a conversation that went on for several weeks and options included Greece, the islands of Crete and Malta, and the island of Sicily, where we stayed exactly two years ago. We analyzed weather charts and dissected COVID travel restrictions since along with our next stay we also wanted a quick visit to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, so we wanted to be proximate to those countries, too.

We considered Asia for about 5 minutes and then I expanded our conversation to a country we thought about several times in the past: Turkey. Since we wanted warm, and it was further south, we thought it would fit the bill. We wanted water/ ocean close and with 2000 miles of coastline, that would be easy. And we wanted something affordable. I looked at the map and on the southern coast encountered the town of Antalya, which I had not heard of. The winter temperature forecast worked and when I looked at the pictures and saw the beauty of the area, I was drawn in. But the clincher was seeing the picture of (right) Duden Falls, a waterfall that flows into the Mediterranean Ocean. DONE DEAL!

We found an AirBNB for about $450 for a month (yes, really) and booked our flight via Munich, and arrived on December 5 in the evening. Our host met us at the airport, which is always nice, and the next morning started exploring, all the while exclaiming, WOW, WOW, WOW all day. It was/ is majestic with magnificent cliffs and beautiful water. We were awed when we had two coffees and some food, and the bill was about $5 and change. We visited the grocery store and had several more WOWS in there due to the affordability of their groceries. It seems that their Turkish Lira had really been hit and our US dollars went quite far.

And it still does.

We ended up leaving that initial room and stayed at a hotel/ apartment for the first 30 days. For $600 USD. It had a great location and we quickly decided to apply for residency which would allow us to stay beyond the normal 90-day limit. The process was initially intimidating but ended up being easier than getting a driver’s license renewed in California. We are now awaiting the results, but since they verify nothing, don’t do background checks or anything “official,” it’s pretty much a rubber stamp process. Sweet!

We recently moved to our second location, another apartment/ hotel, and we plan to be here till the end of May. We have almost a full apartment in the center of Old Town, and just a 5-minute walk to anything and everything we want. The owners are Dutch, speak English, so we communicate quite easily, and they are the nicest people in the world. But the decisive factor is the rooftop balcony which is huge and has a full-on water and cliff view. There is an enclosure where they serve breakfast if we want (for all of $3.50), which is a gourmet spread, all the while absorbing that amazing view. Do I sound like I’m sold on Turkiye?

Yes, I am sold on Turkiye. And I invite you to be sold on it, too.

The new year is here, welcome to 2022, and the world is not quite “normal” yet, especially with travel. We are dealing with it as best we can, and hope you are, too. This new COVID strain, the Omicron, certainly put a damper on holiday travel and aside from a scheduled visit to the US, we’re staying here for now. The country of Turkiye is HUGE and there is lots to see here, much of it close, along the western coast, where we are. The winter (so far) has been a bit rainy and a bit chilly, but manageable, and very similar to Orange County, CA, where I spent 40 years. They say by March you can swim in the ocean (!) and we have plans to get a motorcycle in March, so that will be part of my next posting. Meanwhile stay safe, healthy, and if you have any questions or comments, I’m just a call or e-mail away.

Norm

asknormb@gmail.com

+1.949.495.6162 (WhatsApp)