VisionInBlue

September 16th

Got up around about 7.30 and pondered going for breakfast. Not a great selection, and of course no bacon so I don’t know how Dad is going to cope.

Wandered about on their “beach”, as most of the coast on this section is rocks they have set up a decking wharf with a roped off swimming area. I might even go in the sea because of it. [Might!] Its got some fishes in it. [Little harmless ones not big chomping ones… I checked!]

Watched the Easy Cruise boat sail away into the distance with a nice funnel of grey fumes as it went. It must have rained heavily in the night as everything is soaking. [This was discovered after I sat down] We’re positioned perfectly for the pool, about 15ft. 20 from the beach. We could do with being closer to the bar as I’m about 50 foot from that. 50 foot from the waterslides but I don’t think I need to go on them.

Pool is lovely, cold but lovely. The spa looks good but it only opens at 9am… so much for getting a workout in before breakfast. They do have a chocolate massage which I think I should do just to say I have but I don’t think I can condone such a waste of chocolate.

I think I’ll be eating lunch in the snack area most days. They have a “Turkish pizza” station which is like a quesadilla. It was yummy so that’s the plan from now on.

We had our rep meeting but he doesn’t seem to know about the hotel. The brochure says there are two a la carte restaurants but we’ve all only found one. He went through describing where they were and kept getting them wrong. We met a lot of English people at the meeting and they have had the same dubious experience with the staff.

When you get in to the restaurant here it’s a bit daunting, its enormous and you just don’t know where to go. There were no staff to help you out. It took us two days to work out there were things being cooked outside. Mum and Dad think its just the difference between long and short haul all inclusive, the whole fend for yourself mentality, but I’m been all inclusive in Europe several times and that’s not the case. Menorca, Lanzarote & Kos [which is only a boat shuttle away] are all well organised and efficient.

As a note, if you’re from England I wouldn’t come here if you’re easily offended. English in general are few and far between as we’re only just discovering Turkey properly. We are some what of a novelty to the staff here and as such they are prone to making a joke at our expense. So far I’ve heard the following at least a dozen times when it is discovered we are English. “I’m from… Yorkshire/Halifax/Manchester/Scotland” in the related regional accent… but badly. “What? I’m alright” in an aggressive teenage manner. “Cheap as chips” and “I should work in Asda”, that last one didn’t have the accompanying back pocket slapping so they haven’t got that one right yet. I went to the bar and there were three members of staff there. I was chatting to two of them and the one in the back asked where I was from and the bar man I’d spoken to told him. The response was “English, of course” in a really offensive way. I’m afraid it doesn’t matter how wonderful the weather is it doesn’t make up for rude staff.

Bizarrely I’ve only seen two female regular staff so far, one chef and one doing the bar in reception. There don’t seem to be many front of house female staff. So all the bars and restaurants have turned into a bit of a lads thing. The only staff to make a good impression on me so far we’re the bellboy, one of the maids and Marco from the spa… although Marco did use the line “I’m from Halifax” and “Cheap as chips”.

Its next to impossible to get an alcoholic drink at the bar, I’m alright I’m just having soft drinks. There’s no Bacardi or rum of any description. No scotch either and you can’t get fruit juices.

Dinner tonight was brilliant, some lovely fish and chicken. Plus profiteroles for dessert.

Back at the bar we met up with a couple who were on our flight. They’re a good laugh so should make things more tolerable. We were all reliving holidays from years gone by. [I left out all the incrimination bits]

I’m behind in my reading, I’ve been here more than a day and still haven’t finished a book! I might get some reading in tomorrow, I’ve planned my day. Breakfast, gym, lunch, pool. Of course there will be other bits in between but that’s the basics of it. Typical English but I already have some pink bits. I wouldn’t mind but they’re the bits I put more lotion on as I know they go pink. I’ve also been told my legs are too white so I’m going to have to lay with my feet in the sun. I was going to “general” tan during the first week but I’ve discovered that my back will be nice and even but the front already has a halter neck tan line, thin strapped swimmers tomorrow!

September 15th

So this morning I got myself out of bed at 3.30. Surprisingly I was awake! All that needed doing was lugging my case downstairs and washing up a couple of bits. Then of course my own paranoid checking of my hand luggage… did I have everything? iPod, camera, phone & purse? It’s just as well Mum was looking after my passport & ticket or I might have lost my mind.

Taxi driver turned up at 4.30 and we all piled in. Instead of heading straight to the A23 we got treated to a back road extravaganza. This wouldn’t have been a problem but it was pitch black out, he didn’t seem to know how a break pedal works and he didn’t seem bothered by the bend with the duck pond right on the edge.

We almost had heart failure getting out luggage to check in. [I don’t remember there being a giant slope to get to it before] Dad and I attempted to get to the top in a tag team style effort. Being one of the first check in’s of the day has its advantages. We joined the taped up section to wait and we were first in the queue. My bag was even lighter than I originally thought [somehow]! The scales at the desk clocked it at under 16kg… hmmm? Something fishy. I’m hoping this means my scales weigh things to heavy because then that’s good for me!

Passport control next. Anything liquid or paste in a bag on their own. Everyone then queued up for the x-ray machines. No taking out shoes of this time… thank god. Is it just me or do those roller table things that whoosh your bags on and off the machine really entertain anyone else too? No? Just me then!

At this point I was entitled to my free “thrill” as I went through the metal detector and beeped. Thank you to the very nice lady for that.

We stopped for breakfast [toast and OJ for me] before getting down to the shopping. I just brought a J Lo perfume in the end, mainly because it had a really pretty bottle. [It did smell good too] Dad took my allowance of cigarettes so he had 400 in all, I can’t wait to see how long they last. I managed to convince Mum not to get an iPod in the airport. They are cheaper but she might as well wait. [As an aside, I’m a bit annoyed as I brought an 80GB Classic and they have now stopped doing them as they’ve brought out a 120GB that’s only £20 more, isn’t it always the way!] I don’t see why Mum wants one, she doesn’t go anywhere apart from her computer and Tesco when we’re not on holiday so there’s not really much point in having one. Ahhh well.

Boarding was called and as ever the instant the board changed everyone made a dash for it. It wont make you get on the plane any quicker people! Even though its September 15th there are still a few kids about, surely they should be in school. Which reminds me, I saw the best luggage ever. It’s for kids and it’s designed like animals. I saw a pig and a cow, they have wheels so you can drag it round like a pet on a lead. Even better though if you get bored of that it doubles as a seat so Mum and Dad can drag you along on it. When are they making adult versions?

They had one of those book vending machines in the boarding area. I resisted the urge to use it, which was impressive as they actually had a book I wanted.

I made an observation when we got on the plane. The last few years we’ve travelled with Virgin and there’s a good amount of space per seat. We’re flying with Thomas Cook this time and the only plane smaller than this I’ve flown in was a 12 seater… and I still had more room! I’m 5’9 ish and I sat in the seat and wasn’t comfortable. My knees are touching the seat in front so every time the woman moved it brings tears to my eyes. At this point my bum is wedged in but the sides of my legs are being gouged by arm rests. [I am at the moment hunched to write this as the tray comes firmly down in my stomach] I’m having this trouble I dread to think how Dad is at 6’5. I did notice that he had a nap earlier and was resting his head on the seat in front as it was more comfortable. [But only slightly]

We passed over some mountains, I took a few snaps but you know what airplane windows are like so we’ll have to wait and see. I couldn’t reach the camera in time to get the ones with lots of snow on but they still looked good. Looks like we’re over sea at the moment. Nothing much to snap there. We’ve just had breakfast and everyone was contorted to cut their good. Omelette, sausage, hash brown and a tomato mush. I always quite like plane food, unless you go business on BMI, that’s rubbish. On the way back it’ll be lunch food though and I’m not enjoying the thought of curly sandwiches.

I’ve got some land in view at the moment, we don’t have any clue what the islands are at all! It would be a lot easier if they were coloured like the maps in the atlas. Where ever it is its got wonderful beaches. The sea is such a beautiful colour up here. I can see at least seven different shades of clue and green. As a contrast we are now in a cloud where everything is white.

Film has just finished. It was Iron Man, didn’t bother with the headphones, airlines now are getting greedy. Headphones were £2.75, chocolate bars were £1 and meals were optional when you brought your ticket but you could buy a snack pack for £3. I can’t imagine what they’ll charge for next. Maybe turnstile toilets like they have at Victoria Station.

The temperature is 33 degrees we were told, and its wonderful… we weren’t told that bit but I think it is! It was an hours shuttle to the hotel, there was so much to see on the way you couldn’t take it all in.

There are quite a few people here, the pool is packed. The guy at reception was a bit off, and more or less threw the form to fill out at me. The bellboy [I never like that phrase is seems a bit childish] showed us to our rooms. Mine is over the hall from Mum & Dad’s, I’ve got a view of the tennis court. The lad showed me how to work everything, he made a few jokes and was a bit cheeky so that cheered me up. Nipped to the bar for a quick drink and then a wander around. Looks like a nice hotel but they aren’t very organised. The welcome brochure is an A4 bit of paper. Everywhere we’ve been, including self catering places have a map at least. On this paper is a list of things about the hotel. Here are just a couple that amused me.

“Fitness free or charge [no problem with this one]
Sauna free of charge [or this]
Mattress free of charge” [….hmm]

Now this actually means one that goes on a sun lounger but it made me laugh! There’s the lobby bar that’s open 24hrs just in case we hadn’t milked the all inclusive enough during the day. You have ice cream hour [16.00 to 17.00] which is also coffee & cake hour. There’s snack hour from 12.00 to 15.00 [yes snack hour is three hours long].

So until we see our rep tomorrow we have to guess where everything is. I’m now looking at my suitcase thinking “but I only just packed it!” Oh well.

I know I shouldn’t be negative but it’s difficult. European [I know Turkey isn’t technically part of Europe yet but near enough] all inclusives just aren’t as good as their long haul counterparts. I’ll come back to that later.

I had a bit of a nap earlier and relaxed with my puzzles and iPod. Then I realised it was getting on a bit so quickly showered. As it turns out Mum and Dad weren’t ready so my book and I headed to the bar. Evidently having boobs instantly attracts waiters like flies. After a little while one came over with a drink for me from one of the bar man which made me smile [yes I know they do that to all the women but I can still have a smile about it!] It was Turkish theme night tonight. There was a show but to be honest I’m so tired I’ll catch it next week. They also had some stalls where I brought a ring [a girl can never have too much jewellery!] Dinner was okay, a little bit disappointing, hopefully tomorrow will be better.