I have been having a bit of a rant in recent posts so I thought I would chill my posts out a bit and post on something a bit less intense. What better than - holidays! ( Ok vacations if you are a US reader!)For the last hmmm ten years or so Italy has been my holiday destination but this year I think we are fairly much decided to branch out and try somewhere new - and Turkey seems to be the choice for our holidays this year.
I can't speak a word of Turkish of course but as I always like to learn a little of the language I will no doubt be trying to get hold of a phrasebook.
One thing that interests me about Turkey is that although it's a Muslim country they seem to have found a way of accommodating this to a more relaxed modern approach.
We have been looking at holidays in the Marmaris region and a colleague friend at work it turns out has taken his holidays there regularly for the past few years so he has sent some links;
Sayer Apt Hotel which he reckons is not bad value and also some links for cheap flights.
It's about a 90 min to two hours transfer I gather form the Dalaman airport to Marmaris and a private transfer is around £90 - which I think is for both arriving and leaving. ( Must check!)
So that's the holiday planning starting - I say planning loosely because it's not unknown for me to just end up going for last minute flights and deals.
And the Dreams? Well looking at some of those stunning pictures of Turkey got me doing my usual "Where would I retire to if I won the lottery" daydreaming. So a quick surf for property in Turkey and I came up with Spotblue an English language Turkish Property website.
I can't speak a word of Turkish of course but as I always like to learn a little of the language I will no doubt be trying to get hold of a phrasebook.
One thing that interests me about Turkey is that although it's a Muslim country they seem to have found a way of accommodating this to a more relaxed modern approach.
We have been looking at holidays in the Marmaris region and a colleague friend at work it turns out has taken his holidays there regularly for the past few years so he has sent some links;
Sayer Apt Hotel which he reckons is not bad value and also some links for cheap flights.
It's about a 90 min to two hours transfer I gather form the Dalaman airport to Marmaris and a private transfer is around £90 - which I think is for both arriving and leaving. ( Must check!)
So that's the holiday planning starting - I say planning loosely because it's not unknown for me to just end up going for last minute flights and deals.
And the Dreams? Well looking at some of those stunning pictures of Turkey got me doing my usual "Where would I retire to if I won the lottery" daydreaming. So a quick surf for property in Turkey and I came up with Spotblue an English language Turkish Property website.
I was surprised at the property prices in Turkey as I thought they would be way more costly. The prices for buying Turkish holiday property in Marmaris when I checked ranged from as low as around £60,000 all the way up.
One thing I spotted on this Turkey property site that I hadn't seen referred to on the holiday sites was the suggestion that when visiting Turkey you have to purchase a Tourist Visa when you get there and, most importantly that you have to have more than 90 days on your passport. This is on their page that has information about flying out to look at Turkish properties. Better check mine.
So we'll hopefully get out to Turkey this year on holiday and who knows, if my lottery ticket comes up, maybe Turkey might be another on the list of places to look at for buying a holiday home abroad. Oh well, a boy can dream.
Which reminds me that I have been planning to post some past holiday pics here for a long time so I will need to do this soon.
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7 comments:
So what do you call holidays then? I'm talking about days like New Years and Saint Patrick's day.
We would call them public holidays or bank holidays. We wouls use the phrase "going on my holidays" to refer to a holiday of a longer duration, say a weeks holiday or a fortnight.
Most people take a couple of weeks holidays during the summer. You would I think refer to this as your vacation?
Two peoples separated by the same language eh?
I have to fill out time cards that have distinct "holiday" and "vacation" columns. Usually I get scolded for getting it wrong.
An assignment was given to me to arrange a week or so vacation plan for 12 to 14 in somewhere like Italy, but Turkey might be good also. Your vacation blogging will be of great interest.
I visited Turkey ten years ago and had a grand time. As I am wont to, I like to meet people more than see the sites and got a lot of opportunities to. I found them warm, hospitable and totally comfortable with foreigners. Many went out of their way to make me comfortable and to see that I had an enjoyable time. They were particularly interested in knowing a lot about India and would not rest till I answered many inconvenient questions.
Another friend of mine went there last year and came back with a very different take. Apparently, a lot has changed and there is more overt Islamic identities/behaviour than he had experienced during his earlier visits a few years ago.
Looney, it may depend what kind of holiday your group are looking for. I could certainly give you some views on a few places in Italy.
Rum, Yes I have kept up a little with the politics in Turkey. Tourists have occasionally been targeted in Turkey by the PKK if I recall right and the current gov is from an Islamic influenced party is it not? Even with that I think turkey is one of the better examples of an Islamic influenced State.
It looks like this is the year to visit Turkey. Cheaper holidays and great places
When you go to Turkey usually you have to pay for the visa when you get there. Around $10 is the usual amount.
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