When in Rome / Wenn in Rom

During the first semester of my German class, whenever there was a sentence in an exercise that included going somewhere on a trip, inevitably it seemed to be about going to Turkey:
Wir fahren in die Türkei.
Wir sind in die Türkei gefahren.
Fährst du in die Türkei mit ihm?

For Austrians, going to Turkey is like going to the Caribbean for Americans. It’s exotic and warm and fun. And so when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Or, in this case, we’re doing as the Austrians do, and going to Turkey!

Antalya, Turkey, is only a two and a half hour flight from Salzburg. In February, the temperatures are in the 60s during the day and in the 40s or 50s at night. While not hot, it’s incredibly warmer than Salzburg (or New Jersey) at this time of the year. And, Antalya is part of the Turkish southern coast known as the Turkish Riviera, and so there is water and sand galore. The last family in the Program went to Turkey, as did the family before that, and so we are carrying on a tradition of sorts.

After a lot of Internet research, I decided the Limak Lara Resort would be the best place for us. As most resorts in Turkey are, it is all-inclusive, which means that the flight, the hotel, and all meals and all drinks (all day and night) are included in the price. It is also located on the beach, has an indoor pool (important if it’s too cold for the outdoor pools), tennis, mini-golf, and bowling. Perhaps, most important, on Trip Advisor, it had really good reviews. I tend to avoid looking at Trip Advisor, but it kept popping up for the Turkish hotels, and so I got hooked.

I have to admit that I worried about the choice off and on. Unlike the Caribbean, Turkey is cheap. I mean really cheap. I wondered if it was really possible that we could be staying at the same place people reviewed on the Internet. I wondered if we’d really be able to eat the food or if there really would be water in the pool or if the beach would be covered with garbage or sewage. I wondered if we really could be paying what we were paying and come back alive. It seemed too good to be true.

But we are here for a week, after a terrific flight on the Turkish airline Sun Express that served a meal and drinks FOR FREE, and it still seems too good to be true! The Limak Lara is an amazing hotel, even better than I would have hoped for from the reviews. The food is incredible. The beach is terrific. The pool is great. The temperature is warm. And…..more will come in future blogs while we are here, sharing more about our Turkish holiday. So far, die Türkei is terrific!