We Found Paradise

This morning we were invited to

Our place in the light.

breakfast at the other pension that is owed by the same guy as our place.  We all jumped on our townie bikes and headed toward the beach.  As we road down the single lane sidestreet with no one around we all thought, wow, where is everyone?  We made it to the other place and it was a quaint, open air, Turkish style restaurant and our new host Ramazan pops up with a big grin and welcomes us to his place.  We've sure met some kind and inviting hosts since in Turkey.

We had a great breakfast and then headed to the market for groceries.  On our way we ran into a farmer who stopped on the side of the road to sell produce.  Shannon and I jumped in pretty quick and started grabbing bags of fruit and veggies and ended up filling two bike baskets.  Man, was that great service and luck on our part to find beautiful fresh stuff right from the source.  We hit the market for the last few things we needed and then back to the place to get ready for the beach!

Citrus orchards everywhere.

The beach shelters with Olympos ruins in the background.

Back down on the bikes and we’re looking at 4 km of beach with a few hundred people on it, sure a difference from the beaches in Croatia and Italy!  We got to use the shelters from the pension and as we sat back, looking at the azure blue water, I was thinking, I think this is paradise!  We took a dip in the water and it is the warmest sea water I think I've ever been in.  It was refreshing but almost too warm if you believe that.   The other cool thing is everyone has figured out how to float in the water, you just take a deep breath and you can keep yourself floating right on the top of the ocean.  As I floated around in the waves I looked up to see all the girls doing the same, what a crazy feeling, not having to paddle at all.

My other new hobby at the beach

The pedal down the road to the beach.

is long distance swimming!  Since you float so much it really doesn't take a lot of energy to swim the length of the beach.  It’s actually quite relaxing as you bob along in the water and get a bit of exercise at the same time.  You also see lots of fish and things underwater but I'm still hoping to see a sea turtle one of these days.

We eventually headed back to our cabin after dragging Alyssa out of the water, she’s a total fish these days!  Was it ever nice to cook our own meal, Alyssa has been craving chicken, mashed potatoes and corn, so that’s exactly what we had.  We got to sit out on our deck, sipping a beer and having this great home cooked meal.  Simple things in life are always the best!