From Poverty to Riches.

Day 3.

We visited the Middle East Technical University in Ankara which is one of the best universities in Turkey. The architecture at this university, the Architecture department especially, was like a breath of fresh air compared to the highrise apartment blocks of Ankara.

We were guided around the architecture and engineering faculties by students there and got to talk with the professor of Urban Design Studio.

He taught us a lot about the urban plans that have taken shape through the course of Ankara's history.

However, the main highlight of this day was snow. Theres no denying it. As much as we liked the tour, the thing that messmerized us all and made us consumed briefly was peering out the window at the snow. It was soooooo beautiful, especially around such beautiful architecture.

Day 4-5.

We took an overnight bus from Ankara to Antalya prior. 

I had very low expectations. Sleeping on a bus, on bumpy turkish roads, in just a normal airline seat? Well you can understand my concerns. 

But i slept the whole way through! Then it was like going from poverty to riches because we arrived at a resort. This resort is massive!!!

7 a-la carte restaurants, 4500 sq.m of pools and 2 waterslides!!! It was like another world and the weirdest thing was, we weren't expected to do anything. No presentation, no listening to guest speakers, nothing. One of the rotarians even said, 'just go get wasted'.
Oh did i forget to mention this resort is 'ultra all inclusive'?

Yep. Alcohol, food, entertainment. All included in the booking.

But we did go to some seminars and im glad. They were really enjoyable. Plus the closing ceremony was a hoot. Turkish Rotarians are a blast. Our rotarians back home know how to put on a show but these guys have their culture to contend with as well. The Gala Dinner is also the only place that the organising club, Adana, could 'let their hair down'.

We weren't quite sure what this Gala Dinner would be so we wore normal dresses with heels but upon arrival we soon discovered a different dress code. The night laughed on with endless amounts of wine, raki (turkish drink) and, of course, the usual 4 course meal.
This is the night that we all first danced the Halay (Turkish dance holding hands in a circle).

The night ended naturally with soup in the restaurant at 3am. Turkish tradition.
The next morning was a struggle. Tequila tradition.

Day 6.

This is the day, we went to Antalya. After checking out of the resort, we thought we were leaving paradise, but we were heading towards it. Antalya is my favourite city so far.

This city has mountains with snow fields surrounding, beaches with forest parks and beautiful harbours filled with touristic sailing ships that give the feeling of being Keira Knightly in Pirates of the Caribbean.






But really, what is nice about this city, is the old town. Once again, like most of Turkey, it has a rich history. Abutting the cliffs is a fortified medieval walled city with three gates. This is just one of the gates:

There is something magical about these 'old cities'. Dubrovnik, Krakow, Ankara, Instanbul, Jerusalem, Toledo, Mont Saint Michel, Verona, Volterra (where the twilight movie was filmed)- some of the most famous walled old cities. The streets are small and intimate. The buildings are old and tell stories. The urban layout is natural and authentic.

And the best way to see these 'old cities'? A bike tour. These small streets are no place for cars and on a bike, you will fly through the sights and have time to stop and lay in the grass. Down falls to this theory however, can be hills and cobble stones. There is nothing you can do about the cobble stones except get good tyres but you can avoid the hills by doing an electric bike tour like we did. The best idea, i know!

We have E-bike Antalya to thank for our wonderful tour. So professional, so well organised, just the right amount of information and the rated third tourist activity in Antalya.


I did a bike tour through the old town of Krakow in 2013 so i knew this was going to be awesome. Lesson today kids:
Old cities + bikes = good times always.

Day 7.

We took a night bus to Kastamonu. 12 hours. I slept 8 of those and dwindled away the time with the rest. We arrived exhausted but excited to explore a new city again. Kastamonu is one of the smaller cities we've been to, population: 100,000, compared to Ankara (6,000,000) and Antalya (2,000,000).

Again, history. It has a castle. Standard.

combined with rock climbing.

But the architecture is different here to what we have seen. It is more traditional turkish. Kastamonu is full of these 'old houses' which are very much like Tudor architectural style. Large internal timber architraves, timber ceiling and ceiling rose with chandelier. Walls are painted white inside and out, with the exterior left plain, only sometimes broken up by timber ribbons.

Day 8

We had the most amazing breakfast with the Kastamonu Rotary Club in a family old home on their farm that is also a restaurant, but it just felt liking eating at someones house.

We had a tour of the farm where they grow crops, have cows and also a big timber work shop.

We drove to a small village near the farm to visit a very old mosque there. This mosque was built in 1366 without the use of any nails.

      

We went to visit an old house that has been made into a hotel with horses, mountain bike riding, farm animals and hamam baths. This hotel was so nice and secluded, i would definitely stay here and ride horses or mountain bikes every day. I could deal with that i guess.

We then visited the Kastamonu clock tower. I made friends with a kitten and really didnt want to leave. The guys had some fun on some play equipment also.