ahhhhhlanya

we arrived late monday night to serhat & beril's beautiful home in alanya.  this is one shot of this amazing place (that's serhat).  serhat's family runs the rubi hotel, which is about 1 km from the house.  they spend the summer living & working here, and then return to ankara for the winter months.

tuesday morning ben & i awoke to the housekeeper and beril's sister preparing us breakfast.  all of the cuisine they prepared was typical of the black sea region of turkey... and of course it received my stamp of approval.
we ate on the back patio overlooking the med.  hard to believe this is their everyday life!  here's beril's sister, berat & her friend merve.

after breakfast we all put on our swimsuits & headed to the rubi for a day at the beach.  before jumping in, we took the elevator to the top of the hotel to pay a visit (and wish a happy bayram) to serhat's parents.  their home is on the roof of the hotel, overlooking paradise!

we spent a good part of the day swimming & then retired to the beach bar.  another important part of life in alanya (besides the food & beautiful scenery) is tavla & efes beer.  ben let me win one out of three games...  such a gentleman!