Hi everyone, I hope you missed me as much as I missed you all, it was very strange not being on the internet for a week!!!!

Here are our holiday pics from Alanya. As you can see, the sun was shining, the mediterranean was gorgeous (and yes I did swim in it)

http://www.blueted.net/turkey/

There is heaps more to tell you all, but I am about to dash off to work, back to reality

I need lots of support to get back on track, I ate, drank and had a lovely time, but I have had a slight (and deserved) gain, and need to get back into normal mode!!!

WOW! What breathtaking photos! Sure looks like you had a good time. Can't wait to hear about it.

~Dee

Wow those pictures are awesome! I love to hear about everyone's travels, so you will have to fill us in!

welcome back. Beautiful pics. Can't wait to hear about your trip.

Welcome back, Kylie. Sounds as though you had a good time. Great photos too.

I absolutely love Turkey, and have been there quite a few times--never to Alanya though. I was always a sucker for their tost (their equivalent of toasted sarnies) and cheap pistachios, so usually had a wee gain too.

I'm betting the weather in Lancs at this time of year is less than summery, so that should serve as a reminder that you're no longer on holiday! I'm sure you'll be back into the swing of things in no time.

awesome trip :-)! Thanks for sharing the pics, and welcome back! Never been to Turkey, but the boss recently took a cruise that included ports of call there. He brought me back some Turkish delight and a scarf.

Looking forward to hearing a report.

Welcome back Kylie - Turkey looks lovely!

Don't worry about the weight gain - I'd expect nothing less from a holiday!

Love Amanda x

That looks absolutely beautiful!! I am green with envy!!!! Come back with more details!!!

What gorgeous pictures! I am so jealous! I would love to go on vacation!

Wow, those are some beautiful pictures! Sounds like you had some fun! I am jealous too, my "vacations" only include going to Seattle for the weekend..

-Aimee

Welcome back, wanderer. What wonderful photos! Can't wait to hear more about your vacation.

Alanya is a very pretty town on the Mediterranean coast. I swum in the sea a couple of times, and even tried snorkelling (but I got confused and used it as a straw a couple of times............blechhhhhhhhh!!!!)

Our hotel was 3 minutes (across a very busy road with rather interesting drivers who possess no respect for road rules, much less pedestrians - now there's a way to come back slimmer from holiday Amanda!) from the beach.

We had a lovely pool at our hotel, which I used every day. I really enjoyed swimming whenever I felt like it. Who knows how much I would have gained without the pool!!!

The best thing is, we made friends!!! Col and I don't have a lot of friends, and we met a couple who want to keep in touch, and we're making plans to return to Turkey next year, all six of us,the couple and their two teenage boys.

The history of Alanya is really interesting, it used to be Christian, but now is mainly Islamic (the call to prayer woke me every morning at 5 am - I really miss it, I got quite accumstomed to the sound) and there are some interesting ruins. We walked around an old castle (where the good views were taken from)

I loved the food - baklava, the bread (oh the bread) the doner kebabs, it was fabulous!!! No trouble reaching the five-a-day, lots of gorgeous veggies everywhere!!! (didn't eat any chicken though...)

We went to a traditional Turkish night, and watched belly dancers, snake dancers and danced some traditional Turkish dances. I thought belly dancers were meant to own bellies and hips, these girls looked skinnier than a barbie doll in a bikini!!!

Boy the weather has been a shock coming back, I am sitting here wrapped in a turkish pashmina watching my tan fade away!!!!

Oh, wow - what a cool adventure. A friend from davesgarden.com lives in Turkey; she's in Bodrum. Loved hearing about your trip!

Welcome back Kylie!! Wow, what a trip, and the pics are fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing them. I love that you made some friends, what a wonderful vacation.

Beverly

I'd love to go snorkling! sounds fantastic! (I think a bunch of those cab drivers must have come to NY!!)

Now I'm getting really jealous. ha. I'd LOVE to see the Blue Mosque. I have this terrific travel book that deals mostly with Eastern Turkey (I can't find it, I'll dig it out and send you the title). Recently we watched a public tv show about the Roman ruins lost due to the construction of a giant dam http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zeugma/site_05.html Really a tragedy.

Luckily we have a couple of great kabab places close to us. I love hummus, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, all that good stuff.

Guess that's probably more than you wanted to know from me!

Glad you had such a good time, thanks for sharing it!