I had a great day at the pool on Tuesday mainly just being lazy, swimming a bit and reading a new book.
I started reading The Fault In Our Stars since this has become so popular and the movie is coming to the cinemas soon with Shailene Woodley. I love it so far although it’s a bit sad because of the part with the cancer and all but it’s also very funny and romantic. I have a feeling that the story will not have a happy end and I am really dreading to read it faster.
The hotel pool is lovely and the view is amazing but the water is a bit too cold, if you ask me, I needed several minutes to get into the water every time and I don’t understand why. The air temperature in the shades is 32 degrees Celsius during the day so the water should be warmer but it’s not.
I took a break from the pool in the early afternoon to visit the hotel gym. I did JELF week 11 arms & cardio on the treadmill.
I love this gym! It has everything I need for my workout and there is even a jacuzzi!
After another hour at the pool we got ready to go to the city center and the promenade, surprisingly it was closer than I expected. The hotel is up on the hill and going down to the main street was not a pretty sight, the street is dirty and run down but it got much nicer as soon as we crossed the main street.
I’ve read that driving a car here in Turkey is challenging because the traffic can be difficult but pedestrians have it tough here too. I was literally afraid to cross the street because of the fast cars and the side walk is not safer either due to all the scooters driving fast on the side walk. You have to constantly be super careful wherever you go!
There are lots of dogs and cats on the streets and some quite big and scary-looking but they seem harmless. I actually feel really sorry for them, poor animals.
We took a walk on the promenade and enjoyed the sunset. Fishermen were coming back from the sea and selling the fish they caught during the day. Now that’s what I call fresh fish!
We had a hard time finding a place for dinner, there are so many restaurants but I want to taste the local original cuisine and I am not sure how authentic these places are. Our travel book also advised to go where lots of people eat, especially if locals eat there, but it seemed to me that these restaurant on the promenade are tourist traps, I am sure that the restaurants where locals eat are far away from the tourist areas.
We eventually decided for the Cafe Bodrum and I had the Feslegenli Tavuk, chicken in a sauce with herbs served with rice and grilled tomato and mashed potatoes, and it was absolutely delicious!
We walked through the small narrow market streets close to the castle after dinner.
The people at the shops and restaurants can get quite pushy if you make eye contact. They try to convince you to buy at their store or eat at their restaurant and they are very persistent. We walked back to the hotel up the hill and enjoyed again the evening view to the city and to the sea before passing out from exhaustion.
Breakfast yesterday morning was amazing as usual. I tried the pide with potatoes and the scrambled eggs with tomatoes and paprika, both local specialties.
It is not advised to drink the water in Bodrum and it is also forbidden to bathe in the sea because of the waster water going back to the sea at this city.
The hotel has a private beach club 7 km away from the hotel and a shuttle takes hotel guests at 11 and 13 o’clock and brings them back at 14 and 18 o’clock. We took the 11 o’clock shuttle to the beach and stayed till the last shuttle picked us up and took us back to the hotel.
The private beach club is not exactly as private to Marmara guests as they claim. Other hotels are also sending their guests here and other people also came yesterday but it doesn’t get too crowded so it’s actually quite ok. I like the platforms over the water where we spent the day and it’s so easy to get into the sea to swim over the stairs.
The water was so clean and transparent and the temperature was pretty ok, actually even warmer than the hotel pool. There was a pleasant breeze during the day but the wind picked up after 16 o’clock and it got very strong around 17 o’clock.
I actually finished The Fault In Our Stars that afternoon, I just couldn’t put it down and it did not have the happy ending that I have hoped for but it also had a surprising little twist in the story. What is it with books and movies recently killing off important characters???
The drive back to the hotel was interesting to say the least. The hotel sent a small mini bus and they almost left 15 minutes earlier without us. There were only seats for 10 people and we were 11. I ended up sharing the front seat with my boyfriend for the entire ride with half of my behind on the seat and half on the door, otherwise we had to wait till they call for another shuttle and it would have taken too long. The driver was in a hurry so I had to hold myself all the time and be super careful when getting out of the car so that I don’t fall out.
I went to te hotel gym for shoulders & calves circuit training to finish JELF week 11 and we decided to try the hotel restaurant for dinner. It was pretty empty and we got a table with a gorgeous view to the city and sea.
We shared a mixed meze with various vegetables, it was delicious and I love the eggplant salad!
I had chicken breast medallions with saffron rice as a main course. It was good but nothing fancy.
The dessert was to die for! A cake with figs and dates in the middle surrounded by coconut milk, topped with vanilla ice cream and almond pieces.
Today we’re going to explore Bodrum after breakfast. Can’t wait! 😃
FitGeekGirl 