We woke up around 9:30am yesterday (notice a trend?) and ventured out to the lobby for free breakfast. Sadly no rooftop terrace this time around, so we menacingly threatened to leave the empty hotel. In the end, however, we were won over by eggs, bread, olives, cheese, and coffee.
Feeling a bit lazy, we bummed around the hotel lobby for a while. Mike went to take a shower, and the womenfolk said they would be back to the room in a few minutes…which turned into an hour as they watched yet another episode of Real Housewives of Orange County. Mike was devastated that they watched an episode without him and did not speak to them for the rest of the day. At least he had these guys for company:
The Backyard of Our Hotel. Yes, Lambs.
Hanna cut Mike’s hair while we were visiting some friendly old bums on the Sunshine Coast a few weeks ago. We have scissors which we will lose when we don’t check our bags from Greece to Italy in a few weeks, so she wanted to give a little follow-up cut before his hair awkwardly starts growing in more:
The Hippest Salon in Pamukkale: Our Hotel Balcony.
Mike really doesn’t care what his hair looks like, but Hanna obviously is a total snob who refuses to be seen with a husband who doesn’t have perfect hair. Unfortunately for the both of us, Hanna‘s, uh, skills aren’t the greatest, so there are definitely some awkward snips in there.
We figured we couldn’t laze about the hotel all day long, so we headed out to explore the small town. The hot springs of Pamukkale are ensconced in travertine-laden hills (simple speak: a big, chalky-looking hillside with small thermal pools), and we were looking forward to taking a dip in the pools as all the tourist posters showed. Turkey tourism has led us on because you cannot swim in the natural pools overlooking the town; you can only swim in one bathhouse on top of the cliff. We decided not to spend US $30 each for this not-as-exciting experience and instead watched an amorous mallard have his way with a young, good-lucking duck in the lake at the bottom of the hillside.
The Calcium Carbonate-Covered Hillside Looks Like a Ski Slope.
Bonnie Tells Us That We Basically Have the Same Picture in Each Place. We Actually Aren’t Traveling the World; We’re Just in Front of a Green Screen.
Being out for a few hours was waaaaaaaaay too much for our lazy bums, so we headed back to the hotel when thunder crashed. It rained for a bit, but then the sun came out as it continued to thunder. Bizarre.
Yes, we’re in Turkey and should be out and about exploring, but sometimes it’s nice just to have a lazy day, especially when a friend visits. Back in New York, Bonnie comes over to our apartment to watch trashy reality TV all the time, so today was a good reminder of what we’re missing.
Around the World in Eighty Liters 