CESME TURKEY

 We visited this town CESME in Turkey a few months ago.....it's a beautiful coastal town with lots of hotels, restaurants, beaches, yachts and whatever a resort town can offer. It's a very popular holiday resort and during the summer season the population swells to more then ten times the population.

The name "CESME" means fountain in Persian.....and maybe that's' why the city has numerous Ottoman fountains scattered around the town.

I love this place ever since I first saw it about 25 years ago and went to visit my husband's family.......which live in Izmir about 85 KM. away.....I still get confused with this metric system. :-(

This place has lots to offer.....there is a whole shopping area geared to tourists of course...I usually have to go with my husband or sister in law so when I see something I touch and they ask the price. Reason being is that when they see me (which they always do) that I'm a tourist, they really hike the price up. But with my dark hair sometimes they just greet me in Turkish and talk away thinking I'm one of them....so maybe I should put my camera away and not hang it around my neck.....giving my identity away.

The Genoese Fortress whose dramatic walls dominate the town centre.........was built in 1508.
It was built to defend the coast from attacks from pirates.

It is now a museum and you can go and walk around inside.....up and down stairs being very careful with lots of arches, and through towers offering exhibits on all sorts of subjects related to the Fortress and mostly  about the area's naval history.

 Beautiful coast line.......with gorgeous BLUES.

 Lovely BLUE skies.....and BLUE Aegean Sea.

 A lonely sailboat....in season you will see dozens of sailboats and yachts in the waters.

A cute cafe.....another Turkish coffee place .

 We had some Turkish tea and coffee here with yummy sweet treats.....after a tiring trip coming from Izmir. It was an extremely hot day and we managed to stop in a few places to look around in the heat and get refreshments. Then before we actually came here we visited y Husbands' childhood friend in his office who has some fishing business...... this area is very popular for fisherman with lots of fish restaurants with the most fresh fish you can get....

 Pretty BLUE window shutters with flowers..........

 The Fortress.....

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 Thank you for stopping by!!!!

Linking to smilingsallyblogspot.com for BLUE MONDAY.

Linking to;  http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

ROME, Hotel Tour.

This is my Hotel Tour while we were in Rome about a month ago.......where my husband and daughter and I stayed.. we had been in Paris, Izmir and Istanbul for over a month and this was our last stop before heading home. This was actually our 25th wedding anniversary gift and also for my daughter for graduating University.

Who would have thought that 25 years had passed.....my husband and I met and got married in 2 months. Most of my friends thought this wouldn't last but it did. 

We had never been in Rome before so a Travel Agent found a hotel for us but when I googled the streets it kind of looked very quiet.....and coming back to the Hotel in the evenings I wasn't sure if safe or not. On the images it looked quite dead. So...every morning I would get up early and start googling Hotels.....and there in The Piazza della Rotunda was the Pantheon and I knew that Raphael was buried there and he is one of my most favourite artists so I chose this Hotel. Sounds weird but hey life is short to be to serious.

Soon as we got to the Hotel from the airport and being extremely tired for we were in Istanbul for a week, visiting and touring....we dropped our suitcases and headed out the door to the Pantheon.....which was always a dream to visit.....it was amazing and more fabulous then I envisioned it to be and was very big in size. But so crowded, didn't matter for I went inside a few times and got to see more each time.

This Hotel Albergo del Senato was absolutely fabulous where we stayed, small but luxurious and the service was amazing. The Piazza in front was amazingly busy with huge crowds daily and quite noisy....with tourists and photo snapping..... .all over the Piazza. lots of cafes in front and around the lil' winding streets. 

 Marble staircase.....gorgeous red colour carpet.

  BLUE Balloons....for Monday Blues.

 A group of people with the balloons I guess so they will stay together........when they were inside the Pantheon they were doing cheers  which was forbidden. Reason being is that you are supposed to be silent inside being a sacred place...the announcer kept telling them to please be silent...but they kept cheering. Some people have no respect...I'm sure they understood the language as he said it in  a few languages to make sure everyone understood.

 The Hotel.....

 Sitting in front of the Hotel admiring the view of The Pantheon. This was still early so it wasn't too crowded.

 The Pantheon Fountain and Egyptian Obelisk.

 Rainy morning before 7am.....no tourists yet.

 Drinks at the Hotel....

 Lobby.

  Breakfast area....service and food were great.

 Big washroom for the size of the hotel room itself.

 Three beds....for my husband, daughter and I..... mattress was comfy.

 Hallways.

 Outside our Hotel window with The Pantheon to the right....not sure what that lil' doggy house is there on the roof which this would be the 3rd floor. This building is from the 1700's I was told.

 Shrubs growing on top of building.....from the 1700's. Not sure if anyone lives there or not..... looked abandoned.

 Refreshment center.....

 Outside the window in our hotel room.

My husband taking a nap.


Tanks for stopping by for my Hotel Tour....and hope you enjoyed it... :-)

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