The start of the summer season in Turkey is always a lot of fun for me. It's when all the hotels along the coast dust off their tables, fill the pools, wash the linens and ready themselves for the onslaught of tourists, travelers, backpackers and expats who come down to the Aegean and the Mediterranean every year for a bit of sun.
Every year I get a bit giddy as I notice the shops staying open later, the tour buses parked on the Kordon in Izmir, and the random German and French I begin hearing in Alsancak. Tourism in Turkey truly is seasonal: it begins in late April/early May and runs until October, when most coastal hotels close up shop for the winter and take a much-deserved break.
So even though Jeff and I took a few trips over the winter -- namely to Bergama and a day trip to Nysa and Aphrodisias -- it wasn't until last Saturday, when we were sitting in Fethiye under a gorgeous sun by a sparkling pool overlooking the city, that it hit me: the tourism season had officially begun!
Naturally, we had to celebrate with an ice cold Efes.
What about you? Does anything in particular kick off tourism season, or more generally, summer, for you?
