{"id":9296,"date":"2022-08-15T08:14:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T08:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=9296"},"modified":"2022-08-15T08:14:17","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T08:14:17","slug":"weeknotes-181-tesekkur-ederim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/08\/15\/weeknotes-181-tesekkur-ederim\/","title":{"rendered":"Weeknotes #181 \u2014 Te\u015fekk\u00fcr ederim"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

We spent the entire week in T\u00fcrkiye at the Voyage Sorgun<\/a> hotel with my parents, my brothers and all of our families for a long-planned and much-delayed group holiday. We hadn\u2019t spent this much time together since we all lived under the same roof in the 1990s. It was wonderful.<\/p>\n

The holiday had been cancelled twice before, so we were a bit concerned that the current issues plaguing travellers in the UK would see it get cancelled a third time. We\u2019d booked with EasyJet<\/a> but ended up on aircraft operated by SmartLynx<\/a>, who apparently are used to increase capacity in the busier months<\/a>. The plane and service was sparse, but they did the job.<\/p>\n

\"All

All aboard the SmartLynx<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve only stayed at two all-inclusive hotels in the past. The first time I ended up in hospital with pneumonia<\/a> so couldn\u2019t take advantage of all of the amenities. The second time was lovely<\/a>, but quite basic. This hotel was incredible, and exceeded all of my expectations.<\/p>\n

\"One

One of the many pools<\/p><\/div>\n

Upon arrival, we were put into a WhatsApp group with a personal concierge whom we could message and ask for help, for example to make restaurant reservations, book taxis or check whether anyone had handed in something that had been lost. It worked very well. Usually the group is per room, but we managed to get all 14 of us into a single group so that we could all see all of the chat.<\/p>\n

\"Another

Another pool, at sunset<\/p><\/div>\n

The hotel\u2019s accommodation was at capacity, but it never felt like it. There were multiple swimming pools to choose from as well as a water park with slides that kept everyone entertained all week.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Aqua Park \u2014 so much fun<\/p><\/div>\n

Bars were everywhere, and you could either go up and order a drink or wait for a couple of minutes for someone to come to wherever you\u2019d pitched your towel. Everything was premium, with no \u2018own brand\u2019 or \u2018soda gun\u2019 drinks. The bars used heavy glasses and no plastic cups, and I didn\u2019t see one get broken near a swimming pool during the whole week that we were there.<\/p>\n

For breakfast, lunch and dinner they had the largest buffet I had ever seen, or you could choose to book and dine every night at a different themed restaurant scattered around the hotel. Ice creams and lollies of all kinds were on tap \u2014 you could have some scoops in a cone, or help yourself to a freezer full of well-known branded delights such as Magnums<\/a>, Cornettos<\/a> and Calippos<\/a>. There was even an on-site patisserie and chocolatier where you could eat as many of the confections as you desired. It felt terribly indulgent, taking whatever food I wanted as I wandered around listening to political podcasts that are focused on the cost of living crisis, knowing that inflation in T\u00fcrkiye had nearly hit 80%<\/a>. It was awful to see some people pile their plates high at the buffet, nibble a little of it at their table and then wander off, leaving most of it untouched. Sadly, at the end of each session, everything that wouldn\u2019t keep was thrown in the bin. I have no idea about the logistics of distributing the food to staff or people in the local area, but it did seem like such a ridiculous waste.<\/p>\n

\"The

The kids became macaroon-obsessed<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Whatever

Whatever you wanted, you could have it<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Unbelievably

Unbelievably good chocolates<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Fruit,

Fruit, piled high<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cooking

Cooking a pasta dish in the buffet<\/p><\/div>\n

Every evening there was a different show at an open-air auditorium. The quality of the entertainment was very high, with all kinds of acrobatics and dancing. We even had a motorcycle show inside a subtly-named \u2019globe of death\u2019<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"The

The globe of death<\/p><\/div>\n

After the entertainment the outdoor area turned into a thumping loud Eurodisco, with three quarters of the guests calling it a night within five minutes of it starting.<\/p>\n

On Thursday afternoon the hotel put on a \u2018pool party\u2019 with inflatables, disco music and dancing penguins in one of their shallower pools. The highlight of this was the \u2018hoverboard\u2019, powered by the engine of a jet ski. I\u2019d never seen this before and it was a lot of fun to watch, despite the outdated ending where Hoverboard Guy was joined by two bikini-clad women shaking their butts as he zoomed them around the pool.<\/p>\n