Vacation, Part 5: Safranbolu Pool

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

The weather was pretty hot and humid during our vacation in Safranbolu, so we were pleased to discover there was a public pool there because Elias has been begging to swim and we've missed having pool access. We've been leery of public pools in Turkey so far, but this one looked clean, spacious, and well-kept, and so we went for it! It was awesome! We didn't stay and incredibly long time the first afternoon we went because it got REALLY crowded (and people were jumping in fully-clothed)! So we went again the next morning as soon as it opened, and we had the whole pool to ourselves! We really enjoyed this nice, refreshing activity. We got to witness some kids taking swimming lessons as well. (Turks by and large don't learn to swim when they're young or may never learn [hence the large number of drownings on the nightly news...] and most adult pools are therefore not very deep.) The cost was 10TL/adult ($5.50), so not as cheap as U.S. public pools. Private pools of similar quality range from 15-35TL/adult ($8-20) for comparison.

There were three separate pools - an adult one in the back (about 5 feet deep), and kid one that was about 2 feet deep on the right, and then a small baby one that was very shallow. (You can see that one below.) Then there was a large canopy with seating for all the parents who weren't swimming. It was a really nice setup!

Elias LOVED the kid pool, it was just the right depth for him to have fun but not be scared of going under. He got to where he was brave enough to jump in from the side, which turned into his favorite thing to do here. See the video of him jumping in below. He's along the back with the blue ring around his waist.

Elias swimming with Mommy in the big pool the next morning - all to ourselves!

Elias splashing with Mommy in the kid pool.

There was also a playground in the same area as the pool, so after a swim, we stopped to swing for a few minutes. Doesn't get much better than that! Turkey does public parks better than any country we've lived in.