Vacation, Part 9: Boat Tour & Fish Dinner

Here is the ninth and final installment of our vacation blogs. I hope you've enjoyed seeing so much of Turkey and learning about our experience! To see the first 8 blogs in the series, click here and here.

Since we only had 1 day in Amasra, we kind of wanted to get an overall tour, so we decided to take a tour boat around the whole area.

This wasn't our boat, but ours looked pretty much like this.

We had to wait around on the pier quite a while before the boat left (Like many other forms of Turkish transportation, the boat didn't have a specific departure time - they just wait until they feel like they have "enough" passengers.), but we enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching the people.

There was a lot of activity along the shore with food vendors, swimmers, and fishing boats going in and out!

The boat left from the side of the peninsula that has the free beach, and our jaws dropped at how PACKED it was! We were so thankful to have discovered the less-crowded beach first!

It did have the cool floating slide and trampoline park, though. I'm sure Elias would've loved to check that out!

Then the boat just toured around the whole peninsula, and we really enjoyed seeing the beautiful sights!

Then we went to the restaurant across from our hotel for one of Amasra's famous fish dinners. Justin and Elias split some fried calamari and fried catfish, which they both found delicious. I'm trying to eat a little healthier, so I got a salad,

Fancy!

And broiled fish.

Um, yeah, that's a whole fish with skin, bones, & all. This is pretty much the only way to get non-fried fish here, so if you're squeamish (like me), you just have to get over it.

So we really enjoyed our day in Amasra, and we're thankful to have seen such a beautiful place! In the morning, our bus left before any of the restaurants were open for breakfast, so we packed a picnic breakfast and ate overlooking the beach.

We're so thankful to have had this opportunity to rest, refresh, and see more of Turkey!

Vacation, Part 8: The Beach!

We were so excited about going to the beach! Elias had never been to a saltwater beach, but he has seen them on shows and he'd been talking about wanting to go to one. There were actually two beaches at Amasra on opposite sides of the peninsula, and we were fortunate that our hotel was on the less crowded one. (Come back tomorrow for shots of the other one!) Here's a view of our beach from out on the water.

We think this beach wasn't as crowded because it wasn't free, but we thought it was worth paying 15TL (appx $8) to rent the umbrella and chairs for the day. We brought a little bucket/shovel set, and Elias LOVED playing in the sand!

The same people who rented us the umbrella & chairs also had a menu we could order lunch from, and they delivered it to us right on the beach!

Then we hit the water! We had heard that the water of the Black Sea was very cold, but it was just cool. It was actually perfect for swimming in since the weather was so hot!

This is the first time Elias got in the water and the only time you'll see him with his feet touching the bottom. As much as he loved playing in the sand on the shore, he REFUSED to let his feet touch it in the water!

So I carried him out to the deeper water...

...and he floated in his floatie! Win!

It's always interesting in Turkey to see the great variety of people. At the beach, we saw ladies in bikinis, but we also saw fully-covered conservative ladies also enjoying their swims. As Justin mentioned previously, many Turks don't know how to swim, so we saw a large number of adults wearing floaties and water wings to stay safe! (Not pictured: The middle-aged man who was rescued while drowning and had to be taken to the hospital.)

We absolutely loved the beach and were so thankful for the opportunity to visit! Check back later for the final (finally!) installment of our vacation blogs where we take a boat tour around the peninsula and enjoy the famous fish dinner!

Vacation, Part 7: Amasra

Leaving Safranbolu, we took a bus 2 hours north to the Black Sea coast. We visited the town of Amasra, which a friend had recommended as having a great beach. She was right!!!

Our first view of the Black Sea out the bus window

Amasra is such a beautiful place! I've never seen anything like it! Justin said it reminded him a little of Venice.

The Black Sea coast is famous for its fishing, so we saw lots of these fishing boats in action

Amazing cliffs and rock formations right on the coast

 

View from our hotel room. We stayed at the Mızıka Pansiyon, and recommend it. Tell the owner we sent you!

The pictures don't do it justice - the water was so clear and blue!

Amasra is definitely a tourist town, though. Everything was quite expensive, and they kept much later hours than usual. Places didn't open until 10am, and we could hear people out partying on the street below us LONG after we went to bed! This is why we chose to only spend one day there instead of our whole vacation!

A tourist market, selling souvenirs and toys

Elias enjoying corn on the cob from a street vendor

Amasra is also full of amazing history. Just like we've seen in the rest of Turkey, the historical sites just blend right into daily life. The historic Amasra was an important port used by Phoenicians, Greeks (it's mentioned in the Iliad), Romans, and of course the Ottomans. The fortress ruins in the picture below date from the Byzantine era. Pedestrians and cars squeezing through fortress walls and cobblestone streets.

The fortress ruins in the above picture were built by the Byzantines and Genoese.

 

This is the museum's courtyard. The museum contains marble statues of Roman emperors and Ottoman artifacts.

People swimming and sunbathing off the ruins. The pictures don't do justice to the clear blue water.