Kusadasi

The second half of our week away was just sheer enjoyment and relaxation. We stayed for 3 nights in Kusadasi (pronounced KOO-sha-dah-see) on the coast of Turkey. The weather was a bit warmer and the atmosphere had a very resort-type feel.

I hereby confess (I confess!) that most people staying in Kusadasi do so because it is close to Ephesus. We went to Ephesus last year, and while it was very interesting, the kids and I could not face it again this year. We ask our kids to do a lot of adult type stuff on this trip. We take them to galleries and museums and we explore ruins and admire scenery, we bring them along to lectures and parties for grown ups - a lot. And I believe they can handle it, and they enjoy it and they learn a lot. But last year Ephesus was almost our undoing. It is a very big place with lots of ruins that are very historically relevant but not very climbable... There is no shade and it is absolutely packed with tourists. If we could leave when we wanted that would be one thing, but with the bus schedule, we would be committed to 3 or 4 hours there...

We decided instead that the kids would get a day just for them. They watched cartoons in ENGLISH in the hotel room, and we went out for ice cream and hung out on the beach. We got fizzy lemonade and watched more cartoons. We went out for lunch and they played on the play structures along the boardwalk, like, you know, ACTUAL CHILDREN. There is a line from the Secret Garden that I love and it applied to us on this day:  "And delight reigned."