Yesterday Vicki and I left Valencia and traveled via cab/plane/plane/cab to Ali Bey Manavgat, leaving at 8:30 am CET and arriving at Ali Bey around 10:30 pm Turkish time (two hour time change so about a 12 hour travel day door to door.
We checked our bags, spent a while in the lounge in Valencia, then about an hour before our flight, went through passport control, which was quick, and not soon after boarded our flight. We arrived somewhat early to Istanbul where we had a pretty decent walk from the international to the domestic terminal, passed Turkish passport control (also pretty quick), then went through security again (good bye liquids), and into the Turkish airline lounge. I tried several times to find an ATM to get lira, but all of them had a heft fee (around $45 to take out around $300), but I got some steps in trying to find it! I was looking in a store and told Vicki to go ahead…but I forgot I had access to the business class lounge (star alliance gold is good) so we were separated till we figured it out. Finally we boarded the short flight to Antalya. I was in the front of the business class section (used miles for the entire itinerary and not that many), while Vicki was in the back of the same section with a lot of energetic children (that is putting it politely). It was a “European” business class where there are three seats on each side with the middle seat blocked…and the parents were trying to put their children in that spot. But it was a short flight.
Our bags came in a timely fashion. In Antalya, if you connected from an international flight, the bags come out way at the end of the baggage claim. I had arranged a pickup and they were just outside the terminal so everything went smoothly. We checked in at Ali Bey, and were given a ride to our rooms along with our luggage. It was raining most of the way from the airport.
Today we woke up and it was rainy and wet. We went to breakfast which was extensive and pretty good…eggs any way, pancakes, French toast (aka egg bread), salad, vegetables, melon, potatoes…yogurt, breads galore..no one was going hungry.
Next we went to the gym and I found out why everyone was asking me if I was there for the pickleball tournaments. First of all there were no pickleball courts when I was here in March and secondly…I do not play pickleball. I was doing a workout at the gym and finally asked a group of youngish people if there was a pickleball tournament and yes, there is both amateur and professional. So there are no 16 or so pickleball courts here behind the gym and the European championships are taking place. One of the pro players overheard me saying I was from San Diego..he went to UCLA for tennis and now lives in Charleston and is a professional pickleball player (Max). He knew some people from SMU that Vicki was tangentially friends with…small world.
The murals below are from the airport; cats are ubiquitous here but this one looked like a regular at the bar last night. Fountains are everywhere here.
There were also a number of kids with racquets…and there is also a junior tournament going on. Most of the kids looked to be either 12 and under or 14 and under. Busy place! Considering the it’s November there are a lot of kids here this week.
After working out (and the gym closes at 12-30-2 for lunch), Vicki and I decided to go to lunch to pass time and in case the courts dried. Believe it or not, by the time we went over to the courts, I tried on yet more shoes (and found a much better pair…my toes thanked me for it) we asked about a court and one was available at 3pm! I was shocked, since the courts were underwater at 12:40pm
We got in a 2.5 hour hit, then each had a very good massage at the resort (70 euros an hour, about $78-79). By then two of Vicki’s teammates were there, Anne Frautschi and Fran Chandler, and Betsy Kuhle made her flight (barely, but got in her cardio in Frankfurt airport). My other teammates Andrea Barnes and Tina Karwasky are in Turkey and will be here in time for lunch tomorrow. Anne & Fran are below.
Tomorrow…final prep for the Cup begins and Cup play starts on Sunday.