Hey there! I am back! Back from spending two whole weeks in Turkey! As always, Turkey did not disappoint me at all and I truly had a great time being there. This year I did experience some things differently than the other times I've been to Turkey, though and not only because we - and with 'we' I mean me, my father, his wife and my brother and sister - spent the holiday in another hotel than we did the other years. I'll tell you all about it in this article, complete with some pictures I've made (with my phone)!

The plane departed Thursday morning at 07:00 AM and landed in Izmir around 11:30 AM (and in Turkey the time zone is one hour ahead from The Netherlands!). We had to take the bus to our actual hotel which took an hour and when we (finally) arrived at the hotel, it was only a matter of checking in, getting into our rooms (me, my brother and sister shared a room and my dad and his wife shared a room), unpacking the suitcases and getting into our swim suites. After arrival I am always a bit tired - which isn't weird - and so the first day has been a bit of a blur, but it was fine anyway. The first day spending somewhere new is usually also a fun day of exploring the place and stuff and so that's what I did as well. I mostly just walked around the resort, swum a bit and started on reading a new book: Unbreakable (by the Tammara Webber, definitely my favorite writer!).

The hotel I stayed at is called 'Ephesus Princess' and is located in Kusadasi. I already knew this hotel would differ from the hotel I went to the other two times I've been to Turkey (which is Korumar), since I read that Ephesus Princess kind has a  kind of bigger/different 'target audience(?)', which was confirmed right after I arrived at the hotel. The hotel was/is full of people my age and also young(er) children. The hotel slash resort is a great place to stay at (it's a 5 star hotel, after all), but I honestly do prefer Korumar above this hotel, in some ways. And sure, it's cool to have people around you who are the same age as you are, but I am just not so super social and so I haven't really made any friends or whatever (not counting the +1 follower on Instagram, hahaha - some nice waiter asked for my username on there, which is by the way @romanachiara).


So, I did spend most of my hours alone or else with my brother and sister, which was both fine. I really enjoyed the fact I didn't have to think about work, boy drama (not a 100% true though) and other stuff during my holiday. Apart from still craving for the WiFi in the lobby, every day - and only allowing myself to go there for a few minutes after dinner - I completely ditched my usual life (and my stress!). That's so nice about being away from home: you are actually able to pretend like you're anonymous, because for everyone around you there, you actually are. The days spending alone, swimming, reading and sunbathing, gave me a lot time to think and think and think and think... though and I am not sure yet if I liked that so much. All this thinking made me ruin a unexpected given second chance and gave me even more stress (for nothing, really), but the more days went by, the less I allowed myself to think so much and by the beginning of the second week, I was completely stress-free and relaxed after all. And what do you expect with such a paradise around you? :)

Ephesus Princess is an all-inclusive hotel, which means free food all day, every day. What's more to want? I ate more hamburgers than good for me and I ate french fries twice a day, almost everyday. Of course, I also ate fruits and vegetables, but I literally have gotten a bit sick from all this food.  Oh well, you could see it as karma for eating so much junkfood, ice-cream and pancakes for breakfast the last two weeks. Ultra healthy diet the few coming weeks it is.


One of the best things in life is to swim in the sea. At least it is for me. Around 06:00 PM, the waves always seem to get a little wilder, which makes it the perfect time of day to take a dive in the deep-blue Turkish sea. And so that's what I did many times. Totally love(d) it. Me and my sister also went canoeing one time and it was so much fun. Wednesday, the one-at-last day of my holiday, me and my family went to Kusadasi, to the big market. On these markets it's basically old men selling fake designer bags, shoes, wallets and clothing, men who call you 'lady' and 'angel' and touch you, hoping you'll buy one of their products. I didn't buy anything, although I was planning to buy fake, cheap-ass, Adidas Superstars, because I've been wanting those since forever. I didn't succeed. My sister bought a nice bracelet though and my dad and brother both bought a wallet.

My dad's wife Esther told me about this store in Kusadasi before, where they sell real perfumes (like Daisy, DKNY, etc) for way less money, because the perfumes are sold in a different package. The scent is exactly the same though and so we also went to this little, cute shop on Wednesday. It was like being in a candy shop and I felt like we had bought the whole store afterwards. All you have to do is ask the guy behind the counter for a particular scent, he takes a sample and lets you smell and then you can ask for a small bottle (which is €5 euros) or a bigger bottle (which is €10 euros). The shop also sells other scents, deodorants and soaps. The shop is called D&P Parfumum, in case you'd like to visit the shop. You should google the exact location of the shop unfortunatley, because I don't remember where it is located.


I bought Daisy by Marc Jacobs and Salvador Dali Classic (I believe). I mean, at least I bought the scents. They both smell amazing and last very long. I really, really recommend this shop! If you ever visit Kusadasi, go there!

And then it was Thursday already. Sad to go home, but also a little relieved. I missed my friends, my mother and her boyfriend, the rest of my family, blogging, Netflix and playing keyboard - seriously, I had found myself ticking with my fingers on all kinds of different surfaces as if I was playing keyboard sooo many times and I've been dying to (learn how to) play this song (click!). The two weeks went by really fast though and I'll absolutely miss the hot, burning sun, the deep-blue sea, all the free and very good food, the no make-up days and dinners for which I always dressed up extra fancy. Turkey 2015, you were great!