Fethiye

We’re done with Istanbul, and off to the Mediterranean coast for a little taste of the slow life. Usually, with eight days in a country, we’ve been able to spend time in multiple parts, jetting from one region to the next. With a 2 year old this time around, we decided instead to take things a little slower. Hence our decision to pick just two major destinations - Istanbul and Fethiye - and to drive around to see anything else that was around.

Our hope upon arriving in Fethiye was to find a quaint seaside town, where we could immerse ourselves in a relaxing environment, and interact with the locals to our hearts content. However, Fethiye is not quite that quaint. Walking around this evening has revealed a very commercial, tourist-ridden beach destination. A large chunk of the commerce here caters to the Western European tourist, most often from a Nordic or Germanic country – a fact made obvious by the channels available on our in-room TV. Five German, three Danish, one Italian, and one English. Nothing American. 

The waterfront is pleasant, and there are few ruins in the city that we might check out.  For this first night, though, all we did was grab dinner in a bazaar restaurant.  I walked around a little, and came across this puzzling barbershop that was advertising "Shaves", "Leg Shaves", and "Haircuts".  Are hairy legs that big a problem here?  Since the sign is in English, I suspect this is meant for the tourists.  Are the Turkish people so fed up with ugly, unkempt, hirsute tourists that they've opened businesses whose sole aim is to make the visitors look more presentable?  And why is the store called "Berber" and not "Barber"?