CHAPTER 7
Antalya. Extremely bright light, fresh breeze, a conditioned buss welcomes the tourists. The driver kindly lowers the threshold helping mom in.
–Sweetheart, everybody’s so gentle to me… – mom is almost crying remembering attitude to invalids in Russia. When mom takes her daily stroll she’s about to be knocked out by a group of students rushing for a smoke and to get some snacks at the kiosk between lessons. In winter she slipped on the ice and fell down. Nobody gave her a helping hand so she was lying there in the middle of the sidewalk, humiliated, feeling unprotected and helpless, not able to stand up, until some woman eventually raised her. – I will not worry anymore… I like it here! – says mom as tears of happiness are streaming out…
A beautiful hotel on the seashore is like a small town surrounded by Bushy Mediterranean pines and eucalyptus trees. Flourishing vegetation is everywhere.
Turkish buffet is breathtakingly beautiful, abundant. Parents, who haven’t had enough food since “Perestroika”, are in great perplexity. They slowly go by the desks with viands and sit at a small table in the corner. A waiter has already flied to them offering the drinks.
–Go, take the dishes and put there what you like.
Parents got all mushmouthed.
–It’s “all inclusive”… All is already paid.
–Mm… Everything?
–Yes.
–All this food? Can we take whatever?
–Yep! Mom, what would you like? Let’s go see!
Mom takes her stick.
–But I can’t choose…
The first problem is that she can’t realize what is on the plate, the second is – she has never had such a choice in her life.
Father is standing by one of the salvers with meat astounded and immobilized. Albeit daughter hated him with all her heart, a discrepant feeling of content was filling her seeing the man happy.
After breakfast they used to walk in the garden and along the beach. Winter in Turkey is rather mild and the temperature on the coast doesn’t go lower than five degrees Celsius above zero, while the water is about sixteen degrees Celsius in January. They say that Turkey is the only country where in April you can enjoy skiing in the mountains and then go down to have a swim in the Mediterranean sea. May be it’s ok for those who love a refreshing bath: Internet info shows that the sea is only eighteen above zero in the middle of spring there this year.