I’ve just got back from my first proper holiday in many years (I’m not counting Anglesey over new year!). Quite a few of my family were on holiday in Turkey staggered over a couple of weeks, so I managed to get some time off work and join them over there for a week.

I’d never been there before, but my mum and dad started going over there on and off for holidays about 10 years ago, and both my brother and sister had been there quite a few times as well.

Anyway, I headed over there from Manchester Airport with my cousin Sam and her husband Matt, and we got into Bodrum airport at about 5am, after having been awake since the morning before! Then it was onto a mini-bus for me, whilst Sam and Matt went onto a Thomas Cook coach (I’d booked with a small travel company, so my transfer was with a local company), and the journey from the airport to Altinkum seemed to take forever – the roads we pretty ropey, as was some of the driving! I eventually got to the apartments for 7.30am, and then crashed down for a few hours sleep.

Venturing out around lunchtime, the first thing I noticed was how much warmer it was than the weather I’d just come from! To the locals, it wasn’t hot at all, but to me, it was just about right!

I also got to meet Steve’s new girlfriend Jeni and her daughter Chelsea – I’d not had a chance to before this week. And as well as my mum, Vikky, Damien and the twins, it turned out that a couple we’ve known for years, Colin and Jenny, were and had been moved into the same apartment block at the last minute!

It was really nice to be able to spend such a long time with Brandon and Chloe. Again, I really noticed how much they’d grown since I’d last seen them in July. And they really are just so cute!

Unfortunately Brandon seemed to have some kind of bug for part of the week which meant he was quite unwell for a bit of the time, but generally they seemed to really be enjoying themselves, and loved playing on the sand, or running around in the beach cafe!

I’m not really the kind of person who enjoys sunbathing every day, so on Thursday I went on a day trip with mum and Sam to the city of Ephesus – or more accurately, what archaeologists have discovered of it!

It really is an amazing place. It was re-discovered about 150 years ago (it had become buried or something) and they’re still excavating it and re-constructing the ruins.

You could feel the ancient history around you – and it was weird feeling when our guide was talking about stuff that had happened there during Biblical times, and then to think that you’re standing in places where all those people had also been! It’s hard to get your head around! And some of the technology they had there 2 thousand years ago, like hot running water, and proper sanitation… and then all that was lost for so many centuries – it’s really crazy!

So generally it was a good week, although I found the town to be far to touristy… apparently it used to be a much more traditional place, but it now very much caters for the British, which actually isn’t a good thing. And I really didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t go to any shops or past any restaurants without being hassled to buy something – it really annoys me!!