Our jaunt around the Mediterranean coast of Turkey continued in Antalya, a sprawling town with a lovely old quarter overlooking the sea. Coming into the town is not inspiring as you pass ugly modern apartment blocks and a busy commercial district, but then you pass into the old part of town which cars have to pay to enter, vastly reducing their numbers, and the winding streets are quiet. Our hotel was incredibly cheap for its beauty. The old stone construction and large quiet courtyards would be valued much more in Australia, but here it’s just one of many such hotels in the tourist quarter. We had a cracking little lunch in an alleyway, served by an old lady who I suspect was the cook as well. Cats lurked and were rewarded with a little chicken but they didn’t get any of my wine!
We trooped off to the recommended museum on the tram, doing our duty as cultural tourists. The tram took us past the old city gates, yet another edifice built to impress the Roman Emperor Hadrian, then along the cliffs above the sea. The museum is one of the biggest in Turkey, mainly because of all the ancient statues recovered from the ancient city of Perge which used to produce them for the empire, particularly Roman emperors and Greek gods in suitably statuesque poses. Impressive as these are I preferred the smaller items: a baby’s cup made of stone which fed ancient bubs long since passed away, tiny delicate gold rings engraved with images of women, miniature gold statues of animals, all dating from thousands of years before Christ.
The next day Sarah went down to the marina’s rocky private beach (deck chairs included) where she sunned herself next to the yachts. I took a break from the sun and sat in the lovely hotel courtyard catching up on blog posts.
Our abiding memory of Antalya will be relaxation and good food. That night we went to a little cafe with a plant-filled courtyard and listened to some traditional music being played. A cat successfully begged from us, pretended to be a patron sharing our table, then got a bit scratchy so I tossed him off my lap.
Our Mediterranean love affair ended in Antalya but all was not lost for we were heading to one of the most unique tourist spots in Turkey, the fairy chimneys of Capadoccia.
Recent Comments