Antalya - Friday 21 May
It's interesting Alp Pasa kinda buys up these apartments/ houses in the neighbouring streets from its main lobby/reception cum restaurant and some original rooms in a restored historic building. We got upgraded to Deluxe Villa comprising of the Ottoman Palace for the girls and the Sultan Suite upstairs for Teik.
Um that's not our villa. It was next door's.
Lovely blue mosaic table tiles that complemented the swimming pool next to where breakfast was served. Self-served, actually.
Antalya's old town, known as Kaleci, was pretty walkable. It was quite charming walking along its narrow winding streets and discovering nooks and corners occupied by historic landmarks such as Hadrian's Gate, the Clock Tower, the Kesik Minaret Mosque and others. What was more charming i thought was walking down a few slopey cobble-stoned paths leading down to the Yacht Harbour where Antalya's coastline meets the mediterranean sea. Never mind that the slopey paths were filled with touristy shops and shopowners touting their goods persistently.
Did i mention that turks were friendly people? Well this one was too-friendly. He asked for a picture with me after it looks like i wasn't going to buy any spices from him and while posing for the photo his hand caressed my back and went up and down the curve of my waist so thats why you see my waist recoiling from him as the picture was taken. I mean you can put your arm around my shoulder or waist but there's no need for any sort of massage.
That's Hadrian's Gate at the perimeter of Kaleci. So it seems Emperor Hadrian likes to construct gates to mark his successful conquest of a city.
The bazaars in Antalya were a little bit sad and looked like they were in need of business. "Come have a look inside, we need your money today, come come"
Jewellery shopping in Antalya
Sipping freshly squeezed orange juice was one thing we did almost on a daily basis! o_O
Clock tower in Antalya
Pasa Mosque in the background
Souvenior shops along the streets
Yacht Harbour by Antalya's coastline
Love these handpainted dishes and bowls.
Tea and apple tea before lunch
Lunch by the mediterranean sea. Superb!
Purple morning glories in full bloom!
Hotel direction signage all around so fear not if you don't have a map!
Love this rug!
Cheryl reading the papers during afternoon siesta.
Kesik Minaret, also known as the Broken Minaret Mosque was originally built as a Roman temple, then converted into a Byzantine church, then mosque, then church then mosque again.
More charming street corners.
Taking the tram to the Konyalti Beach right at the end of Ataturk Park. Oh it seems we're on the wrong side of the tramline.
On board the crowded tram
Those mountains could possibly be the distant Olimpos Mountains if i'm not wrong.
Idyllic! Sitting by the vast and beautiful mediterranean sea.
So much sea and sky!
Super enjoy life man...
Yummiest chicken sote dish i've ever tasted! There's some extraordinarily tasty spice inside the gravy. like the first time i tried chicken tikka. and chicken masala.
I love how the mediterranean sea felt like it was bleeding into the lagoon where the yacht harbour is.
Overstayed at the dinner place cos i wanted to see the houses in the old town light up one by one as night fell. It was still really bright at 8pm.
Back at Alp Pasa reception where we were enquiring about day trips to Kas or someplace nice nearby Antalya.
Saturday 22 May
The day that was kinda a non-day haha!
Thought it's quite funny i was wearning a tee-shirt that says France and the title of the (funiest-ever) book i'm reading says Merde, which is shit in french. Highly recommended. For the endless witty humour, not the merde lah. I wasn't intending to wear a tee-shirt that says France in Turkey - i mean how confusing would that be. It was supposed to be my pyjama tee.
Living room of the Ottoman Palace.
Sultan Suite upstairs.
French toast and omelette for breakfast. How apt that i ended up wearing my France tee-shirt out today.
After mulling over pages and pages of nearby places to visit, we decided on Kas which according to our hotel reception was a 2 hr bus ride from Antalya. That makes 4 hours to and fro with say 3-4 hours time spent in Kas possibly with a Kekova Island boat trip sounds just about right before returning by evening for our 9.30pm overnight bus ride to Cappadocia.
Only at the bus station some 25 min cab ride from Antalya were we told by the bus companies that it takes 4 hours to get to Kas, not 2. So the scrambling for options began and we tried to recall our other options, ruling out those that were too far away, like Myra. Eventually we settled on Kemer, a seaside town which was a 45min bus ride away so we didn't have to rush.
Well. This was Kemer. No comment.
At least lunch was quite yummy and before long we were on the bus headed back to Antalya where we figured roaming the streets again would be more interesting.
Antique kitchenware
OJ was 1 euro at this makeshift stall opposite what looks like a pretty posh restaurant with views out to the mediterranean sea.
We somehow chose to have our OJ in the restaurant and were slapped with a 9 YTL bill (equivalent to S$9) for one glass of freshly squeezed orange juice that came with fancy paper cocktail umbrellas. It's for the view, i reminded myself. The view.
The view.
Narrow winding streets of the historic old town of Antalya. I like.
Carpet rides and slides.
Roofscapes and view of the Pasa Mosque minaret.
Doner kebab dinner by the main square across from the clock tower and old city walls of Antalya. Some pretty stiff competition behind the two kebab stalls side by side. After we finished, competitor stall guy beckoned to us, "so tell me, honestly, was your meal really good?" o_O
Cheryl keeping warm in the cold drizzle as we wait for our ride to the bus station for our 10hr overnight bus to Cappadocia.
next: Cappadocia
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