Antalya is a big draw for the wealthy Russians. They come from the Black Sea on their yachts to enjoy the beaches a few miles away from the old city. Today we took a boat ride out of the old harbor. We cruised along the cliffs and marveled at the innovative ways the hotels forged access to the sea for their guests. The turn around point for our cruise was a waterfall that cascaded down the cliff. This was the end point of a river that flows from the mountains.
Back at the harbor we were set free to find lunch on our own. We stopped for ice cream then walked on and found a bazar. We were not interested in shopping. We were hoping to find a WC. We finally spotted a sign with WC and an arrow. Sign after sign took us farther into the bowels of the bazar. One more turn and we should be there because were coming to an exterior. Yes, there it was. The final WC sign. What was the other sign next to it. CLOSED. Oh darn. We retraced our steps a bit and asked a vendor if there was another WC. He gave us directions which we followed to a T. No WC. No bushes either. We struck out in another direction and came across a barber shop sign with a hand written WC on it. That seemed wrong but off we went. Next to the barber shop we found a WC. Six lira later we found relief.
The coach now took us to the Antalya Museum. It had archeological artifacts discovered around Antalya. The majority were from Perge, our next stop.
This Roman city provided a view of a city that had been occupied by both Romans and Greeks. There was a well restored Roman gate. Farther inside was a Greek gate with round turrets in the process of being restored.
There is a beautifully restored theater and a huge agora. The agora had housed many many shops. The signs carved in marble for many of them had been unearthed. A prominent one was for a butcher. We cannot help but marvel at how far these empires had spread. And the amount of work that the Turks have put into the restoration is even more impressive.
Saturday is pizza day in the Finn household so we set out in search of pizza when we returned to Antalya. We had not walked far from our hotel when we found a small restaurant with Mexican pizza on the menu. We managed to order from the chef after a bit of signaling and pointing. Soon we had a perfect pizza including corn and jalapeños. He had asked spicy? Two beers finished our dinner. Great.
On the way back to the hotel we checked out a local market. We did not buy anything. Prices seemed high on many things and surprisingly low on others. This wore us out and sleep came quickly.
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