Out and Around in Antalya - Antalya, Turkey
Antalya, Turkey
Antalya was planned as our beach break from the city. We took the tram transferring to the metro to the airport (we are masters of city transport now) and arrived in Antalya in just one hour. Our ride to the hotel took us through a maze of very narrow streets near the hotel until the taxi had to let us out and walk the rest of the way to the Hotel Tuvana which is located in the pedestrian-only Old Town.
The hotel was spectacular. Renovated from four old mansions, it is now a very unique boutique hotel and restaurant complex. The architecture and decor were spectacular and we often enjoyed coffee or drinks in the courtyards under orange trees and wandering arms of bougainvillea.
In the nights, we wandered the streets for shops and pubs and ate fresh fish. We bought bottles of Turkish wine and took them back to the room to enjoy. We strolled along the marina filled with pirate themed ships and got lost down unmapped, very steep streets in the old town.
During the days, we wandered around, went to the beach at Konyaaltı and skipped pebbles in the water, ate at random little restaurants and visited the sites of the city.
We made two major excursions. One was planned, the other, a very happy coincidence.
For our trip to Pamukkale and Heirapolis, we joined a tour of just six people for the 3.5 hour ride to our destination. If you've already seen the pictures, you have to know how excited we were to visit this place. After our 5am wake up call, we made a FOUR stops before finally reaching Pamukkale – it was agony but well worth the wait.
Our first stop isn’t much of a story but the second stop was very special. We stopped at a roadside melon seller’s stand for tea and melon. The man who served us was so excited to have visitors and so proud to serve us! Tea was brewed on a little stacked pot with the wood burning underneath and he cut melon slice after slice, shoving a melon tipped knife at you the moment you stopped chewing. Then he insisted on pictures, many pictures, with our whole crew: the couple from Canada, from France, from Saudi Arabia, our guide and the melon seller!
The third stop was at a carpet gallery. The sell was hard but the rugs were magnificent. We were invited into the "treasury" where we saw record-breaking rugs with over 4,300 knots per square inch – they are priceless. It was amazing to see all of the handiwork that goes into this dying art but good to hear all of the effort the country was putting in to help keep the rug making tradition alive.
After a stop for meze lunch, we finally arrived at Hierapolis, the ancient city situated over the hot springs just above the pamukkale travertines. We swam in the ancient hot springs pool, rumored to be one of Cleopatra’s favorite, and then ventured down to the travertines. The gleaming white rocks are created by the mineral rich water that comes from springs in the ground. The hardening of the minerals has created one white pool after another as it heads down the mountain side. It is nicknamed the cotton castle. The water is somewhat green around your feet while standing but electric blue and almost mirror-like as you look across the pools. It was gorgeous – I can only hope that the pictures do it some justice.
For our unplanned excursion, we had heard that the Turkish Airlines Open was in Turkey but we assumed it would be wherever we weren’t. We were wrong! On our very last day, we hired a driver and traveled 40km to Belek to the Turkish Airlines open held at the magnificent Montgomerie Maxx Royal Golf Course. The place was empty as far as golf tours go. We freely followed a couple groups with no trouble. We followed Tiger Woods for 10 holes with no problems. And then – Ella please sit down- we stood four feet from Tiger as he looked downrange on hole 15. The extra- numerous pictures of Tiger (front, back, side, bending, leaning, walking, etc.) are for Sacha’s mother Ella who is his #1 fan and would likely have passed out had she been with us. The extra-numerous pictures of the course (greens, turf, tees, grass, trees, layout, paths, etc.) are for my brother Richard, the professional golf-course turf nerd.
We are on the plane back to Istanbul now and we are exhausted! Tonight we will return to Istanbul, hit the bazaar and one last lay on the marble of the hamam before heading to London tomorrow.
Side note: Sacha and I have been to Punakaiki – the Pancake Rocks in New Zealand- which should not be confused with the rock formations of Pamulkakke in Turkey. We have also had another happy accident with major sports events as well. In Melbourne, Australia we ran into the Australian Open and then here in Turkey, the Turkish Airlines Open. We simply took advantage of our lucky timing!