Antalya and drifting westward

First stop after auditing our conference site was Antlaya. Antalya has slowly become the gateway to the Mediterranean in the last few years, with direct flights now giving unfettered access to the Turquoise Coast.

It does show. it’s strange, because I am here just before tourist season is about to swing into gear. It’s like getting a backstage pass to a play a few days before opening night. Construction is everywhere (pension and hotels in Antlaya have exploded in the last few years) and the streets of the old town of Kaleiçi are being dug up and re-bricked to make sure the draw of the quaint old town maintains that picture perfect quality. Shopkeepers half-heartedly try to engage me in their wares, working up their patter for the easier marks to come in the coming months. It’s interesting, to say the least.

Antalya itself is not quite as interesting as I would have hoped. There is a lovely old Roman harbour surrounded by cliffs at which you can have some great turkish tea and, depending on your luck, some good fish while the sun goes down.

I spent my second day walking around the city, easy to accomplish actually, and walked down to the Muzë stop and visited the excellent Antalya Archaeological Museum, mostly for its surprisingly gigantic and almost life cast-like statues of greek gods. It’s a small, easy to do museum and I ended up in the garden café drinking tea and chatting with the super nice waitress (sadly it was her last day before starting another job) and just enjoyed the conversation, the grape vine covered overhead trellis and the nice view before heading back to Antalya proper and a fish dinner overlooking the harbour and some tea.

Plan for tomorrow is Termessos, the Karain Cave and then on to Çirali by minibus or dolmus.

slowly drifting westward into the age of antiquities and the wonders of the ancient world…