June 16: Fethiye to Antalya
Sadly, we took our last short jaunt on the gulet.
We disembarked and picked up our recovering tourmate from the hospital. By 9 am, we were on the bus bound for the resort town of Antalya, over 3 hours (about 100 miles) away. The highway skirted the snow-capped Taurus Mountains that rise sharply from the fertile plains of the Anatolia peninsula. We passed more marble quarries, and a lot of road construction.
These are the neatest pine trees.
The view.
As we viewed the fertile lands of Turkey, Ali talked about Turkey working to join the European Union (EU) and the impact this has had on agriculture. To join the EU, Turkey must enforce the "Seed Law", which regulates what seeds can be sold and planted. Many farmers believe that their own seeds, derived from centuries of tradition, grow better tasting and sturdier plants, and keep necessary diversity in crops. Read more if you are interested in this controversial topic.
We arrived in Antalya a little after noon and enjoyed lunch with our group at a restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean. Mountain peaks rise dramatically straight up from the sea. Our meal was kabobs and meze, fruit for dessert, "same old same old", but these were about the best we had on the entire trip.
Before we checked into our hotel, we visited the Museum of Archeology.
Burial jar:
Bones in a burial jar.
Plates - with chickens: I couldn’t resist a photo.
Heracles.
Coffins.
Heracles.
At one time, this statue was in a museum outside of Turkey. Below is the information on a sign next to the statue. (This time, I did not edit for grammatical errors.)
Herakles Comes Home
The statue of Herakles is the Roman period copy of original bronze statue "Herakles Farnese" which was made between 330-320 AD by Lysippos, one of most important personalities of world sculpture history. There are approximately 60 copies of aforesaid statue and can be seen in as many little bronzes. Sorrowful, introverted and pathetic expression of the statue is one of the main features of late classical - early Hellenistic period.
The upper part of the body and the head of the Statue is in a leaning position toward the front and right shoulder. The hair and the beard are thick and curly. His body has "s" shape due to his leaning upon the stick and with the fur of Nemea lion beneath his left arm. Body muscles especially in the chest and stomach are distincltly visible.
Professor Jale INAN, studied the world wide known replicas of Herakles Farnese, stated that this statue was superior to other replicas in terms of art quality. For this reason, she suggested that the statue to be called by the name of "Herakles Farnase of Perge". -Antalya Museum
Our hotel is the Rixos Antalya Downtown. Quite luxurious, to say the least. A couple outdoor swimming pools and lovely gardens. Grand lobby. Bowls of chocolates. (We scarf them up, we’ve been without sweets for too long.) Glass elevator. Great restaurants. We enjoyed a swim in the pretty pool, but sort of missed the warm sea swims off our gulet.
Dinner is on our own tonight. In the late afternoon we walked down a bunch of steps to the long beach. There is a walkway along the shore, with public beaches off to one side and little shops and restaurants to the other. So interesting to watch the people. We wandered for awhile, then found a beach bar and had Ezes.
Later yet we found a pizza place frequented by locals. The restaurant had tables set up in an area that looked more like someone's backyard than a restaurant. Parents watched their kids play on the swings and slides while they smoked and drank and talked with friends. The pizza was excellent. A small cat that was marked like Tori asked for a piece of my pizza. She had a malformed paw and daintily accepted just one piece of cheese and stopped begging.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Turkey. We make our way back up the long set of steps and stretch out in our big beds in the fancy Rixos hotel.
Navigation:
first Turkey post
next Turkey post
We disembarked and picked up our recovering tourmate from the hospital. By 9 am, we were on the bus bound for the resort town of Antalya, over 3 hours (about 100 miles) away. The highway skirted the snow-capped Taurus Mountains that rise sharply from the fertile plains of the Anatolia peninsula. We passed more marble quarries, and a lot of road construction.
These are the neatest pine trees.
The view.
As we viewed the fertile lands of Turkey, Ali talked about Turkey working to join the European Union (EU) and the impact this has had on agriculture. To join the EU, Turkey must enforce the "Seed Law", which regulates what seeds can be sold and planted. Many farmers believe that their own seeds, derived from centuries of tradition, grow better tasting and sturdier plants, and keep necessary diversity in crops. Read more if you are interested in this controversial topic.
We arrived in Antalya a little after noon and enjoyed lunch with our group at a restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean. Mountain peaks rise dramatically straight up from the sea. Our meal was kabobs and meze, fruit for dessert, "same old same old", but these were about the best we had on the entire trip.
Before we checked into our hotel, we visited the Museum of Archeology.
Burial jar:
Bones in a burial jar.
Plates - with chickens: I couldn’t resist a photo.
Heracles.
Coffins.
Heracles.
At one time, this statue was in a museum outside of Turkey. Below is the information on a sign next to the statue. (This time, I did not edit for grammatical errors.)
Herakles Comes Home
The statue of Herakles is the Roman period copy of original bronze statue "Herakles Farnese" which was made between 330-320 AD by Lysippos, one of most important personalities of world sculpture history. There are approximately 60 copies of aforesaid statue and can be seen in as many little bronzes. Sorrowful, introverted and pathetic expression of the statue is one of the main features of late classical - early Hellenistic period.
The upper part of the body and the head of the Statue is in a leaning position toward the front and right shoulder. The hair and the beard are thick and curly. His body has "s" shape due to his leaning upon the stick and with the fur of Nemea lion beneath his left arm. Body muscles especially in the chest and stomach are distincltly visible.
Professor Jale INAN, studied the world wide known replicas of Herakles Farnese, stated that this statue was superior to other replicas in terms of art quality. For this reason, she suggested that the statue to be called by the name of "Herakles Farnase of Perge". -Antalya Museum
Our hotel is the Rixos Antalya Downtown. Quite luxurious, to say the least. A couple outdoor swimming pools and lovely gardens. Grand lobby. Bowls of chocolates. (We scarf them up, we’ve been without sweets for too long.) Glass elevator. Great restaurants. We enjoyed a swim in the pretty pool, but sort of missed the warm sea swims off our gulet.
Dinner is on our own tonight. In the late afternoon we walked down a bunch of steps to the long beach. There is a walkway along the shore, with public beaches off to one side and little shops and restaurants to the other. So interesting to watch the people. We wandered for awhile, then found a beach bar and had Ezes.
Later yet we found a pizza place frequented by locals. The restaurant had tables set up in an area that looked more like someone's backyard than a restaurant. Parents watched their kids play on the swings and slides while they smoked and drank and talked with friends. The pizza was excellent. A small cat that was marked like Tori asked for a piece of my pizza. She had a malformed paw and daintily accepted just one piece of cheese and stopped begging.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Turkey. We make our way back up the long set of steps and stretch out in our big beds in the fancy Rixos hotel.
Navigation:
first Turkey post
next Turkey post
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