We’ve had another enjoyable week and although temperatures have been in the single digits (not helped by the strong northerly winds), the cobalt skies have been bathed in bright sunshine and we’ve actually started to get used to wrapping up, apparently it’s the coldest it’s been here for this time of year for over 20 years! We’re still continuing with a long walk every morning, meandering through the old town, before entering the hustle and bustle of the main city. There are over 2M people living in Antalya and I am sure that we seem to bump into quite a few of them when we walk though, that said it really just adds to the pleasure of the walk. On Saturday we had planned to go to Konyaalti, which has a 7km beach, but with chilly temperatures and 40mph winds, we resolved to wait for a more agreeable day to visit. Instead we decided to take in the highly recommended Antalya museum, which by coincidence isn’t far from Konyaalti beach. The museum itself is about an hours enjoyable walk along the coastline, from where we’re staying. Upon arriving at the museum, which is focused exclusively on archeological discoveries, we purchased tickets and what turned out to be an excellent audio guide. Once instead it was like a passage through time, Neanderthal times right through to the Ottoman period. It was all very interesting, it the standout highlights for me were the rooms dedicated to Greek and Roman gods and emperors, all awe inspiring and surprisingly well preserved. The other standout for me was the incredible “Sarcophagi Hall” filled with ornately decorated sarcophagus’s, one of which belonging to the son of Zeus, Heracles (Hercules being the Roman equivalent). These artefacts, most of which are from the Roman period of occupation (1-2AD), were exclusively recovered from an excavation in Perga, about 10km east from Antalya. After 3 enjoyable hours walking around the exhibits, we took a short walk for a quick look at the beach, which surprisingly enough was deserted. We then caught the little red tram back to Kaleici , where we sat down at the charming “Antique Restaurant” for a very tasty late lunch. Sunday was a much warmer day, that we spent a large part of sitting in the park, people watching, which is always interesting.
Dream Chasers 