A day at home

First Day in Antalya:

We ate, chatted, drank kahve (coffee), snacked, drank cay (tea), ate, took a nap, ate, cay, snacked and ate.  Anne never left the kitchen.  She kept saying it was too hot to go out , we will later (at 8pm) would you like some of this? Try this. It was all SO amazing!!  Most of the vegetables were from a Konya farm, the cheeses from Corum, the jellies, cranberry and apricot, she had made herself, the breads...Oh the bread!! Fresh from the local wood fired oven across the street.  She made this bean dish that was to die for, and there was salad that was so light and vegetables I have never seen before that tasted heavenly.  We ate like royalty and she wouldn't let me help.  She said, "today your are our guest, tomorrow, tsk."  I asked suha what the click meant, he said, that my guest pass expires, I asked if that means I become family, he said yes.

They say if you share a cup of kahve you are friends for the next 40 years.  I've had enough coffee to make them my friends for life!


That evening at dusk, we drove the short distance to a light rail where we parked, risked our life crossing the street and had an education on what we lovingly now call MAX.  After riding into town and watching a bit more traffic, I was SO glad they had decided to try and figure out transit.  I cannot watch while anyone is driving.  I make too many gasping noises and they laugh.  We went through an antique bazar, where a bunch of knock off adidas, disney and coach products were on display.  It lead us out to a Madeneh (square) where there was a huge wall, watch tower and fun water feature like the one in the park by lloyd center.  Everything is lit by neon LED's, even the horse and carriages are glowing.  Children running around playing in the water, street cats everywhere!  We made our way across another busy street to the watch tower and slowly, slowly walked down a steep hill, covered in marble!!, slippery, shiny, beautiful marble!!  Here was the real old town, the parts that sell you all the turkish spices and treasures!  The buildings that told stories 500 years old.


The shop keepers kept speaking German to me! Ha!


At the bottom of the hill we found a harbor full of pirate ships.  (very touristy in the dady but almost surreal at night)  The wall kept the town safe from pirates historically so now it's just a game to make a buck.  There was a kid selling pilaf (rice) stuffed mussels in the shell.  A man in a cart that sold icecream, though he took a while getting it to you with is funny icecream act.  We will see if I can upload a video...


We walked up these steep, huge stone steps that were uneven and scary in the dark to the top of the hill and made our way back to the square for my first kofte!!  It was amazing, it is nothing like we have anywhere in Portland or San Francisco.  It was midnight and we were eating with throngs of young families and children.  It truely was the cooler side of the day.  We went home and everyone crashed while I cursed my nap.  No sleep that night.  Against my better judgement, I hit a wall at 6 and couldn't keep my eyes open.  Tomorrow, I will keep my eyes open ALL DAY.


I posted more pics on Facebook :)