Imprints: Exploring Antalya

This morning, Ozzy and I woke up early, had a big Turkish breakfast, walked down to the light rail and took it down town. We walked for 5 hours, 6miles, 14,800 steps….ALL OVER TOWN.

mosaics everywhere!

There was so much to see, smell, taste…at the end of the day I had over 900 photos!! I couldn’t figure out why but then learned that a setting on my camera was on continuous shoot so now if you flip through them real fast they make a flip book movie!! I wish I knew how to do that digitally, but alas I am not that tech savvy.

just part of a ruin somewhere in the city

Us overlooking the old city

Some of the coolest sights were in the old city in the day light, some of the buildings are falling down so you can see how they were constructed. There are many stores that sell spices in bins and are constantly finding new ways to pile it creatively, or mix by making pictures and shapes with the different colors and textures. This morning, Ozzy and I woke up early, had a big Turkish breakfast, walked down to the light rail and took it down town. We walked for 5 hours, 6miles, 14,800 steps….ALL OVER TOWN.

My favorite spice guy

soaps

the old city, the restored section

outside the turkish bath...notice the glass skylights

One shop keeper offered me tea made of pomegranate flowers dried and ground down very fine…It was Cok Guzel!! He handed Suha a mixture of 45 spices that will cure all that ills you. One sniff almost knocked me out. It will clear any nasal issue, that is for darn sure!! We had tea by the sea while I sketched the harbor. Suha showed me where he had the first digital art exhibit in Turkey. I wish he still had the originals but they are gone now. We walked through an outdoor military museum and a mall, a bazar, where all the vendors thought I was German (ha!), and through an old bath turned gift shop. In the center it had all authentic hena dresses for brides, soaps made of rose, and other spices, lamps, rugs, “clap clap” slippers (so people can hear you coming), and many other amazing Turkish “stuff.” It was highly priced, very touristic, and very exciting for me. There is a bazar in an old hotel, the shops are in the “horse stalls”, and there are offices upstairs in the “rooms.” It is a square building with a courtyard in the middle, very “zorro” like. I hope to get a picture someday soon.

Henna dresses

There are lots of huge spaces with very little people in the middle of the day so the views are amazing.

Such a fun spot!!

Before we went home, Suha (Ozzy, Ozgur to everyone here) took me to his favorite sis kofte piyaz restaurant. Unfortunately the original owner, Mustafa, has passed away but his son was there and remembered Ozzy from the old days and gave him the special treatment. I had some of the best food yet, Suha promised to bring me back a couple of times before we leave here.

Old Turkish bath ceiling

I am picking up a few more Turkish words, though mostly everything I know pertains to food, therefore his mother thinks I am always hungry!! When we arrived home she had an amazing dinner prepared again! But there was a miss communication with his brother so we jumped in the car and drove across the city for dessert. It only takes about 20 minutes to get there. While there I uploaded pictures to Facebook and ate a plate of 4 or 5 different pastries, including a coffee, chocolate, pie cake thing…very yummy. And of course, drank more tea…always tea, with food without food one can always find a cup of cay waiting for you.

Kahve and turkish delight

We were on our way home and I noticed lots of discussion and way more turns than on our way to Baris’s house. I asked if we were lost and suha says no not really. Soon we are stopping and asking every person sitting on the side of the road where we are going. I ask again, are you sure we aren’t lost? Suha said, no it’s not lost, it’s the scenic route. I mentioned its dark and I can’t see anything, so I asked, if we were on an adventure…we all had a good laugh.

military leaders - first one is a woman

It took an hour longer to get home and I was exhausted from the long day walking around in 105 degrees. When we finally parked, everyone got excited and started pointing at a lit up window. Ozan’s family was home!! We went over and had tea, grapes and melon from their village garden. I practiced my Turkish with them and their son practiced his English with me. I was saying I didn’t know much Turkish but Ozan’s wife said my pronunciations were especially good. At least, what I do know, I say correctly! Ozan brought us bamboo bathrobes from Pamukkali and invited us to come visit them soon! We were not going to, even though I have been asking to go visit Ozan since we bought our tickets to Turkey. Suha now says we can go!!