Last Day in Antalya :(

Seems I just arrived here, but I'm preparing to depart again to go to my site to start work... Lame. I will definitely miss this city, especially Murat and his family! They have been very hospitable and have taken me all over the city and a few neighboring areas. Just to give you an idea of some of my daily activities...

At least three of my mornings started out by going to a local swimming spot where one must climb down about 200 meters to the sea. There are stairs, but they are spaced unevenly and end up being quite curvy because they were built following the cliff face. These are called the Falez Cliffs, named after the local rock type. There is no beach at the bottom, only rocks and a short boardwalk-like structure leading to a ladder. Everyone claims a rock and leaves their stuff there while swimming. The spot is quite popular with the old local men, many of which were former administrators of the city Murat tells me. The water here is crystal clear and warm. It is possible to see the bottom of the sea quite a ways out, even though it is deep. There is little current or waves, so swimming is relaxing and enjoyable. I've noticed its helping my ankle a lot too, which is great! We swam here one night too and that was great too, although the water was pretty wavy (but that was fun too for a change and the water was even warmer).

We went to the beach two days on two of the other days. This place was called 'Nirvana Beach' and was made up of well worn pebbles instead of sand, which I have decided I prefer the former because I can stay clean after getting out of the water. Luckily, we have gone early enough in the mornings that we can leave before noon sun -- meaning I haven't burned yet! :)

After the beach or morning swim, we eat breakfast which consists of 3-5 cheeses, 3-4 types of olives, bread, several types of nuts, tomatoes and cucumber in olive oil, bread, and whatever Murat's mom, Leyla, made on the stove such as an omelet, fried cheese, etc. There is also, of course, tea with plenty of sugar. We take about an hour to eat, which certainly rocks the socks off of my usual mornings eating a breakfast of cereal or granola while standing in my kitchen. I will certainly miss these breakfasts. *Sigh*

We wait out the hot part of the day in the air conditioned room while reading or watching TV/movies. A few naps have been thrown in there as well.

Other days when I am not being a slug or a fish, we've gone out exploring. My first day, Murat and I went out in the late afternoon to walk around Old Town. There are a lot of lovely buildings around here, some which are very old. This is also primarily the tourist area and is near the harbor. We walked around here and looked at the boats. Murat decided we needed to take a boat tour, so we did that. It took us along the cliffs providing a nice view of the city.

Two days of my visit were dedicated to seeing ancient sites. Yay! The first one we went to was Termessos, which is a Greek site located in the Tarsus Mountains on the top of one of the peaks. We drove the car up part of the way and then hiked up to the top. The view was spectacular! Impossible to capture in photos or to describe, but absolutely breathtaking! The ruins are scattered throughout the peak, so we hiked around to find them. There is a lot of vegetation blocking some of the fragments and makes it seem very untouched. I liked exploring!

The next day we went to Aspendos, the site of an excellently preserved Roman theatre. There was a great view from the top of this too. The theatre, as I said, was well preserved with virtually every piece intact. Much of the original sculpture from the theatre remains intact at the Antalya Museum (which was different day's actitivity). There was a guy dressed as a Roman soldiers costume that he made himself. Murat's mom wanted a photo with him and I ended up getting one as well. After this site we went to Perge, another really old site, but with remains primarily from the Roman period. A lot of the site was overrun with vegetation, really tall vegetation. The highlight of this site, for me, was the stone canal which ran down the center of a colonnaded area leading up to a large, what used to be grand fountain with a sculpture and three arches that held additional pieces. I could imagine what a welcome scene this would be in the heat.

I think that covers the highlights. Now I'll post the link for the photos so you can see what I've been babbling on about. Enjoy!

Arrived Safely and with ALL My Bags... Check!

I feared a repeat of lost luggage would be in order for this trip, but thankfully my bag arrived when I did. There were a few moments of uncertainty, such as when I was watching the baggage being loaded onto the plane while still in Detroit. I watched them start the process and was getting nervous as the cart became more and more empty and my bag still hadn't been tossed on the plane. Finally I saw it get put on the conveyor belt (the very last of the bags!) and move up toward the door. Suddenly, the belt stopped and started going in reverse and I watched as my bag fell off the belt and on to the ground. I watched it there for several minutes prepared to raise hell if someone didn't pick it up before I got on the plane, but thankfully someone noticed it while walking by and saved me from doing anything rash.

The flights were ok, all were delayed at least an hour. I had a long layover in Chicago (8 hours, haha), so my old roommate, Brian, came and picked me up and we got to visit for the day. Everything in general, aside from the delays, was smooth sailing. On the long flight, I was next to a guy who must have felt he didn't have enough space in his seat because he was constantly bumping me and at one point sleeping with his back against my shoulder as a prop. Meanwhile, I was the most cramped I'd ever been on a flight in part because this window seat had a large curve from the shape of the plane which stole some space. The guy also slept most of the flight and I was only able to get out once from my spot because I couldn't wake him otherwise. Anyway... all was righted when I somehow ended up with a First Class ticket from Istanbul to Antalya! I sat there shocked as the plane was loaded expecting that at any moment I would be kicked out of my seat because I do not recall having that ticket. It didn't happen though and I was treated to a fancy meal, beverages, and stewardesses who were actually really nice!

Murat and his mother picked me up from the airport. I didn't think he'd be able to find me because my phone is not working as it is supposed to be, so I had no way of telling him where I was. Somehow we connected and made it back to his parents apartment where I'm staying while in Antalya. I like the city so far. Its warm, but not as warm as I was anticipating and there are beautiful flowering bushes everywhere! Yesterday we went swimming early in the morning and spent some time in the Old City. We took a boat ride along the coast for another view of the city, which has some amazing cliffs, and the mountains near by.

Overall, its great to be back in Turkey. I will be sure to update soon with some photos and more news. :)

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

Its that time of year again! I'll be on the road again in less than two days. Destination: southern Turkey. I'll be in two places as I mentioned in a previous blog, Antalya and Hatay. I'm pretty excited to go back to Turkey and to have the chance to explore new areas of a country I already love!

In the meantime, I will enjoy the rest of my time at home with my family before I set out on the open road again. I've been home for a week already and it has been very relaxing -- and has gone by way too fast!

Overall, not much new to report other than I'll be leaving on Saturday. Instead of mass-emails this year, I'm just going to update the blog that way I can actually include photos. :)

To set the mood for my bon voyage, I'm including The 50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes as listed by BraveNewTraveler.com. The website is pretty great overall, lots of funny and useful travel articles if anyone has the travel itch!

Farewell for now! This will be the last stateside update for a while!

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Postponed the zoo again and went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. This well maintained arboretum is owned by the U of MN and is free to students. I was feeling a bit stir crazy since I had not left the cities since my trip to Stillwater over spring break, so I opted for the 40 minute drive out into the countryside.

It was a beautiful day and the fresh air was refreshing. There are several gardens available to walk through as well as numerous nature trails. There are also sections which specialize in specific trees, so for example, there are sections of only "Ash" or even areas dedicated to different types of hedges. I didn't walk out to these, but I drove through them on my way out and definitely plan to visit these on my next trip.

Not many of the flowers were in bloom yet, only a few flowering bushes or trees. The gardens would be quite lovely I imagine once everything has come to life for the season. Some of the specialty gardens include a multi-terraced rose garden, a medicinal garden, and a large herb garden.

I walked through the Shade Tree exhibit and the wildflower gardens which were both part of some of the trails. These were well maintained and had a pleasant and varied landscape. There were few bugs, mostly non bothersome types.


The arboretum was not far from a decent sized lake. I passed one on my drive in, but I believe the one in the photo is yet another lake.





Had another adventure previous Sunday. I went to a friend's party that previous Saturday and a friend was telling me that she had given her cat a bath. I laughed and said I could never do that with Mea because I would fear for my life! She absolutely hates water. When she gets in her mood to try to pounce/attack me, I grab a water bottle and spray her for her misconduct. The following day (Sunday) I was feeling inspired by my friend and decided to try it out with Mea anyway.

I suited up with leather gloves and a thick work shirt in the anticipation there would be much scratching and biting. I ran some warm water in the tub, got an old yogurt container to use for pouring water, added a bit of soap, then locked the kitty in the bathroom with me. I quickly picked her up, set her in the tub, and poured water down her back and did it again. She hardly moved. I believe she was in shock that she was all of the sudden soaking and did not feel the need to fight it because the damage was done. I got all the way through the bath, extra soap and all, without any trouble from her.

Her abundance of fur held a lot of water and she dripped for a long time. She wouldn't let me too near to her to help her dry off, so she had to stay locked in the bathroom for a while. I did manage to snap a photo of her all wet, which you can see posted on the blog wall. I think its pretty funny.

It is late now, so I will finish part two of this post tomorrow and inform you of my other activities of the week. Sweet dreams all!