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Woolly says – with the sun beating down, cake consumed for breakfast – well you have to have a healthy diet – I hustled Jo and her multitude of phones, camera’s and bags out of the door. First stop the bakery over the road for a little snack, the pastries are just so delicious with so many different fillings, being unable to decide I selected several and tucked into my first one as we walked down the road to grab a taxi, well I do have to keep my strength up!
I don’t know where he puts it all! The pastries were supposed to be for our picnic lunch but I would be lucky to get a crumb at the rate the Mammoth was consuming. Woolly says – Checking myself over for crumbs I spotted our lovely local taxi driver, Hayri, just the person we needed. With Jo’s very basic Turkish we were quickly seated in his cab and heading through the town, conversation was tricky but with much smiling and hand gestures we all seemed to be well and agreed it was a lovely day, well I think that’s what was being said it
could equally of been about aliens invading and the sinking of the titanic. Clearing the town we took a sharp right which would lead us upwards through the narrow swing backs to Alanya castle. I always love this short drive as it can only compare to some of the roller coasters at Alton Towers, I’m not sure that Jo really suits the green tinge look though! As the harbour became a dot on the landscape the car suddenly pulled over by a small shop, oh goody it must be snack time!
I wasn’t quite sure why we were stopping but I caught the word bera, which could mean that Hayri needed to get ONE thing from the shop or the alcoholic beverage. Woolly says – he returned with the later, oh crumbs beer at 10.30am in the morning, I suppose I would have to mammoth up and help Jo out here, hic.
I can do many things in the morning, get up on one cup of tea and pack up camp (well trained by Ian) without moaning for my second cuppa, hold some conversations prior to having a coffee (it took years to achieve this!) but drinking beer for breakfast is one that I struggle with.
Woolly says – I failed to see the problem and as soon as the beer hit the glass I got my trunk in and off we continued to the top of the mountain. Parking up with the most stunning views of the sea we sat sipping and murmuring our thanks, just as Jo thought it was safe to get out of the bright yellow vehicle Hayri topped up our glasses and we continued our mammoth effort to consume our beverage, I think the bubbles went to my head at this point as the next thing I remember is walking through the castle gates!
Finally convincing our friend that we didn’t want any more beer, a lift back to the bottom or any jewellery off the nearest stall, I grabbed the guzzling mammoth and beat a hasty retreat into the castle itself. Woolly says – for many years this peninsula has been home to human settlements, originally built during the Hellenistic period more has been added over the centuries, even the Romans and possibly my friend Hadrian
got involved in 65BC until the Ottoman Empire took control. With the oldest remains dating back to 1226 and walls stretching for over 6000 metres not to mention the 160 towers there is certainly plenty to look at. Entering through the large gate we could immediately see that new work was underway with the Turkish idea of ‘preservation’ that of slapping concrete around to hold up the ancient structure taking over a large area, unable to see the walls behind the sheeting and scaffolding we wandered on past the dark and gloomy barracks and onto the church. Dating back to the 11
th century the Byzantine Church with its domed roof stands proudly overlooking the blue Mediterranean Sea, unfortunately it is fenced off but you can make out the niches that would have housed statues of the saints and other notable busts of the time as well as the arched windows that would have provided the only source of light.
The view from the top is amazing looking for miles across the sea and the coast lines of this beautiful area, with the sea looking tantalising on this rather warm day we stopped for some pictures. Woolly says – having taken our snaps we started to make our way down, a slightly hazardous walk even in trainers for Jo, I could hear Ian’s voice in my mind telling her to watch her feet and not the view, some things never change as she slipped down and ended up on her bum! I didn’t laugh that much, honestly!
With Woolly controlling his hysterics we found the path (one of several) that led us round to a shady area at the base of one of the towers, with Woolly tucking into our small picnic lunch we watched a couple of Germans delighting in their find of a tortoise, holding it up, shaking it, posing with it and finally placing it none to gently back on the ground. Woolly says – I ran over to check that he was ok after his photo call but having scrabbled around in the undergrowth it appeared that he had run for it, not that I could blame him, although I thought tortoises moved slowly this one was obviously in training for the next Olympics. Following the path downwards again we paused at the Aksebe Mausoleum,
built in 1230 it’s nearly impossibly dark to see inside but Jo shoved one of her camera’s through the wire and managed to get a shot. Next to the building is a strikingly simple minaret unlike many of the more stylish ones that now adorn Turkish soil. Simply built with brick it reminded me of a long forgotten day at Blitz Hill Open Air Museum at Iron Bridge which had a similar looking ‘tower’, hmm I wonder if it was the same builder?
Poor mammoth he really doesn’t have a clue sometimes! As we traversed the route down there is never a moment when there is nothing to look at, with small towers, huge walls and graveyards at every corner. As the sea came ever closer you can clearly see the walls within walls that kept the people safe within their fortress, with tiers cut into the rock face to provide planting for crops, we could almost hear the heavy footsteps of the soldiers on patrol as they paced backwards and forewards. Woolly says – Every time we walk down these paths we always find ourselves popping up at a different point and today
was no exception as we arrived at the bottom to find we had arrived above the newly refurbished ship yards, much further along that we usually find ourselves. A handy bench provided a short rest which allowed me to eat the last pastry and watch the ‘Pirate’ boats coming in and out of the harbour with their party animals abroad. With the tempting notion of ice cream we climbed down the last of the castle and arrived hot and sticky at the port. Gripping our ice-creams tightly we meandered past the boats and tourists enjoying the warmth on my fur and the smiles from the passing folks.
Following a major clean up, how does he get ice cream in his ears is beyond me! We set out for the second part of our day and the very short walk to the front and our favourite restaurant. Woolly says – As we raised our glasses to our missing Birthday boy, we toasted him on what would have been his 50
th Burpday before celebrating with a meal of the most fabulous King Prawns and finishing off with just a little more cake (well I
would hate it to go to waste!), as we watched the stars come out we remembered the many wonderful days and nights that we had been lucky enough to share and although it was not the easiest of days for us, together Jo and I had done it and felt proud of our small and but simple achievement.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Happy birthday, Ian!!
What a wonderful way to remember him! Beer and cake. A hike from the castle to your favorite restaurant. Jo is such a good companion for Woolly.