The ancient harbour of Alanya

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Geo: 36.5452, 32.0099

We awoke in Turkey to find that it was pouring with rain. I suspect that Europe is now getting the tail end of the hurricane that hit the UK a few days ago. However we donned our wet weather gear and set off from the ship in Alanya only to have the sun come out by the time we had reached the town. It is a pretty harbour with a walled citadel on top and shipyards which were built in 1227 to build double masted fast sailing ships. The town was once given to Anthony by Cleopatra. We headed off to see the old shipyards and weren't disappointed. We were also the only people there as it is the end of the season. They are built into the side of the rocks with the sea lapping through the elegant arches and there is an easy boardwalk all the way along so an easy walk and really worth doing.

We had considered going to the citadel on the top of the hill but had been told that there are lots of uneven steps and it is a hard climb so we missed this out. Instead we strolled along the sea-front where there were many ships waiting to take people out but as there weren't many people most were in the harbour. We also walked through the shops and it became clear that this is a town which caters normally for the cheap holiday resort types, so every other shop was selling cheap T-shirts and bags etc. We bought Turkish Delight which I adore and is usually pricey in the UK. The morning ended with the mandatory beer in a bar on the front before walking back to the ship for lunch. We had the best weather as by the time we had finished lunch it was pouring with rain again so no sitting on the balcony today. We have to gear ourselves up for a new round of Team Trivia. At the final yesterday we came 3rd so not too bad. The same team are going to stick together for the next round. This may be harder as we were joined by 100 new passengers yesterday so the competition may be fiercer.

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