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Published: August 20th 2015
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After breakfast this morning we caught the water taxi to Marmaris to look at the old town and the castle. With hindsight we could easily have seen the old town and the castle on Monday morning while we were waiting for our transfer to Icmeler. Not to worry, the sun was shining and the sky was blue and we enjoyed our water taxi ride across the bay to Marmaris ... and it meant that we didn't spend the whole day lazing around on sun beds!!
From the water taxi port we walked along the seafront to the marina and admired all of the yachts and ocean cruisers moored there. From the waterfront we walked up towards the castle through the area that is designated the 'old' part of Marmaris. There were lots of tiny little streets and tiny little houses clinging to the side of the hill which is topped by Marmaris Castle. It is believed that there has been a castle atop this hill since around 1044BC. During the reign of Alexander the Great (336 to 323BC) the castle was extensively repaired. In 1522 the castle was rebuilt and widened by Suleyman the Magnificent during his campaign for the
Greek island of Rhodes. Suleyman the Magnificent used the castle as a military base for his troops.
The castle suffered considerable damage during World War I, when the French Fleet fired their cannons at it. It remained in disrepair until restoration works were undertaken between 1980 and 1990. The restorations created seven indoor areas that house an archaeology lounge and an ethnography lounge along with art galleries and storage areas. The museum boasts an extensive collection of amphoras belonging to the Helenistic, Roman and Byzantium era and earthenware, glassware, coins and ornaments. In the ethnography lounge Ottoman era (1517 to 1918) weaving works, carpets, furniture, copper kitchen pieces, weapons and ornaments are exhibited. The interior of the castle is planted with a colourful Mediterranean garden and the panoramic views from the castle walls are spectacular.
We made our way back to sea level by wending our way through the streets on the other side of the hill. After some refreshments (beer/iced coffee) in a cafe at the bottom of the hill we wandered through the Grand Bazar on our way back to the water taxi port. As far as we can tell there isn't really a water bus/taxi
timetable, they just sort of wait until they think they have enough passengers on board and then they head off. Unfortunately amongst the passengers on our return journey there were a couple of smokers. Not only did they share their disgusting cigarettes with everyone on board, they flicked their butts into the Aegean Sea when they were finished. Disgusting! I bet they don't smoke on public transport in England so why do they think it's OK when they're on holidays? And I bet they don't actually want to swim amongst cigarette butts, so why throw them in the sea?!
Just to mix things up a bit, this afternoon we lounged around on the sun beds on the lawn rather than on the beach. Oh, the difficult decisions you have to make when you are on holidays!
Since it was the last night of our Aegean holiday we decided to have dinner at the hotels a la carte Italian restaurant. The food proved to be an interesting Turkish interpretation of Italian cuisine!! We dined al fresco which was a bit chilly with the sun down and a rather brisk on-shore breeze blowing.
Tonight's entertainment had an 'Easy Listening'
theme. I think it will be some time before I can convince Bernie to accompany me to anything musical as he is well and truly over show tunes!
Steps for the day 10,109 (6.88 kms)
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