Antalya

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A quiet one today. Jeff not well so spent the day in bed. Kim enjoyed brekky in the lovely vine-shaded courtyard, took all our dirty laundry down, caught up some diary, then went exploring Antalya. The first thing I discovered is that we were located about one minute from spectacular hilltop views of the Mediterranean. Our hotel is just a couple of corners from an old tower and a cluster of cafes and shops, a little south of the old Roman harbour. I was on a mission to find the PTT, so headed off through the gorgeous cobbled streets til I found Hadrian's gate and the rest of the city outside. Headed off in the direction I'd been given and walked past the PTT a couple of times without noticing before asking and there it was, but closed for lunch. So instead I went to a shop that sells cameras and was able to get two 2 GB cards worth of photos (more than 1800 pics) burnt onto a DVD for TL 10. Unfortunately it didn't come with a cover so my next mission was to find somewhere that sold those. Easier said than done. I wandered around for a bit and then was chatting to an English couple who offered to help. We found a shop nearby that sold music and sure enough the had empty CD cases and sold me one for TL 1.

Then it was back to the PTT where there were about 40 people inside, some sitting around the walls, some at the counter and others standing waiting. There was a number system and a man showed me how to get a ticket from a machine with my number on it. Up on the wall an electronic board said which numbers were being seen at which counter (there were five places with three currently staffed). I had about 40 people ahead of me in the queue. So I stood for a while and then sat when a seat became vacant. After about 15 minutes a man asked me if I was just posting my postcards, and when I said yes, pointed out that there was no waiting just for stamps and letters (sure enough there was a small sign on the wall at the far end of the counter). So I went up and sure enough had quickly posted the cards. Gave the man who'd advised me my ticket, which was obviously a lower number than his. And off I went. Next I went exploring, first along the road that heads west along the top of the cliff. Passed the clock tower, a mosque and then started getting views down onto the harbour and out to sea. Had freshly squeezed orange & pomegranate juice from a little stall and kept on for a while, then down some stairs and back around the harbour where there were lots of boats trying to sell one hour boat trips for about TL 10. Two blokes made me have a photo with them and then offered to get me a drink. I did the photo but declined the drink. Walked around the boats and out onto a bit of a breakwall, took some photos, saw a tiny rocky beach packed with sunbeds and umbrellas, then made my way back up some stairs into Kaleici and eventually back to the hotel. Checked out the roof terrace, did some more diarising, had a nap, then convinced Jeff to get out of bed and come for a walk.  Showed him the nearby sights and then found a restaurant where I had dinner and Jeff was very poor company as still not feeling great. All in all an uneventful but relaxıng day.

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