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Published: October 28th 2015
We arrived at the Antalya bus station at about 7:30am following a 9 hour overnight bus ride from Göreme. After grabbing our bags we headed to the line of taxis, hopped in one and headed off towards our hotel in Kaleiçi, the old town of Antalya. Kaleiçi (which means ‘inside the castle or fortress’) was a Roman town, then a Byzantine, then a Seljuk Turkish, and finally an Ottoman Turkish town. It is built around a harbour, in the centre of the modern city of Antalya.
Our hotel was closed when we arrived, but one of the staff from the hotel’s restaurant was cleaning up after a party the previous night. We grabbed a seat and waited until the hotel staff arrived. Not long after we sat down a very cute and very friendly pregnant cat made herself at home on my lap. A few minutes later the guy from the restaurant bought us each a cup of tea – a cat on my lap and a cup of tea, my idea of heaven.
After waiting for an hour or so the owner of the hotel turned up. He would have arrived slightly earlier but there was a glitch
with electronics and the time had adjusted for the end of daylight savings even though it doesn’t end in Turkey for a few more weeks. Once we figured out what the time actually was he checked whether our room was available and fortunately it was.
After checking in and having a shower we headed out to find some breakfast. We ended up ordering a spinach and feta roll and a potato gözleme from a little bakery which was quite nice. After breakfast we made our way towards a little park on the edge of the cliff with a fantastic view of the old harbour and the sea. After admiring the view for a while we decided to head back to our room to relax for a little as the streets were still very quiet (presumably everyone else was caught out by the incorrect time change to…either that or they had a late night).
We headed out again at around 11 to do a walking tour of the old city. We didn’t stay on the walking tour route for very long at all; we turned down a path through some a garden and discovered a whole lot of cats.
I got distracted by a cute little black and white kitten who was quite happy to have a cuddle. After a snuggle I put her back down and we continued walking and cat spotting. Mid way along the path a charity had erected a cat house with scratching poles, toys, beds and food in it; the Turks love their cats (maybe I’m Turkish?!). We eventually made our way out to the street which runs along the eastern and northern edges of Kaleiçi. The street was very busy with people out enjoying their Sunday afternoon. We walked along amongst the masses and eventually decided it was time for lunch.
We settled on a restaurant which had a few people in it already and ordered. I ordered chicken kofte and Scott had lamb kofte. Mine tasted like they had been cooked in lamb juices so I didn’t eat them; luckily there was plenty of salad, rice and chips on the plate so I had enough to eat. I snuck the chicken into my handbag when the staff weren’t looking so I could feed them to cats later on.
After lunch we set off walking again. Not long after we came
across a group of cats so I decided it was the perfect time to feed them my lunch. As soon as they realised what was happening I was mobbed by cats. The chicken didn’t last long; as we were walking away we heard them fighting over the pieces which hadn’t been gobbled up immediately…
After walking a little further we decided to head back to the Turkish Delight store and buy our first Turkish Turkish Delights. We stuck with the traditional rose flavour which we ate whilst walking through the Kaleiçi streets.
The streets in the Kaleiçi area are quite pretty; they are narrow and cobblestoned with cute little buildings on either side. Most of the buildings are in reasonable condition, though some are derelict and falling down which isn’t quite as nice. Pretty much all of the buildings have been converted into hotels, restaurants or shops selling souvenirs.
After wandering around for a while we headed back to the hotel to relax as we were quite tired from the overnight bus ride. We read our books until dinner time when we set out again in search of food.
For dinner we chose a kebap place
outside Kaleiçi; we ordered a kebap each which came with salad, rice and bread as usual. We were also served up a dish of pickled chillies (surprisingly hot and not that nice) as well as some deep fried balls of dough soaked in sugar syrup for dessert. After dinner we picked up some baklava and headed back to the hotel for an early night.
The following morning after breakfast we walked down to the harbour area. The harbour was originally built by the Romans, though the concrete blocks which had been places since covered up a lot of the original construction. We made it past the men yelling “boat ride 5 euro half an hour” onto the breakwater where we watched some local boys egging each other on to jump into the water (they eventually did go in) and admired the scenery.
After a while we headed back up the hill (why always a hill?) through Kaleiçi and made our way towards Hadrian’s Gate which was constructed for the Emperor Hadrian’s visit to Kaleiçi in 130AD. From Hadrian’s Gate walked back through the streets towards our hotel to grab our books before heading to the nearby cliff top
restaurant for a lazy lunch.
For lunch we ordered a mixed mezze plate to share. We were glad we decided to share as the plate with a selection of delicious dips and marinated veggies with a side of bread was quite large and we weren’t able to finish it all. After lunch we ordered a drink each and read our books in the shade, occasionally glancing up at the spectacular view.
After a few hours we decided it was time to organise a hire car for the following day so set out to find out. We eventually found a place with a car available for 80 Lira for the day which sounded like a pretty good deal to us. After confirming our booking for the car we went for another walk through the streets before heading back to our hotel.
For dinner we decided to head back to the same restaurant we’d had lunch at as the food was delicious and the setting was pretty hard to beat. I ordered a pasta dish and Scott had chicken in a curry sauce (which he’s still claiming as a Turkish dish as it wasn’t much like any traditional curry).
The view of the lights of Antalya from the restaurant was quite lovely but by the time we’d finished the wind had picked up so we didn’t hang around.
The following morning we picked up our hire car and set off towards Termessos, the ruins of an ancient Pisidian city to the north west of Antalya. After about an hours drive we arrived at the park entrance and from there it was another 9km drive up a windy road past some ruins to the carpark.
The inhabitants of Termessos were apparently quite fierce and successfully fought off Alexander the Great in 333BC, which is when the recorded history of the city begins. After successfully fighting Alexander the Great off, they became independent allies of the Romans. The city was eventually abandoned when its aqueduct was crushed in an earthquake, destroying the water supply to the city, though historians aren’t sure when this occurred.
From the carpark we began our 3km climb uphill towards the spectacular theatre. Along the way we passed the ruins of the lower city walls, the lower city ruins, the city gate, the baths and gymnasium, the upper city walls, the Artemis-Hadrian Temple and
a colonnaded street. The buildings were in various stages of collapse, with some being nearly complete and others which had been reduced to piles of stones (some beautifully carved).
The theatre which was constructed in Roman style in approximately the 2
nd century AD was the highlight. It is situated on top of a mountain peak surrounded by gorgeous mountain ranges. When it was built it had enough seating for 4,000-5,000 people and was designed such that it would be shaded in the afternoon so that the audience wouldn’t have to sit in the baking sun. When we arrived at the theatre we met a British man who had hired a guide for the day which was fortunate as we were able to listen in on his narrative. The four of us spent a while clambering around the ruins (which we had to ourselves), admiring the scenery and taking photos before heading off to check out some of the other ruins including a temple and some massive cisterns.
From there climbed up a little further to the Tomb of General Alcetas. Apparently the tomb was raided by treasure hunters and damaged at some point in time, but there is
still a very clear relief of a man on a horse (assumed to be Alcetas himself) at the rear of it.
From the tomb we headed back down the hill to the carpark and set off towards our next destination, Aspendos, which is to the east of Antalya. Along the way we stopped for lunch – cheese pide for me, kebaps for Scott and a shared salad.
After about an hour and a half drive we arrived at Aspendos which is home to what is considered to be the best preserved Roman theatre of the ancient world. The theatre was built sometime between 161–180 AD and seats approximately 15,000 people. Atatürk toured the theatre in 1930 and decided it was too impressive to not be used so had it restored (the quality of which is apparently not up to some historians standards) and it continues to be used for performances to this day. The theatre was indeed spectacular; at 96m diameter it is a huge building. The ornate backdrop is largely intact which makes it even more impressive. It would be an absolutely spectacular venue and I would definitely have enjoyed seeing the Turkish ballet perform on a
warm summer night – perhaps we’ll have to return for that.
The theatre is surrounded by ruins of the ancient city so after checking out the theatre we went off to explore them. The ruins of the city are not as well preserved as the theatre, though a fair bit of the basilica which was constructed in the 3
rd century AD is still intact.
After exploring for a while we headed back towards Antalya and eventually made it to Kaleiçi (after a few wrong turns). After dropping off the car we headed back to the hotel for a while before venturing out for dinner.
For dinner we chose a fancy Spanish restaurant. I ordered a chicken quesadilla, baby carrots and baby beetroot and peppers stuffed with goats cheese and fried with a caramelised onion and chilli sauce from the tapas menu. Scott ordered lamb ribs with polenta from the mains. The food was delicious; the stuffed peppers were definitely my favourite. After finishing his dish Scott fed his lamb bones to a very lucky shy cat who was hanging around our table whilst we ate. The meal was the perfect way to finish our time in Antalya.
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Barb Vallak
non-member comment
Antalya
Great to read your travel blog about Turkey. Often the Messe was too much for me to eat let alone attempting a main course. Turkey is a beautiful country so we hope you are enjoying your travels. Aunty Barb