Today we went on an outing to Antalya. We hopped on the hotel shuttle that dropped us on the side of a street, seemingly nowhere, but once we got our bearings turned out to be just down the street from Hadrian’s Gate. The gate was built into the city wall after Hadrian’s visit to the city in 130 AD (the same Hadrian who has the wall in Northern England). Next to the gate is a small park, filled with benches and men sipping tea. There is even a park tea waiter to bring them their tea!
Walking through the gate you enter the old city with its narrow alleyways and ancient buildings. There are many souvenir shops, and almost everyone has “a special price for you, my friend”. The salesmen aren’t pushy, however, and take no for an answer easily. We were only suckered in once by a man at a spice stand who asked Peter if he was going for the Turkish look with his unshaven stubbly chin. It was a good laugh, as most of the men had the same unshaven stubble. From there, glasses of tea were made – one pomegranate and one apple – scoops of drink mix being taken from among the trays of spices. Nikolas gave it the thumbs up, and so we felt compelled to buy some. 
We continued our walk down to the harbor past souvenir stands, pottery shops (with little old ladies inside painting pots), rug shops and little restaurants. The harbor is nestled in a cove surrounded by a cliff, and you can imagine ancient ships coming and going. There were plenty of people offering boat rides for a great price, but we didn’t have the time. It was a great mix of tourist site and real life, with fishermen working on their nets, a motorcycle being washed, and people working on their boats.During a mediocre lunch at a restaurant sitting on spectacular site overlooking the sea and the mountains, the call to prayer came echoing from somewhere in the distance. Ninety-nine percent of the people in Turkey are Muslim, although the government has a secular constitution, providing for freedom of religion. Still, there are mosques everywhere and the call to prayer comes over loudspeakers on the pointed towers of every mosque five times a day.
Before too long, it was time to head back to the shuttle, a great outing coming to an end too soon. Antalya is a beautiful city, with much more to explore than we did. More pictures will be posted on the blog once we’re back in Salzburg, and you will be able to see them here.
