Up this morning about 6 am after an interesting night. Turns out, R’s cell phone went off twice (junk calls), while we were trying to sleep … and I for one had a really tough time getting back to sleep afterwards! The Luna Piena is certainly not a Hilton Hotel, but it was warm and roomy, and they provided us with a good breakfast this morning. Plates of cheeses, breads, and veggies – including two kinds of olives, slices of tomato and cucumbers and bananas. Turns out, this area grows bananas everywhere! Then, we packed up and were on the road, about 8:30 am.
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| Lots of agriculture under plastic |
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| And big mountains! |
And that road … let me tell you, between the Coast Highway 1 in California and the Road to Hana in Hawaii – those were nothing compared to today’s drive! It was absolutely incredible – especially as a portion of it was two lanes, basically switching back and forth on itself. It was so winding that I had R take a photo of the GPS map; it was unbelievable, especially as this was a major route, used by semi’s and trailers and everything in between to get around!
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| Utopia World! |
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| Looks dangerous to me! |
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| Yet another mega hotel! |
Once we made it past the really rough and winding section, we began to pass a series of huge mega-hotels and resorts. We had seen them some years ago, but it seems like they have gotten even bigger and gaudier than ever! My favorite was one called Utopia World – everything a family could want in a vacation, for sure, from water slides to places to shop! All in one convenient location! Wow! And, as we were going through Alanya, we passed not only a Popeye’s (Debby!) but an ARBY’s, as well!! Working our way down to the coast, we also saw some hang gliders coming past – but as I was driving, and R was photographing, we couldn’t really tell from where they had jumped … but it must have been quite a distance, but there are definitely mountains in the area, that’s for sure!
We also passed quite a bit of plastic, which was disturbing. Just like we saw in Spain some years ago, there are huge structures of agricultural fields under plastic, and it seems they go on for acres and acres! That can’t be environmentally friendly, can it?
About noon time, we arrived in Side (pronounced: See-day), which was an ancient port city from about the 7thcentury BC. Originally founded by Greek settlers from western Anatolia, its harbor made for a good base for trade in the region. It was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. and later ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty after Alexander’s death. Taken over by the Romans in their turn, it was a major influence in the area until about the 4th Century AD.
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| Fountain in Side! |
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Beautiful stone! |
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| Main Street lined with columns |
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| Ancient hospital they're working on stabilizing |
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| Gymnasium and bath area |
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| Stoa |
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| Side beach |
Today, Side is a small modern city built entirely on and around the ancient ruins, and it has changed very much since our original visit some 10 years or so ago. Then, you could drive right up to things. Now, however, only taxis and trolleys are allowed into the “old” section, and you park in a large, controlled lot and walk (or taxi/trolley) from there. We visited the ruins as well as the theater, and enjoyed a sit down for glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice before we trolley-ed our way back to the Visitor Center.
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| Stunning theatre that would accommodate 15,000 |
Then, back on the road to our final destination of the day, Antalya! Past the Expo from 2016 along the way, which featured in the Guy Ritchie movie Operation Fortune
which I really enjoyed. Then into the huge city of Antalya.
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| Made for a great movie location! |
The two times we have visited before, we have stayed in the old part of town, but this time, I opted to put us in a new section. We’re cozily residing for the next several nights in Casamax Suites. We’ve got a lovely one-bedroom apartment, with balcony and kitchen, AND clothes washer (which I’ve already used twice!) It’s right next to the University, and there are several restaurants and fast-food choices just down the street. Tonight, as we were both pretty tired, we opted for Pizza Hut pizza – have absolutely NO idea what was on the pizza – we got two, one “mixed” and the other plain … but the “mixed” was very good, just don’t ask me what was on it, other than olives and corn … which is a funny thing to put on pizza, but was actually pretty good!
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| Living room |
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| Full kitchen |
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| Nice bedroom |
Brought the pizza back to the apartment, watched Operation Fortune on the computer, and are now struggling to stay awake and get this posted!
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| Row of restaurants and shops in front of Casamax |
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| Plain pizza |
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| "Mixed" pizza |
Not sure what the weather is going to look like tomorrow, so we may either be able to get out and do some sights, or need to stay closer and do the museum in town … will know when we wake up!
So, more tomorrow!
Much love,
m
xxx
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