Today we woke up to tearful girls who didn't want to see the other Fulbrighters leave. We're staying on til Tuesday morning, but the group is leaving today. Lacey and Maren didn't want their new friends to go!
We set out a bit behind schedule for a dolmus ride to the Antalya Otogar to pick up our rental car. We finally made it out of the resort after many goodbyes and trying to put together last minute plans. We got onto the dolmus without incident, and then soon realized that we were on the slowest dolmus ever, and had a long way to go (80 km to Antalya). So much for meeting our car at 10 AM.
At 9:59 Brian mentioned that I should be getting a call soon from the rental car rep. I pulled out my cell phone and at exactly 10:00 it rang. "Yes, we are on our way. We are stopped in Kemer, watching other dolmuses come and go. Why is our dolmus not leaving yet? The sign on ours is identical to the others...we are still 30 minutes away. I will call you back at this number when we arrive at the otogar."
At 10:30 it rang again. "Yes, we are on our way. We just passed the Antalya Migros. No, I don't know how far away that is. Yes, we will call as soon as we arrive."
Finally, at 11:00, we arrived at the Antalya otogar and called the magic number back. Gray Renault Clio, near the taxis, OK. A lady is hovering and chatting up our rental rep repeatedly, "No lady, you can't steal our car out from under us, stop talking to the rep!" Car seat strapped in already, but with the belt from the seat next to it. Hmm. Rethread the car seat, load up our stuff, and off onto the open road for us.
First stop: snacks. The pickings were slim and we ended up with bad simit, even worse cinnamon flatbread, and some regular goodies from the Bim store I spotted on a side road. And we're off to Aspendos to see the largest Roman amphitheatre ruins (on Turkey's southern coast). Funny how the tour books tout the "largest" this and the "oldest" that, only to add the parenthetical, under your breath disclaimer. I guess every place needs to have a claim to something.
Almost immediately after getting out of the car in the dusty, windy parking lot I started sneezing and my eyes were all itchy and scratchy. I thought it would clear, but it just kept on. Lacey started itching too. So either we're WAY allergic to camels (there were some to pose with in the parking lot), or (more likely) something was blooming that just did not agree with our immune systems. We all went into the main theatre and looked around, and yes, it is huge. I mostly ended up tourist watching between rubbing my eyes and wondering what to do to make things more tolerable for me.
After we inspected the theatre, Brian headed up the hill to see the rest of the city's ruins, and the kids and I took a trip to the toilets to wash hands and faces and then plopped down on the stairway in the shade to rest and wait for Brian. That lasted a while, but then we were back to itching and scratching. We were going to go make a few purchases in the gift shop and then go back to the car where the Benadryl was awaiting us, but of course by this particular moment the gift shop was closed for lunch. Of course. You would think that places were closed all day, not just for an hour, the way I have a knack of hitting them at lunch time.
We sat in the cool shade of the entry near the gift shop, made our purchases, and went back out to the car. Relief so soon once we had taken the Benadryl, thank goodness.
Brian came back hot, thirsty, and with socks covered with nasty grass seeds that you had to pick off from the inside. He said there was good stuff up there, but the grass was attacking him and he almost fell into an overgrown cistern. Maybe it wasn't the best place for the kids and me after all...
On the way out of the main area we stopped to see the remains of the aqueduct and snap a few pictures of the water tower. I am so glad I was not in charge of moving the water around for these towns way back when. It is so amazing what they were able to accomplish with so little compared to what we have at our disposal today. Amazing.
We packed up and drove back into Antalya to see the sites and stop for a bite to eat, but couldn't find our way. A scooter rider stopped to "help" us when he saw us stopped and looking at a map, but then it seemed he was taking us to the wrong place so we ditched him before he could charge us for his services. We got stuck in loops of one way streets and crowds of cars and people so much so that we gave up and headed back to Tekirova and the easy known patterns of life at the Pirate's Beach. I guess the guide book is right:
Most of Antalya's sights lie within or close to the old town (Kaleici). You can easily take them in by walking, but they are in a bewildering tangle of narrow and sloping lanes, making them difficult to find on first attempt. No town plan [map] can give a truly accurate picture of these chaotic lanes, which are partly an inheritance from the Greeks.
If only it could say, "Ditch your car here and proceed on foot" on some signs, we would have been good to go. But onward to Tekirova. Maybe tomorrow we can try again with a fresh start.
Back to the pools, water slides, and snack bar for the later afternoon, then off to dinner with the masses (no more separate fancy group dinner with the Fulbrighters!). We found the only empty table left, right in the walkway, and started to munch.
Photos from today:
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| 2009-05-17Aspendos |
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