Live from Silver Cloud 1432 - Istanbul to Piraeus

[jpalbny]

jp, my other half has been lobbying to do this cruise (or similar) for some time now and I have resisted. However your trip report and especially these latest photos have convinced me.

 

Loving the fact you guys got off the beaten track by hiring a car and striking out!

 

Thanks for sharing; you have inspired us (well, mostly me as the other half was sold years ago!).

 

Thanks, badgerdee. By all means, take this trip! We had such a great time (and by this point, there was still almost a week to go). The ports are very interesting, and the archaeological sites are so numerous that you can't possibly see them all in a day - and believe me, we tried! I still can't figure out why the ship was only half-full; this itinerary was fantastic!

 

Happy to answer any other questions about the stops or the itinerary, either as they come up in this thread, or by e-mail (see previous post). We did a ton of research and went out on our own everywhere other than Kusadasi.

 

Is your cruise aboard Silver Wind sadly approaching the end? I've enjoyed your trip reports from the Egypt and Jordan stops. We disembarked this cruise in Athens, on the same day you embarked on the adjacent pier, so following your thread has helped ease the pain of disembarking.

Edited November 13, 2014 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Marmaris - finishing up.

 

So we made our way down the long dirt road back to Yeşil Üzümlü / Yesilüzümlü / Üzümlü (pick a name!) and from there, back to some nicer highways. There is a long toll tunnel under the mountains on the way back to Marmaris which cut some time off our journey. Filled up with gas outside of town. No pay at the pump technology here! If you're paying with a cc, the pump attendant gives you a receipt for your gas, you take your card into the station, pay there, and the cashier gives you a receipt to take back to the pump attendant to prove you've paid. Complicated!

 

We stopped for a scenic view of Marmaris from a pullout along the highway - sure, now the clouds have decided to disappear... Now that it's 4:00 and we have to sail at 6:00... Still, a very pretty view!

 

 

Made it to the yacht harbor and returned the car without a problem. Walked back through the harbor and enjoyed the view of Silver Cloud through the forest of ship masts - where's lunch?

 

 

Since we got back so late, we ordered room service for lunch – a tasty cheeseburger and hot dogs with onion rings and fries. We wandered the deck enjoying the views of the harbor. Amazing how fast the weather has changed!

 

 

 

Sailaway at 6:00, with a nice parting view of the mountains at dusk. Tonight, Daylight Savings Time ends in Europe, so that would be the last time we see the sun this late. It doesn't end in the USA for another week.

 

 

Since we'd had such a late lunch, we decided to eat dinner a little later, and we ate light – just an appetizer (but I didn't write which ones) and for the main course, we had the honey-spiced duck recipe from the cooking demo. Delicious slices of medium-rare tender duck breast, accompanied by duck leg confit and sautéed cabbage. It was made even better by our head sommelier Biljana, who came by to chat and brought us a nice bottle of Pinot Noir to go with it. All in all, a pretty good day!

 

Tomorrow promises to be even busier... We are in Alanya, and we plan to drive to a few sites along the coast to the west. If all goes well, we will cover all of the important sites between Antalya and Alanya. Glad I have an extra hour of sleep tonight!

[jpalbny]

Sunday 10/26 - Alanya

 

Alanya is a small city on the Turquoise Coast, not to be confused with tomorrow's stop, Antalya, which is 2 hours to the west. Neither is to be confused with Anatolia, the general name for the plateau making up the bulk of Asian Turkey! Ugh - confused yet? Honestly, I had a hard time keeping the two cities straight in my head...

 

 

The view as we approached the pier was very pretty in the morning sunshine. The Red Tower is visible at the bottom of the hill, and the town wall stretches up the hill to Alanya Castle. Unfortunately, our plans would take us out of town today, so we wouldn't have time to explore this area. And the sky looks bluer than yesterday, but who invited those clouds?

 

 

We had a rental car arranged from Europcar, which was about a half-hour from the pier by foot, in the city proper. We grabbed breakfast and set out a little before 8:30, as Europcar didn't open until 9:00 today. The pier stretched on for quite a while past the ship's docking point, and it was full of pleasure boats. Even at this hour on a Sunday, many of them were hawking for passengers. Some looked interesting, I must admit... Maybe not as luxurious as our ship!

 

 

We got to Europcar and our car was eventually ready - time to set out! Our first stop was Alara Han, about 30 minutes from town. This was a destination that we had found in our guidebook but there wasn't much information online. Supposedly, there were the ruins of an old Seljuk fortress up on a mountain which you could climb to - through a tunnel that was carved into the mountain! It sounded neat enough to give it a shot.

 

We arrived in the vicinity and were aggressively flagged down by some random fellow who just about jumped in front of our car to stop us. It was apparent that he was some sort of self-appointed "gatekeeper" so we gave him 10 lira "admission" to get rid of him - along with another lira of "baksheesh" to his companion who forced some iced tea on us that we didn't ask for. Quite the adventure...

 

Just a bit further down the road from the gatekeeper, we saw some tin-roofed shacks along the river with signs for parking, so we parked at one and were quite shocked when the proprietor walked up to our car and started speaking to us in German! After catching a few words, we ascertained that he wanted to be sure we had a light (we did) to climb the "stone tunnel," so we parked at his "restaurant" and set out to find said Steintunnel. We were still laughing at the turn of events here!

 

So, we could see that ruins were visible up this steep mountain - it looks like a fortress. Between our limited understanding of our host's German, and the ruins, at least we think we're in the right place!

 

 

The trail was vaguely marked but we found occasional red arrows to follow. It started becoming a bit of a rock scramble at the base, then we walked up a section of steep rock that looked like a manmade path - before we saw a hole in the ground, and realized that we'd been walking on the roof of the tunnel! At this point the roof had collapsed, and that was (maybe) the way in. So we climbed into the tunnel, and we could finally see the stairs that we were supposed to climb:

 

 

It was quite dark in here but my cell phone light was sufficient to see. The dripping water had done a number on the stairs over hundreds of years, but they weren't too slippery. That was fortunate, because they are quite steep! We thought about turning back but decided to go for it. Considering how much trouble we'd been through to get here, we may as well get our money's worth!

[jpalbny]

Alara Han continued - the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

We made our way up the rock tunnel, carefully and slowly, but it was only about 100 steps before we came out at the top. Lucky the tunnel wasn't too long, because my phone battery was lower than I though it should be, and the light eats batteries like crazy! After negotiating the tunnel, we had to clamber up over more debris before we could get through the gate in the old wall of the fortress.

 

Once inside the fortress complex, there wasn't a whole lot to see, but the red arrows continued to guide you along a rough path.

 

 

We climbed about halfway up the fortress before it became a ridiculous climb up a sheer rock face at a crazy angle, crawling on your hands and feet - then we decided enough was enough.

 

 

The view was good enough from here! The river valley stretched out below us, and we could vaguely make out the "restaurant" where our car was parked. We had actually come up a long way from the river where we started:

 

 

The clouds were gathering and it was getting a little darker. We didn't relish the thought of climbing down all of those slick rock surfaces in the rain, so we headed back. We did have some company on the way down - these cute little guys must climb all the way up from the river. Impressive!

 

 

One last look at the fortress before we headed back to our parking space. That was a pretty steep hill, and our legs are feeling it from the climb!

 

 

We knew that there would be a quid pro quo for the owners letting us park at their restaurant, so we figured we'd have to sit and buy a beverage before going. All part of the adventure! So we sat down and ordered hot tea, relaxed while a brief rain shower pounded the tin roof, and paid for our drinks with a few extra lira for parking thrown in. We remembered enough German to thank the kind gentleman for his hospitality, and took our leave. On the way out, we stopped at the caravansary ruins for pictures:

 

 

The "gatekeeper" was still there so we didn't bother trying to go in. We have a lot of other places to visit today, so we headed on to our next stop. A somewhat reasonably successful venture, way off the beaten path. We'll take it!

[lincslady]

Congratulations on your super photos and adventurous spirit; lots here for others to get inside knowledge from when in the same area.

[jpalbny]

Thank you, lincslady! There definitely was an element of adventure today...

 

Alanya, continued:

 

So after leaving Alara Han we got back on the main road towards our next stop, which was Side. This is definitely a major attraction in the area; well-preserved ruins which are scattered in and around a modern town. There was a ship's tour going here today which I'm quite sure didn't stop at Alara Han along the way!

 

It had rained a little after our climb but apparently that was just a warmup. Once we got back on the main coastal highway towards Side, the skies became inky dark and the wind started. Soon the heavens opened in earnest and it rained buckets. It was incredible - a powerful thunderstorm with lots of lightning, and even a brief period of hail! We slowed down and considered pulling off the road to wait it out, but the shoulders were so flooded that we thought it was safer to stay on the road and keep driving slowly. The deluge stopped after a few minutes and we continued on to Side.

 

Side is situated on a peninsula, with some of the ruins at the neck, and others at the tip, with the modern town sandwiched in between. We drove through the first part of the ruins and found an "otopark" just opposite the theatre, so we set off on foot from here.

 

The theatre here is noteworthy for being well-preserved, and it didn't disappoint - it's in much better shape than the one yesterday!

 

 

In this direction you could see part of the commercial agora.

 

 

And in the other direction, the state agora. The two were connected by a stretch of colonnaded street. I liked the view of the ocean from here as well!

 

 

We left the theatre and as we were exiting, we saw the Silversea flag, and the ship's tour making its entrance. After saying our hellos, we headed out through the modern town to the tip of the peninsula. The modern town looks very touristy, a typical seaside resort full of restaurants, fast food places, tons of shops, and hawkers selling tours. We ran the gauntlet and ended up at the harbor:

 

 

Much nicer here, though still crowded. The big attraction on this side is the Temple of Apollo. A few columns still stand, and the rest is fenced off. The setting is nice, though.

 

 

We took a different route back through the city, past the theatre, and stopped by the commercial agora for some pictures. Our guy at the car rental had said that there was flooding at Side yesterday, and we could still see some residual here in the agora. This circular building in the center is the Temple of Tyche, and it is not supposed to be an island!

 

 

The Side Museum is across the street from here, in restored Roman-era bath house. That will be our next stop.

[jpalbny]

Side Museum:

 

This had the usual suspects - lots of carved marble, including Medusa heads, and a nice bull.

 

 

And this regal lion specimen, unfortunately a little worse for the wear...

 

 

We liked the collection of amphorae!

 

 

The museum also had decent WCs which is good to know when you're out touring all day... After visiting the museum we wandered through the ruins at the neck of the peninsula, which included this nymphaeum (fountain) which is undergoing lots of restoration - sure, it looks like a fountain to me...

 

 

Back towards the theater, to the otopark and waiting car. The main street in and out of the city runs through the entry gate in the old city walls. The street is pretty narrow here, so when you drive through the archway, you better pay attention to make sure no one else is trying to come through from the opposite direction:

 

 

We grabbed some ice cream for lunch, then picked up the car and headed out to our next stop in Aspendos. This site is known for a theatre that's supposedly even better preserved than the one here in Side. So far we have been very lucky with the weather, in that it's only rained while we're driving. Let's hope that trend continues!

[jpalbny]

10/26 Alanya - continued:

 

We left Side and promptly ran into some construction that had closed the main highway, so after a few miles of secondary roads, we were finally on our way. After driving here for the past week or so, I think I'll write a few notes about my experience driving in Turkey that may help others.

 

First - it seems that stop signs are completely optional if no one is coming from the opposing direction. If you stop, you will really annoy the person behind you - if they don't just run into you. You have to treat them like yield signs.

 

Second - lane markers are optional also. You will be passed on a solid line even with oncoming traffic, if the road is wide enough to accommodate all 3 of you across at the same time (most roads are). Also, at red lights, you can fit at least 4 cars across two marked lanes. Everyone squeezes in willy-nilly to try to get to the front of the line.

 

Third - At least around Alanya and Antalya, the traffic lights have handy countdown clocks that let you know how much longer the green and red lights are going to last. You better pay attention though because if you're not starting to move by T-2 seconds, the honking will start. I figured out the sequence pretty quickly by watching the locals: At T-5, push in the clutch. T-4, put the car in gear. T-3, rev the engine. T-2, engage the clutch as the yellow light flashes, indicating the imminent green light. T-1, you better be moving because the person behind you will be in your trunk otherwise. You will be in the intersection before the light finally turns green.

 

It may sound a little crazy but it was lots of fun! Now, back to our big tour today...

 

 

We headed for Aspendos and found it without difficulty once we eventually got to the main road. Parking was easy and we grabbed tickets to the site. We started with the theatre. To say this was a spectacular sight would be an understatement. It had obviously been restored but you could see that there was a lot of original work still fully intact from 2000 years ago. It's totally operational, and used for events on a regular basis:

 

 

The stage is obviously a new construction, but they have tried to make it look like it fits in with the original construction. Only once you get close can you see that the side walls are an artificial veneer that's supposed to look like a stone wall. Pretty much all of the original seating is still intact in the first tier, and probably about 3/4 of the second tier is original:

 

 

Chris found some VIP seats at the top of the first tier and settled in to enjoy the show...

 

 

Some more of the fine stone work here; the covered passageway atop the second tier, and some carvings that adorn the back wall behind the stage:

 

 

And another overview from the top of the theatre:

 

 

Cool place! While we were there, a bride and groom were posing for photographs, all decked out in their wedding finery. Quite a nice setting for photos.

 

Though this is the most famous sight in Aspendos, there is a whole city behind the theatre which is not as well-preserved. It's supposedly much less visited than the theatre, so of course we climbed up to see what that was all about! It hadn't rained on the way from Side to here, and the clouds were getting dark again, so we put our raincoats in the backpack and set off, hoping we could see some of the ruins before the next storm came through...

[jpalbny]

Aspendos, continued:

 

We headed up the hill to the ruins, keeping an eye on the dark clouds overhead. At the East Gate, the skies sure looked threatening...

 

 

We pressed on to the remains of a basilica, situated on one of the higher points of the city:

 

 

These arches and wall marked one of the borders of the agora:

 

 

The remains of a nymphaeum faced the agora, but it wasn't very complete. It must have been a beautiful sight at one time... On the other side of town you had an overview of the remains of one of the city's aqueducts:

 

 

Another shot of the basilica, as we made our way back down towards the exit. No rain yet... But those clouds look nasty, and the lighting is a pain!

 

 

The last thing to do here was a short climb to a scenic overlook of the theatre - what a great setting!

 

 

As we reached the top of the hill, we started with a few sprinkles. So we took our photos and headed back to the car. All in all our timing was pretty good!

 

It was now about 3PM and we'd been making excellent progress all day. We decided we'd go for it, and push on to visit Perge. This site (Perge) is actually much closer to Antalya, tomorrow's stop, and we didn't think we'd have the time to get to it today. But if we do it today, we'll have more options tomorrow - though it will mean that there's no time to actually visit Alanya before it gets dark.

 

Since we are in port late tonight, there is no rush to get back to the ship. So, off we went to Perge, accompanied by some light rain - the pattern, so far, was continuing!

[jpalbny]

Last stop - Perge!

 

Perge was about 1/2 hour's drive from Aspendos and we arrived in good time. There was a bit of a traffic delay in the town nearby, with cars stopping to let off their passengers. It looked like some kind of get-together was taking place in the local park. We headed through and arrived at the stadium of Perge:

 

This was located outside the site proper, so we just parked alongside and peeked over the edge, capturing our shadows as we did so:

 

 

We figured that it would be fun to climb down for a closer look - from the floor of the stadium, this section of seating looked quite intact. Thinking back to the other ruins we've seen, I can't think of one that was this nice - and so easy to visit!

 

 

You can walk around the outside as well, and see the long line of arches supporting the seating gallery. When the stadium was in use, these were filled with shops.

 

 

It was fun to peek out of the galleries back into the stadium:

 

 

We hopped back into the car and headed over to the actual site of Perge. This otopark was actually free! I think that may have been due to the late hour; it was almost 4 and the site closes about 5. Even the local merchants selling their wares at the edge of the lot looked tired; they didn't bug us to buy anything at all.

 

We grabbed out tickets and headed for the main gate:

 

 

Time to see what we can, before the sun sets! I miss Daylight Savings Time already.

[jpalbny]

Perge Ruins:

 

We had a closer look at the ruined guard towers. They looked nice in the late afternoon sun, though the scaffolding detracted a little bit from the "ancient" motif...

 

 

We headed over to the Roman Baths for a look. The building was reasonably preserved, and you could see some of the original tile that used to cover the floors here:

 

 

In the caldarium and tepidarium, some of the mechanism for forcing heated air underneath the pools was still intact:

 

 

Along with the arch work supporting the floors:

 

 

We ducked out of the bath and headed for the main colonnaded street of Perge. The weather looked good for the time being, but we were running out of daylight:

 

 

Off for a walk!

[jpalbny]

Perge, continued:

 

We ambled slowly up the main colonnaded street of Perge, enjoying the warm afternoon sunshine. We found a caryatid and a telamon, posing for photos...

 

 

The main street had a water channel flowing down the middle, with the occasional archway left standing:

 

 

All the way at the top of the street stood a fountain; the city's water supply entered here and spilled down the water channel:

 

 

We climbed up behind the nymphaeum for a closer look - at the beautiful blue sky! Where had that been hiding all day? The covered water channel is where the water entered the fountain.

 

 

From here a steeper path leads up to an acropolis, but we were running out of daylight and energy. We'd been on the go since 8:30, visited 4 sites, and we had a 2-hour drive back to the ship. So, we did the smart thing, called it a good day, and headed back down the street towards the exit.

[jpalbny]

Perge, and the end of a very long day in Alanya!

 

A hungry tourist, leaning on the fountain to conserve energy:

 

 

As we walked back down the street, there were occasional traces of the mosaics that must have originally paved the sidewalks. The street is about 1/2 mile long, with wide sidewalks on each side. The amount of work necessary to lay mosaic tiles on a space of this size would be mind-boggling!

 

 

We stopped at the agora, looking for something to eat, but no luck:

 

 

We left by the main gate, as the evening shadows started to close in over the ruins.

 

 

Since the otopark was unstaffed, and the place was closing down, we wondered if the WCs would be open... They were, and were free as well!

 

The 2-hour drive home passed uneventfully though we did have another obligatory rain shower; luckily, not as bad as the one this morning! It was quite dark by the time we reached Alanya. The walk home to the ship was pleasant, though, and we passed numerous restaurants which all smelled very nice... It was tempting to jump in for a bite!

 

We made it back to the ship and headed for dinner. Even though it was almost 7:30 we still got a table for 2 by the window, and enjoyed a nice meal. The appetizers were crispy chicken wings which were very tasty. For mains, Chris had grouper with lemon and capers, and I had a tasty lamb curry. Our waiter was happy to bring lots of extra hot sauce for me!

 

Today was a great success, but we had no energy for staying out late tonight - between the extra hour from losing Daylight Savings Time, all the sites we visited (and climbed), and almost 300km of driving today, it was time for a good rest! We took a few minutes to enjoy the nighttime view of Alanya from the upper deck before calling it a night.

 

 

Tomorrow we're in Antalya, where we have another car booked. Because we got to so many sites today, we can take it a little easier tomorrow...if that word is in my tour guide's vocabulary!

[jpalbny]

10/27 - Antalya

 

 

Antalya is a large city, unlike Alanya. This has some good and some bad points; for us the worst part was that you dock in an ugly industrial harbor that's 15+ minutes from old town. There isn't much to see or do around the port so we had arranged for a car rental to meet us at the port this morning.

 

We disembarked, walked out of the gate, and saw nothing... Waited for a few minutes, still nothing, so wandered back into the port and checked the parking lots, checked the taxi stand, checked among the tour buses...

 

Finally, we stood next to the ship, signed on to their Wi-Fi, and called the agency over Skype (perfect audio call quality, BTW). The reply - "Where are you? We've been waiting for you at the gate!" Walked back out, and of course, there is our rental car. Now the agent is holding a sign - she sure wasn't before!

 

We headed out to Termessos after putting some gas in the car. It seems that rental cars don't often come with full tanks of gas here - you have to return it with the same level of fuel that was in it when you received, and this car was pretty much empty. Off to Termessos! This is a set of ruins up in the mountains which supposedly has another well-preserved theatre.

 

We reached the access road and turned in to buy tickets. The attendant must have been bored because he asked if we wanted to have some tea with him. I don't think they get very many visitors... He made sure to check that we'd brought water, because there wasn't any for sale up at the ruins. He seemed worried about us... Should I be?

 

With that, we set off on the access road up the hill. It reminded us of the road to Kadyanda, only a little better maintained in that it had once been nicely paved. After 10k of climbing (almost 2000 feet of elevation) we arrived at the otopark and set out.

 

The ruins are in a very mountainous region and getting to the ruins involves another climb - this one on foot! After another 10 minutes of solid climbing, we found ourselves looking up at the city walls:

 

 

The gymnasium was in ruins too, but after that climb we didn't think that we needed any more of a workout!

 

 

Maybe the Roman Bath would have been a better idea?

 

 

There were remnants of different types of city streets here. This one was supposedly a colonnaded street, like the one yesterday in Perge, but we really couldn't tell under all of the rubble:

 

 

This one looks more convincing as an old Roman road:

 

 

The maps were less than helpful here, and our guidebook didn't have too much information either. Luckily, the occasional sign pointed out the way to the "Tiyatro" so we followed the signs, hoping this theatre was worth the effort to get here! The ruins are interesting, though, and different from Perge - kind of like a before and after. We finally saw another couple of tourists, so we're not the only crazy ones I guess.

[jpalbny]

Termessos, continued:

 

We followed signs pointing to the theatre, and came across a few other sites first. There is an underground cistern, where you can walk right up to the edge, and stare though the opening - it's a good 15 feet down to the bottom... That makes you think - and hope that the ground you're standing on is stable! We backed away...slowly and carefully! Considering how sparsely visited this place is, who knows when they'd find you if you happened to fall in?

 

As we approached the theatre, the views started opening up and the natural beauty of this setting became even more apparent. The remains of the Minor Temple of Artemis had a nice view of the surrounding mountains.

 

 

I crawled through an opening in the far wall but the view was only of more rubble. Have to keep searching for a better viewpoint!

 

 

We headed out from the temple and caught a first glance of the theatre. Impressive setting! What a view...

 

 

The mountains surrounded the theatre. In every direction, there was a beautiful backdrop. We also wondered why someone left their shoe here... Must have been a tough hike back down!

 

 

A small part of the second tier of seats had collapsed just beyond where I'm standing. The views were vertiginous! It's an infinity-edge theatre!

 

 

This shot captures an overview of the theatre. The first tier of seating is in decent shape but the second tier needs some work. Because of the relatively remote location, as compared to Aspendos, I doubt that there would be any point in restoring the theatre.

 

 

It's pretty fun to wander around these ruins, with no fences and no guided tour, just exploring whatever and wherever you want. The setting reminds us somewhat of Machu Picchu - though it's a lot less crowded!

Edited November 19, 2014 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Termessos - finishing up

 

Before we left the theatre I braved the edge of the collapsed seats for the view of the valley below. It wasn't really all that bad.

 

 

We enjoyed more scenic views while making our way back to the main part of town. We could see the road back to town, far away in the valley below.

 

 

Now, a decision to make - do we hike back down the (boring) way we came up, or take a side trail that we saw, that we think might lead to some rock tombs? Our crummy map doesn't show this trail, and the fellow in the otopark didn't tell us about this trail, so we are a little unsure. But the signs point to rock tombs, and the signs seem to indicate that the otopark can be reached from the trail to the rock tombs...

 

We decided that we should visit the rock tombs, and hope that the trail eventually leads to the otopark. Initially we had a little trouble following the trail, until I climbed some rubble for an overview. The tombs were interesting; they were carved into the cliff face right near the trail as we descended. Some were more ornate, and others were relatively plain. Some of the stone sarcophagi were still in place, and others had been thrown out of the tombs (earthquakes? grave robbers?) and were lying scattered on the ground.

 

 

The trail was intermittently hard to follow but we kept going down. Eventually we saw an unmarked side trail that appeared to lead to some more ruins; when we took it, we could see our car in the otopark! The propylon of Hadrian was at the lower entrance of the city. It was also a temple of Artemis. That struck us as a strange combination...

 

 

We coasted down the mountain road from Termossos and headed back towards modern civilization. There was some interesting scenery, and a nice waterfall, along the way:

 

 

Our plan after Termessos had been to head further west for more ruins, or east to the old town for some more sightseeing. But we figured that we'd done so well yesterday that we deserved to take it easier today - we decided that we'd head back to the ship and grab a bite to eat. That way, we can discuss our plans for the afternoon over a nice meal.

 

There was plenty of room on the street just outside the gate to the port, so we parked, walked back to the ship, and snagged a nice outdoor table at La Terraza. After all, we are supposed to be on vacation, so we might as well take a break once in a while!

[RachelG]

I am so loving this. Nothing I like more than good ruins and an adventure.

[CruisinPashmina]

And hearing all about OTHER people hiking up and down hills, climbing around ruins! I think these intrepid "billy goats" are doing us all an enormous favor by taking us along on their adventures. Wonderful photographs, great reportage...keep it coming!

[jpalbny]

I am so loving this. Nothing I like more than good ruins and an adventure.

 

I think you are right that we travel similarly. Neither of us can sit still on vacation... We must meet up some day.

 

And hearing all about OTHER people hiking up and down hills, climbing around ruins! I think these intrepid "billy goats" are doing us all an enormous favor by taking us along on their adventures. Wonderful photographs, great reportage...keep it coming!

 

Glad to entertain vicariously. I really like the billy goat reference, thanks! Usually Chris just calls me an old goat. Which really isn't fair, because she's the Capricorn! I am an Aries, so I guess that explains why we both like to climb... ;)

[jpalbny]

Antalya, continued:

 

We had a relaxing lunch on board the ship, seated outside at La Terraza. We brought our guide book along and debated over our various options over our meal. Our wine steward Yudi brought us a nice Turkish rose to go with lunch but I had to limit myself to only a few sips, as I had to get back to driving soon. I think he must have thought that something was wrong with me. When I explained that I had to drive this afternoon, he looked at me even more strangely!

 

After lunch, we headed back out to our car and set course for the Duden Waterfall, which was outside of the old town and supposed to be pretty. We didn't really know what to expect as we approached the area; it seemed like a nice park along the coastal cliffs. We bypassed the paid otopark and found a free spot along the side of the road, hopped out, and wandered through the park to a scenic overlook. Pretty nice!

 

 

There's a walkway behind the falls which offers another neat perspective - it gives the impression of an infinity-edge pool, but I don't think I'd swim here. In addition to all the debris floating in the water, the edge is a little scary!

 

 

Back around the coastal path for more views of the falls, and the cliff side views from this pretty spot.

 

 

The next stop was the old town. Our book said that there was parking available right by the Yacht Harbor. It looked close enough. How hard could that be?

 

Traffic was horrible and the route took us right through the main city. The intersections were confusing and it was really hard to see signs because no matter what I did, I was always caught behind a bus, and couldn't see what was ahead of me. I ended up making a U-turn instead of the left turn I had intended; this added a little fun to the trip... This was the most frustrating drive of the whole 2 weeks! It was only 10 miles, but it took more than 45 minutes!

 

I was pretty annoyed when we finally got there, but parking was easy and the beautiful setting promised to make it worth the hassle:

 

 

Of course, you have to climb up from the Yacht Harbor to get to the old town proper. After that long drive, no time to waste! Off we go!

 

 

We hadn't planned much here, so we figured we'd just wander and see what we could find. We figured that we could spend an hour before heading back to the ship to meet our rental agent to return the car.

[jpalbny]

Old Town, Antalya:

 

Cute place, with mostly old buildings. It's set on the high ground, separated from the harbor by cliffs. We climbed the stairs and headed for the edge of Old Town to see the Clock Tower. Luckily, you can't climb it...

 

 

A street with more modern buildings, closed to vehicle traffic, with an interesting decorative motif. Not sure what exactly was the story here, but it was pretty.

 

 

The view of town from Tophane Park was nice in the afternoon light. Beautiful blue sky!

 

 

Hadrian's gate sits at the edge of a busy modern thoroughfare. It's the only city gate surviving today, originally built in 130 AD. The tower on the left is original; the one on the right is 1000 years newer. It was built by a Sultan in the 1200s. It's been interesting seeing so many things with Hadrian's name on them during this trip.

 

 

We headed back down towards the harbor to see another old structure, the Hidirlik Tower. It's a 1st century mausoleum which has since been used as a church and a watchtower. It has a commanding view of the old harbor, and it's supposed to be open for climbing. Unfortunately it was closed so we had to be content with the view from ground level.

 

 

We ended our tour with a nice overview of the Yacht Harbor. Even though we didn't do as much as yesterday, it was still a fun day.

 

 

We headed back to the boat and arrived a few minutes before our scheduled dropoff time. They were a few minutes early, though, so it worked out just fine. We were back on board around 5:00 and had some time to relax and enjoy the hot tub, out on deck with some nice Sauvignon Blanc.

 

Dinner tonight at La Terraza which was tasty as always. We had a window seat in the back though it was dark by now so not much of a view. For the first half-hour, we were the only ones in the restaurant, then a few groups came in for 8:00.

 

Appetizers were seafood salad and Caprese salad. For the pasta course, I of course had the pappardelle with duck ragu, and Chris had a pasta dish with tomato sauce and eggplant. It was interesting to see that the menu had changed somewhat; there were only a few second courses available. We had the fish of the day which was sea bream. Nice, but would have preferred a few more options.

 

We decided to visit the main bar after dinner to see if the quartet had livened up a bit and come up with anything other than Foxtrot to play. Varien the bartender must have seen us dancing before, so when we came in he went to the band and asked them to play a Cha Cha. So for one song at least the beat was lively and we got to burn a few calories.

 

It was now time to say güle güle to Turkey. We've had a great time and found everyone to be friendly; other than today's traffic, driving wasn't bad either. The sheer number of ruins and other interesting sites that we've visited was amazing, and it's like nothing we've seen before. We're so glad that we came here! But, I did send my family an e-mail to let them know that all was well, and that we were out of Turkey, so they didn't need to worry any more!

 

Tomorrow, we're in Greece - starting off in Rhodes. We have a car rental lined up and we're going to see at least a few sights out of town, including Lindos. We're not sure if we want to drive all day and cover most of the island, or see just a few out of town sites, and then spend some time in Old Town. Guess we'll see how it goes.

[jpalbny]

Tuesday, 10/28: Rhodes

 

Back to Greece!

 

 

The harbor looked very nice in the morning light; it sure looked like a nice day shaping up today! The tall tower to the left with the orange roof is a restored clock tower that you can climb. On the right, the group of square buildings is the Palace of the Grand Masters. We are hoping to spend some time in Old Town today but we'll see how that works out.

 

 

We had a long day planned, and our car rental place was right at the pier which was convenient. We arrived there a bit late because the front desk was holding my passport hostage... Every morning, I have to go to the reception desk once the ship is cleared to collect my passport, which the rental agencies all want to see for identification. It's usually quick, but today was a bit of a slow process. So we didn't get on the road until almost 8:30.

 

The first stop was a monastery at Tsambika – after driving up a mountain road with some steep grades and hairpin turns to reach a parking spot, we had to climb another (almost) 300 steep steps to get there – but the views were worth it! Beautiful blue sky and gorgeous water... This is exacty what you imagine a Greek island would be!

 

 

Next stop was supposed to be Archangelos Castle, some ruins on a hill in the town of Archangelo. But it was difficult to find, and involved driving through some ridiculously narrow streets – the walls were close enough on either side to scrape my side-view mirrors. After a few wrong turns we bailed on this stop, and went back to the main roads...

 

The next stop, Feraclos Castle, was comparatively easier to find, and we had it all to ourselves. After parking partway up the hill, we walked up a dusty trail, then clambered up the rocks of the surrounding cliff... Lots of lizards; luckily, no snakes! The views from here were worth the climb, though.

 

 

The castle ruins...not so much, but we were here for the views, and the water. It was so incredibly clear! I knew the water was really beautiful when Chris said that it made her want to swim in it.

 

 

Though we were tempted, no time for swimming here; we have to get going to Lindos!

[DanBarb]

Loving your trip report. Looks like a fabulous journey. I accidentally stumbled onto the SilverSea site. We are Windstar people and our next cruise is a similar itinerary to what you have just done. Thanks for all the great info!!

[jpalbny]

Loving your trip report. Looks like a fabulous journey. I accidentally stumbled onto the SilverSea site. We are Windstar people and our next cruise is a similar itinerary to what you have just done. Thanks for all the great info!!

 

Thanks for visiting, and have a great cruise!

[jpalbny]

Apparently today is a national holiday... This is the "Day of Refusal" when Greece refused to allow Axis troops to enter Greek territory. This refusal led to Axis troops invading Greece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohi_Day

 

***

 

After Feraclos Castle, we headed to Lindos. This city is closed to vehicular traffic, so you have to park outside of the town and visit on foot. We had scoped out some parking areas, but the closest one was full. Apparently because of the holiday, all of the locals were at the beach (and occupying all of the free parking spots)!

 

We found parking at our second choice, which was supposed to be paid parking. The ticket machine was broken, however... Hopefully, the parking enforcers are on holiday as well...

 

We walked down to the town and were pleasantly surprised to find that entry to the Acropolis was free because of the holiday! We wandered among the partially-restored ruins, enjoying great views of the ocean far below. Here is the monumental stairway, leading to the highest point of the Acropolis.

 

 

Part of the restored Temple of Athena Lindia:

 

 

The Temple from another angle,

 

 

and here you can see how high we are above the ocean - this view is from the top of the monumental stairway. Yes, you do have to climb all the way up here!

 

 

Chris doing her part to make sure the ruins are properly held up:

 

 

In addition to ancient Hellenistic ruins, there are more modern ruins on the Acropolis. These was a Byzantine-era church, the Church of Ayios Ioannis:

 

 

More great views of sky and ocean at Lindos; the colors are gorgeous. We soaked in the scenery and eventually wandered back to our car. Luckily, no parking tickets!

 

From here, we had the choice of continuing on to try to circumnavigate the rest of the island and visit a bunch of other sites, or heading back towards old town and taking the afternoon to visit the Old Town. We decided to visit a mountain in the center of the island, Profitis Ilias, and then head to Rhodes Town for a city tour. Sounds more relaxing...