This morning, we arrived in Alanya, Turkey. Our guide and driver met us at the terminal and we started driving into the country toward the ancient city of Side. This camel was out for a drive today, too. Side was an important harbor city that was inhabited by many different empires, including Alexander the Great, before becoming part of the Roman Empire.
We walked through the modern part of the city toward the ocean, and all of a sudden, the incredible remains of the Temple of Athena appeared.
This is the place that sailers would make sacrifices before their ocean voyages in the hopes that their prayers for good weather and good luck would be answered. We continued along the water, and then headed toward the Agora and ancient baths.
It was really unbelievable because there was hardly anyone else around. We walked around some more and took it all in.
After Side, we drove to Mangavat to see the famous waterfall. I don't think the pictures really show how clear and blue the water is.
After relaxing by the waterfall for a while, we headed back toward the city for lunch. We passed this store along the way…not sure what you would buy in a Mother-in-Law store….
For lunch, our guide took us to a traditional Turkish place where all of the ingredients come from the organic garden in the backyard. We had lentil soup, bread, salad, and a traditional Turkish dish that is kind of like a pizza on fresh dough with cheese, but no sauce. It was delicious! The best food we have had so far. Even Hayden loved it!
After lunch, we visited the Alanya Castle, which is on the very top of the mountain, and was built in the year 1230. The view from the top was amazing.
After the castle, we visited a cool natural cave…
and then the ancient shipyard. There are five huge bays that go beneath the cliffs for 50 meters. This is where ships were built or repaired before returning to the seas in the 1200s. We were able to walk around inside them. It was so cool!
Today was such an incredible day. We feel like we really made the most of every second we were here. Our guide and driver were both fantastic and took us to places we never could have seen on our own. Tomorrow, we are in Limassol in Cyprus. We are just going to explore on our own, or maybe hire a driver..we'll just be winging it. It might be a good day for shopping and sampling the local wine. After tomorrrow, we have two very full days in Israel and we can't wait!