Antalya, Turkey

Antalya Skyline

We are in Turkey. Visions of “Midnight Express” flashed through one’s mind as the ship docked. Sure enough, those thoughts were reinforced as there is more razor wire than I have seen in my life. The terminal is a fortress. Don’t know who they are expecting to keep out or in but it’s gotta be working.

For the first time we were provided with a “landing card” to keep in our possession. The cruise personal were pretty vague about it but insisted we have it. After being directed through an official looking building with unintelligible writing, documents in hand, knees shaking, we were met by a gruff port official who begrudgingly welcomed us to Turkey and told us to stand in line for a shuttle bus. Not that we were going anywhere else anyway with all the razor wire. Of course right behind us in line a brash American (instead of keeping his mouth shut) was trying to talk to one of the line guards until one of the guard’s buddies drew him away before anything else happened. Whew. I suppose another option would have been to sign our lives over to one of the snarling taxi drivers (our cruise director referred to them as the “Pirates of the Mediterranean”) as several times when he secured a price for the ride the driver “palmed” a smaller note and accuse him of underpaying. So we stood in line. When we got the shuttle bus back, through security and the razor wire, they didn't even want to see the “landing card”. We still have them in our possession. No doubt they will be looking for us and our cards soon. And that will be it – Midnight Express all over again.

OK – that was Doug’s version of our arrival. We did receive a “Landing card” which no one seemed to know what to do with. We did go into the official looking building but it was very calm and we were met by a lovely young lady with very good English, who welcomed us to Turkey and directed us to the shuttle bus, answering questions as we went. Yes, there was a brash American behind us but the man from the shuttle bus company was very politely answering all his questions. I think we agree on the rest. Signed: Norma

We took the 30 minute city shuttle provided by the cruise ship to the city center called Cumhuriyet Square, where we found the old town and the remaining gate to Hadrian’s Wall.

Hadrian's Gate

It was a pretty busy and interesting Turkish market with every corner trying to entice you to shop. Some of the shops had signs stating “safe shopping”. Nearly all attempted to speak to us in English. The spice markets were amazing with the great smells and presentation. Several of them had interesting designs created in the spice bin, i.e. flowers and mosaic designs. The fresh figs were huge. Again, lots of stray cats including the kitten "playing" on the cushion covers.

Spice Market

Hard to Keep Your Displays Neat With This Guy Around

Lots of possible items to purchase but we were just busy taking in the sights and sounds and people watching. We did sample some varieties of Turkish Delight as they were trying to get us to buy.

In the old town there were two Mosques that you could tour but only if you were appropriately dressed (no shorts and head/shoulders covered) and prepared to remove your shoes. The bigger one had a separate visitor’s entrance with no place to leave your shoes but on the sidewalk. The other was for the locals and it had a special place for people to wash their feet. They were also supplied with wooden thongs to wear once they had washed their feet. There was a rack for them  to leave your shoes on.

Foot Wash Station

We are constantly reminded of the different cultures and how so much is religion based.  One god but let’s all fight about how to worship and which belief is better!

WC stands for water closet. In Turkey this means you pay 1 tl (Turkish Lira) to squat over a hole and hope you don't get your feet wet. When you gotta go you gotta go!

Port Akdeniz is a very busy commercial port as well as the dock for the cruise ships. When we got back from our excursion to town we spent quite a bit of time watching container ships come in and be unloaded as well as yachts coming into the harbour and going to a seaside restaurant. Again, we are so glad to have our own veranda.  It is a great place to kick back with a free cappuccino specially made by one of the coffee shops on board or in Doug’s case a coke (kept stocked in our room fridge), and just be outside watching the sights.

Last evening we had an amazing Thai dinner in the “Red Ginger” specialty restaurant. Each course was better than the one before – all five of them. They kept bringing us items we had not ordered as well as they said they were the chefs specialty.  We cannot complain about any of the food so far. They give you smaller portions, which is great, so you can try all courses and not feel stuffed at the end.

We have been busy earning "O" points at the various activities, like golf and Trivia. If we get enough - we are now up to 26 combined - we can trade them in for Oceania memorabilia  It has been a fun way to meet people and our team the Seafarers are doing quite well.