Turkey - 9

Hi, We spent 3 nights in Antalya, a city of just over a million people.  It has a large natural harbor but sees almost no commercial shipping.  Below is the view looking across the harbor from our hotel window.

The city is on the Mediterranean and gets a great deal of sunlight.  Hence, almost every building has solar hot water panels and water tanks on the roof.  Satellite TV also is very popular.

The morning of our first day we visited a museum which had a collection of sarcophagi.  They all had very intricate carving and were placed in room with shiny marble floors.

The carvings were so detailed that there is space behind parts of the figures.

This is the sarcophagus for a husband and wife.  Tradition was not to carve a face on the figure until the person dies.  In this case the wife predeceased her husband and so he had her face carved.  However, apparently when the husband died there was no one who cared so his part of the figure remained faceless.

I thought this woman's face on a statue was really beautiful.

I have enjoyed Art Wolf's "Travels to the Edge" on public TV.  One of the things he does frequently is photograph patterns.  I found these shadows on a sphere interesting.

This is the fluted minaret.   It is part of what was a multi domed mosque and is now a museum.

This clock tower is located at the edge of the old town and dates to the Roman era.

It was fairly common to find artisans working outside their shops in old town.

Here is another view of the harbor.  The sailboat is used for harbor tours.

In the afternoon of our first day we went for a cooking demonstration and tasting of Turkish food.  The chef, who owns the restaurant, was more than 80 years old.  He has just prepared Halva and is dishing out samples.

For the Turks weddings are very important events.  One section of a main street is devoted to wedding gowns.

On our second day Ruthe and I took a more leisurely stroll around the old town.  Here is a display in the window of a rental car agency.

We came across a shop in old town that specialized in Meerschaum pipes.  Thirty years ago, when I smoked a pipe regularly, I would have purchased one.

The use of manual labor still is prevalent.

Pleasure craft and a few small fishing boats are berthed in the inner harbor.

Parts of the old city wall still exist and overlook the inner harbor.

These woman are stringing beads on thread.

We came upon a group of boys marching in celebration of the day the Republic of Turkey was founded.

Hadrians Gate was constructed in honor of that Roman Emperor.

A parade of VW Beatles draped in Turkish flags were celebrating Republic day.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.