Our hotel was overrun with two tour buses and breakfast was a free for all as everyone tried to fill their plates with the usual fare- bread, cheese, olives, tomatoes.
The morning was spent exploring Alanya, a town about 40k away. Alanya was the primary port city of the Seljuks and has a massive fortress built high on top of the promontory. The ancient city (1226) provided a panoramic view of the city and the coast.
After walking the walls of the ancient city, we headed down to the harbor to see the Red Tower constructed in 1226 by Aladdin Keykubad I, a Seljuk Sultan. We also enjoyed the local ice cream.
In the afternoon, M&C wanted a beach day, so we explored the town of Side. We found a great restaurant, The End, and had a wonderful waiter. Our table had a view of the coast and the Temple of Apollo, so we opted to reserve the table for that night for dinner.
The ruins of the town are spectacular. The theatre is one of the largest in Anatolia, with 15,000 seats. The remains of the Temple of Athena and Apollo, dating from the 2nd C AD are spectacular to see- set against the blue of the Mediterranean coast.
When we arrived for dinner that night, our waiter has decorated our table with flowers and dinner was wonderful- fresh fish, lots of wine and a “present” of dessert.
When we finally made it back to the hotel, the tour group was going strong in the hotel restaurant, with music and dancing. We asked one of the men where they were all from, and he no sooner told us, “Bursa”, then he came out and brought us into their party to sit at their table. Fortunately, one of the men spoke enough German so John could carry on a conversation. The raki flowed freely and the conversation was amusing- going from Turkish to German to English and leaving poor John to handle all the translations. We stayed up until 2:00am talking and laughing with our new friends.
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