Day 9 Continued
A short recap from our time in Cappadocia. We walked to a coffee shop to work on the blog and relax for a couple of hours. On the way, we walked though a locals market selling everything from olives, spices, cheese, clothing, and fruit. We bought some cherries. 
We had a yummy lunch at a cute place called Chubby Meatballs. The chicken meatballs were so delicious and we tried the Turkish version of dolmas. Seasoned rice wrapped in grape leaves. Pretty good.
Our shuttle to the airport in Kayseri took over an hour. As we approached the town, it looked enormous. The population of Kayseri is over a million. Traveling like this really shows the relatively small population of the United States. The Kayseri Airport was well organized and small for a city of this size. Our flight was delayed and this short one hour flight ended up taking 5-6 hours from point to point. Kind of frustrating. We were forced to check our luggage and had to wait nearly 40 minutes for baggage once we arrived in Antalya. The Antalya Airport was chaos! So many people and it was 9pm or so. We finally figured out how to take the tram into the city and walk the short distance to our airbnb.
When we checked in, the very sweet owner showed us around her 2 bedroom apartment. We finally had space to spread out for a few days! This building was built about 150 years ago and was owned my the woman's grandparents. It was built in the Ottoman style with thick stone walls and separate rooms. We had four AC units in this place! Thank goodness because the temperature was in the upper 90s outside. Here are a few pictures for this $65 per night place. It felt like staying at Grandma's house!
And we finally got to do laundry European style.
Day 10 - Exploring Antalya and Finally Swimming in the Sea
We slept in after our late night arrival and found a very local spot for Turkish pastries and coffee. I think all this including coffee was about $4.
We went for a morning walk checking out the nearby beaches for later. It was already so so hot. This is the famous Hadrian's Gate, built in the year 150 to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian. I can't even fathom the year 150. 
Here is one of the busy beaches. We did not pick this one.
We found more adorable cats and were impressed by the many cute cat shelters built around Antalya. 
We stopped for fresh juice, which is sold on practically every corner. The orange/pomegranate combo was the winner.
The Ottoman style houses are really interesting. DD#2 made the observation that the 2nd floors jut out over the street in order to make the streets wider for traffic. Makes sense.
I stopped at a grocery store (love foreign stores!) and got some fruit, yogurt, chips, chocolate, drinks - the essentials. It was so hot that we took an AC break in the apartment.
We ventured out again and found a recommended fish place for lunch. The fish sandwiches were huge and only around $4 which included access to this giant well-stocked salad bar. It was a popular place and tasted so good!
We continued back to Adalar Beach which we had scoped out earlier this morning. This wasn't really a beach but more of a access point to the water. And boy did the water feel great. It cost $7.50 each to rent sun-beds/umbrellas but well worth it. We spent nearly 3 hours swimming and relaxing. We almost wished the sea had been a little cooler!
Of course there was an ice cream stop too. This was our favorite so far! Lemon and pistachio were the winners for me.
We returned to clean up and cool off. I went out for a little solo walk to check out the marina and some of the history in the area. The old town is beautiful built on the cliffs above the sea. 
This guy is one of many who sells rice-stuffed mussels. We had a few with lunch but I'm a little too cautious to buy ones that have been sitting out in the hot sun.
DD# 2 and I enjoyed a leisurely walk around the old town once the sun had set. We stopped at a casual place for hummus and a chicken wrap. People stay out late when it cools off. It was fun to wander aimlessly enjoying the ambience of Antalya. We didn't get back to our place until after 10 which is late for me!
Day 11 - A Proper Beach Day
We slept quite well and started our day with a great coffee shop. I was excited that they had Medonik, a Russian layered honey cake. So yummy! We sat along the tram line and had a great start to the day. 
We hopped on a bus that took us close to the main beach in Antalya, Konyaalti Beach. We settled on one of the many beach clubs and set up shop for the afternoon under two sun-beds. The beach was so long that it didn't seem crowded. We felt spoiled having lunch and drinks delivered to us on the beach. We hopped in and out of the water half a dozen times. Ahhh! It was very relaxing. 
After our beach time, we retraced our steps to a mall we spotted. Mall culture is huge here! The mall was packed with people, probably because it is so hot outside. DD#2 tried on a few things but the lines were just too long to buy and she didn't really need anything anyway. We did manage to buy some fresh figs on the street for my fig monster. Chocolate milk too!
I took a little solo walk around town taking in the scenes of old town Antalya. Here are few shots.
We bought several beaded necklaces from this sweet man on the street. He insisted on giving us each one for free too!
DD#2 joined me at a bar with seating right on one of the busy pedestrian streets. It was fun watching people. And the cats. So many cats.
We ended our day with tasty Indian food. Let's just say it was delicious but my last Indian food for a while. To be continued....
Day 12 - Crummy Day with a Beautiful Ending
Unfortunately, my days kind of blended together as I was up until about 3:30am with the infamous Turkey Tummy. Or maybe I should rename it Indian Indigestion after my meal. Anyway, I've been "off" for about a week now. I took myself to the pharmacy first thing in the morning and got some proper medicine. The nice pharmacist gave me two things for around $7.50. I don't know what they are exactly and I don't care! As I write this a day later, all I know is that they are working! Too much information. Sorry.
We packed up our things after a slow morning and got on the tram back to the airport. Well, not really. It took nearly 6 stops for me to realize I picked the wrong direction. Rookie mistake. We got on one the correct direction and made it the airport. It was probably an hour's journey including my mistake.
We were renting a car from Sixt. Do you think we could find Sixt anywhere in the airport? No. They were the only rental company without a counter or a sign anywhere. I asked multiple people for help and kept getting the runaround. Even the information desk wouldn't help me. They said they only help with flights. It was hot and I was tired and cranky. Probably hungry and dehydrated too. Not my finest moment. After a long phone call and another 30+ minutes of waiting for a shuttle, one arrived and took us to the off-site Sixt office. Apparently they sent me a Whatsapp message that I never received.
It took another hour or so to go through the paperwork and process of renting the car. I wasn't able to use the credit card I wanted to use and that was another 20-30 minute debacle. Luckily, I was upgraded to a nice automatic which has come in handy. 
We finally hit the road to Oludeniz Beach. The driving was very easy and the roads were well-maintained. There weren't too many crazy drivers. Three hours later with one quick stop, we finally made it. Tunacan Hotel was our destination and while not overly inspiring, it'll do the trick for two nights. Less than $60 a night. 
I had a brainstorm that we could salvage our day by taking the famous Babadag gondola from sea level to nearly 6,000 feet to see the sunset. Finally, something super fun to end what didn't feel like a vacation day. It was neat taking the long gondola followed by a chairlift to get to the tippy top. Gorgeous views of the sea below. The scenery around here is truly stunning.
We had a late dinner of pasta at the restaurant two minutes from our hotel. Much easier on my poor stomach that Indian. Phew!
This featured blog entry was written by familyineurope from the blog Family in Europe.
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