Day 10–Traveling to Antalya

Today was a travel day—we were flying to Antalya on the Mediterranean, but needed to fly from Kayseri back to Istanbul and then change planes to Antalya. So after another great breakfast, we loaded into our van and drove the hour or so to the Kayseri airport. I’d shifted all my heavy stuff (ie. makeup etc.) to my carry-on, hoping not to surpass the 15 kilo limit, and when my bag weighed in, it was 15.45 kilos—no need to pay extra!

A great breakfast (omelette was on its way) in Göreme

As we drove to the airport, I loved the chatter and realized our little group had grown quite cohesive. We all get along and enjoy one another. On some trips I’ve taken, we’ve not been so lucky. I guess friends of Ann Marie simply beget great congenial people! Way to go! At one point while driving on a four-lane road, our driver braked rather suddenly. The reason? A herd of sheep with two shepherds, a dog and a donkey were crossing to the other side. This is the part I love about traveling. New sights and cultures fill me with fresh awareness of the world.

Our flight from Istanbul to Antalya was as quick and easy as the first flight of the day. Our new guide Yunus, an eager 40-ish dude, helped us into our new van and he and our driver took us for lunch overlooking the Mediterranean. It was sprinkling a bit, so we ate indoors, but again, fabulous food.

Just across the road from the restaurant was the Antalya Museum. It holds`a fabulous collection of work excavated from the area, and I loved how it was laid out—one traveled from 600,000 BC through the periods and could see the change in tools, pottery, art, etc. Interesting how the ancients buried their dead. Eventually we came to a series of pieces found in Perge, not far from Antalya. Amazing sculptures of the gods/goddesses; we hadn’t really seen anything but buildings up to this point.

I got a kick out of a few of the sarcophagi—people had to choose the designs for their burial sarcophagi ahead of time, naturally, so the sculptors could complete them. Often couples and families shared these, and so the sculptor would carve the face of the husband and the wife on the cover and then decorate base with the couple’s chosen motives. One sarcophagus had the woman’s face sculpted, but the man’s was left undone. The inscription was the wife’s saying she’d had it with the guy and this was HER sarcophagus. Consequently her husband’s face was left unfinished.

The wife claimed the sarcophagus as hers and her husband’s face remained unfinished.  You go, girl! — The wife claimed the sarcophagus as hers and her husband’s face remained unfinished. You go, girl!

Another held the face of the husband and wife and the motives below showed a rather debaucherous party going on. Life had been good! And still another sarcophagus was done for a dog. His owner had been to sad when his “Stephanos” died that he wanted to bury him as if he were a human. Hence the small sarcophagus.

We entered the old city of Antalya and found our hotel. Looks like a place that perhaps isn’t a quiet and peaceful as I’d like. Have to see.

This is the only statue of this ruler, Caracalla.  He was so awful, that all statues and references to him were destroyed after he was assassinated. — This is the only statue of this ruler, Caracalla. He was so awful, that all statues and references to him were destroyed after he was assassinated.