Day 9 - Antalya
The beautiful, blue Mediterranean
And now, a day at a Mediterranean resort.
After we got settled in, we went out to the patio garden for a time to just relax and chat a bit.
After all we'd been doing the last few days, it felt really good.
I have often heard the Mediterranean referred to as "the beautiful, blue Mediterranean" but it wasn't until I actually saw it that I realized how true that is! I couldn't wait to put my toes in! I love walking barefoot on the beach! Unfortunately, this beach was rocky and it hurt to walk barefoot on it. I did have a nice stroll with my shoes on, though.
Antalya Museum
I think the Antalya Museum[*] is probably the most pleasant museum I visited on this whole trip. It has many very interesting things to look at and they were very well organized. And best of all, there was enough open space that I didn't feel overwhelmed.
The most interesting thing in the museum is this statue of Hercules. It was excavated in Perge, and for a long time, only the lower half of the statue was in Turkey. The upper half was in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It was reunited in 2011[*], but you can still see the division as a diagonal line through his torso and right arm.
coins
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glass bottles
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clothing
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nomad's tent
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Turkish bath
After a morning spent at the museum and a nice walk along the beach, another treat was in store for us: a Turkish bath. (Sorry, no pictures of that!) I almost skipped this one; I don't like saunas and I thought this would be similar. The first few minutes were a bit sauna-like, but if you stay by the water tap, it's not too bad. I'm sure glad I decided to try it. Mine says she does this about every two weeks. I can see why.
A real Turkish bath is an amazing experience! First you leave all your clothes in a (lockable) changing room and wrap up in a towel. (You can keep your underwear on if you want to.) Then you go to a warming room where you pour warm water over yourself and lie down on a hot slab to relax. (I didn't lie on the slab, I stayed by the water and just poured the water over myself.) Next you go into another room, one or two at a time, and get a "soap massage". Your attendant gives you an all-over massage with lots of foamy soap and rubs off all the dead skin with a loofa-like bath mitt. They end that with a shampoo. And finally, you are taken into another room for a warm oil massage. As a special treat, my attendant sang or hummed as she massaged me. I don't think that's part of the usual treatment, because I didn't hear any of the others singing. I've never felt so relaxed and clean. And I got the bath mitt to keep as a souvenir!
Walking around Antalya later that evening, I saw these horse-drawn carriages. Looked like fun, but I didn't take a ride.
"hamam"
Turkish bath
The beach was too rocky to walk barefoot.
