My parents spent about a week of their three weeks in Turkey, in Antalya, staying in Kaleiçi, the fun, old part of the city. We did some of the usual touristy things here such as enjoying the views of the mountains across the bay, admiring heaps of Roman statues (mostly from Perge) at the archaeological museum, and, a first for me, checking out the small Kaleiçi Museum. That museum houses some old photos of Antalya and also a small, restored church. Upstairs in the church was a super display of photos from 1860s Turkey of all sorts of street sellers — ice cream, carpets, milk, eggs — everything used to be sold right on the street. There were even cotton fluffers, and one of the most interesting to me were the people who buried (or covered?) the snow in the mountains in the winter to keep it from melting. Then in the summer they’d take the snow from the mountains to the city, cut it, and sell it for people to use in their ice boxes! It’s a good little museum, and I’ve already been back for a second visit.
Of course we enjoyed some good meals. One day we enjoyed quick pizzas and beers next to the picturesque yacht marina at my friend Ahmet’s place. We had a fish and rakı dinner at Volkan Hamsici next to the stadium — one of the places that Ferda and I have been to a few times. And check out this spread that Tülin and Ferda put together for us one night:
