Antalya Day Nine- Waterfalls and Ruins

We started the day with an early morning dip in the Mediterranean. The water was wonderful, just the perfect temperature! But the beach was rocky--not soft sand like I'm used to in California, a little hard on the feet!

To the Muzesi!

Greek pottery from Perge-red figure technique
from the late 6th century. 

Black figure technique pre-dated Red and was incised
rather than painted. Painting allowed for more freedom
of expression and detail.

Early red figure Owl bowl (for Sarah).

After breakfast, we headed out to the Antalya Museum. I was somewhat confused by this; why go to the museum in the cooler morning? Why not go to the ruins then, and visit the indoor, air-conditioned museum in the hotter part of the day? At the museum we saw many statues that had been recovered from Perge (or Perga); the site we were to visit today; and I realized why visiting the museum first made sense.

Many of these recovered statues are missing
key parts. :)

Interesting how the women are swathed in
fabric, while the men are nude.

These women actually looked like they were
tied up with fabric.

How could they even move??

Scary precursors of the tragedy/comedy masks.

Definitely nightmare material.

Kind of reminds me of the scream
mask.

But the busts of the Gods were more
generalized classical beauty.

Amazing how individual the busts of random
people were.

Random--"cop truncheon"? Guess you
wouldn't want to mess with the cops!

St. Nick. Did you know the original
St. Nicholas lived in the town of Patara-
which is in modern Turkey? The fables they
listed for him were terrifying-for example- during
a time of famine a butcher invited three
children to his home and while they were sleeping
he CUT THEM UP INTO PIECES. When Nicholas
heard about it, he ran to the butchers house and
succeeded in bringing the children back to life. Whoa-
I've never heard THAT story about St. Nick before!

We went to Kursunlu Falls next; perhaps in hope of beating the worst of the midday heat. The falls and surrounding park lands were beautiful; I enjoyed this break in nature.

The falls

So beautiful!

Moi and falls.

Some random Turkish man volunteered to take this.

From behind the falls.

Those little waving dots are Bob and Claire-who
had hiked around to the other side of the falls,
while I had hiked behind them.

Lovely and cool!

Can you tell I like waterfalls?

Stone step pathway.

Camels waiting for riders.

Our next stope was Perge, which was an important city of ancient Pamphyllia; originally settled by the Hittites around 1500 BC. During the Hellenistic period, Perge was one of the richest and most beautiful cities in the ancient world, famous for its temple of Artemis. It was also notable for being the home of the renowned ancient Greek mathematician Apollonius of Perge. The apostle Paul and his companion St. Barnabas, twice visited Perga as recorded in the biblical book, the Acts of the Apostles, during their first missionary journey, where they "preached the word " before heading for and sailing from Attalia (modern-day Antalya city)  to Antioch.

Hussein and Claire under the grape arbor.

Ruins

The group 

More ruins.

Bob and columns

The group again

More columns

More ruins

Detail of scroll design

Ancient potty-a group thing.

Details of carving

More scroll detail

Gaps

Not sure why I look so pissed off here! It was hot though.

Moi and ruins

And again

We had a lovely lunch break at a restaurant right on the river. Their specialty was freshly caught trout; but only Bob was brave enough to have one.

The river where we ate lunch.

Our lunch table.

Moi and river.

Bob and his fresh-caught grilled trout.

After our cooling river lunch, we went to Aspendos, which has one of the best preserved Roman theaters in Antayla. Aspendus was another ancient city in Pamphylia, located about 40 km east of Antalya. It was situated on the Eurymedon River about 16 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea; it shared a border with, and was hostile to, Side. According to later tradition, the city was founded around 1000 BC by Greeks who may have come from Argos. The wide range of its coinage throughout the ancient world indicates that, in the 5th century BC, Aspendus had become the most important city in Pamphylia. At that time the Eurymedon River was navigable as far as Aspendus, and the city derived great wealth from a trade in salt, oil, and wool. This may very well have been the river we had lunch on; though I'm not sure of that fact.

Even the camel was too hot!

Outside the amphitheater. The inside has
been restored enough that they are able to
hold performances at the theater. Unfotunately,
not while we were in town though.

You could pay to dress up and play like you
were a Roman. This was one of the staff, who
would mock sword play with you. (for a fee
of course!)

You can just imagine what it would be like
with Romans sweeping around in their
capes.

The Oylers in the amphitheater.

Olive in the amphitheater.

Looking towards the stage.

Looking up the steps; they were very steep!

Arches.

That white speck on the stage is Olive!

Claire at the top of the seating.

View of the surrounding countryside from the top of the theater.

Talking to Ken in China.

Looking down-you can see how steep it is!

Holding up the columns.

From Aspendos we headed to Side (pronounced "See-Day"), an ancient harbor whose name meant pomegranate. Today it is a small resort town with sandy beaches, lots of shopping streets and of course, ruins. After Side, we were hot and tired--everyone conked out on the bus on the way home, and we all jumped in the pool when we got back to the hotel!

Side's ruins-looks like tunnels into an amphitheater or ??

Walking to the beach through the ruins.

Side's beach.

Looking the other way.

More ruins.

At the gate.