Pammukkale and Hieropolis to Antalya

My father and I were up early and had a swim before breakfast. When we were finished we checked out and the owner of the hotel drove us up to the top gate by Heiropolis. Winfree was not feeling well so she and Martha stayed back at the hotel.
The hotel folks let Winfree swim in the pool while Randy, Estill, my father and I explored the ancient city. We started out in an extensive necropolis, or city of the dead, full of carved tombs. There was a long paved street with buildings on either side. We also walked up to see the theater which was probably one of the best preserved I have ever seen. It was huge and the seats were very steep. It would have been a fun place to see a concert.

We walked back down the hill to the famous pool of Thermopolis. It is a natural hot spring that has been used by people since ancient times. There is a modern café built around it now but the floor of the pool is littered with ancient columns and carved pieces from he time of the ancient Greeks. We paid our admission and went in for a dip. It was pretty warm and full of people from all of Europe. The bottom is covered with a gravel that we would see later on the beaches that is composed of beautiful small stones. Estill had fun diving and picking up pretty stones. When we finished swimming we sat in the café and had lunch. We didn’t pay to have small fish “pedicure” our feet like some people were. I guess the fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet! Sounds pretty freaky to me!

We went into the Heiropolis Museum and look at more wonderful carvings and then took off our shoes and walked down the travertines. It looked like the heavens were going to open up so were hurried to the bottom and were headed back to our hotel when a heard a little voice calling Uncle B. I looked over there was Winfree up in a treehouse. We walked over and it was part of a flatbread restaurant. It was decorated with the same low tables and carpet covered benches. They had just ordered lunch. We climbed up to join them but the rain drove us down and back into the main part of the restaurant. Too bad as it was cool up in the tree! We order some food and drinks and sat until the rain ended.

Then we got in the car and I drove us back through Denizili, over the mountains and over some even higher mountains and through some very heavy rain and finally back down to the seaside town of Antalya. After driving around through heavy city traffic my brother directed me down a series of side streets and alleys that got narrower and narrower. In one spot we had to fold in the side mirrors to get through. Finally we found a place we could park and he and my father went further down the alley and found out hotel. The rest of us were waiting in the van and a local shop keeper called Winfree over and gave her a glass of apple tea. He came back with her and spoke to us while we waited. He said it was okay to park there but when my brother came back he said there was parking on the other side of another narrow arch. So I squeezed the van through the arch between two shops and then backed into a tiny spot across from our hotel, which was built into the wall of the old fortress above the harbor.

We cleaned up and then walked into the restaurant, which looked out over the wall into the harbor. The sun had recently set and the mountains on the other side of the harbor had fiery crowns. It was a truly beautiful view!

It was pricey but I had excellent sea bass and enjoyed every minute if the view. After dinner it was off to bed as I was exhausted from all of the hiking and driving. Again I was sharing a room with my father and I were both soon fast asleep. See you tomorrow!