10/10/13
My first official day sightseeing in Turkey! Our first stop was the viewing point over the mountain tops. In the morning the air is very chilly so now I know to wear a sweatshirt every morning.
Our tour guides are a young lady with short blonde hair and a thick Polish/Turkish accent and an older man with a thick polish accent. The lady spoke perfect Polish to everyone because she was born and raised in Poland but then moved to Turkey. (I don’t blame her for moving. Turkey is gorgeous!) She was very nice and talked a lot of the culture in Turkey (So I was told). My personal tour guide is a Turkish man named Abdullah. He explained the tourist sites in English to just Sunny and me. Sunny couldn’t understand his English through his thick accent so it was mainly a personal guide for just me. Abdullah understand I couldn’t understand what the lady was saying on the loud speaker so he always walked to the back of the bus to explain things to me. He talked about the Turkish school systems, job opportunities, farming, and the history that created this country, the climate, and religion. It was very insightful and made me better understand the sights I would later see throughout the week.
The next place was the Likya settlement and about a 2 hour drive. The first architectural structure was built before Christ. It is amazing thinking these rock structures are over 2,000 years old but are still standing under the Turkish sun. In the side of the mountains are rock carved passages and rooms. They are graves built for the elite people of the city. The higher up on the mountain you were buried, the more important you were in society. Some of the graves had designs carved into the stones. I wondered what my design would be on the outside of my stone if I lived back then.
Next we visited the St. Nicholas Church. St. Nicholas is the protector of children, young girls, and sailors. He is also known as the International Santa Claus. There are beautiful paintings still visible on the walls and ceilings. I even saw St. Nicholas’s tomb and casket.
In the streets outside the church are shops lined up. Sunny and I were walking along the street looking at the Turkish nick-knacks. Many of the shops had the same items but for different prices, in different colors, and in different designs. While looking in 1 shop along the street I overheard multiple languages. There was British English, Australian English, American English, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Turkish, Polish, and Arabic. I have never heard so many languages in one place at one time. It was very intriguing and inspiring. I would like to learn more languages one day.
The next destination we went to is the Panorama Seyirlik. From this point of the mountain we could see the beautiful islands of Greece. The sea was incredibly blue, the islands are brilliant green, and the sun was bright. The view was absolutely breath taking. I saw the islands of Greece with my best friend, Sunny. I feel so lucky to have seen beautiful places.
The Assembly Hall of the Lycian League was our next sight and the stones were a nice yellow with Greek inscriptions carved into them. Pillars still lined where the street was once located and the buildings were giant compared to me.
The best part of the day though was when we went to the beach! The sand was granulated but not as smooth as the Jersey sand. Sunny didn’t put her bathing suit on because after eating our hamburgers we only had 45 minutes on the beach…But this didn’t stop me! When will I ever get the chance to come back to this exact beach and swim in the Mediterranean Sea again? I took this amazing opportunity to swim in the sea and bask in the Turkish sun. The water was refreshingly cool and crystal clear. I am not used to seeing little minnows swimming around my feet because the Atlantic Ocean is not that clean. This made me a little unease being able to see the objects under me, but the feeling didn’t stay long. I floated on the back in the water and absorbed the warmth. It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky. I just wanted to relax here forever!
When I was laying in my beach chair drying off in the sun, a man in a blue bathing suit came up to me. He said I have to pay to lay in the chair and it cost 15 Turkish Lira. He looked completely unofficial to be the man I had to pay. I lied and told him I didn’t have that much but I do have 5 Turkish Lira. The man stood puzzled for a minute then accepted my offer. After he left my chair, I watched him walk up to every tourist sitting on their chairs telling them they had to pay. It was a clever scam for this local. This was my first encounter with a Turkish man trying to scam me but I’m sure it won’t be my last.
A perfect first tourist day in Turkey!
Stephanie Raquel
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