Another unplanned destination today. We were meant to be in Israel and instead we're here in Turkey, at some place we've never heard of. To make matters worse, the ship is docked in an industrial area about 10km (30 minute drive) from the city and the old town. We slept in a little and watched a DVD in our room, heading up for a later breakfast. It seems everybody had the same idea, the dining area was very busy. By 10:30am there was a long queue for the shuttle bus on the wharf, a most uninspiring place, to get into the city. It all seemed a bit much. So we opted to skip Antalya and have a lazy day on the ship.
By 11:00am the queue for the shuttle bus had all but disappeared so we decided to give it a go. We didn't know they had moved the queue inside the Cruise Ferry terminal, it was just as long but at least in air conditioning. We joined the line and waited about 20 minutes for two buses to arrive then went on our way. It was midday before we were in the city to be dropped off.
Was it worth it? Not really. Our drop off point was nearby a lookout over the old town and distance harbour. This provided a nice view and the immediate vicinity was covered in old ramshackle roofs which we found interesting if not amusing. The surrounding area was much more modern and spacious. A short wander found more shops with more pushy Turkish salespeople. The entry into the old town was through a sea of shops which we decided to pass on. We settled for a drink purchase at McDonalds so we could get some free internet to check our emails, then returned to join a long queue of people for the return bus.
The most interesting part of this day was the bus ride to and from the ship. Following the coastline past the port and beaches, it seems this is a modern city with a large number of high rise apartment buildings, big roads, quite clean. It even has a sizeable amusement park.
The queuing and bus rides gave us opportunities to swap notes with fellow passengers and most gave today the big "thumbs down". No doubt Holland America will receive a few complaints. And as for Syria, it seems nothing has happened and a trip to Israel would have been fine.
By the time we made it back to the ship, it was gone 2pm, three hours of not much!
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