Oh! The Places You'll Go!: Antalya adventures!

The Syracuse group went to the southern part of Turkey called Antalya. Antalya is a huge tourist destination for Europeans as well as Middle Eastern people. We were there from Saturday morning to Monday night and it was packed full of activities and sights to see .... it was nothing but amazing!

We had to meet the bus near where we live, so to insure we would make it we stayed out in Taksim till 4:30 am. When reached Antalya we visited roman ruins of aqueducts, amphitheaters, and archeological museums. When we reached the resort that we were staying at we (mostly me) immediately went swimming in the Mediterranean sea, it was amazing, the water was chilly but still warmer then the ocean in Maine in August. Two of the people in our group Jennifer and Zi-Lin don't know how to swim so I attempted to teach Jennifer how to swim in the deep end of the pool without drowning ... it was interesting to say the least. After dinner we sat on the pier and drank wine and star gazed, it wasn't untill we went to Antalya that I realized you really don't see any stars what so ever in Istanbul because of the lights! It was a GREAT day!

Sunday morning we all went to the beach, it was a beautiful day no clouds in the sky! I was literally in the sea all morning, it was so amazing and refreshing to just float around. Zi-Lin the other person who doesn't know how to swim attempted to learn how to swim as well, but with using our program directors daughters water wings. She and Jennifer were actually successful because the water was so salty it was really easy for them to float, It was a huge success for them haha. In the afternoon we drove to some more ruins and tombs. This was one of the craziest rides I have ever been on, it was so winedy that we could barely stay in our seats, the sights on the drive were beautiful but at some points it was so bumpy that we could barely see anything. The best part of the day was the boat ride that also brought us to more ruins and the most clear blue water i have ever seen. The boat ride lasted us till the sunset, it was beautiful, fresh water and beautiful sights. It was an amazing day for sure.

Monday morning some of us woke up early to participate in what we thought was a zip-line which turned into a ropes course... It was a lot of fun, there were a few zip lines and challenging parts to the course. Some people had a hard time getting over the heights which made it frustrating for the people behind them... but for the most part it was fun. In the afternoon we drove to the old port city. The old port was amazing there were many little shops full of interesting jewelry, art and touristy trinkets. We had 4 or so hours to walk around and explore, it was really fantastic, the view from the harbor were magnificent and I had an epiphany that I will one day live on the Mediterranean and work on a sail boat.... One can dream right?