Sunday morning, we drove about 40 kms (28 miles) west to Patara Beach. I hadn't done any research into the place, and knew nothing about it other than it was a wide long beach and there were some ruins nearby.
So we were a little surprised to find that you actually have to enter the ruins site in order to get to the beach. We bought the ticket that was 30 lira ($5 CAD, $3.85 USD) in order to explore the ruins, and visit the beach. Many people come just for the beach and pay a little less.
When we parked at the ruins, we were the only car there other than a couple of employees. Once again, we find that most people don't go out until after lunch, and if you arrive in the morning you are likely to be the only ones!
Most of the drive followed the coastline.
You can see our road down there!
Scenery along the way.
The entrance gate to the ancient city of Patara.
Patara seems to be a popular ruins site to visit based on the size of the parking lot and the marked walkways and the roped off areas. And the theater has been partially restored and it even looks like they use it for some events.
They have put a modern floor in the stage area.
Can you see Ruth coming down the other side?
Look how far they had to dig down to get to the original base of the structure.
We climbed up to the ruined temple on top of the hill.
There was a view of the sea.
Apparently this was the cistern, but we couldn't figure out why this tower was in the middle of it.
One more earthquake and I think it's going to topple over!
Ruth and a view of the sea.
The council house was totally restored between 2008-2011.
Patara was a busy port city and the archeologists wanted to test their theories about how the ancient people transported goods back then. They thought they had the shipping routes figured out, so they built a boat the same way they think boats were built back then. And they sailed it 1,500 kms (930 miles) to prove their theories that there was an extensive network of trade that existed in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
The original boat is on display.
It's all Greek to me.
Translation.
Main street.
In the photo above, the main street has been excavated, but it continues on through where there is now water.
Main street continues here.
The baths building.
Lots of spare parts.
A Mediterranean Mantis.
He was between 2.5" to 3".
This rooster was a beautiful specimen.
About 12:30pm we drove over to the beach and spread out our towel and sat in the sun enjoying the beautiful day. It wasn't that busy when we arrived, but it was quite a bit busier when we left around 2:00pm.
Sitting on the beach.
This beach goes for 20 kms (12.5 miles).
Ruth decided to go for a swim.
I went in up to my calves, but it was too chilly for my liking.
Almost there.
Brrr.
All the way in.
We drove back to the apartment and relaxed for a couple of hours. We headed out again at 5:00pm and bought a couple of bottles of wine to share with Joe and Josee who had invited us for dinner at their place. Unkown to us at the time, their host Nur who runs the apartment building where they are staying was also coming for dinner and doing up a few Turkish dishes for us to try as well.
Nur (in green) and her assistant.
Nice spot for dinner!
Nur, Josee, and Joe.
Ruth and the view.
Nice view.
Soup and salad to start.
What a great meal. We had Turkish soup and salad and steak and Turkish dish we think was called Börek. We also had lots of laughs and great conversation. Joe and Josee are headed off to Egypt tomorrow, so we'll be staying in touch to get an idea if we want to head that way as well.
It rained overnight, and it was heavy at times with lots of thunder and lightning. Exactly what they had been calling for. Today is so far better than what they had been calling for though, so hopefully it will hold off until we can get out for a walk.
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Today is Cyber Monday, and the deals continue.
Moto G Power Unlocked Smartphone. This is the phone we use and we paid more than that. The battery life is fantastic!
Record low deal on the popular Ninja Foodie 10-in-1 Smart Air Fryer.
Decent price on the popular Coleman Quad Cooler Camp Chair - Red.
And in Canada...
The theater is amazing; so well restored that it must be a great feeling to sit there imagining who was there before me.
ReplyDeleteI admire Ruth going in the chilly water up to the head.
Just about all the theatres that we have seen so far on this trip have been fantastic. This one is really cool because they do actual shows in it. I doubt that they have any going on at the moment because of COVID but also it is off season, but we think it would have been neat to have seen one there.
DeleteThe water really wasn't that bad. A little chilly at first but once you are in it felt totally fine. :-)
Nice to see a theatre restored so that it could be used again. I wonder how the acoustics are with such an open space. But certainly good sightlines from all angles. Good on them!
ReplyDeleteThe acoustics are fantastic. They built the theatres this way because they work so well. We were at one where I was on the stage area and Kevin up in the stands and I didn't even have to shout for him to hear me.
Deletewow!
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