Lycian Way

We had to put the a/c on in the night as it got impossibly hot, then it blew really cold air on to us, so we snuggled under the duvet!
Today we had some time to ourselves, so we went for breakfast at 9am in the small restaurant in the basement. It is also covered with lamps like all the other ceilings. We had to check out before going off, so they put our bags in a cubby hole under the stairs.
We set off down to the coast, remembering the route from our last visit and soon found ourselves by the bustling ferry quay side. The Galata Bridge was down to the left and looked crowded with fishermen with their long poles and lines. We climbed up the steps onto the bridge and began walking across, peeking at the fishermen's catches in plastic containers and some oversized glass jars. They seemed to being doing very well for lunch. At the other side, we crossed under the bridge and found the small fish market in full swing. There were all sorts of fish, seafood and even swordfish on display. Now we had to climb up to the Galata Tower, the most prominent feature of this area. It was built in 528 AD by the Byzantines, was taken over by the Ottomans in the mid 15th century when they captured the city. Whereas the Byzantines had arrow slits in the 4th and 5th floors, the Ottomans put canon windows in on the 6th floor. It has been used as a watchtower and a firetower, but gradually fell into disuse. It was renovated and reopened in 1967. We paid 10TL to go up in the lift to the 7th floor, then walked up a couple of floors, taking in the restaurant and nightclub on the way. The balcony on the ninth floor runs all the way round, giving panoramic views of Istanbul. Photos taken and the circuit completed, we climbed down the stairs again to the lift and the ground floor. Now to find some coffee, so we headed up the street of musical instruments and round the old streets to find a suitable place. The first one we stopped at was a rather posh cafe with its own coffee, teas and olive oil, but we sat and sat and no-one came to serve us even though they had brought us menus. So we left and found another place where they were very friendly and soon had coffee and cake on the table in front of us. We had one portion of carrot cake served with orange preserve - not really marmalade, but cooked rind in a tasty syrup. That and the coffee were delicious.

Across from this cafe was the entrance to the funicular, described as one of the oldest underground systems in the world. The funicular runs up and down to the tower in an underground tunnel. It is in beautiful condition and we enjoyed our 1TL ride immensely. We came out a couple of streets above the fishmarket, and walked down the main road to the bridge. Walking back over we took the bottom tier, passing numerous restaurants and cafes all touting for business. At halfway you have to climb the stairs to walk across at top level, leaving the gap in the middle for the boats to pass through. We then dived down the stairs again to walk along the bottom.
At the end of the bridge we took the underpass,which brought us out nearby the Spice Market. We decided to have a stroll through this lovely market once again, with its piles of paprika, tumeric, saffron and rose buds amongst others. They also sell the little glass lamps, hookas, nougat and turkish delight. We found our way out by a side exit and began wandering along, gradually uphill passed open stalls selling everything under the sun. We were a bit worried where we had got to, but the map said we were OK and we soon came out onto Yerebatan. We didn't walk straight down to the hotel, but took a side road and worked our way on to the main road to Topkapi Museum. We remembered there were some lovely tea/coffee shops along here, and soon found one with delicious looking baclava on display. They served us apple tea and baclava and we really enjoyed that. It was getting towards the time our taxi would be collecting us, so we walked down and round the corner to the hotel, collecting our bags and getting organised for the flight to Antalya.
The driver took us to the domestic terminal this time and we checked in and everything was on time. Our Turkish Airlines flight was very good again and we watched the landscape slide by under the plane - lots of folded mountains and a few spikey peaks. Antalya domestic terminal has just been renovated and opened three months ago - you get the feeling the paint is still wet! No driver was there to meet us, but about ten minutes later Dennis (or is that Deniz?) comes running up with a paper with our names on, very apologetic! He soon had us in the car and whisked us through the rush hour traffic (at 7pm?) and on to the coast road with its three new westbound tunnels. We arrived at Olympos Mountain Lodge at 9pm. It's lovely, built by the owner Hakan and his wife, Jasmine; all wooden beams and exposed stone work in the ranch style, one storey. They and the other couple staying were just finishing dinner, so we quickly dumped our bags, washed up and went to dinner. A moveable feast with a bottle of Turkish wine from Anatolya - Hakan's recommendation. We finished with mint tea around the fireplace, before retiring to our comfortable room.

About the Galata Tower