Day 11 - Antalya and Termessos

05.26.2011

Personal:
- Hiked up the Toros Mountains to Termessos, an ancient Roman site with an incredible theatre. We spent a good hour climbing all over the ruins to see the beautiful view of the valley from all different angles.
- Lunch overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
- Free Time - tried to go to the gym, but it was too sketchy; did laundry in the sink for the first time haha
- Antalya Painting - On our first night in Antalya, I came a cross an oil-painter on the side of the street. He had just started working on a large canvas with a view of the city and Mediterranean marina from a postcard he had found. He didn't know any English, but I conveyed to him with much interest that if he could paint me a smaller size, I would buy it immediately. The next day I came back, and he said he needed some more time to let the paint dry and add the finishing touches. Then this afternoon, I came to his post to see it finished, sitting on the easel! He was not there yet, so I waited for a few minutes with my friends. One of the neighboring merchants came over and said that the painting was not for sale, it was for someone special. After telling him my story, he called the painter to let him know I was waiting for him. About thirty minutes later I was finally able to thank him and pay him for the original oil painting :) He gave me his e-mail address too so that I could send him the photo of us with the painting haha.
- Shopping in the Old City markets of Antalya
- Dinner
- Live music at the same cafe as last night

Research:
- Old City of Antalya - Nikki, Emily M., and I met a Turkish shop owner as we were looking at scarves. After the typical "where are you from" conversation, he began to tell us his life story haha. In 2001 he was dating a woman from San Jose, CA who is Jewish, and he is of course Muslim. He could not travel after 9/11 because he did not want to be profiled by TSA and be accused of being a terrorist for his religious and geographic affiliations. He explained to us a bit more some security issues, but that was the most significant one I remembered.
- MHP/CHP/AKP vans broadcasting music and driving around the city as campaigning