{"id":2221,"date":"2016-08-24T22:56:58","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T14:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=2221"},"modified":"2017-09-01T01:25:49","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T17:25:49","slug":"20160824antalya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/24\/20160824antalya\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 6 of Turkey Vacation: Antalya on August 24th, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

The plan of the day was the historic old city of Antalya. Also, since Expo 2016 was going on in Antalya (and the city built a new tramway for it), we decided to pay it a visit.<\/p>\n

The first stop of the day was Old Roman Harbor of Antalya. Once an economic lifeline to the city, now the old Roman Harbor mainly served tourism boats, while the actual port of Antalya had been relocated out of city.
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Old Roman Harbor of Antalya<\/p><\/div>
\n
\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Antalya Old City<\/span><\/h3>\n

The interesting thing is that, the city of Antalya built an elevator just north of the old Roman Harbor, so pedestrians don\u2019t need to take the long detour down the ramp to access the harbor from the rest of the city. The elevator platform also served as a wonderful sightseeing observatory.
\nAnd there were even air-conditioning in the elevator, which was very pleasant in the blistering summer heat.<\/p>\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Old Roman Harbor of Antalya<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old Town leading to Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boats at Antalya Old Roman Harbor<\/br>Tour boats in Antalya Harbor were generally bigger, more decorated (many of them have pirate themes) and presumably more expensive than Kas.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Stairs<\/a>

<\/br>Stairs down to Old Roman Harbor from Antalya Old City<\/br>Nice Greenings.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Historical Clock Tower<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tower<\/a>

<\/br>Tower of Yivliminare Mosque<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tower<\/a>

<\/br>Tower and Prayer Hall of Yivliminare Mosque<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tower<\/a>

<\/br>Tower of Yivliminare Mosque Standing out among Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tower<\/a>

<\/br>Tower of Yivliminare Mosque Standing out among Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Buildings<\/a>

<\/br>Buildings in Antalya Old City Extending to Sea<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boats at Antalya Old Roman Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boats at Antalya Old Roman Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boats at Antalya Old Roman Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Old Roman Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Antalya City and Sea-side Resorts<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Mermerli<\/a>

<\/br>Mermerli Beach and Cliffs of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boats at Antalya Old Roman Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Seaside<\/a>

<\/br>Seaside Restaurant<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Wooden<\/a>

<\/br>Wooden Sculptures of Goats in Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Mermerli Beach<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Konyaalti<\/a>

<\/br>Konyaalti Beach and Cliffs of Antalya City in the Distance<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Public<\/a>

<\/br>Public Park in Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Decorated<\/a>

<\/br>Decorated Doorway of A House in Antalya Old City<\/br>I really like the paint on the doors, and how it\u2019s contrasted against the color of the walls.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

\"Streets<\/a><\/br>\"Streets<\/a>\"Streets<\/a><\/br>\"Streets<\/a><\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lovely<\/a>

<\/br>Lovely Ancient House at Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City Decorated with Umbrellas<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Old Tram Tracks<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Palm<\/a>

<\/br>Palm Trees along Anatalya Ataturk Street<\/p><\/div>
\nWe found a service booth of Antalya Tram card just next to Ismetpasa Station (I mentioned in yesterday\u2019s post that our card cannot be popped up through a normal ATM machine.) So we popped up our Tram card, watched our time (as the tram to expo run on 80 minute interval), and took the tram to the expo park.
\n

\"Shops<\/a>

<\/br>Shops near Antalya Tram Ismetpasa Station<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Antalya Expo 2016<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Tram Expo Station<\/p><\/div>
\nThere weren\u2019t a lot of people visiting the expo park, definitely different than the Shanghai 2010 expo that I\u2019ve been to. On the other side, the exhibits were not nearly as exciting as the Shanghai ones.<\/p>\n

And with tickets at 15TL (the officers even asked how old I was to give me a youth discount, which I hadn\u2019t been aware of), it was very much an affordable expo.
\n

\"Colorful<\/a>

<\/br>Colorful Shades of Antalya Expo 2016<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cameroon<\/a>

<\/br>Cameroon Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\nThere was those shops<\/del>pavilions of African countries that I never heard of selling souvenirs. I reasonably guessed that whatever they sell were most likely made in China.
\n

\"Green<\/a>

<\/br>Green Wall of Istanbul Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Decorations<\/a>

<\/br>Decorations at Antalya Expo 2016<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Decorations<\/a>

<\/br>Decorations at Antalya Expo 2016<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ducks<\/a>

<\/br>Ducks Swimming in Istanbul Pavilion Pool<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Pavilion Pool<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Kazakhstan<\/a>

<\/br>Kazakhstan Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Kazakhstan<\/a>

<\/br>Kazakhstan Pavilion<\/br>Drawings of Kazakhstan Children of Plants<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nIn the Kazakhstan pavilion, we met a Kazakhstan woman that, to our great surprise, spoke wonderful Mandarin. She told us she picked up her Mandarin during her studies in Xinjiang, and she was very proud of her country as the host of the next expo. We even took a group photo that, due to privacy concerns, I will not post here.<\/span>
\n

\"Italy<\/a>

<\/br>Italy Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Italy<\/a>

<\/br>Italy Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Thailand<\/a>

<\/br>Thailand Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Welcome<\/a>

<\/br>Welcome Tea of Qatar Pavilion<\/br>I\u2019m not a big fan of this Qatar tea. But Qatar Pavilion offered other Qatar food (for free), which if I remembered correctly was from date tree, which was really nice.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nOf the many pavilions and gardens we visited in this expo, Qatar is the only one that didn\u2019t try to sell things. Instead they offered welcome food and drinks, which coupled with the wonderful services of Qatar Airways that brought us to Turkey, greatly boosted our favorability ratings of this tiny nation.
\n

\"Restroom<\/a>

<\/br>Restroom of Antalya Expo 2016<\/br>Yes, that was quite colorful.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Korean<\/a>

<\/br>Korean Pavilion Interior<\/br>I\u2019m not sure Korean style of gardening would involve such excessive human-height plants. A more plausible explanation was that the entire pavilion was outsourced to some company that didn\u2019t know Korean gardening at all.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cat<\/a>

<\/br>Cat Family Models<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rubbish<\/a>

<\/br>Rubbish Bins at Antalya Expo 2016<\/br>If you look carefully, you could find (and only find) Chinese and English characters on it. Guess the Expo management just purchased these bins from some Chinese factories off-the-shelf.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Chinese<\/a>

<\/br>Chinese Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Chinese<\/a>

<\/br>Chinese Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Indian<\/a>

<\/br>Indian Pavilion Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Plant<\/a>

<\/br>Plant Decorations at Antalya Expo 2016<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Children\u2019s Island Dome<\/br>The so-called Children\u2019s Island were the most populated area in the entire expo part. It was basically, a tiny theme park for the underaged. <\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Catering<\/a>

<\/br>Catering Facilities at Antalya Expo 2016<\/br>With more than half of the stores closed, no wonder nobody\u2019s sitting in those chairs eating.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Turkcell Tower<\/p><\/div>
\nWe could have board this Turkcell tower for 10 or so TL per person (I forgot the exact numbers). But since we figured that we would see nothing other than miles of primitive farmlands stretching beyond the horizon and a tiny expo park beneath us<\/del>, we killed that thought.
\n

\"Flowers\"\/<\/a>

<\/br>Flowers<\/br>Since the Expo was themed around \u201cflowers and children\u201d, there must be some flowers around. I guess it wasn\u2019t an easy job to keep all those flowers blossoming in this blistering heat. <\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Expo Congress Center<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Congress Center<\/br>This center was definitely built for conferences later on. For now, there was an insect exhibition on the second floor, and that\u2019s it.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sitting<\/a>

<\/br>Sitting Area<\/br>As usual, always colorful.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Insect<\/a>

<\/br>Insect Model<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Spider<\/a>

<\/br>Spider Model<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Columns<\/a>

<\/br>Columns of Antalya Expo 2016 Congress Center<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Palm<\/a>

<\/br>Palm Trees<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Indoor Gardens<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Congress Center and Turkcell Tower<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines Kids Science and Technology Center<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines B77W Model at Kids Science and Technology Center<\/p><\/div>
\nThe Kids Science and Technology Center was in my opinion the most populated venue in this expo park. But I was already beyond the age to marvel at simple science gadgets, we didn\u2019t stay there for long after getting enough of the air-cons<\/del>.
\n

\"Decorations<\/a>

<\/br>Decorations of Flowers and Palm Trees<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Palm<\/a>

<\/br>Palm Trees and Chanel<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Central Lake<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sculptures<\/a>

<\/br>Sculptures of Fish Bones at Antalya Expo 2016 Central Lake<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Decorations<\/a>

<\/br>Decorations of Cactus<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkcell<\/a>

<\/br>Turkcell Tower before Central Lake at Antalya Expo 2016<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Exterior<\/a>

<\/br>Exterior of Agriculture and Biodiversity Museum<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Exterior<\/a>

<\/br>Exterior of Agriculture and Biodiversity Museum<\/p><\/div>
\nThere were framed leaves and stems and roots in the Agriculture and Biodiversity Museum. Since I knew none of them, I quickly skimmed through them and left.
\n

\"Decoration<\/a>

<\/br>Decoration of Plants and Camel Procession<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Exterior<\/a>

<\/br>Exterior of Agriculture and Biodiversity Museum<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Entrance<\/a>

<\/br>Entrance of Chinese Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Japanese<\/a>

<\/br>Japanese Garden<\/br>It\u2019s just an open-access garden decorated in Japanese style.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Pavilion<\/br>Again, an open-access garden. This time, I didn’t say anything of Turkish style.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Pavilion<\/br>Again, an open-access garden. This time, I didn’t say anything of Turkish style.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Azerbaijan<\/a>

<\/br>Azerbaijan Pavilion Entrance<\/br>This must be a country proud in its candies.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Netherland<\/a>

<\/br>Netherland Garden<\/br>A not-so-well-maintained garden.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunflowers<\/a>

<\/br>Sunflowers on Roof of Ukrainian Pavilion<\/br>I don’t think they were real.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"United<\/a>

<\/br>United Kingdom Garden<\/br>A typical English quadruple garden, poorly managed.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Moldova<\/a>

<\/br>Moldova Garden<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Battalgazi<\/a>

<\/br>Battalgazi Pavilion<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pavilion<\/a>

<\/br>Pavilion Decorated with Flowers<\/br>This should be the pavilion of some Turkish province, I forgot which one.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"South<\/a>

<\/br>South Africa Gardens<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Central Chanel and Fountains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Nepal<\/a>

<\/br>Nepal Pavilion<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Expo Greenhouse<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Greenhouse<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Plants\"\/<\/a>

<\/br>Plants<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Plants\"\/<\/a>

<\/br>Plants<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flowers\"\/<\/a>

<\/br>Flowers<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flowers\"\/<\/a>

\"Flowers\"\/<\/a><\/br>Flowers<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Plants\"\/<\/a>

<\/br>Plants<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Greenhouse<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Chanels<\/a>

<\/br>Chanels and Fountains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 Central Chanel and Fountains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Expo 2016 West Entrance<\/p><\/div>
\nSo we spent a little bit less than 3 hours in the expo parks, before heading back to downtown Antalya on a tram ride.
\n

\"Fields<\/a>

<\/br>Fields West of Antalya<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya Tram at Expo Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Our<\/a>

<\/br>Our Dinner<\/p><\/div>
\nWe finished dinner on a street-side restaurant near Ismetpasa Station. We chose it partly because the store owner successfully seduced<\/del>impressed my parents with his no-so-good Mandarin. <\/p>\n

More Antalya Old City<\/span><\/h3>\n

After dinner, we somehow recalled that we didn\u2019t visit Hadrian’s Gate in the morning, which was the must-visit site of the Antalya old city. (Well, we roamed the old city without Google Maps in the morning and enjoyed ourselves getting lost.) With Google Maps, Hadrian’s Gate wasn\u2019t very far from Ismetpasa Station.<\/p>\n

Hadrian’s Gate<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"Cat<\/a>

<\/br>Cat Guarding Hadrian’s Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hadrian's<\/a>

<\/br>Hadrian’s Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Arch<\/a>

<\/br>Arch of Hadrian’s Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hadrian's<\/a>

<\/br>Hadrian’s Gate<\/p><\/div>
\nWe stood at this Hadrian\u2019s Gate for a few minutes, imagining how magnificent a gate it shall be in the past as it served as the threshold of Antalya city on its highway to Side, where we would visit the next day.
\n

\"Fortress<\/a>

<\/br>Fortress of Hadrian’s Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Fortress<\/a>

<\/br>Fortress of Hadrian’s Gate<\/p><\/div>
\nThen we walked the Antalya old city towards the sea, on a street we didn\u2019t explore in the morning.
\n

\"Flowers<\/a>

<\/br>Flowers and Houses of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Islamic<\/a>

<\/br>Islamic Pattern on House under Sunset in Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Minaret<\/a>

<\/br>Minaret of Sultan Alaadin Cami under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Remaining<\/a>

<\/br>Remaining Minaret of Kesik Minare<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ruins<\/a>

<\/br>Ruins of Kesik Minare<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ruins<\/a>

<\/br>Ruins of Kesik Minare under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"House<\/a>

<\/br>House in Antalya Old City Decorated with Flowers<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Sunset<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"Ranges<\/a>

<\/br>Ranges of Mountains west of Antalya<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"H\u0131d\u0131rl\u0131k<\/a>

<\/br>H\u0131d\u0131rl\u0131k Tower under Setting Sun<\/br>A tower built in the second century.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over Antalya Mountains<\/p><\/div>
\nBy the time we reached the Western end of Antalya old city (a.k.a. Mediterranean Sea), the time\u2019s right for a magnificent sunset.
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over Antalya Mountains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cat<\/a>

<\/br>Cat Resting over Window in Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Decorated<\/a>

<\/br>Decorated Villa in Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Streets<\/a>

<\/br>Streets of Antalya Old City<\/p><\/div>
\nThen we followed pretty much the same path as in the morning and walked back to the comfort of our hotel rooms, passing old Roman harbor once again to greet the “pirates” setting sail.
\n

\"Antalya<\/a>

<\/br>Antalya in Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Birds<\/a>

<\/br>Birds Hovering above Antalya Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Mermerli<\/a>

<\/br>Mermerli Beach beneath Hill<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boat in Antalya Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boats<\/a>

<\/br>Boats in Antalya Old Roman Harbor under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boat Returning to Antalya Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Antalya Old Roman Harbor and Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tour<\/a>

<\/br>Tour Boats in and out of Antalya Harbor<\/p><\/div>
\nEND<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plan of the day was the historic old city of Antalya. Also, since Expo 2016 was going on in Antalya (and the city built a new tramway for it), we decided to pay it a visit. The… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2221"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2696,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions\/2696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}