Our day began early with a trip up to the site of Pamukkale, which means "Cotton Fortress" due to its beautiful calcium deposits and pools of water that reflect the sky in a crystal blue shimmer. The pools were situated on the side of a mountain that is also home to Hierpolis, another ancient ruins site. The theatre (one of the key elements of Roman cities) was extremely well preserved and overlooked the entire valley of Pamukkale. From there we had some free time to explore the open air museum, which meant playing with stray puppies, wading in the man-made Pamukkale look-alikes, spending money at the shops, and using the "WC" toilets.
We then drove to the Anatolia Restaurant for lunch where we were greeted by a musician playing the "Baglama," a traditional, Turkish guitar, with a parrot dancing on the scroll/neck of the instrument. Casey was able to let the bird perch on his arm and continue dancing while the guy performed for us. Lunch was delicious and beautiful as usual, nestled in a garden with grape vines and rose bushes. The musician then gave Miles a mini-lesson on the "Baglama" since he had purchased one a few days before in Izmir. As we were about to leave the restaurant, a tourist from another group came on the bus to announce that he is a Cal Lu graduate! Small world.
Our next stop was the temple of Aphrodisias, which was an American/Turkish-American excavation with archeologists from New York University. The first thing we visited was a replica of the temple created by archeologists because all the original stone/marble was in the museum next door. We walked around the rest of the Acropolis, which seemed either much bigger than the other ruins or just more tedious due to the heat. It was not hot enough for Emily M. and Leah to race in the stadium though! Here is a picture of some of the group climbing the theatre used for Senate/parliamentary proceedings:
We finished the drive then to Antalya to catch our first glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea. After a long day of driving and sight-seeing, we had a buffet dinner at the hotel on the balcony overlooking the city and at least seven mosques within a hundred meters it seemed (which made the Call to Prayer especially exciting). Of course we could not end the night without a little exploring:
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