Sometime – You Have To See The Amazing Antalya
Sometimes, you have to see the amazing Antalya, you have to sightsee and you will see things you would never see back home.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you have to take a second look, and think well, that looks like something I have seen at home.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you have to turn a corner in this new place, and you will see things you know you can’t see at home.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you have to wonder, and say is this Turkey or is it Rome? For parts of it are so similar to other places in Europe – don’t forget Turkey is partly in Asia, and partly in Europe.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you’ll have to question – is this Ireland or England? I see a pub! Then, you have to remember you are in a place that wants to cater to tourists and make you feel at home.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you will see what you will normally see in public, and it could be anywhere in the world.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes you will again think is this England, perhaps it is? But again, if you recollect and rack your brains, you will remember where you are and be happy to be in Antalya.
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, well let’s stop with the sometimes and give it a break while you look at more pictures
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you will wonder about the time, and this will give you an indication of the difference in hours of the places mentioned in the picture below
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you will want to believe that this is your home – isn’t it cozy? This is one of the small hotels near Hadrian’s Gate
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you might want to wish you have a rug like this. After all, aren’t Turkish rugs some of the best?
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Sometimes, you should be reminded of Hadrian’s Gate again…..
Hadrian’s Gate, Antalya, Turkey
Sometimes, you have to watch my video of Antalya…..perhaps now – would be a good time?!!
Sometime, you will have to see the amazing Antalya.
Turkish Delight and Turkish Spice
I never knew there were so many kinds of Turkish Delight, until my recent trip to Turkey. When I went to Antalya, I asked what these tempting things were and were told they were Turkish Delight.
Turkish Delight, Antalya
I had thought Turkish Delight just looked like this
Turkish Delight
Then I saw more that looked like this. Unfortunately, I did not get to try the kind shown in the first and third picture
Turkish Delight, Antalya
Here, there’s an assortment that looks similar to what I know Turkish Delight looks like, and did you know it also tastes as good as it looks – you might even say it’s delightful!
Turkish Delight, Antalya
Here is a whole display case (very close by to Hadrian’s Gate) full of Turkish Delight
Turkish Delight, Antalya
Here’s two more delightful kinds of Turkish Delights
Turkish Delight
Turkish Delight
Growing up in England, I used to love eating Turkish Delight covered with chocolate, and since this is not a picture that I took – I will just include the website link so that you can see it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry’s_Turkish_Delight
I did take boxes of Turkish delight back to the USA to give out as gifts to friends
Turkish Delight
Well, if you don’t like sweets, you might like spice? As the saying goes…..sugar and spice makes all things nice. I certainly enjoyed seeing both (and trying both), and when it comes to sugar and spice, I can’t choose. I like sweets, and I also like spicy dishes.
Turkish Spice, Antalya
Turkish Spice, Antalya
Well, I certainly like how spices are displayed in the markets and stalls in Antalya.
Turkish Spice, Antalya
Hope you enjoy some sugar or spice every now and then.
Blast From The Past – Copenhagen & The Little Mermaid
I had a blast from the past, and my gosh – it was fast! There was just one picture from this place – Copenhagen in Denmark. I lived there for one and a half years, but don’t think I took too many pictures while I was there. That’s really too bad. Anyway, here is one that I have with me in it – visiting the statue of The Little Mermaid.
Copenhagen, Denmark
Can you tell that it looks cold? Do you see the ice? I can still remember how cold it was and the constant snow. However, Copenhagen is a very pretty place. I wish I had taken more pictures. Perhaps I might have more that may show up – I hope so.
Want to know something? I can never forget Denmark! I can remember the main street in Copenhagen – Vesterbrogade – and Tivoli – the touristy amusement and visitor park, opposite Burger King. I can remember going to the train station on Sunday morning to get a freshly fried doughnut – filled with jam, and a piping hot cup of coffee that would warm me up from the cold that I had escaped outside. I would read a British newspaper that I bought in the train station. I remember the smell of freshly made waffle cones, and the delicious Danish ice-cream.
I remember Danish! Jeg hedder Davinder, hvad hedder du? Jeg kommer fra England, and jeg boed i Danmark hal et ar. Excuse my basic Danish, but I still remember more of it than I do of French that I took for a year in England at school. I guess it helped because I lived there and spoke it, and listened to it every day.
Denmark, you will always have a special place in my heart, but I can say one thing…..I’m glad I escaped the cold!
Some Turkish Delight in Antalya
I must continue writing and sharing my pictures of Antalya. I was only in Antalya for 7 days, but have so many pictures that I took, and I was only in the Old City for about 4 hours, but also took more than enough pictures. But, can you ever get enough pictures? When you are into taking pictures, it’s never enough!
You might want to take a picture of a big beautiful boat (perhaps it’s a barge) like this, surrounded by other boats with the gorgeous backdrop of the Sea in Antalya.
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The Old City, Antalya
Then, you need to get the rocks centralized, and still get the boats in the picture.
The Old City, Antalya
Then, perhaps find an angle with buildings that will blend in and still give you a picture that has boats and the Sea in it.
The Old City, Antalya
Now, you get all that I described above in one picture.
The Old City, Antalya
Okay, and there I will stop. You get the picture, you just have to take lots of pictures as you don’t know when you might go back – if ever. The wish always of course is when you are there, that you will return. However, life gets in the way many a time, and return visits to certain places is not as possible as perhaps a visit to other places that you just have to go to because either a piece of your heart is there, like mine is in London, or because you have family there and that is somewhere you must go back to or you will lose yourself if you erase that part completely. I will never erase England from my memory, nor do I want to.
The Old City, Antalya
However, this post is about Turkey, and I feel that I have connected somewhat to Turkey – after all – I have vacationed here for a week this time, and been to Istanbul before (for about 8 hours only on a port visit during a cruise), and to Izmir (during the same cruise – but on a different day). Who knows, it seems like Turkey is part of my destiny in some ways – I feel I will return here again.
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
I love these colors, bright red against the green – with the splash of blue in the background – very pretty!
The Old City, Antalya
The picture below reminds me a little of Seaport Village in San Diego. Why am I seeing so much similarity or drifting off to other places during this post? Please forgive me. If you do view the San Diego post, I’m sure you will see some water with exactly the same color as in this one with the fountain.
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
Look at this, don’t you just love the Turkish teapots?
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
I really love this picture below and love that barge – yes I’m going to barge right in, and call it a barge!
The Old City, Antalya
One more thing, I was thinking about the title of this post and since I linked to other pieces that I wrote with Turkish Delight in the titles, I figured why not use these words again, and this time give you a picture or two of Turkish Delight since now I have more than enough pictures of this delicious Turkish treat. So, these two are just for you! By the way, they were delicious!
Turkish Delight
Turkish Delight
Well, I hope you enjoyed my pictures of Antalya. Next time, I might bring you more pictures of Antalya or more of London…..we’ll see. Until then, I hope you all have a terrific weekend, and for those of you in the USA – happy three day weekend!
Want A Recommendation For A Great Indian Restaurant In San Diego?
Indian food generally does not taste that great here in Indian restaurants in America. I think part of that reason is that Americans are not as used to Indian food as let’s say people in the UK are. There, the Indian restaurants are spectacular. They’re not afraid to make the food spicy there, and don’t make it bland to cater to other tastes. Also, where I grew up – we used to invite our English neighbors all the time to events, or even to our homes, and give them a taste of Indian food – which they seemed to love. Everyone seemed to know what a samosa was or what a chapatti or naan bread is.
Alas, over here, not only do people not know about Indian food, the food generally is more bland, and I believe it is that way because it caters to American tastes. There are exceptions – there’s a great place that I go to that is not that fancy, but it has really good Punjabi khadi – one of my favorite dishes. Then there are other places that if you eat from the menu, and not from the lunch buffet – the food can have more flavor.
Well, now I am happy to report that I found a great Indian restaurant that just opened up. It’s the Royal India restaurant on Miramar Road in San Diego. The food is tasty, and even a little spicy as it should be. I knew I had to go to this restaurant fairly quickly from it’s opening, and I’m so happy that I went there yesterday. Here are some pictures.
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
This picture came out a little fuzzy – by the way, I took all the pictures with my smart phone – my Note 3.
Okay, so first thing you have to do when you go to an Indian restaurant is start off with some appetizers such as samosas or pakoras, both fried – but very delicous. Pakoras are vegetables, and spices that are encased in a batter that is fried. Samosas are pastries stuffed with spiced potatoes, and vegetables. I absolutely love samosas, and sometimes rate the restaurant based upon it’s samosas.
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
These samosas were fairly good, but the sauces were the best. There was a tamarind sauce that you just always have to have with samosas, and a mint chutney, a mango chutney, and a Royal India house chilli sauce. Oh, my gosh…..these sauces were all delicious, and when I finished the appetizers – I had to spoon up the sauces until my plate was clean!
I wish I had taken a picture of the buffet station with all the main entrees in it, but I didn’t, so all I can provide you is my plate piled high with delicious food – there was chilli chicken, chicken curry, two kinds of rice, saag (spinach) which I absolutely love, lentil curry and sholay or channa daal (chick peas). Of course there were other items that I could not put on my plate – such as chicken tikka masala, lamb kheema, and a few other dishes. They brought baskets of naan bread to the table – one had plain naan, and one had garlic naan – this is not usual that you get two assortments of naan at a buffet, so it was quite nice.
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Chandi loves fruit, so she was eager to get to dessert, and loved the fruit salad.
I loved the Gulab Jamun which is a delciously sweet dessert – very sticky and syruppy is all I can say!
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
But, I had to get a little of the mango mousse (which was delicious, the kheer (rice pudding with milk) and a bit of the fruit too.
Then I felt like Royal-tea (literally) when they brought me the chai – I love to have tea made the Indian way – perhaps I should save that description for another day.
Niki and Luca loved it here too, as did Chandra shown in our family picture towards the bottom.
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
Here we all are after our stomachs are full.
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
This restaurant is really classy, and very elegant. It has chandeliers, and a bar!
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
It has separate rooms which you can book for your parties, and they also do Bollywood events and hold functions here. In fact, we were told about a Bollywood party that is going to be taking place this Friday at 8:30 to 1 am. I am tempted to go as I do like Bollywood and also Bhangra. Look at this beautiful room which is off to one side from the main dining room.
Royal India, Miramar Road, San Diego
This place is really big – I think I heard it holds up to 561 people, and it has ample parking. I
I felt right at home here, and loved the music playing in the background. It was music from popular Hindi songs without the words – very classy. I can’t wait to go back to Royal India, and will definitely try one of their Bollywood events soon. I’m pretty sure they will hold a Punjabi Dance Party similar to one that I attended in the UK last year. Here’s my video of that just incase you want to see it.
Well, here’s to Punjabi dance parties and to Bollywood parties, and also to Indian food. See you next time.
A Captivating Trip To The Old City of Antalya in Turkey
Do you worry about going into unchartered territory? It’s easy to worry, but until you venture to the unknown, you won’t know. Look at me, I had no clue that I would see Haidan’s Gate in Antalya until I ventured into the Old City, and I am so pleased that I saw it – I would say that it was the highlight of my trip. Turkey – especially, Antalya is quite safe. I am in the process of making a little video about Antalya and will upload it soon. If you are thinking of culture, travel, history, architecture…..think Turkey. Take a look at some of my pictures, and get a taste of Turkey.
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Music and prayers from the Mosque drifted through the air, and it was kind of hypnotizing to be there with the prayers coming in over the loudspeakers. Of course, I couldn’t understand any of it, but I enjoyed listening to it as it was not something I would come across at home in the USA or even when growing up in the UK. It is something given to you as a gift through travel. You do get unique little gifts like that via your travels, little cultural experiences that can enrich you – you can enjoy other’s culture while there, be aware of their culture and their country, respect it, and just drink in the experiences surrounding you. Nothing I write can quite describe it, so that is why I made a video. Later, I will come back to this and insert a link of my video when it’s ready. Meanwhile, here’s the Mosque where the music and prayers came from.
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
The view as seen from the balcony (see the first picture) is amazing. I could just stand and watch it for hours. This area where I am showing you the pictures of is all walking distance from Haidan’s Gate, and the Old Bazaar.
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
This is a really old drinking fountain, I just had to get a picture of a Turkish man in front of a Turkish drinking fountain! Then again, it could be a Turkish foot and leg washing fountain?!
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
I like the trees, the minaret, the flowers, the mountains, the sea, and oh, I like Antalya!
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
There’s me in Antalya.
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
This is Attalos who is from the Royal Dynasty of the Kingdom of Pergamon (see the next picture below this one).
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Old City of Antalya, Turkey
Next time, I will show you more pictures of the Bay. I think I take too many pictures, sometimes I share too many pictures. Perhaps, I just like pictures and taking pictures. How many times can you use the word picture in one paragraph – just count how many times I did it. I think I better stop now. Until next time. I wrote this post today, so I could have the day off tomorrow – after all it’s Mothers Day tomorrow. Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers of the world. I hope you have a fantastic day.
Oh, by the way……here’s the video that I made of The Old City of Antalya – I hope you enjoy it!
and here’s a longer video of it – if you want even more!
Old Bazaar & The Old City of Antalya
Are you ready for color, spice, souvenirs, and all things Turkish? Let me take you on my sightseeing trip to the Old City of Antalya. In this post I will carry on where I left off a few posts ago. I had woken up early on the 4th of August, 2014, to go sightseeing all by myself in Antalya. Then I had stumbled across Haidan’s Gate which I had not even known was here in Antalya – so happy that I had left the resort to go see the sights. Now, I headed for the Old Bazaar.
I think I took my first selfie, by looking through a mirror and taking a picture with me in it. I think that’s still classed as a selfie?
The Old City of Antalya
Now, I did it again with my Note 3
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The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The people in Antalya greet you warmly, and will give you a cup of tea for just coming into their store. This woman gave me a sample of tea.
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
When I went to this shop that sold delicious Turkish Delights, the man who sold them to me was so happy, he even ordered a cup of tea for me. This reminded me of India, where I have only been once when I was 14, but I remember the same thing happening there. When my mum would go in a store to buy material or Punjabi suits, the people in the store would order tea for everyone, even I would get a cup of tea at 14. I was happy about that, as I even liked my tea back then.
Turkish Delight, Antalya
Turkish Delights, Old Bazaar, Antalya
Here I am looking at the spices – these are the same spices that we use in our Indian food
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Old City, Antalya
Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
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Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
The Old Bazaar, Old City of Antalya
Then I left the Old Bazaar, and ventured around the streets of the Old City, before heading towards the bay.
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
Old City of Antalya
I really like these all these umbrellas that are all hanging over the street – so colorful!
Old City, Antalya
I couldn’t stop taking pictures, I find the Old City to be very picturesque.
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Old City, Antalya
Next, I headed to the bay, and I will show you these photos next time. I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures, and that you got a glimpse of life in the Old City of Antalya. I hope you all have a fantastic May!
luchanik 