No good reason, really, but I did have a visitor from Christmas to New Year's Eve this year, so it was incumbent upon me to display the joys of Antalya in winter.
Since I live near Baki Beach in Konyaaltı, the first thing we did was take a walk to the beach. On some winter days the snow-capped mountains sparkle in Antalya's strong sunlight. But this wasn't one of those days. It was a bit overcast, and it was too late in the day. In the winter the days are short; to make the most of a sunny day you have to be outside before 2:00 After that it gets cooler and windier, and by 4:30 the sun is setting. My guest was unimpressed.
Sunset in Konyaalti.
Well, there's always food. I took my friend to a local place where I'd eaten some respectable kebaps with my parents last April. That was my first mistake. If I've learned anything about dining in Antalya it's that there is no consistency in the kitchen. I've ordered the same dish in the same restaurant twice in one week and got completely different preparations. So why I thought a place I hadn't been to in 8 months would be a good idea is anyone's guess.
They had no kebaps, only kofte. The waiter went on and on about their specialty being chicken wings. So we had one order of wings and one of kofte. The wings were too spicy for me, so my friend ate them. " I fly all the way from New York and you feed me chicken wings" he grumbled.
It was cold and windy walking back to my place, and there was more grumbling about how it was 60 degrees in New York this week.
End of day 1.
P. S. I've added an Eating in Antalya page for anyone interested in the local offerings. I'll be adding to it to make it as complete as possible.
