"How about a couple of nights in a boutique hotel in Antalya?" Aannsha asked.
"Sounds good." I replied.
We did have a hire car for a week and the drive from Finike to Antalya would only take an hour and forty minutes. A stay in a small hotel sounded like an opportunity for a relaxing time plus we'd get the opportunity to visit Antalya museum which many of our friends had been raving about.
After bundling all of our cameras and suitcases into the car we set off heading north east from Finike to Antalya along the now quite familiar D-400 road. The nice lady that lives inside our sat nav occasionally chimed in with instructions to take a left or a right at the next junction and we eventually found ourselves in the thick of the traffic of Antalya. Now all we had to do was find the hotel.
Aannsha had booked us two nights a the Route hotel which was located in the old town section of Antalya. Juggling following what the sat nav lady was telling us and what the local traffic was doing and not being able to see any street name signs was a challenge and we eventually found ourselves down at the old Antalya harbour with the sat nave lady instructing us to drive into a car park. What we didn't find out until later was that the entrance to the streets of the old town was through the car park.
Aannsha brought Google maps up on her phone and we headed back up from the harbour and onto the main road. Antalya is a big city and the public transport system includes trams. Navigating by two devices was not any easier than one and we eventually found ourselves on a road that suddenly turned into a two tram line street. It didn't seem right but I continued on. Two tram lines suddenly became one and now we were committed to just drive down it as the sides of the tram way were too high for me to drive over to get back onto the road. I was getting very stressed and hoping and praying that I wouldn't come face to face with an oncoming tram. Luckily the tram way came to a road junction and I was able to turn off only to find that we were somehow back at the harbour entrance road.
A few more twists and turns later and we got to a boom gate which was one of the entrances to the old town. We told the guy in the booth the name of the hotel and he let us through. When the old town was built cars were not a thing and the streets are super narrow. I was now hoping a praying that we wouldn't meet a car coming the other way.
Aannsha in the passenger seat was cooing about how pretty the old town was while I was getting more stressed than I was when we were on the tram way. Eventually we found the hotel and the manager came out to help us with our bags and to park the car in an alley way next to the hotel.
The hotel was very impressive. Everywhere we looked there was eye candy and our room was very nicely decorated. We moved our gear in, had a shower and then went down to have a glass of wine before dinner.
The hotel is also known for its gourmet burgers so we decided to dine in. As we sat at the table drinking wine and waiting for our burgers we watched as the hotel manager lit a big fire in a glass enclosure in the middle of the outside courtyard. He then put up a huge umbrella and a set a table for two underneath it. When it was all perfectly set up he came over to us and asked if we might enjoy dining next to the roaring fire. Of course we would.
The burgers soon came accompanied by crispy chips and some homemade dips. Freshly prepared with fresh ingredients the burgers were delicious. Savouring the moment by the fire we finished our bottle of wine before having an early night. We were visiting the famous Antalya museum the following day and we wanted to be up bright and early.
Until next week stay safe and healthy.
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