Next stop....Antalya, Turkey!

Hello all! I have had a bit of a hard past few days with some new things coming my way. I wanted to blog though...so here is the next stop on the cruise we took this summer. I hope you enjoy!!

After visiting Crete, Greece we stopped in Antalya, Turkey. I have to say that Turkey surprised me. I am not really sure what I was expecting....but it was beautiful. We took a tour that drove us more inland to the ancient ruins of the city of Termessos. It was amazing. We drove into the city and quickly out and up into the mountains. I think this is what shocked me about Turkey....the beautiful mountains. As we were driving past the vast city, I noticed all the tall Minarets that stood up taller than any other buildings. The Minarets are similar to a steeple on a Church. One big difference is that the Minaret is used to announce the call to prayer. The Muezzin is the man in charge of doing the call to prayer. When we were there we heard the call projected over loud speakers attached on the Minarets to call the Muslims to prayer five times a day. I went on a website and found what a typical call to prayer said in English and here it is:

***This is just a copy from a website, I do not agree with the statements below***

ATHAN or AZAN Found from this website
The Call to Prayer


Allah is defined as the ONE who ALONE, without partners or helpers created all that IS created in creation, either known or unknown.
-------------

1 Allah u Akbar, Allah u Akbar
-- Allah is Great, Allah is Great
2-Ash-hadu al-la Ilaha ill Allah - Ash-hadu al-la Ilaha ill Allah
-- I bear witness that there is no divinty but Allah
3 Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullaah
-- I bear witness that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullaah.
-- I bear witness that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger
4 Hayya la-s-saleah - Hayya la-s-saleah
-- Hasten to the prayer, Hasten to the prayer
5 Hayya la-l-faleah - Hayya la-l-faleah
-- Hasten to real success, Hasten to real success,
6 Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar
-- Allah is Great, Allah is Great
7 La Ilaha ill Allah
-- There is no divinity but Allah


Well, I hope you found that interesting, I was interested in learning what they were saying so I'm glad I found this. Ok, on to what we did. We hiked (for a while!!) up a steep trail to the ruins of the ancient city of Termessos. On the way we stepped on ruins that have been there for thousands of years...it was quite humbling. This was by far one of my favorite stops on the ship. When we made it to the top we were taken to a giant theater which overlooked the valley and was so peaceful. We were able to see areas where goods were sold and learn a little bit about what life was like....if you would like to know you can check out this link. Here are some pictures!

The port city

A stop sign...amidst road construction

Visa to get into the country

A roundabout!!

Mosque with a Minaret

Ruins at the start of the hike uphill

Hiking up

The fam bam

some rocks/ ruins we walked on

The lower city walls :)

SO beautiful!

Some more of the walls

Im alive!!!

Chad and Sonia made it!

Aaron taking an amazing picture im sure, and Sonia being cute!

So cool!!

WOW

This looked Secret Garden-ish

awesome

The view

Ancient theater

Chad taking a break

Sup?

Turkish Flag

The forest...pretty cool looking huh?

Museum we visited! Totally have pictures of these in history books!

Pretty glass

A Tomb

Pretty

see my reflection? :)

I know, I know TONS of pictures....sorry...looks like i just can't help it with all these amazing stops! I might have to split a few of the up coming ones.....especially since my next blog will be on Haifa, Israel!!!!

~N