Day 37 - Konya to Hatay

 We were up quite early this morning - 7 am for an 8 am start with a 6 hour drive to Hatay (specifically Antakya) ahead of us. Antakya, or Antioch as it was known in biblical times, is the seat of Hatay province in Turkey and lies very close to the Syrian border. While the drive was long, the time passed quickly with lots of animated conversation and much laughter. En route we received the news via a phone call from my daughter that a close friend of hers had committed suicide back in Australia. This rather dampened our spirits and the rest of the journey passed in quiet contemplation and further discussion about such things. We arrived at our hotel and checked in before heading out to lunch at a nearby restaurant. From here we headed by bus to the site of St Peters church which is built into a natural cave on the side of Mt Staurin. This church is said to have been established by the Apostles Peter and Paul with Peter becoming it's first Bishop. A tunnel at the rear of the church provided an escape route for the early Christians when Roman soldiers would come looking for them. Our next stop was a museum containing a magnificent collection of mosaics - reputedly the second largest collection of such mosaics in the world. It truly is a wonderful collection and well worth a visit if you are ever in Antakya. Next on our list of activities was a walk around town culminating in a stop at a rooftop restaurant for tea. From here we were able to view the Greek Orthodox church next door that we had planned to visit but which unfortunately was closed. We also watched the locals on nearby rooftops release their pigeons from their rooftop aviaries. It was coming on evening and the sight of so many pigeons wheeling in the skies above was sensational. After a quick freshening up at our hotel we headed off for yet another dinner with a local family - this time a businessman who had made his wealth through insurance. Again we had a lovely meal and as usual we exchanged gifts and took photographs before heading home to bed.