Mike played a very nice South African man this morning, Archie Rudman, and I must admit, I have no commentary on this match. They were scheduled to go on at 9am, and I was having our last breakfast with our good friend Danny, who came all the way from Portland for this. He was heading home today, so we started walking over about 9:15, which would have gotten them through the warm up and just beginning the first set. Well, much to our chagrin, we showed up and he was up 4-1 in the second! As it turns out, they went on a bit early, and as Mike’s charming opponent put it when we met, “Mike was very stingy and only gave him 1 game the whole match”. So there you have it. No dubs today, 3rd round individuals tomorrow at 9am and dubs begin at 1pm.

In the afternoon, we joined a few of our friends, Dan Waldman (Mike’s doubles partner, Paul Smith, (NZ) Wesley Cash (US 55 team) and Ross Persons (was on Fred Perry Cup Team Mexico City and the Men’s 55s in NZ) for a little adventure in Mangavat and some ruins called Lyrbe (Seleukeia). These were constructed in the Turkish hills between 300 and 30 BC, which was before Hellenistic times. These sites displayed less ornate detail than previous ruins we’ve visited, and obviously very different building materials. Was a majestic site, and very sturdy. There is one picture that was taken of me standing on top of a building, what you can’t see is that the open room behind me is about 50 feet above the ground. It was a an amazing site to visit, for certain.

After we left there, we headed back to the downtown area, which was not geared toward tourists at all. Their bazaar, which is known for its bargains on Mondays for some reason, was bustling with local people doing their weekly shopping. It was a blend of farmers market and textiles and clothes. Lots and lots of clothes. Mostly western clothing…take note of the picture of all the jeans. I like to call that one baby butts. I have never seen such little mannequins before! Anyway, after doing a little shopping, I discovered just how much more we were being charged in the bazaars closer to our hotel. I knew we would be paying a premium, but I didn’t think it would be 4X as much! Oh well, we did our part to stimulate the Turkish economy.

Back to Club Ali Bey for another amazing dinner — will do foodie version in the next few days. We are definitely getting spoiled with all the amazing Mediterranean food. There is always way too much to choose from, and the fresh fruits and vegetables are bountiful. They are taking very good care of us here.