This past weekend I went to the grand opening of the new Erasta shopping centre.

There was the usual array of opening celebrations.

I was surprised to discover that Erasta is an outdoor shopping centre. This seems to be a particularly bad idea in Antalya, where the weather swings between horizontal freezing rain in the winter, and blistering heat and humidity in the summer. The whole point of going to a shopping centre is to escape the extreme weather, so I’m not sure who thought having it outdoors would be smart. There is an H&M there (Antalya’s first), but other than that the shops are all repeats of things that can be found elsewhere in Antalya, so I’m not sure what Erasta’s unique selling point is supposed to be (certainly it can’t just be H&M).

They do have beautiful fountains, though— an Antalya staple.

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Enjoying the spookiest day of the year.

And finally, the tunnel— it really has to be seen to be believed.

A journey through ancient civilisations.

These guys were highly entertaining.

A huge variety of amazing fish, of course.

The lighting in the Antalya Aquarium is pretty amazing, as well.

Lots of great features and sculptures.

The new Antalya Aquarium opened last week, and I was lucky enough to go on the opening day. The whale fountain out front is a very popular attraction, and with good reason.