Antalya Offered Me an Unhinged Travel Companion. I Accepted.

Antalya is known for its beaches, ancient ruins, and dramatic cliffs… but nobody warned me about its shopping. And by “shopping,” I mean the kind of wandering that starts with “let’s just look around,” and ends with me adopting a neon green creature with pom-pom hair who now lives on my backpack like a tiny, absolutely unhinged guardian angel.

Welcome to my Antalya haul. No, not the responsible kind with handmade textiles and historically relevant souvenirs. I mean yes, those exist, and I did pass them, but I also came home with a keychain that looks like a broccoli Muppet... and a magnet featuring two birds who look like they just saw next month’s taxes.

Kaleiçi: Where every shop looks innocent until you walk inside

Strolling through the old town is like entering a cozy labyrinth of textiles, rugs, pottery, hand-painted trinkets, and at least one shop that sells scarves in 67 colors I didn’t even know existed. One minute you’re admiring the architecture; the next, you’re touching every towel within a three-block radius because “maybe it’s softer than the last one.” (Spoiler: they’re all soft.)

Shops spill out onto the street -- pashminas hanging from doorways, rugs draped like art pieces, ceramics wink at you from behind glass cabinets. It’s a whole vibe: warm, colorful, slightly chaotic, and very persuasive.

The Great Magnet Moment

Somewhere between admiring gorgeous handwoven carpets and dodging a snow globe cart, I found them: two tiny pebble birds painted with massive eyes and permanent confusion. A magnet. A masterpiece. A lifestyle.

They were sitting in a sea of hand-painted trinkets, each more chaotic than the last. Cats with googly eyes. Turtles wearing weird smiles. A donkey who looked like he’d seen things. But these birdies said “Antalya Love,” and who was I to argue with destiny?

Into the bag they went.

(Have I mentioned I collect magnets on my trips? No? Well, look for that in an absolutely riveting future blog post.)

Then came… The Lady

Not the lady from the carpet shop. Not the lady offering orange juice.

The little green lady with bouncy broccoli hair and a grin that says she knows where the last cookie went.

I don’t know what she is. I don’t know what species she is. I don’t know why her hair looks like a pair of tiny shrubs.

But she was fabulous. Bright green, slightly chaotic, and somehow fits my aesthetic perfectly: cute, strange, and a smidge unhinged.

So naturally, she’s on my backpack now. A mascot. A protector. A goblin of good vibes.

Shopping Highlights (a.k.a. How Antalya nearly separated me from my money)

• Ceramic shops: Beautiful, detailed, slightly intimidating. I touched nothing. You know that saying "bull in a china shop"? YUP.

• Rug shops: I now know 17 ways to make a carpet. Did I need to? No. Did the carpet guy insist? Yes. (All ways are very expensive and time-consuming, apparently.)

• Candy-colored cafés: Because Antalya (and the whole of Turkey) doesn’t believe in neutral tones. Thank God.

• Textile shops: Every towel looked like it wanted to come home with me. I escaped with my wallet barely alive. Who knew towels could be so exciting? Ah, adulthood.

• Random trinket stands: This is where the chaos thrives. Also where the magnet and lady found me. Actually, this is where I thrive... Hmm...

Final Thoughts

Some people come to Antalya for the beaches. Some for the history. I, apparently, came for a hand-painted pebble bird couple and a bright green space-broccoli creature that will now travel the world with me.

So, if you ever find yourself in Kaleiçi, be warned: you may walk in empty-handed, but you'll walk out with at least one new family member made of plastic, ceramic, or stone. Speaking of which, I'm open to names for my new travel buddy.