Izmir

Maunder

\MON-duhr\

To wander aimlessly.

Okay, so I'm jetting back in time a bit to talk about traveling to Izmir which happened...about 3 weeks ago or so. Oops.

Izmir was actually a little tricky to get to from Foca. I took a bus, then a really long metro, then another metro. Even though it only takes about 45 minutes by car it took me almost 2 hours. Because you know, there's a lot of waiting time involved in public transit. But I had my ipod (which I've know lost!, I'm so sad) so the trip was peaceful.

After wandering around looking for a map and trying to find 2 tourist informations (which turned out to actually be complete fabrications, the only tourist info center is eons away at the airport), I decided just to wander around the coast, which was beautiful.

Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey and is a coastal city.

Today it's most well known for its clock tower, which has become the symbol of the city. It is in Konak Square (the main city square) and was built in 1901 as a gift from Sultan Abdulhamid.

Having no map, and no real sense where anything was, I just wandered around, enjoying the ocean air and keeping cool with some delicious vanilla/chocolate/strawberry ice cream. I found Kemer Alta, which is a big shopping district, with everything from street vendors selling cheap knock offs, to high end stores with legitimate name brand stuff. I didn't need to buy anything, so I just window shopped, but the whole vibe there was really great. It was super bustling and lively, with all sorts of people.

Other than walking a lot in the city center, I didn't do much else. I found a cute restaurant and ate outside by the water and did some reading. I had this very good albeit a little strange "mushroom crepe" which was more like a inverted fluffy pizza or something. But still, delish.

A skeleton-like hull of a ship? It was pretty cool looking though.

Right by the clock tower in Konak Square.

Apparently a ship sank and I think they were dealing with some oil clean-up issues because of it.

Frolicking in Foca

Empyrean

\em-py-REE-uhn; -PEER-ee-\

The highest heaven; in ancient belief usually thought to be pure fire or light. Paradise.

So I’ve spent most of the last week in Foca, which is about 7-8 hours south of Istanbul, along the coast in Western Turkey. It’s a small fishing village that’s popular among vacationers and retirees. I thought it was absolutely charming and had such a great time here.

Some days I spent the majority of my time at the beach. The beach here isn’t really sandy, more pebbly and rocky and there aren’t really waves, but the water was clear, bright blue and just the right temperature. So all day I would basically swim, sun bathe, fall asleep in the shade and read. So relaxing.

What a view, right?

At the beach I met some people. I met Aylin’s brother’s wife’s friend, who was an English teacher. She was super sweet and told me how to get to Izmir and helped me communicate with Aylin’s parents, who I’m staying with. We talked about all sorts of things and it was interesting to hear her perspective on the US, foreign countries and Turkey. For instance, she said she went to England and stayed with a friend of a friend who was a psychiatrist (so an educated dude). And he was convinced that all women in Turkey wore headscarves and emphatically told her that she had just taken hers off while she was in England. He wouldn’t believe her that she normally didn’t wear one. Though some women here definitely do wear headscarves, I’d say more than half don’t. Certainly no one in Kemer Country (the neighborhood where the Ozadams, my family, lives) does.

I also met one of Aylin’s old school friends, and her two kids who were lovely. I definitely helped them build a sand castle and talked about creative writing to the eldest, who was 9.

Foca the city is absolutely gorgeous. It’s small, not too touristy and has this great Mediterranean vibe to it. It’s name is derived from Fok (sp?) which means seal in Turkish. It’s home to the endangered Mediterranean Monk seal. Although sadly I didn’t see any because they are pretty scared of people and hide.

I spent a few days wandering around the city center, which is small, but along the ocean and absolutely packed with cool things to see.

Some of the really cute architecture of the houses.

Here are some of the cool things I saw.

The Rampart and Beskapilar (Five Gates) was part of the boathouse section of an Ottoman period castle. They aren’t quite sure how far back it dates, but it was restored back in 1538-1539 and then again in 1983.

Fatih Mosque: the most important Turkish building in Foca. It was constructed under Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror who (unsurprisingly) conquered Foca in 1531. It was redone by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificant in 1569. Not sure who this dude was (other than the sultan), but he seems to pop up a lot in the history here, and judging by his name, I’d say he did some pretty cool stuff. Sadly my pic of this didn't turn out.

The Open Air Temple: dates to around 580s BC and has statues and relics of Goddess Cybele in five niches around it. The temple of Athena is also situated in this temple.

Lover’s Road: I can’t find the origin of this walkway but it connect the Five Gates and the Open Air Temple and is right on the ocean. It is such a wonderful place to walk.