Day 8: Bodrum (July 6)

So I woke up early to go diving. I was really excited actually, as it had been quite a while since I had gotten to go driving. I was hoping that there would some beautiful coral reef places to see here too...or at least some areas where cool fish hung out since it was so rocky.

We got on the boat and headed out towards the dive site. I found out that the boat doubled as one of those cruise tours and a dive boat, so most of the people on the boat were not diving. They only had to pay something like 20 Lira for the boat while we paid 100 TL. On the boat ride over there, I met this girl named Can who was pretty cool. I learned that she was in college in the US. She studies at Brown University and is back at her parent's place for the summer helping out with their boating business. I wish my summer job was being on a boat all day in a tropical location. That sounds like the life to me!

We came to the island where everyone else would spend the day swimming. Here's what it looked like from the back of the boat.



We suited up in the tanks and descended for our first dive. The dive was maybe 40-50 ft (not sure exactly since all of the equipment was in meters). We ended up doing two dives and overall I was mostly disappointed. We saw a few fish, but not a large amount and certainly not as many as I saw when I dove in Mexico and the Bahamas. I was also disappointed that both dives were at the same location. I was hoping we would maybe do one dive at one location and another at another. That's how most dive boats work. The coolest part was that the dive master who was leading us found a baby octopus for us to play with, Everyone was able to put it in its hands and you could feel the suckers attach to you. When it was scared at first, it even inked! The rock formations were decent too, but not the most impressive I had ever seen. Perhaps I should have chosen to dive in Fethiye instead...oh well.

The boat had grilled fish for lunch and after a while at that swimming place, we went to another swimming place. The water was pretty cold, which was surprising for the month of June. I guess you forget just how far north Turkey is when its so hot outside. I think Turkey is about even with New York City, but you'd hardly guess it when you see water that looks like that! :)

After two swimming stops, we arrived back in Bodrum. As I said before, it was largely disappointing but oh well.

When I arrived it was still a couple of hours before sunset. I decided I wanted to take a trip to the end of the Bodrum peninsula to see the sun set. I have heard the sunset there is quite beautiful (as it is on the western edge of Turkey looking over the Mediterranean). I took a bus out to the small town of Gümüşlük and walked down to the shore line. Oddly, the towns name means "of silver," but with a sunset as brilliant as the one I would see, I would have excepted it to be "of gold." The shoreline here is protected by headlands just on the other side of the bay. To get to the headlands, you have to wade through water, which got all the up to the upper part of my legs at one point. I was concerned about my camera and my backpack, but it all worked out ok.

Across the shoreline to the headlands was "Rabbit Island." The island is named as such because rabbits live here. Shocking I know! The cool part was that there were enough here that even I would catch a glimpse of them.



After snapping a couple of photos of rabbits and flowers, I climbed my way to the top of the headlands and positioned myself for the sunset. The view was absolutely amazing!



While at the top of the mountain rising out of the water, I met a man with a group of kids. He explained to me (in English) that they were a group of kids who took a trip down here as part of a diabetes camp. Apparently all of the kids had type 1 diabetes. It made me happy to see that they had some solidarity and I reflected for a few moments on my grandfather who had passed away 3 years earlier. He was also a type 1 diabetic and so I have a special affinity for those people and can sort of understand the difficulties they have to deal with every day. There were also two women sitting together who did not speak to me and were sitting on the ledge. I sort of suspected that they were a lesbian couple, but wasn't ultimately sure. I probably ruined their alone time, as I stayed for the entire sunset. Here are some pictures I took from it and the subsequent moon rise:

This is kind of what the island I was on looked like too



Other pictures of sunset:













After watching the sunset, I walked along the beach a little bit. Had I visited the place earlier in the day, it would have been a neat place to swim. Instead it was just a nice walk.

I returned to Bodrum and went to a place that was open along the seaside for dinner. It was one of those little kumru sandwich places. When I sat down the waiter greeted me and I responded in Turkish. He immediately told me to hold on a sec and after 5 minutes, a man came up and asked me what I wanted in English. Apparently he had decided from my one word utterance that I was not a native Turkish speaker and that he would need someone else to take my order. This area was very popular for British tourists. Well the guy came up and asked me what I wanted. I said that I wanted a kumru sandwich but without pickles in Turkish. He responded in English, so you don't want pickles? I'm sitting here thinking to myself...no shithead...I just said that in Turkish just for the hell of it. So I merely said, come on man, I am just trying to practice my Turkish, give me a break. After I said that he was much better about responding in Turkish and I was able to order and ask for things throughout the evening in Turkish. I then retired to my room and slept for tomorrow I would be heading to Fethiye.

Day 7: Bodrum (July 5)

I woke up in Pammukkale and took about a 4 hour bus ride back towards the coast and south to the city of Bodrum. I had heard of the city of Bodrum before from Melisa (yes that's with 1 s), the Jewish girl who worked in Bu Cafe who was going to travel with us on Spring Break but couldn't at the last minute. Since she couldn't go with us, she ended up spending her spring break here. It was a nice Mediterranean town on the coast, perfect for sunbathing and enjoying a week of vacation. Apparently it is also famous for having one of the loudest discos on the Mediterranean Sea.

I got off the bus and walked down towards the seaside. It was a sure bet that there were going to be places to stay. As I saw them, I found an alleyway back away from the season and found a place. After some haggling, I ended up staying there for something like 15 Lira per night. Considering this place was in Bodrum, that was a steal! It seemed like Besim's bargaining tricks were working out really well for me. Now I won't tell you the quality of the room I was in. Let's just say...it was a little rustic. No internet connection and worst of all...no air conditioner. At least I saved money though. After I put my stuff down, I went down to the seaside to walk around some. The place was very touristy and there were lots of shops and things. I also had decided on this trip that I wanted to go diving. There were a few dive boats on the water taking deposits for diving the following day. Unfortunately, a day trip cost 100TL. I decided that this could be a splurge for the trip. When would I have the opportunity to dive in Turkey again?

Then I went and found the Castle of St. Peter. This thing was spectacular. According to my guidebook, when Tamerlane invaded Anatolia in 1402 and threw the Ottomans off balance, the Knights Hospitaller captured Bodrum and built this castle. When I entered the castle, I went down a corridor under the crusaders coat of arms. The corridor then leads up into the main court, which is centered on an ancient mulberry tree. On the left hand side, there were exhibits of artifacts dating from the 14th Century and recovered from the waters around southwest Turkey.

I then went inside the chapel of the castle, wich contains a full-sized reconstruction of the back half of a 7th Century eastern Roman ship. You could even climb on it! After that I kept going to a glass shipwreck exhibit. In the castle I also saw the Snake Tower and the German Tower. Each were great vantage points to look out over both the town of Bodrum and the beautiful blue waters of the bay. Near the snake tower, I went down the stairs to see the dungeon. Over the top of the corridor were the words "Inde Deus abest," which means (where God does not exist). Knights were brought here to be confined and tortured from 1513 to 1523. It was a happy place as you can tell. I also went inside the English Tower, which was set up like a medieval dining room. On the walls were flags from both the Crusaders and the Ottomans. While in the room, one could sit and listen to the lovely music of Carmina Burana (even though the piece was written in the 1900s). I didn't get to go to the French Tower because it was closed. Overall, the castle was a really cool place to spend a few hours. I was amazed at howe well it was preserved and how it resembled the European castles you see in the movies.



After my tour of the castle, it was pretty late in the afternoon (maybe 6pm). I walked up the hill, hoping to go to the ancient Mausoleum. The Mausoleum was one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. Unfortunately, it was closed by the time I got there and would be closed all day the following day. Apparently, there wasn't that much left anyway, but it still would have been cool to see. I continued to walk up the hill from Bodrum until I got to an ancient theater. I couldn't go inside, but was able to snap some pictures from the outside.



Down the hill back towards the water I passed some of these circular stone buildings. Actually, they are all over the place here. Apparently, the stone buildings had the ability to turn salt water into fresh water. Ancient people would put water inside them for a year and then the water would be fresh. Personally, I don't understand the chemistry of it, but it apparently works. I guess these were some of the world's first desalinization plants!



I walked down to the coast and went to the shipyard, which was a museum to the shipyards that built Ottoman ships in the 1800s. The shipyard itself was fortified as a defense against pirates. This place was also a graveyard.

I then went back to town and walked along the shops to see everything and found an internet cafe to spend the evening. I am boring and wasn't really interested in checking out those crazy discos by myself. At the smoothie restaurant, which provided free internet to its customers, I met Oner. He was a nice guy and well-meaning, but he would not stop talking to me/asking questions of me for the life of it. I gave him my msn name (Turks love MSN) before I realized how annoying he was. That was a mistake and to this day he still tries to chat with me, though usually I don't respond.

I went to bed kind of early because I had to be up early for the diving trip the following day.

Day 6: Pamukkale/Hieropolis (July 4)

I awoke a bit early, around 10am to start the day and explore fully Pamukkale. The place located about 20km north of Denizli and was actually quite a bit inland from the coast. The terrain had changed and become more mountainous. I didn't get a chance to see what the place looked like the night before because I had arrived so late. I began my walk towards Pamukkale and almost as soon as I walked on the main street of the hotel I was able to see it very clearly. Extending into the sky on the side of the mountain was a very white slope (no doubt where Pamukkale got it's name).





As you can see, it almost looked like the side of a ski slope, which is a pretty striking site in the summer. I found the entrance to the place (which was about a third of the way up) on the right side of the mountain (from the perspective of this picture). Pamukkale was formed when warm mineral water cascaded over the cliff edge. As the water cooled, it deposited calcium on the side of the mountain, turning it white. What a cool place!

As I started to walk up to the mountain, I got to the guard structure. They informed me that if I did not have a Muze kart, it would be 20TL. I thought to myself...20 TL! That's crazy for this place (most ruins cost between 5 and 15 TL to see). I think even the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was 15TL. Luckily, it didn't matter because I did have a muze kart. The guard looked at the card and looked at me for a long time. It was hard for him to believe that I was actually a Turkish student. I explained in my Turkish that I was an exchange student. After a good solid 30 seconds of looking between the card and my face, he decided to let me pass. Great success!

Not far beyond where the entrance was restricted, there was sign that indicated that shoes were not allowed on the rock from this point until the top (which was quite a ways). They believed that restricting shoes would help preserve the calcium deposits. I took off my shoes and put them into my backpack and began walking barefoot into the mineral pools. The water was almost a blueish white color. The bottom of the pools were covered by a soft calcium mud that felt soft against my feet. I had my camera in my hands so I had to be careful not to drop it. There were several pools, which were called travertines, that one needed to walk through to get to the top. The calcium covered pathway was about 250m to the top and the tiny sharp ridges that the calcium formed sometimes made it difficult for the feet.



There were also deposits that made the cotton ball parts of the cotton castles:



I feel like words don't really do this place justice when you see the pictures.

Here is another neat one of the travertines near the top.



When I got the top, you can see a picture of me with the pathway I came behind me. Its absolutely stunning!



At the very top you had to be careful because there was running water running down the rock and into the travertines (the same running water that formed them over these thousands of years and formed the stalagmites under the pools.

After about an hour's walk I had reached the top. At the top of the dramatic walk lies the ancient city of Hieropolis. The city was founded in 190 BC by Eumenes II, the king of Pergamu. The city was built because it was believed that the pools of calcium water would cure ailments. It had a large Jewish community and an early Byzantine church. It was eventually abandoned after several earthquakes hit the area (the last in 1334).

The ruins themselves were pretty extensive over a fairly wide area. I walked to the east and started at the city walls near the southern entrance. From there I walked to the city center. It contained many things that a typical Roman ruined city would contain.

One unique thing though was the Plutonium, which was dedicated to Pluto, god of the underworld. The spring gives off toxic vapors, lethal to all but the priests. The priests would demonstrate the power of the spring by throwing in small animals and birds and watching them die. It is now marked by a sign that says "toxic gas". The gas is still poisonous and there is a grate installed to prevent people from getting too close to the spring.



Up the hill from the plutonium is the magnificent Roman Theater, which was capable of seating more than 12,000 people. The theater was built in two stages by Hadrian and Septimus Severus. It is in remarkably good shape. While I was there, I met some lady from Miami, FL who had forgotten her camera. It was nice to talk to someone in English for a little while since I was all alone. I took a picture of her for her and promised to send it to her.



Outside of the top of the theater, I ended up speaking to these Turkish people who were locally from there. A relative of theirs was someone who was employed as a security guard for the park. I made some small talk with them and rested from walking around the place. Up the hill from here was the Martyrium of St Phillip the Apostle. It is believed that St. Phillip was martyred here.

I hiked on the hillside down to Frontius Street, which was the main street in Hieropolis. Several more ruins were here, such as bath houses, columns, and the famous Byzantine gate.









Pretty cool, huh?

At the end of Frontius Street, there was a building with two latrines cut into the bottom to carry away sewage. Outside of the northern gate was the necropolis. For quite a ways, several sets of mausoleums marked where people had died and been buried in this graveyard. They had small stone structures with carvings on top of them.

From there I walked around the town back towards where I had entered. On this part, I don't know what some of the older buildings were, but I thought the juxtaposition of the ruins within the white rock was a unique site. Here is a picture of it.



Here are a couple of other pictures from the place.





After that I sat on the bench for a little while, talked to Husniye on the phone, and enjoyed taking in the scenery. It was quite lovely.I then went into the museum that was on site and walked around in there for about 30 minutes or so, observing some of the cool things they excavated.

I then headed down and took a few more pictures of myself in the travertines. I really liked the travertines. :)









I walked around in the town below and found a place to eat dinner. Pamukkale is not really known for any Turkish dish as far as I knew so I just had a kebab.

I then returned to my hotel and sat in the deck out by the pool and talked to some guy for a little while. It was then that I realized that the entire day it had been July 4th and I had barely noticed. I happen to really like the 4th of July and watching the fireworks and it was strange to me not being at home to celebrate. This was the first July 4th that I had ever been outside of the country. I told the guy (I think he was British) that he should wish me a Happy July 4th! This guy had decided he liked Pamukkale so much that he was staying there at a discounted rate for an indefinite amount of time. I thought it was a bit strange since there was not a whole lot going on there.

The pool to the hotel was nice (all of the hotels here have pools because the water is siphoned into them from the spring at the nearby Pamukkale. Perhaps it was luxurious for him and that's why he was staying? Who knows! I don't remember what else we spoke about but soon after I retired to my room to get some rest before I would make the journey south on the bus to Bodrum.

Day 5: Izmir (July 3rd)

Besim and I both understood that neither of us liked to get up early. He made it clear to me that I shouldn't wake him up (not that I would have done so anyway because I liked to sleep late too).

We woke up and Besim took me out into the city of Izmir. The city of Izmir is a large port for Turkey and Turkey's 3rd largest city. Historically, Izmir was the ancient city of Smyrna, which was the very same place that Homer lived. The city was destroyed in a fire in 1922, meaning that it basically consists of modern buildings. It has always been a very liberal city, at one point in history having more Christians and Jews than Muslims.

So we didn't end up leaving the apartment until around noon. We had lunch and then went for a walk. Besim was very interested in purchasing new sunglasses and so he dragged me to a couple of those stores (I wasn't really interested in it but since he was letting me stay with him and showing me around, I didn't say anything). After that we walked along the water front and took in the scenes there. We also walked to this open area along the water that looked more like Miami Beach than Turkey!



I also saw the famous clock tower of Izmir. Apparently it is one of those big landmarks that everyone sees and takes a picture in front of when they go. I suppose it would be the equivalent of the arches of St. Louis in the United States.

After our walk along the the water, we took the ferry to the other side of Izmir. Izmir is located on a big bay, so the city spans around the entire bay, making travel from one side to the other faster on ferry than on land. On the other side, we just planned to walk around (that's pretty much all we really did). When we crossed the ferry over (which was a really pretty ride), we began walking on the main street. A young kid came up to us, trying to advertise for this environmental cause. When Besim pretended not to understand Turkish, the kid started talking in English. Besim responded in Portuguese that he didn't understand English. The kid then responded in Portuguese that he only knew a little bit and something about helping or something. Besim was so impressed that the kid understood that he decided to give the kid a couple of minutes of his time to listen. The exchange was pretty humorous to me.

We then walked down another side street and Besim decided he was thirsty and wanted lemonade. I wanted one too. He told me to go walk away from the store so the store clerk did not see us together. He explained to me that if he saw a foreigner he might try to raise the price because foreigners don't know what the actual prices should be. I hadn't experienced that before (as far as I knew) and I wondered how many times it had happened to me without realizing it. I guess I couldn't complain too much because everything was still way cheaper than the US.

We walked around some more and then headed back to the other side of Izmir. Besim did provide me with one really good piece of advice. We started talking about the art of bargaining (which is huge in Turkey and the Middle East). I told him I wasn't really sure how to do it and he told me a technique that I didn't think of that would change my life for the rest of the time I was in Turkey. He told me that if I want to effectively negotiate, I should push them down as low as I can. Always let them offer prices (you don't want to show your cards and tell them where your basement is incase its too high). Then if the price isn't low enough, you leave. Generally, when someone leaves, they will find an equal or better price elsewhere (and would not return in either situation). For this reason, if the seller credibly believes that you are going to leave, he will give you his absolute lowest price. If its still too much, you can always leave and if you find its way better than anywhere else you can always come back and get the thing for the same price offered. There's definitely an art to it.

That evening I took a taxi back to the bus station and boarded a bus for Pammukale (which literally means cotton castle in Turkish). I had always wanted to go there ever since I saw the pictures. The ride was about 3 hours. When I arrived it was very late and I had to take a taxi to a hotel. With it being so late and dark and me not knowing where any other hotel was, I was not in a good place to practice my bargaining skills. I ended up paying 30TL for the room, which was actually not too terrible. The room had air conditioner, wireless internet, and a pool in the hotel. It was also quite comfortable. I retired to bed and went to sleep.

Day 4: Çeşme

We woke up and had brunch and started for our next little exploration in Çeşme. We went to another place that was about a 10 minute walk from the house. I didn't catch the name of the place, but for some reason in the jetties there was a warm spring emptying into the Aegean. So a lot of people swim around this warm spring where the water mixes with the Aegean creating warmer water than the other areas around. As you can imagine this was a pretty popular swimming place.



After our swim, we walked back to the house and swam briefly in the beach right in front of their house, which was in actuality a pretty darn nice beach to live in front of. I certainly wouldn't have minded!



All in all it was a great visit and I had a great time. It was wonderful of them to give me such hospitality and to get that practice with my Turkish. While Naomi had been showing me a good time, Besim had completed his tour in Kuşadası and returned to Izmir. I would take a bus that evening and meet him there for a day. Naomi refused to let me pay for the bus and sent me on my way. On the bus, I ended up sitting in the front seat, giving me a bird's eye view of the short ride to Izmir.

When I arrived in Izmir, Besim did not pick me up at the bus terminal. Instead he told me to take a cab to his apartment. I didn't really want to take a cab (after my previous experiences, I think you all should know how I feel about them. The cab driver was actually pretty cool though. He was a Kurdish guy and was surprised to find out that I had traveled to some Kurdish places. We spent the 20 minute taxi ride learning Kurdish words, which I thought was fun. Unfortunately, I don't remember most of them now, "tav" = sun and spas = thank you. I think that might be the extent of my Kurdish knowledge at this point. :-/.

When I arrived, we took a walk and Besim showed me the area around his apartment. I got to see the main square of Izmir at night, which was cool. We also went out to dinner at a restaurant nearby. Then we came back home and went to sleep.

Day 3: Çeşme (July 1)

In Besim's absence, I would be shown around by his mother Naomi. The family themselves have a pretty interesting history. They immigrated from Spain after the Spanish Inquisition. Naomi can speak Spanish, French, and Turkish fluently. Unfortunately, the one language she could not speak was English, which meant this would be an interesting couple of days for me. Actually, it would turn out to be really good for me because it would force me to practice my Turkish in a way that could not be simulated anywhere else.

After a delicious breakfast, we would be off for our day's adventure. The one thing about Naomi was that she wouldn't let me help with anything. Repeatedly both before and after dinner I tried to offer to help prepare or clean up and she would have no part of it. The most I was allowed to do was to help set the table. She took the idea of Turkish hospitality to the same extreme that everyone else did. She is one of the sweetest people I met during my time in Turkey. Even though there was a severe language barrier between us, I could tell that she was a really nice, well-intentioned person.

After brunch, she asked me what sort of beach I would like (if I preferred shallowed or deep water). I told her I liked deep water and then we got in the car. I had no idea where we were going or what we would be doing. I understood that I needed to bring my bathing suit. First, she showed me this beach in Alaçatı called Sörf Cenneti (Surfer's Paradise). The beach was an inlet from the main portion of the Aegean and was famous for wind surfing. Apparently, the way the landscape was shaped caused it to be one of the windiest beaches in the world. People could come there and learn to wind surf and major competitions were held there. On the hills nearby, there were several windmills to create hydroelectricity. Here is a picture of the beach.



We sat at the restaurant along the beach and got a drink (I enjoyed a nice glass of ayran). We started to converse about our families. I used my Turkish-English dictionary and slowly was able to understand what she said and was able to articulate my thoughts. She told me about her grandchildren, who lived in the US. I felt bad for her in some ways because her grandkids do not know how to speak Turkish and she does not know how to speak English (but she wants to learn!). Imagine not being able to speak to your own grandmother/grandchildren. I told her a little bit about my family and the history with my mother. It is not a story I really like to tell, but I was really proud of myself for being able to convey the story in a way that Naomi could understand.

After our drink, we drove to this place called Paşa Limanı. The place was a natural deep water beach. There was some shallow rock with a steep drop off which allowed for a really nice place to swim without any sand. The water itself was a little chilly but overall quite refreshing. We spent the majority of the afternoon there. Naomi swam for a little while but brought a book to occupy her time. At one point, we had a bit of a language misunderstanding. I asked her if she was bored. "Sıkıldınız mı?" Unfortunately for me the difference between the pronunciation between "ı" and "i" is actually very small. So even though I asked if she was bored, it seemed to her as if I said "Sikildiniz mi?" which translates to, "Are you fucked?" She was quite shocked for a moment before I quickly tried to explain to her that it was a mistake. I think she understood and said no and went back to reading her book. Correct pronunciation actually matters in Turkish. :) Here are a few pictures of the beach we went to:







After the beach, we came home and had dinner and we went out again. We went down to the harbor of Çeşme. We walked along the coast and she pointed out the island of Chios right on the other side of the harbor. From Çeşme you can take ferries to several Greek islands as well as Italy. We also saw the outside of the Çeşme kalesi. I wanted to go inside, but the fortress was already closed for the evening. We sat down at a cafe near the water and had tea just in time to watch the sun go down. The sunset over the Aegean and the island of Chios was amazing. Here's one of several pictures I took:

.

It turns out that Naomi had actually brought me down there because there was a concert that was going on that night and she thought I might enjoy it. The main square got crowded and the concert was pretty cool. I appreciated her taking me down there. After the concert, we walked around and she showed me some nicer restaurants and shops near the Aegean Sea. We stopped for ice cream and I got a karadut (I love this stuff and they don't have it here as far as I know!). Naomi was really nice and she wouldn't let me help to pay for anything. I was really thankful for her kindness and hospitality. Also, I thought she was a really cool grandma! How many grandmas would take their kids to a concert AND to these awesome beaches. The best part was that she even swam with me (something my grandparents would never do). It was clear that she was really young and vivacious and just a fun person. It made me sad that her own grandkids couldn't see this that often. We went back home and after an exhausting evening, I went to sleep.

Mediterranean Adventures (Day 1-2: June 29-30)

For a while I had been contemplating where my next (and probably last trip) would be. The only area of the country that I had really not travelled to was the Mediterranean area and the center of Turkey. I wanted my last trip to do a little of both. I actually started this trip earlier than I anticipated, which caused a few (not insurmountable) logistical issues.

My aunt and uncle had some family friends in Columbia who actually had family in Turkey. They gave me their number so that I might explore the possibility of meeting with them and staying with them during my time there. When I called, indicating that I wanted to visit, Besim answered. He explained to me that if I wanted to come and visit, it would be best if I came within the next couple of days. I said ok and began to pack quickly (which was no small task because I anticipated this being a jumping off point for a minimum two week trip). To make matters worse, I discovered that my debit card had been lost (for a second time), causing me not to have an easy way to obtain more money (as most places in Turkey refused to take credit card). Rather than have my dad send me my banking card again, I developed an ingenious solution to the problem. I would link my Turkish bank account to one email address and my American account to another email address, allowing me to transfer money internationally. The bad news was that paypal takes out fees when you pay someone and so I ended up losing money in the process (but it would allow me the ability to get money, which was important).

The bus company, thankfully, took credit card (minimizing the amount of cash I should spend would be best since it was in limited supply waiting for the transaction to go through). I boarded the bus and began the journey to Çeşme. The trip would take approximately 12 hours and I would be doing the trip over night. The next morning I was told to get off at Ilica, a small town right near Çeşme, where the family I was meeting lives.

I arrived early in the morning (around 8 or 9am) and was completely exhausted from the bus ride. Besim picked me up from where the bus drops people off and took me back to their home (which was located near the very luxurious Sheridan hotel just off the beach). The family I was staying with was a Jewish family, the second one I had the opportunity to spend time with in Turkey. Jewish people in Turkey are pretty much exclusively limited to Istanbul and Izmir (and surrounding areas). This family actually had two homes: one in Izmir and one in Çeşme. They usually stay in Çeşme in the summer and in Izmir in the winter. The area of Çeşme, which is a peninsula extending out into the Aegean Sea is absolutely stunning.

I arrived at their home and was shown to my room. I put my stuff down and went to their patio which was outside. The table was set and breakfast was almost ready. I patiently waited for what promised to be a delicious breakfast. I wish I had taken pictures of the meals I got over the next couple of days here. The food was absolutely amazing and was unlike anything else I had anywhere else in Turkey. The way it was explained to me was that the food was a mixture of Jewish and Turkish food. Clearly, this was a microcosm of something I wouldn't have been able to find pretty much anywhere else. I had hoped one day that Naomi would be able to teach me to cook some of the dishes she prepared, but it didn't seem like there would be a chance.

After a delicious meal, I was extremely tired and I needed to take a nap before we did anything else. So I fell asleep at around 10ish and slept for a little while. I woke up and Besim took me down the street to have an official kumru sandwich. Many of you may remember reading about the kumru (Umut taught me how to make them as he is also from Izmir). The kumru sandwich was actually invented, not in Izmir, but in Çeşme. I went to the very place of its origin and it was so delicious. Definitely better than anything I could have made myself in the grocery store. Besim, unfortunately, had a prior commitment and needed to go to Kuşadası (the same port where I first entered Turkey on a cruise two years prior). Besim was a tour guide and would often take foreigners to the ancient city of Ephesus.

In Besim's absence, I would be shown around by his mother Naomi. The family themselves have a pretty interesting history. They immigrated from Spain after the Spanish Inquisition. Naomi can speak Spanish, French, and Turkish fluently. Unfortunately, the one language she could not speak was English, which meant this would be an interesting couple of days for me. Actually, it would turn out to be really good for me because it would force me to practice my Turkish in a way that could not be simulated anywhere else.