West Coast Liberalism!

We arrived in İzmir after a long day after a long day. We had left Pamukkale in the morning, spent a day visiting the ruins at Ephesus, and were now getting into the city in the early evening. 

İzmir is Turkey's third largest city, on coast of the Aegean Sea. It was once Smyrna, a cosmopolitan city known for its diversity and liberalism. Today, that liberalism lives on in İzmir, and the city definitely feels more "European" or "Western" than most other parts of Turkey. Since this is also the place that the Turkish War of Independence ended, when Atatürk's army marched into the city in 1922, it's also staunchly nationalist, and undeniably the most pro-Atatürk area of the country. We saw numerous tattoos of Atatürk's signature on locals in İzmir - seriously, it's a real thing.

Since the city is so huge, we had to take a shuttle bus from the main bus station into the neighbourhood where we were staying. We had found a couchsurfing host, Göksel, and he met us when we got off the shuttle bus close to his place. Göksel turned out to be a truly awesome host. He's an engineer, and had a clean, bright apartment. His couch pulled out into a double bed, so already we had more space than our last couchsurfing opportunity. Göksel had traveled before himself through parts of Europe, and he had good English. We talked about politics and the city and Turkey in general. We were hungry when we got in, so Göksel helped us order food, and then offered us some Turkish melon. I had seen the melon around a lot, and it didn't look like any melon I had ever had before, but I hadn't had a chance to taste it yet. It turned out to be quite similar to honeydew, but a bit better I think? 

The next morning, Göksel had to work, so he couldn't join us downtown but we headed out to explore the city. We took the metro - quite straight-forward - down to Alsancak, an historic neighbourhood not far from İzmir's famous waterfront, the kordon. We headed through the narrow streets of Alsancak, appreciating the old architectural glory (but not the hot sun) before emerging onto the kordon.

The interior of the Alsancak Train Station, which we popped our heads into as we passed. It was built in the 19th century.

An old gas factory outside the metro stop which has been painted bright colours and now houses art galleries, I think.

Old building in Alsancak. I love the faded, feeling look of it.

A beautiful old door in Alsancak.

The seaside kordon is a long, wide avenue, running the length of the downtown waterfront. It has a lot of green space, and lot of pretty buildings and palm trees. Of course, most of the waterfront building are now restaurants and cafes. We walked quite a long way along the length of the kordon, south from historic Alsancak past Cumhuriyet Meydanı (Republic Square) to Konak Meydanı in the heart of the city, Despite the heat (and little shade along the road), walking along the waterfront was relaxing - I think it is always nice to be at the sea. Despite it being mid-June at this point, the Konak wasn't very busy, perhaps because it was the first day of Ramadan (which, while certainly moderated in İzmir to point that we didn't really notice at the time, in retrospect would still have an effect on human activity. I'll talk more about our experiences with Ramadan in later posts, when it becomes more relevant to my stories) but we still noticed the more liberal clothing choices.

Looking north up the coast, towards the sprawl of Izmir.

Fishermen on the waterfront.

An Izmir sign on the waterfront kordon, featuring the famous Turkish "evil eye" around the letter "I". The eye, called nazar boncuk, is a symbol meant to ward off evil. While production of eye trinkets happens mostly along the Aegean coast (and hence it's use as a symbol to represent Izmir),  the eye can be found in virtually every home, at least a dozen times or more, across the whole country. 

The lighting is bad, but a look at some of the pretty architecture of the historic buildings along the kordon.

Another historic building along the kordon - this particular one, especially well-preserved, is called Atatürk Evi, because Atatürk stayed here a few times.

Palm tree in a square along the kordon.

Independence monument on the waterfront.

Another pretty building on the kordon. Flying the French flag. I'm not sure why, but perhaps because it had historically been owned by French expats - there were a lot here when Smyrna was at its heydey under the Ottoman Empire. Since it's an historic building, the open balcony at the top suggests it was built by more liberal expats, such as French or British, rather than more conservative Italians or Greeks who would not have had open balconies.

A waterfront pier.

Stately.

Pretty in pink.

Konak Meydanı - or Konak Square for you English speakers - is a lively, open square with a lot of cool sights. The bright blue sky made it really a joy to walk around. The focal point is the famous Ottoman clock tower, built in 1901. It's quite pretty.

Pigeons, palm trees, and the Konak clock tower.

The clock tower. Beautiful and ornate. It was dedicated to the anniversary of some Ottoman sultan's coronation.

Also in Konak Square: the small but pretty Konak Camii, with pretty blue tiles on the outside.

We stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant that seemed popular with the locals. We ate iskender, probably my favourite Turkish dish. It's famous in the west of Turkey, so I hadn't been ordering it very often since leaving Ankara, but not I got the chance to indulge. Delicious! It's thin slices of beef drenched in a buttery, tomatoey sauce, which is then spread over small pieces of bread. I love, love, love it.

After lunch, we headed into Kemeraltı Bazaar. İzmir's main marketplace and a lively and fun place to explore. We wandered around aimlessly for quite a while, and we loved it. This is where locals and tourists alike do their shopping, so you can buy EVERYTHING conceivable, from souvenirs to household wares to clothes to expensive jewelry to fruit and flowers. I bought a new hat there (exciting, no!?).

Within Kemeraltı Bazaar is the Kızlarağası Han, a Silk Road era, covered building still full of merchants selling all manner of things. The vendors weren't too pushy and it was fun to wander around here too. We finally stopped at a little cafe on the edge of the Han, where I got Jess to buy her first Turkish coffee. She's not a coffee drinker, but she liked it! I then tried to teach her about the fortune-telling traditions I've learned while in Turkey - if you peer into the thick dredges after you've finished your coffee (after setting it upside down until it cools and turning it around three times) you can look for shapes and symbols which can tell your future. As I explained this, I tried to get Jess to read my dregs, but she wasn't into it enough (at first) and so I had to analyze my own, which is a major no-no. But anyway, my reading got Jess into it, so the next time we got Turkish Coffee was asking me excitedly to read her future.

Jess exploring the Kemeraltı Bazaar.

The outside of the Kızlarağası Han.

Inside the Kızlarağası Han.

When we stopped for Turkish coffee, I felt something under my feet. This cutie was stretching out, trying to hide from the intense sun and not being bother at all by my presence.

Kemeraltı Bazaar also houses the Hisar Camii, Izmir's largest mosque. Quite nice on both the inside and outside, but the tight corners of the bazaar made it hard to get a good picture..

Inside the Hisar Camii. Not sure the pciture does justice to the prettiness of this mosque.

After the Bazaar, we headed over to the ancient Greek Agora, built for Alexander the Great in the year 178. Jess wasn't really interested in paying to get in (I get into Turkish museums for free since I was a student for a semester in the country - go me!) so she relaxed in a park while I took a quick look. And it was pretty cool. There were some really good information about the history of the city as a Greek and Roman settlement, and the ruins were very cool.

I did have a bit of a scary moment when I was alone exploring the lower area of the Agora, however. This has now sunk below ground level, so you're out of sight of the office staff and security guards when you're down there. There are a bunch of stray dogs hanging around, but like most of Turkey, it's usually not a problem. But as I was heading back to the stairs on my way out, I passed about seven sleeping dogs. As I passed, one lifted its head, and at that moment our eyes met. That's a mistake with stray dogs. It started barking with mad, and instantly so were the other six, and I could hear barking now echoing from other parts of the ruins, too, getting closer. I seriously thought they were going to jump at me. I've heard horror stories of stray dog attacks in Turkey, even back on my dear old campus. It was terrifying. Luckily, I didn't panic too much, since that actually eggs them on. I made a stern sound and increased my pace, but kept my confidence, turning quickly up the stairs. Thankfully, they didn't pursue. There really are too many strays in Turkey, it's quite sad and they really can hurt people.

An arch at the Agora.

Looking at the remains of the columns, above the sunken Agora, which I could go down and explore.

Looking down at the lower level of the Agora.

Rows of columns.

Down below in the main Agora, with vaulted ceilings and arches, very well preserved.

Trying to get a picture of the water tunnels that ran in the walls of the Agora. There was a tunnel about a foot wide where the water ran, coming out at little fountains.

Looking up through the arches at the columns above.

Agora arches, with a water track running down the middle.

A spout where the water emerges. According to signs at the site, no one actually knows where the source of the water is, but (or maybe because of this) it's fabled to have youth-giving properties.

After the Agora, it was getting to be late afternoon, and we thought it was about time we finally have some mediye. Mediye is another one of my favourites of Turkish cuisine. It's mussels mixed with rice and a delicious spice blend. To be honest, I'm not sure if the mussels are raw or not, but I think they're boiled. Anyway, it's delicious and I ate it all the time in Ankara, despite not being on the sea there (and I never got sick off of it). I had heard that İzmir had the very best mediye in all of Turkey. We dove back into the bazaar to try to find some. We looked everywhere, we but we couldn't find it. We knew we had seen it earlier when we were wandering, but now that we were actively looking, we had no idea! We passed shops that we recognized and went in circles, frustrated. Just as we were about to give up, hoping we'd see a street vendor later in evening, we checked around one last corner, and sure enough there was the row of mediye sellers. And the price was about half of the price in Ankara! Yes!

Normally you eat mediye on the spot, at the vendor's stall, but we took our mediye to go and headed up to the large, green Kültür Parkı, east of the downtown, to enjoy it in the grass.

The mediye salesmen. Not very old, as you can see!

Walking up to Kültür Parkı - palm trees and more historic buildings.

Eating mediye in the park. Nom nom bliss!!

An obelisk in Kültür Parkı

After the park, we headed back down to the kordon on the waterfront, since it really is the prettiest part of the city. We found a nice little nargile bar on the waterfront, and settled in. Nargile is the Turkish word for what we'd call shisha or hookah back in Canada. A very Turkish pursuit and a relaxing way to end a day. We also got a backgammon board, and Jess taught me to play. I'm glad someone finally did - I had been wanting to learn the entire time I was in Turkey. Old Turkish men (and young people, too, actually) are always playing it in cafes and coffeehouses and it is just so, well, Turkish. We whittled away a lot of time there playing backgammon and smoking nargile, eating dinner eventually and watching the sunset. It was just so laid-back.

When we finally left, the waterfront was now very alive. Probably because it was Ramadan, when people are more active in the evening, the grass was filled with families and young people, picnicking and playing (and in some cases drinking wine - so that would be unrelated to Ramadan, when alcohol is prohibited to Muslims). It was great to see such life in the city, even after dark. It made me smile. And that was the moment when it really solidified for me that I really, really like İzmir as a city. The vibe is fantastic. It's laid back, with that ocean-side feel. But there is also so much going on, so I wouldn't be bored. The liberalism of the city is refreshing, especially in comparison to cities like Ankara, but İzmir also maintains those parts of Turkish culture which are quintessential Turkey. It is really a great place. And so while it was our only day in the city, I now feel that it would be great to go back someday, maybe for a longer period. If I had to choose a place to live in Turkey, İzmir would be a good candidate city.

The waterfront after dark.

We had another night at Göksel's place - again more great conversation and a great host. It's a shame we didn't get to see more of Göksel, with him working; but I think we could have learned lots more from him. He was a really cool guy!

The next morning we left his place, and caught a bus up to Ayvalık, a small town further north up the Aegean coast. As soon as we got there, we bought a ticket for an overnight bus that night to İstanbul, so we only had a day in the village. We left our bags at the bus station, and then headed out into the town. We thought we were going to have to walk the couple kilometres into town from the bus station, but about 300 metres out, a minibus slowed beside and honked and told us to get in. In broken Turkish we were able to establish that this was a free shuttle taking us downtown. Great! So then I thought to ask if there was anything in the opposite direction - ie. to get us back to the station before our 10:30pm bus to İstanbul. Funnily enough, the guy I was asking this to was a man who, not 10 minutes earlier, I had not bought a ticket from. He was an employee at one of the many bus companies and after getting him to translate and look up times and give me prices, we had still picked another company. Obviously, he held no grudge whatsoever, because despite the language challenges he was all for helping us out. He called someone at a competitor bus company to his. When that didn't work, he asked the driver to signal to a passing minibus from our bus company and yell out the window to figure things out. And we got an answer and directions and everything! A great example of Turks really wanting the best for you.

The first thing we did in Ayvalık was make a beeline for the nearest restaurant - we hadn't properly eaten breakfast, and were quite hungry. We found a place right on the water, crawling with locals. I ordered 'Ayvalık tost' because it's the local specialty, and I wasn't disappointed. It's just a greasy grilled sandwich crammed with meat and cheese and pickles and doused in mayo and ketchup (I knew all of this going in) and it was all of the goodness you would imagine.

Ayvalık is best known for its Old Town district, where we headed after eating. The Old Town of Ayvalık used to be a majority-Greek settlement. At the end of the Turkish War of Independence, the town was one of the most notable examples of population exchanges between the Greeks and Turks. All Greek inhabitants of Ayvalık had to move to the nearby island of Lesvos, while all Turks in Lesvos were brought in to replace the Greeks in Ayvalık. I never really knew about the extent of population exchanges between the two countries in the 1920s until coming to this region of Turkey, where it must have affected so many communities. Of course, it made me reminisce about the population exchanges of Hindus and Muslims between India and Pakistan in 1947, which I learned about on my last international voyage.

Anyway, the Old Town of Ayvalık has lost its Greek people but kept its Greek architecture. The Old Town is worn and peeling, but betrays a more colourful past. It was truly a delight to just wander the streets, with no destination in mind, taking in the narrow streets and pretty colours and brushing shoulders with locals going about their daily lives. Someone who follows this blog may have picked up on that fact that I kind of have a soft spot for old, cool-looking doors. So expect quite a few below.

The "Clock Mosque" (named that because of the clock up at the top, of course) once an important Greek Orthodox Church, is a major focal point of the Old Town.

Peeling paint on window shutters.

A door in the Old Town.

Greek architecture, now decaying.

Narrow cobblestone streets.

Chained closed.

Greek (?) cat in the Old Town

So much colour, slipping away.

Browns and yellows and pinks and greens.

What a wonderful door.

Two bright doors, and, what's that?? THREE cats sitting outside them!

Back down along the waterfront, you can see an old chimney from an abandoned olive oil factory - it used to be biggest industry in the town.

After a while of exploring the Old Town, we decided that there was something else we really needed to do in Ayvalık - hit up the beach. Ayvalık's most famous beach, Sarımsaklı Plaj (literally Garlic Beach - I have no idea why, because that to me is one of the most unappealing names you could pick for a beach and there doesn't seem to be any actual connection with garlic anyway), is actually about 7 kilometres south of town. Our Lonely Planet said we could take a local bus there, so we went to the bus stop and waited among the throngs of people there. The bus signs were weak at best, and of course the only name we knew to look out for was the name of the beach - who knows if other buses actually went by also. When the right bus finally pulled up, the crowd surged forward. Already the bus was close to being full, and locals with grocery bags desperately pushed to get in. Our reaction time wasn't fast enough, and we soon found ourselves left in the dust, not on a bus. We waited far too long for the next one, and when it came, the same thing happened - everyone was pushing and elbowing to get in. This time, however, we were also determined to get in, and crammed ourselves into the front near the driver. We were some of the last to fit in. At this time, I believed that most of the other people on the bus were probably also headed to the beach, and there was some comfort that at least we'd know where to get off my everyone else doing the same (and there was also some dread that the beach was going to be packed - it was a hot, sunny June day, why wouldn't it be?)

Soon, however, I realized I was mistaken. These people were not beachgoers, they were just everyday local-yokels doing whatever local-yokels do. We had no idea where to get off, and we the bus was hot, smelly, and just so squished. Several times, the driver had to ask a 12 year-old kid if any cars were coming before he pulled out into an intersection because he couldn't see anything in his mirrors past my backpack/a jumble of people.

Thankfully, we had our Maps.Me, our life-saving maps app. And so while we didn't know if it was "the stop", we came to a stop, and we could see we were close to a beach, and so we hopped off.

Of course, we nailed it. A few hundred metres from the bus stop was, indeed, a beach, and it was glorious empty. Again, the day was beautiful so I'm not sure why exactly (though in retrospect I have thought that it may be because of Ramadan - even though swimming is not prohibited during Ramadan per se, many Muslims choose not to swim for fear that they will swallow water - which is prohibited. Plus, who wants to swim when you're exhausted from low of blood sugar?) - but there was just one other group of young teenage guys nearby. Otherwise not a soul.

Sarımsaklı Plaj - Garlic Beach - all for us. And we even got use of an umbrella!

We didn't do much on the beach, as expected - just swam in the Aegean sea, napped, read, and chatted. It was a perfect afternoon.

Looking out from the beach at the Aegean Sea.

Looking down the beach.

Finally, as it got later in the day, we reluctantly picked ourselves up and headed back to the bus stop. We had some moments of anxiety - what if a bus never comes??? What if the return route doesn't go down this road?? - but they were short-lived. A bus came, and the ride back was much less stressful.

Back in the city, we hunted for a restaurant for dinner. We had a recommendation from our Lonely Planet, but we had some trouble finding it in the narrow, winding back streets of Ayvalık. We were set to give up, when we found another alleyway and sure enough, at the end, was the restaurant we wanted. There wasn't a soul inside, and we were worried they might not be open, but the owner quickly materialized, and he was great. He was friendly and helpful, and even spoke to me in Turkish because he knew I was learning, even though his English was fantastic. He also gave us a spray bottle right away, and when we looked confused, he motioned over his shoulder - cats. Then we noticed them. Everywhere. The quickly emerged from hiding places, and they were rammy, running beneath our feet and wrestling. Of course, I now loved this restaurant already. And things would only get better.

The only other restaurant guests.

The restaurant was in a beautiful location: it opened right onto the water, so we had a full view of the Aegean Sea and the setting sun as we sat eating our meal. The food was simply delicious. One of the best meals I had in all of Turkey. It was simple, a cold potato-and-greens salad and fried little fish – anchovies, I think – but that is part of what made it so good. It was so tasty, and fresh, and such a nice relaxing way to end the day. As we sat there, slowly enjoying our food, the sun set across the water and filled the sky with beautiful colours. It was just us and the ocean. I felt as relaxed as I could possibly feel. Perfection.

The view from the dinner table.

Jess so relaxed she doesn't even realize I'm taking her photo.

Finally we acknowledged that we had to pull ourselves away from the tea and relaxation and get ourselves back to the bus station. We navigated our way through town, and caught the shuttle bus right where we were told it would be. Before long, we were boarding a bus: we were off to İstanbul.

Last rays of sun over Ayvalık. What calmness.

Real Time Update: I’m posting this from a new country – Armenia! We left Georgia just yesterday (wow, did that ever go by quickly!), and are at our first destination in Armenia, the city of Vanadzor. We used it as a jumping off point to explore the beautiful Debed Canyon and its monasteries. Tomorrow, we head for the alpine town of Dilijan.