A Merry-ish Christmas Beginning

After teaching a weekend straight, Joe and I deposed of our books at the schools, grabbed some snacks and our suitcase (dragged in to work that morning by Joe- who apparently forgot it was on wheels and sent it flying halfway across the bus, much to the amusement of the other passengers) and headed for the bus station to catch our 7 o’clock bus to Izmir.  It passed without incident, the watching on an action film (this time the Matrix) , the discomfort of the old woman in front of me keeping her seat back all trip and the painful snores of the man behind us.  (music was quickly put on).  Other than that it was a normal eighteen hour journey, some pretty scenery (including snow in the higher elevated locations) and the arrival in Izmir.  Now, I had carefully asked around before we left to find out if there was a metro station at the bus station (as there is in Istanbul) and had been told yes.  This turned out to be a bold faced lie, as Joe and I attempted to find it.  Eventually (as we were on the verge of spending too much money to take a taxi) I asked a nice looking security woman (using my limited, albeit practiced Turkish to the test) and with her minuscule amount of English and my slightly better Turkish, I discovered that we had to first take the bus to the metro station and then from there to our hotel.  Fine.  We bought our city bus cards and found it quite easily.

Izmir Clock Tower

We checked our stuff in to Guzel Izmir Hotel (Beautiful Izmir Hotel- not bad although a bit on the small side) where our friendly receptionist had marvelous English.  We dropped off our stuff and headed to the sea to find somewhere to eat- almost twenty-four hours with no food tends to make one a little cranky.  We settled on a restaurant overlooking the water for a late lunch and a beer and then continued on a lovely promenade walk, stopping for coffee overlooking the water.  It was a very pretty sight.  We were back to the hotel by 7pm, exhausted and stiff from our journey, looking up things to do in Izmir, ensuring we were rested to explore the next day.

Tuesday morning we awoke and had a lovely Turkish buffet breakfast.  I cannot stress enough my love of Turkish breakfasts.  We had decided on a few things to do (Izmir is usually used as a base to get to touristy places, not so much touristy in itself) and headed to the famous clock tower in Konak Square (apparently the birthplace of the Turkish revolution that took place afterWWI) to feed the pigeons- surprisingly more fun than I thought it would be.  Then we headed into Kemeralti Market- a sprawling maze of streets and food.  We were cornered by an older man, who took us down all the streets to his shops, showed us pictures of his daughter and gave us apple tea whilst we were looking.  Beware of Turkish persistence- it is considerably more subtle than that of say Mexico, they play on you until you feel obligated to buy something because of their friendliness.  Even though you know the trap exists, you get caught in it.  If you don’t want anything, don’t say anything.  Not a hello, good morning, anything.  Anyways, by the time we got out of that mess (yes with purchases in hand) we had been completely turned in the wrong direction and had to leave the market to find the signs to the Agora once again.  After much searching, we managed to find the Agora (not overly impressive, but interesting none the less) and after careful exploration we headed back into the market for lunch.

The Agora in Izmir

We decided to take a much needed rest for an hour and then left again to buy bus tickets to Marmaris (again I had to do it in Turkish- after Istanbul, I am a bit surprised by the lack of English here- none of the menus are translated or anything) before being shameful tourists and going to see the Hobbit in 3D.  We had a long and expensive day ahead of us in Ephesus approaching.

The statue of Nike in Ephesus

Our tour guide picked us up at 9:30am, and along with another pair of friends (a Chinese woman and a Pakistani man- they own an import/export company) we headed off to Ephesus.  Our first stop was at the Virgin Mary’s house (or what is believed to be her house, there is no archaeological proof) and then headed on to Ephesus.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable (he has been leading tours to Ephesus for 20 years and says he has been over 3,000 times) and the history of the place was fascinating.  He would give us the history on different buildings and then time to explore and take photos and such.  It was a really good trip.  We went for lunch afterwards at a carpet making factory, where after a tasty Turkish lunch we got to see how the carpets are made (and thus why they are so expensive) and they are stunning.  I have desperately wanted one for a long time, and this did not help that urge.  Neither did watching the Chinese woman plunk down US $1500 in cash to buy one spur of the moment.  I definitely picked the wrong career.  After the factory we went to the archaeological museum, which was ok, but not great, followed by the leather factory where we saw a really awkward fashion show (complete with just us four observers- even the models looked awkward- they kept laughing to each other, although our guide said it is a good opportunity for the villagers to get jobs) and then had to watch the Chinese woman plunk down another $400 (at least) for a jacket. 

The library in Ephesus.

All in all it was good, but I was a bit disappointed as rather than spend the day shopping for things I cant afford, I would have much rather gone to the Temple of Artemis or Sirince, but alas.  That is the pitfall of a tour I suppose.  Anyways, it was about 5:30 by the time we got back to Izmir, and the pair invited us for dinner.  We had no reason not to go, so on we went to a lovely fish restaurant on the water, where we proceeded to have a really good time.  Both of them were well travelled, with interesting life perspectives.  The Pakistani man came from quite a wealthy family, and his brother had left America because “he had to make his own tea.”  They seemed to be doing quite well for themselves, so when they pulled out their credit card to pay for dinner, it was only with half an effort that Joe and I argued about letting us pay our share.  We walked them back to their hotel, commenting on what a strangely good Christmas Eve it was.

Joe and his Xmas waffle.

Christmas day itself was a letdown.  Since Turkey is the least Christmas informed country I have ever been too (we were even thinking there might be something, as Izmir at least has a few more expats, but we were wrong) and so we spent the day skyping families, and trying to make the day feel like Christmas.  We put on Christmas music while we walked along the water, ate waffles covered in chocolate and strawberry, and went to the top of the Asencor for a view of the city.  We gave up our efforts by the time we had an everyday kebap for dinner, came back to the hotel room to watch Scrooged and pack (as we are leaving the next day).  All in all it was a mediocre Christmas- which I suppose was to be expected.