Izmir, Turkey

Finally we are back in the warmth.  Short sleeves for me, bare toes on the berkies for me & Miriam in Capri pants.  This town even has palm trees.  

Izmir is Turkey's third largest city at ~ 3 million.  Your basic industrial powerhouse with a major harbour - cue the container ships, plus the manufacturers.  Located on a large bay, the white apartment towers and pale houses sprawl over the dry hills as far as the eye can see.  The pace on the street is infectious so I keep walking faster than Miriam.   Can not pretend its as scenic as Istanbul as the the entire central core was burnt down in one of the last battles of the Turkish War of Independence -1922.  Yet, We are really enjoying ourselves in exploring the pedestrian walkways with the whole panoply of shops.  Imagine a curving alley that has the stores of the bazaar yet runs over from near our hotel to the waterfront.  Do you want to buy gold or jewelry, perhaps some knock-off jeans, carpets of course but mostly practical clothing and other household items.  If case you missed your price-point half-way down the street there is the genuine bazaar, another rabbit warren of narrow lanes and alleys of commerce.  Every block or two there is a sideways lane to a small courtyard.  Some with ancient marble fountains for watering the long-ago camel trains and second floor accommodation for the merchants.  Restaurants and fresh juice stalls will service your every need.  Perhaps a glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, deep ruby red and delicious for one Tl - 50 cents.

These arches are part of the Roman Agora remains.  Apparently the largest in the Mediterranean world.  Extensive basement used for shops and production remain along with a skeleton representation of columns.  Quite fun as half way through our walk around a local school tour showed up.  We were more interesting for the teenage students than the ruins.  Photos galore, especially once we did a 'string trick'.

Here is the train station around the corner from our hotel.  Back tomorrow too.  Bus south for an hour and stay near to Ephesus, the largest Roman ruins in this neck-of-the-woods.