A number of people suggested that we take the train from Selcuk to Izmir, so we did that rather than catching a mini-bus.
The train was absolutely full for most of the 1.5 hour journey, so we stood at the end of a cabin with quite a few others and all our gear. Eleanor and Leo sat in the door well with a nine-year-old girl. They played games on her Mum's phone, much to Eleanor's delight. It is amazing how children can relate despite an age gap of several years and no common language. The girl was very patient with Eleanor and Leo, and her parents oversaw the games and even helped getting our bags off the train at the end of the trip. I spent much of the journey talking to a friendly and interesting Indian couple who had settled in Canada. All in all it was a great journey, in large part because of the seating situation.
We had a rather nice proper hotel in Izmir, a real treat! Once we had settled in we went off to find lunch and a coffee. As we were in the area, we stopped into the Agora, which from the outside looked like a few columns and lots of piles of rubble waiting to be pieced together. It turned out that there was also the excavated basement of a basilica, which was worth a visit.
They have found evidence of settlements in the area dating back 8500 years. Apparently, historians believe Homer was born in this area. It left us reflecting that our lives are so rich and full, but are really just a tiny blip in the grand scheme of things!
As we left we noticed a slide across the road, so decided to pop over before heading back to the hotel. We stayed about a minute... it smelled of cat or maybe chicken pee, the slide was horribly dirty, the area was strewn with broken glass and Adrian found a decapitated chicken head at the bottom of the slide. We didn't stick around to see if the body was nearby. A shoo-in for the worst playground of the trip so far! [Adrian: that chicken head was sickening]
Dinner was take away pizza at the hotel and we spent the rest of the evening in the garden talking about how much we enjoyed Turkey.
There are some fantastic sights, but it is the friendly, kind and incredibly helpful people who made it so special. We were never lost or looking at a map for long before someone would offer assistance and Eleanor and Leo lapped up all the attention (particularly Leo; we weren't sure whether it was his blond hair or that he is a boy). They were often given fruit or a little toy when we met people or sometimes just walking down the street.
Turkey is now firmly on the list of places we intend to come back to one day. We barely scratched the surface of what there is to see and do, but we had a flight to Athens the following day.
No comments:
Post a Comment