A Lull in the Action: Izmir

The next day we all woke up early to head to Izmir. Umur had to work in the hospital that day, so we all piled into the van and headed out so he could make his work on time. We went to a shopping area close to the local bazaar, and walked around for a half an hour while my dad got his hearing aid fixed. The shops in that area were so cool! The streets were pedestrian only, and there were sheets hanging between the buildings covering the space over the street to keep out the sun, so we stayed nice and cool (or as cool as you can stay when it is really hot outside!!) Most of us didn’t really know what we were shopping for, but we saw lots of interesting things.

However, most of us saved our money for the bazaar, which we went to next. It was really different from anything you can find in the US! We were really glad we had Irmak’s family there with us to help bargain, as none of us know how to bargain in Turkish! We went into a rug store to look around, and some of the Turkish rugs they had were so intricate! Its hard to believe that some women spend up to a year hand weaving each one. Its no wonder some of them are so expensive! We saw lots of really neat jewelry with the evil eye on it (the evil eye is commonly used in Turkey for good luck and protection) and we also saw lots of Turkish lamps, ornately decorated plates, bowls, trivets, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

We stopped after a few hours for a Turkish coffee break, and Irmak read our coffee grounds after we were done. After coffee we met up with Semo, who had taken a half-day off of work. We wandered around the bazaar with her some more, and then Irmak’s family, Semo, and us went out for lunch.
We walked to a kebab restaurant that Suzy had remembered from the last time in Turkey. She claimed it was her favorite restaurant she had ever been to, so we had to try it. The food was really good! I tried some lamb, and they also had really good vegetables and pita bread with traditional Turkish dips. The restaurant was really close to Irmak’s family’s house in Bornova (a neighborhood in the city of Izmir) so we took a short cab ride there after lunch to see their house.

Their house was really pretty, and they had designed it themselves! We got a tour around, saw the gorgeous gardens, and Umurhan even played us some of his piano pieces! (He was learning how to play the theme song from The Godfather J ) After that my family piled in the car with Semo and drove 1 hour to the other side of the city to stay with her and her parents in their home in Urla (a suburb of Izmir in between Izmir and Cesme.)

Her parent’s house was also really nice. They lived in a town house style development, and they had a pool right behind their house that they shared with the rest of the people in their neighborhood. We swam in the pool a lot while we were there, since it was so hot outside! We met Semo’s dad and her two dogs as well, Sophie and Reina. Her mom couldn’t come to Urla that night, since she was working at the restaurant she started in Cesme. However, we had a really good time with Semo and her dad. They showed us their house and their yard which included several different types of fruit trees and lots of flowers. For dinner, we went out to a local restaurant by the water where we ate all sorts of delicious traditional Turkish food. After dinner we walked around the bay and saw some different types of boats, and then headed back to the house to swim some more!

Julia Marie