“Don’t come back from Izmir without trying Çeşme Kumrusu!” This was just one of the many pieces of advice given to us by Turkish friends before we set off for our trip to Izmir in September. But it was also the piece of advice; the common thread that linked all the other suggestions offered. Woe …
We decided to walk to Asansör – well, we’d walked everywhere else in Izmir so we figured we might as well continue the trend. It looked easy enough. Hit the kordon (promenade) in Alsancak and keep going until we could see Asansör. We strolled along the seafront, passed Izmir Saat Kulesi and, an hour after …
In Izmir, there is one historic attraction that most people know about. We almost felt duty-bound to go and see it to take photos of it. Izmir Saat Kulesi (Izmir Clock Tower) is the symbol of the city and arguably its most famous sight. We felt we couldn’t ignore it, and so, we went off …
We had a little bit of a clue about where we were going. After getting off the bus from Fethiye to Izmir, we knew we had to find a local bus that was going to take us to Alsancak; Alsancak train station to be precise. “Get off the bus there, phone or text me and …
Regular readers will know that we have a bit of a fondness for the Turkish intercity buses; they’re our favourite mode of transport for getting away from Fethiye for a short while to explore pastures new. Back in June, we wrote about the experience of the night bus from Fethiye to Istanbul, a journey we’ve …
As we explored the area, we were continuously coming across an unfamiliar word ‘söğüşçü.’ He who is a maker of söğüş. Exploration of a new city on foot is our preferred mode of transport – if the city lends itself to it, that is. Izmir is perfect for wandering around as most of the areas …
In our previous post, we were losing ourselves in the forest of traditional Turkish gülets that were crowded into the boatyard in İçmeler. Once the meeting was over between our friends and their potential future employer, it was onwards to the town of Turgutreis on the opposite side of the Bodrum Peninsula. And why was …
Mention Içmeler to those who know Turkey and the first place that will come to the mind of many is the small, popular resort town, lying on the Southwest Turkish coast, just south of Marmaris. However, when we took a day trip from Fethiye with friends, we were soon to find out that the Bodrum …
One place our friend was keen to show us was Palamutbükü. ‘You’ll love it,’ he said. ‘It’s perfect.’ A little over 8 years ago, we were taken on a road trip to the Datça Peninsula for a short break with friends. It was November and Datça was deserted and beautiful. Just about everywhere we visited …
“Okay, let’s go to the grove and pick up the olives,” our friend’s dad said, grinning. Our friend rolled her eyes – this is all old hat to her – and asked us if we wanted to go and help harvest the olives (she quite clearly didn’t). Of course we wanted to go and help get …