TOUR OF TURKEY! BEAUTIFUL AND SURPRISING

We took a day to relax pool side after David arrived from Luxembourg but then took to the roads to discover this beautiful area. It was Sunday and Trevor had the afternoon free so we headed west to a lovely little town called Alacanti.

Pronounced “Alachata”. Driving into the city was not unlike driving into any other city in Turkey so I didn’t have any idea of what we about to visit.


It’s difficult to describe really. It is like the whole village is a shopping village.

There are ancient cobblestone roads that wind and twist around like a spider web. Bordering the old streets are also old buildings in which people have carved lovely businesses out of.

High end clothing, jewellery, accessories and of course cafes lined these roads for miles and miles.

Everywhere you turned there were gorgeous scenes. Ancient stone walls accented by colourful flowers that could never grow outside of a greenhouse in Canada.

Exceptional cafes which served up delicious treats as simple as ice cream to the local favourite of Turkish Delight.

Even the stray dogs were a part of the wonderful scenery. This was not a scene I had expected from Turkey. I thought I would find this in Italy or Greece but I never gave Turkey a thought. It is such a surprising country in so many ways.

On the way home, we stopped in Cesme to touch the Aegean with our toes but could keep the kids out! 

They had a blast and with the view in the background, it was a great way to cap off the day.

We gave the bazaar in Izmir a try on Monday as we thought it might be less busy. I am told it was in fact less busy than the weekends but it seemed pretty busy to me. I suppose I forgot that Izmir is a city of 5 million people and “slow” means something totally different to me than to a Turk. The bazaar was very cool and we found many treasures that we just had to have.

Many of these however would not be packed very well into a suitcase so David and I had to restrain ourselves. We decided to have lunch in the bazaar so Carole took us to the food section to find a restaurant that would serve french fries for the kids.

Side note: When travelling with children it is essential to be fully prepared for all that might come your way. Also, when in a foreign land, never assume your children will dive into any food you order them. You could order the children spaghetti assuming it is safe and a winner and end up with a pasta dish full of chunky mushrooms, beef and onions. Something my kids would turn their nose up at. So we look for basics. In my recent travels I have discovered that everyone does french fries the same and therefore it is our backup food/fuel for the kids should the choices be limited. Not to mention, almost every restaurant seems to have fries on the menu which makes it an easy choice. So we order them proper food, (2 dishes and divide into 3) and then order 1 plate of fries as the back-up. It’s never steered us wrong!

Walking through the restaurant section was like a bloody gong show. These trained business men can tell your English speaking just by looking at you and when they see you, they run after you. As you walk by their restaurant they are at your side talking at a rapid pace, trying to convince you to eat at their establishment. They are not gentle nor do they take “no thanks” for an answer. They pester you constantly asking you what you want to eat,

“I can make for you! Anything you wish. I can make. Please sit. Best Turkish food in Izmir!” They would say this over and over again. Every bloody restaurant we walked by, another man would come running out trying to drag you into the store. They would try to convince the children even by asking them what they want to eat. They would ask the girls to convince me to eat at their restaurant. To be honest, after the like 15th Turkish man came running after me to eat at his place I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I didn’t like that at all. I was not raised to ignore people, not speak to someone if spoken to and this was exactly what I had to do in order to get them off my back. If you engaged them at all, they would follow you for what seemed like ever. I looked at David and my frustration was obvious on my face.

“What Al? This is how they make their living! This how they do it. We are experiencing how Turkish people live.” He said with a grin.

I understand that, but I didn’t like that part of Turkish life I guess. Not my taste.

We finally found a place that served french fries, (apparently my fool-proof plan didn’t work out as well here as not many places had fries) sat down and ordered a meal each. What we got was a shmorgusborg of delicious food that seemed to cover every inch of our table. Surely it was more than we ordered but apparently it was all included in the price. Well if Americans eat too much then I’m not sure what to say about the Turks. The food was unbelievable and worth wading through the food papperattzi.

On Wednesday we travelled to Pammukale which means “Cotton Castle” in Turkish.

It is a popular destination for people visiting the Aegean coastline as it is only a 3 hour drive toward the interior. On approach, this mountain looks like your average ski hill in Ontario but given that the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius and there is blue water cascading down the mountain, your brain quickly does a reset. Pammukale is a thermal spring that was discovered in 200 BC. It is like no other thermal spring due to the waters rich minerals. When the water first comes out of the ground it is about 35.6 ºC. The water includes calcium hydro carbonate in a big quantity. When it comes into contact with oxygen, the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide escapes and the calcium carbonate settles and forms the travertine. The sediment is jelly-like in the first stage.


The chemical reaction is: Ca (HCO3) + O2 CaCO+CO2+H2O Not that I am a chemistry buff but I did find this interesting.

Over time this hardens and over years it forms huge travertine’s (or baths) of bluish white water. People aren’t allowed to swim in all the travertine’s anymore due to damage that was being caused but they built a pool, fed by the mineral water from the mountain which was lovely and warm. Due to the chemical reaction that occurs, the water is carbonated so your body is covered in bubbles which tickles and makes it feel a bit like your swimming in 7-Up.

They did allow us to enter large man made travertine at the top if the mountain. Stepping into it felt like you were smushing wet PB&J sandwiches through your toes with every step. Hence the slightly apprenhensive look on our faces. :)

At the time when Pammukale was founded, a city was built at the top of the spring and called Hierapolis. Because of the spring waters healing power, it attracted the sick and crippled people from all over Asia and Europe. Unfortunately, its power did not work for most as evidenced by the enormous necropolis built next to the city.

The dates on the sarcophagi were ancient and with the travertines in the background, it was a beautiful place to take some pictures.

Friday was spent at the beach in Cesme. What a glorious sight! Crystal clear, calm, warm water, fine sand and not a person to be seen for miles.

I’m sure this place is full in the summer but since it was early June,

we had the beach to ourselves. Perhaps this was the reason Ruby decided to shed the suit!  It was a beautiful day together!

We had a wonderful time in Izmir and surrounding areas and hope to return soon.  A huge thanks to Carole for being such a great hostess for over 2 weeks to all of us!  We were so happy to see you both as it had been almost a year since we last saw you.  We can't let that happen again! 

Just like that, we were off again... to Istanbul!

Alison xx