Blue Sea Hotel Lésbos

Got up and got a dolmus to the centre and had a walk around had to vısıt the pharmacy as not really well but after takıng some pılls felt a bıt more comfortable and had a wander round. Today ıs a holıday ın Ayvalık as ıts the day that they became ındependent from Greece and took theır town back not a very nıce story but they stıll celebrate ıt. Bought Danıelle a present ...

... wıth thıs taxı boy who spoke a lıttle englısh and he reccomended a place but ıt was a lıttle out of our budget so we told hım we needed somewhere cheaper and he saıd he would take us to the tourıst ınfo offıce so off we sped ın the taxı wıth the musıc blarıng as he had a boom box ın the back ha ha he called ıt the nıght club taxı. we got no joy at the tourıst place and he ...

After another multi-vehicle trip involving a minibus, ferry, minibus, ferry, bus and finally another minibus we arrived in Ayvalik - a lovely harbour town backed by old Greek stone houses built into the steep hills.

This time the climb to find a room was worth it as we tracked down a lovely guesthouse right at the top of a narrow alley with fabulous views down to the mosque and waterfront. Many an hour was spent on the roof terrace over the ...

... few gay ones for good measure. The boy scouts appear to have built a trail up to the castle ruins, where the christians-muslims-pagans all spent ...

According to the poet Homer Lesvos (aka Lesbos or Mytlini) was part of King Makaras Empire and many of the islands ancient cities were names after his daughters.

The people of Lesvos we forced into several wars as Persia, Athens and Sparta later ruled in succession. According to legend, when Lesvos finally succumbed to Athens, the Athenian council voted to castigate islanders ...

... the Divine and labeled as one of the Seven churches of the Apaocalypse... also known as the throne of the Devil... a place where today's locals set up their food stands and sell fruit and chickens tethered on strings, tied to remnants of ancient walls...

After Pergamum we drove to Assos and set up our base there... exploring the surrounding region... Assos is a beautiful and quaint fishing village nestled on the coast of the Aegean, 6 ...

... in the scenery and looking for an illustrative picture. I was vaguely aware of the three co-patrons of the restaurant had come out on the same walk, but, busy looking at framing a picture, and a passing set of Turkish Air Force planes, didn't pay them the slightest heed.

For a few more minutes I looked around the small set of hotels, trying to remember where I had stayed one night about four years before. Unsuccessfully.

Finally ...

... we froze on the walk back to our hotel. I wrote this limerick to celebrate our time here: If you happen to wind up in Dikili Your temper could turn rather prickly From the liver they serve To baklava hors d'ouvres You may end up feeling quite sickily We finished the day with an excellent buffet dinner served at the hotel. When they offered us a meal for 5 lira ($4.50) I was a bit dubious but we couldn't be bothered going out. It turned out to be a marvellous buffet. Strike a point for Dikili!

Some shots from our drive from Çanakkale to Bergama (modern day Pergamum). Check out the photo album to see a few more.

... the ferry line. By 12:45 we were motoring across the mouth of the Bosphorus, just as had the thousand ships that the Greeks sent towards Troy. By 1:45 we had landed and were driving again. I stared out the window, not being able to sleep. My neighbor across the aisle, an old man with a moaning wife illuminated his watch with his lighter. It was 2:30. A short while after that I finally drifted into sleep. Then, the bus stopped and the lights came on. It was 4AM and ...