My Hotel Izmir

... days were Brian's turn and today it's mine. Best guess is that he picked up something in Athens or on the boat over to Turkey.

So we've been in Urla. Not a tourist town in the least. I did a little internet search that came up with nothing. Asking the guy at the hotel what there was to see in town came out with blank stares. But just watching the day to day workings of this little quarter of the city are interesting enough for me.
Urla, İzmir, Turkey 2totango

... But hey, we couldn't have done it without the taxi. Or the police, or the man from the Turkish FA, so can't complain really. (That reminds me, whilst we were traveling to the stadium via the wrong stadium, we drove past a massive graveyard which was full of relations of those that were buried there. The streets outside it were lines with flower sellers and tombstone makers/engravers, all of which was being coordinated by the army. There were people everywhere. As well as that there were ...

... as if they had never seen such things before, and then we were in!
The Nationl Anthem started as soon as we walked into the stadium. Me and Lisa - the only 2 English fans in the stadium. We had finally made it!

Watch out for the next part coming up later on. But for now we've got to get something to eat and get more caffeine in our systems!

Catch you in a bit - until then,
Big love
Sam & Lisa xx

(ps we won by the way: 3-0. Hurrah!)

I felt asleep before 630 last evening, and got up at 5 this morning. What a sound sleep! And an amazing new noon arose outside my window. The prayer sound made the context really turkish.

Our lunch was at a resort with a lake. There were no other customers but us, the participants at the conference. It cost 20 lira, so maybe too expensive for local people.

Dinner was lighter, but i still couldn't finish it.

... they had been on the bus for 35 days since Cairo and come up through Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The bus holds 20 but there were only 13 on this trip which they highly appreciated. They seemed to enjoy it and still be on reasonable terms; life on the bus certainly seemed to generate its own sense of community. When I got back to the hotel they announced that the snorkeling was now in the afternoon and the next tour leader would be ...

... history, Christian history, here. I had no idea. The house of Virgin Mary was first. As the story goes, Jesus, from the cross, asked John to take care of Mary. He said to Mary that John was now his son and that Mary was now John's mother. In fulfilling that promise, John brought Mary to Ephesus (another place we saw this day) but it was a pagan community and John feared for Mary. He ...

... times like that when I know there is some higher power. It's the same power that often makes me question why I'm pulling this crazy cycling stunt in the first place. Cycling out into the hurricane and torrential rain that battered me as I left Leeds back in September. It soon cleared up after I waited under the shelter of a bridge determined not to return home straight away. After a big breakfast I cycled up and out of the village into the first rain I'd seen on the trip. At 8am ...

... What a view from our room on the 18th floor! We have a view of the entire Izmir harbor, of ships going to and fro. But looking down, off to the side is a rather odd looking red-tiled roofed building that seems to be on the verge of falling apart. Tim later told me it was the style of roof where the rain gutters are under the roof. The same style is sometimes used today when no visible rain gutters are wanted, but the style is prone to problems.

... a lot of stray animals in Turkey and they really tug at the heart strings. These animals seemed well fed and taken care of. One thing that I had a problem with though was my fear of drinking the water. In Izmir a sure fire way of getting yourself sick is to drink water that doesn't come from a sealed bottle. At all of the restaurants if you order water they bring you the bottle unopened so you know it's safe. The tap water in Izmir has everything in it from ...

Our cruise stopped off in Turkey for a day. We toured a bazar/casbah and drank some tea.
I remember on our land approach, being surprised at how deep green colour the hills were, popluated with so many trees. The city buildings were a beautiful cream white colour - sublime beauty.