Annette's House Ayvalik

... went for lunch. Gettıng addıcted to Pıda ıts a turkısh style pızza a bıt lıke a folded garlıc bread wıth cheese but no garlıc ıts tasty.

We decıded to go to the beach as the weather ıs amazıng and we do have a beach all to ourselves back at the goat shed so got taxı back and chılled and swam and had some turkısh tea both me and Ian can not stop dr ...

... 305;t of land rıght next to the beach. A man came out to meet us shakıng hands wıth the taxı drıver and the englısh teacher who also taught hıs son badly lol. In the garden there where 3 goats a rabbıt and 2 mean lookıng dogs we agreed a prıce 18 englısh pounds a nıght for the both of us and thats that thıs ıs now where we are stayıng ıts too funny for words but really suprısıngly clean and the ...

Why are we leaving gorgeous Ayvalik, our stunning guesthouse and lovely friends to go and see ruins I wonder as Tania harries me off to the bus stop.

Two hours later and having checked into a hotel where the owner admits "I am Gobi" (yep really) we trek uphill solidly for the next hour and it's 35 degrees plus. Perhaps this should be called schlepping to Asclepion.

However, the place was genuinely stunning and it ...

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 ...

... Starting with the Lycians and continuing on through the Roman period this was a major port city. A bit hard to imagine as it is miles to the sea now, but for hundreds of years there was an estuary here providing important shelter to a major Mediterranean trade route - a stark reminder about how nature ultimately dictates civilization. The ruins here are quite spectacular and quite extensive. Words don't do the area justice so we'll leave most of the talking ...

... I needed to go to find a decent hostel. Looking lost immediately after gettiong off of my bus, 2 locals came to help me. They pointed me in the right direction where I would find a few hostels. I walked for about 20 minutes and needed to ask other locals to help out once I found myself in a maze of narrow streets. A few phone calls were made by the friendly locals. I went to a few places but they were all full. I eventually found a great place (very Turkish atmosphere with ...

... first floor, fronting on the street, probably with a street light outside. Why do they do this?

This time, however, I objected, and asked for a room in the back. He went and got a key to the top (4th floor) back room. Perfect, almost. It had a roof deck out back. That was fine.

But, the bathroom floor was about seven or eight inches above the room floor. And if that wasn't enough, the top of the door jam was a couple of inches lower than normal. I grazed the top of my ...

... are on top of a huge hill overlooking the modern day city. My guide book says Pergamum is famous as the home of the Asclepion which is a healing center/hospital. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius' personal physician, Galen, trained at Pergamum. He added considerably to the knowledge of the nervous and circulatory systems. His work was the basis of Western medicine until the 16th century!Pergamum's best days were between the time of Alexander the Great and ...

... cherry jam, tomatoes, cucumbers, and coffee. The food is the best...we end up staying at this hotel for 3 nights...each morning I look forward to breakfast...the food, the pace, all of it suits me. Feels like the Margaritaville of Turkey...I could just keep extending my time here, listening to the boats on the water...tasting the food in all the little restaurants around the pier...getting to know the locals...just chilling out... We spend one ...

... 19th century, almost everything was completely flattened. The Germans seem to have been very active with the archaeological digs and investigations (at least in this part of Turkey), and have done a pretty good job with the interpretive signs (could do with a few more and some decent site maps to help us poor tourists understand what's what without paying for a tour guide at $50 - $80 a pop!). They have also done some (I think) pretty sympathetic restorations work, eg re-erecting ...