Teaser: İzmir … Week Two in Review

İzmİr, Turkey

Boy, is time flying by fast or what!?!  My second week visiting family in İzmir was a busy one … here’s a quick look back at some of what I experienced.

As the ferry leaves Karşiyaka [literally, Opposite Collar], I catch a
glimpse of the “Atatürk, His Mother, and Women’s Rights Monument.”

Two cruise ships become part of the Alsancak skyline (from the ferry).

Atatürk Evİ Museum, Alsancak
Depiction of a War Games Meeting following the liberation of İzmİr.

Burchell’s Zebra Family at the İzmİr Wildlife Park – Sasali.

Siblings at play … One-year old Denİz with her older sister, İzmİr.
İzmİr Wildlife Park — Sasali

Shoe Museum … a work in progress.

Shoe Museum — IŞikkent, İzmİr

Taxiarches Church (1844) — Ayvalik, Balikesİr

Ayvalik Islands Nature Park — Ayvalik, Balikesİr

The Taxiarches Church on Cunda Island was originally constructed in 1873.
Today, it has been restored to house the Ayvalik Rahmİ M. Koç Museum.

Ceiling detail from the Cunda Island Taxiarches Church, which was
dedicated to the protective archangels Michael and Gabriel.

On exhibit at the Ayvalik Rahmİ M. Koç Museum are a wide variety of items
ranging from tin and wood toys, to dolls and model ships, to antique cameras.

A necklace of salted and dried fish … not quite ready for consumption.

A tasty meal at Bay Nİhat on Cunda Island … (clockwise from top left) stuffed zucchini
florets; calamari; octopus salad; cİbez salad; blackened goat cheese; mixed salad … yummmm!

We’ll see what week three has in store for me ;-)

© 2004-2015 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Teaser: Chios, Greece

Sunday, 11 October 2015
İzmİr, Turkey
Temps: Hi 81F (27C) / Lo 61F (16C)

After three weeks of active-sightseeing in Rome and 12 days of equally active port calls on the Mediterranean cruise that brought us from Italy to Turkey, I was quite happy to take it easy during my first week of visiting family in İzmir.  But that changed Thursday night when we headed to Çeşme for an overnight stay before a short two-day jaunt to Greece the next day.

Across a narrow strait from Çeşme is the Greek island of Chios — the Turks know it as Sakız … a reference to the mastic trees that dot the landscape.  It’s just a short ferry-ride away … 15-20 minutes if you take the catamaran instead of the car ferry.  Though we’ve spent many-a-summer in Çeşme, this was a first-time visit to Chios for all of us — one that we enjoyed very much.

The Medieval village of Pyrgi is known for buildings decorated using the graffito technique.

Lunch time finds us in the Port of Mesta.

Everywhere you turn in the Medieval village of Mesta you encounter narrow,
maze-like cobblestone streets winding between buildings made of stone.

Nea Moni [New Monastery] is a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating to the 11th Century.

Avgonyma from a distance … its first inhabitants can be traced back to the 11th century.

At the base of the deserted hilltop village of Anavatos we find a charming decorative planter.

Inside the old Chios Fortress is a recently-restored 17th century Ottoman Hamam [bathhouse].

The weather, which cooperated for our two-day visit, turns cloudy and
starts spitting rain as we bid Chios Town farewell from the ferry.

Of course there was food involved during this outing …

Loukoumades in Chios Town	Breakfast Feast in Çeşme

Chios proved to be quite delightful.  It would be nice to rent a place for a week and explore the parts of the island we didn’t get to this time.  Perhaps next year …

© 2004-2015 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Fall in Europe

Saturday, 29 August 2015
Houston, Texas
Temps: HI 91F (33C) / Lo 72F (22C)

By the time this blog entry posts, our home on wheels will be in storage and we will be comfortably ensconced at a hotel near Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.  Our overnight hotel stay will kick start this year’s fall trip to Europe, which officially starts when we board our flight tomorrow morning.

Our travel plans this time take us first to Italy where we will spend three weeks enjoying the sights and sounds of the Eternal City … Rome.  Next, we will embark Oceania’s Nautica for a Mediterranean Cruise that will transport us to Turkey … with stops en route at mostly new-to-us ports that we are looking forward to exploring.  Turkey, as faithful readers know, is where our families live.  We will spend about three weeks visiting with them before the final segment of our fall trip … a TransAtlantic on NCL’s Jade that will take us from Barcelona, Spain all the way back to Houston.

You all know that I tend not to spend too much time blogging when we are traveling abroad.  I’ll do my best, however, to at least share some “post”cards on the blog … and perhaps the occasional story if time permits.

© 2004-2015 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.