Sunday, 21 October
After enjoying a tasty breakfast hosted by Aylin, we bundled into the car and headed 30 miles (48 km) southwest of the city to our first stop of the day: Sığacık. Proudly displaying terracotta snails on the roofline of its buildings, this “slow” town proclaims that it is part of the “cittaslow movement,” which was founded in Italy in 1999. Per Wikipedia, the main goal of the movement is “improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life and traffic through them.” (More info here.)
PART OF THE 30-MILE (48 KM) DRIVE IS ON THE FREEWAY TO ÇEŞME.
Located on the coast, this fishing town has made a name for itself as a popular Sunday pazar (marketplace). The roads leading to and around the town square are shut down to vehicular traffic, and the locals set up stalls from which they sell everything from handcrafted items, such as jewelry, shawls and stuffed toys; to home-cooked foods, such as stuffed squash florets and peppers, böreks, and a variety of sweets; to fresh produce of all kinds.
From fresh produce, to a variety of homemade pasta and pickels …
you can find pretty much everything at the Sığacık Pazari.
(Pictured bottom left is Kudret Nari [Momordica charantia …
aka bitter melon or bitter gourd].)
Stuffed squash florets.
Wandering around the stalls, mom picked up some foodstuff to take home, and Mui picked up some kol börek and kalburabastı for us to all enjoy at Bab-ı-Devran, a tea house with an adjoining boutique.
kol böreğİ means “arm” BÖrek. the dough (or phyllo) is filled and shaped in long
circular strips that are cut up into individual portions at the point of sale.
The gang awaiting their beverages of choice at Bab-ı-Devran.
kol börek (left) and kalburabastı (right) … and a glass of lemonade … what a treat!
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Muhİttİn & Murat
Funny that the two men who married into our family have names beginning with “M.”
We finished off our visit to Sığacık by wandering over to the ruins of the castle believed to have been constructed during the Selçuk Period (1040-1157), and last restored in the 16th century by Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (Suleiman the Magnificent) when he gave the order to prepare for the Rhodes Campaign. Leaving everyone to check out the produce stalls set up within the walls of the castle, I climbed the narrow, rickety stone steps for a view of the harbor and marina from atop the walls.
Looking in from the top of the walls towards the marketplace.
Looking out towards the small boat harbor just outside the castle walls.
From Sığacık we next drove a couple of miles to Teos, an ancient city of the Ionian League first mentioned by Geographer Strabo, who lived between 64 BC – AD 24. Unlike the better known Ephesus, which was also part of the league, the ruins of Teos are just that — ruins. There is an active archaeological dig on the site, but it’s slow going.
We limited our visit to the Temple of Dionysius this time. Perhaps there will be much more to see by the time we next stop by to check out the dig. (More info about the temple, the largest of its kind dedicated to Dionysius in Anatolia, is on page 10 of this e-guidebook.)
We wrapped up our day in Seferihisar at Teos Park, a family-owned open air facility with hammocks under the trees, seating areas and tables interspersed around the grounds, and a restaurant serving everything from breakfast to dinner. Sitting at one of the terrace tables, where a light breeze coming off the Aegean Sea kept us cool, we enjoyed our afternoon tea before heading back to İzmir.
Thus we wrapped up the last day of this year’s trip to Turkey. Tomorrow, we fly back home to the US.
