We’re in İzmir

Thursday, 13 June 2019
Alsancak — Izmir, Turkey

An uneventful 11½-hour Turkish Airlines flight from Houston to İstanbul was followed by a quick hop to İzmir.  By 9:30p local time (12:30p MDT) on the 12th, we were at mom’s condo.  Tired … but pleased to have the travel day(s) in the rearview mirror.

Our comfort on the long-haul from Houston to Istanbul was
greatly enhanced by the exit row seats we scored on the B777 that
was our winged-chariot.  To our delight, We were even assigned
the same exit row seats for the short hop to IzmIr.

A good night’s rest and we were up at our usual early hour this morning … no jet lag … yay!  Breakfast with the family … Aylin & Murat, who live in the same condo building, joined us for the morning repast.  Then it was time to take care of errands.

I doubt that we’ll do much that is blog-worthy during this short stay in Turkey.  It’s too hot to be out and about much.  Besides, with a rather active two+ months planned around Europe starting on 19 June, best to use this time with the family for R&R.

© 2004-2019 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Wrapping Up Turkey 2016

Saturday, 1 October 2016
Alsancak — İzmİr, Turkey
Temps: Hi 84F (29C) / Lo 52F (11C)

The week between the end of our cruise and tomorrow — our day of departure from Turkey — was but a series of fleeting days.  Let’s see if I can do a quick recap.

[The camera didn’t see the light of day, so I’ve included in this post a few historic photos of the city, which I photographed earlier in the trip from a privacy panel around a construction site.]

The green circular space in this mid-1960’s photo of İzmİr is Kültür Park, the site
of the annual international fair, which has been going strong for 85 years.

Much of Mui’s time was spent trying to settle matters relating to his mother’s estate.  With his sister also in İzmir for a brief visit, we thought things would go smoothly.  They didn’t.  The major glitch they encountered was missing property documentation from the Ankara and Eskişehir municipalities.  Mui flew to Ankara on Monday for an overnight stay and got at least some of the required documents.  Işıl will take care of the rest in Eskişehir.  She’s on her way even as I write this … we saw her off at the train station a few hours ago.

While Mui was off doing his thing, mom and I were finishing up the last of our sewing projects.  Aylin will be the beneficiary of the pants we made.  I guess we all forgot that pattern sizes are nothing like actual clothing sizes.  Oh well … as long as someone gets use out of our efforts.

Dr Mustafa Enver Bey Caddesİ … way back when.  This is the street on which mom and
Aylin still live … it looks nothing like this image taken by Cemal Yalkiş.  I meant to get a
current-day photo from this same vantage point, but it didn’t happen … maybe next year.

We took advantage of our last week with the family for several activities that included food in one way or another.  Mom hosted Işıl for dinner one night … Işıl reciprocated by inviting us to her Alsancak apartment for tea one afternoon … Mui and I treated everyone to breakfast at B’ready, our new favorite eatery, and also to lunch at Hunkçu.  Last but not least, we enjoyed a lovely farewell dinner at Veli Usta, our favorite seafood restaurant in Alsancak, and toasted to our safe arrival home … and our return to Turkey next year.

And that’s a wrap for Turkey 2016.  Tomorrow we begin our three-leg air journey back to the US.

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Meet Our "Fur Great Nephews"

Thursday, 9 September 2016
Alsancak, İzmİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 99F (37C) / Lo 65F (18C)

Thanks to Mui’s niece, Banu, and her family, and my nephew, Hakan, we have two “fur great nephews.”  Max lives in Eskişehir; Sherlock lives in Ankara … but is visiting us in İzmir at the moment.

Max	Sherlock

Cute, aren’t they … and both are quite the handful.

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Here and There Around Ìzmir

Sunday, 4 September 2016
Alsancak, İzmİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 91F (33C) / Lo 73F (23C)

One of the vivid memories I have from my childhood is the İzmir International Fair, held annually inside Kültür Park.  This year was the 85th such fair to be held.  Mom and I joined Aylin and Murat for a quick look-see Friday night.

Graffiti on stretch film … a temporary art form.

Back in the day, the fair used to last a month.  There were commercial pavilions promoting products from countries around the world, hundreds of shopping and food kiosks, and concerts and plays at open air theaters.  The latter are still there, but the commercial portion of the fair was moved outside the city several years ago, and the duration has been reduced to two weeks.  We didn’t stay until after dark when most of the action takes place.  We wandered around for a while, but primarily, we wanted to check out the Eataly pavilion … which turned out to be a bit disappointing because of its size and lack of product line.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the limited pasta and desserts featured on the casual dinner menu.

Left & Right: From the St Petersburg Art & Photography Exhibit.
Center: A Stilt-walker wandering around as a prehistoric creature.

The size of the Eataly kiosk is disappointing, but the pasta and panna cotta please our palate.

Sunday dawned as a clear(ish) day … not often the case … especially when the city is enveloped by a heat haze.  Mom suggested we head over to check out the historic Asansör [elevator] in the city’s Karataş neighborhood.  I’d never been to this landmark of the city so I readily agreed.  The four of us hopped in a taxi for the short ride, and before we knew it we were being whisked up the tower to enjoy the expansive views of the city from the terrace.

The Asansör was built in 1907 by a Jewish philantropist who wanted to ease passage between two neighborhoods previously connected only by a series of steep steps.  The tower is 190 feet (58 m) tall, and the brick used to construct it was brought from Marseille, France.  Of the two elevators within the tower, one was operated by electricity and the other was driven by steam power.  Privately owned for years, the structure was donated to the Metropolitan Municipality, which restored the tower, replaced the existing elevators with two electric-powered ones, and returned the Asansör to public service.

An expansive view of the city from a nearby park, including the top half of the tower.

A mosaic mural of a white dove decorates the steps leading further into the neighborhood.

I’m glad mom suggested this short outing … breezy comfortable temps and clear views of the city certainly added pleasure to our day.

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Devrim: the Car

Thursday, 1 September 2016
Eskİşehİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 80 (27C) / Lo 57F (14C)

This morning, on our way from the Anadolu University guesthouse to Işıl’s house, we stopped at the TÜLOMSAȘ factory.  Our brief five-minute stop had nothing to do with the locomotives and train wagons built at the plant.  Rather, our purpose was to check out the only remaining Devrim Arabası [Car of the Revolution] on display here.

The gist of the backstory is that in 1961 then-President Cemal Gürsel ordered the production of the first car to be designed and built entirely in Turkey and with Turkish resources.  Four prototypes were completed for unveiling during the 29 October Republic Day celebrations in Ankara that same year.  One black and one cream-colored car was shipped from Eskişehir by train — with just enough gas to maneuver the cars … a safety precaution that backfired when the cars were later unloaded in Ankara.

President Gürsel got into the black car before the gas tank was topped off and set off on the much-anticipated ceremonial ride … only to have the car come to a halt after just 100 meters (approx. 300 feet) when it ran out of gas.  He completed the ride in the cream-colored car, whose tank had been topped off in the interim.  But the damage was done.  The newspaper headlines the next day proclaimed that the Devrim had managed to travel only 100 meters before breaking down.  The car became the subject of jokes for years to come.  It was never mass-produced … partly because technical drawings to replicate the process of building the car did not exist.

(The full-story is in the link above, or you can check it out on Wikipedia.)

If only the gas tank had been topped off, history might have written
a different ending to the story of the Devrİm Arabasi.

In 2010, Pakistani university students, inspired by the Devrim Arabası, developed a hybrid vehicle that they named Devrim II … so perhaps the work done in 1961 was not in vain after all.

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

RIP Şule Anne

Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Eskİşehİr — Turkey
Temps: Hi 83F (28C) / Lo 60F (16C)

Mom and I traveled to Eskişehir on the overnight train from İzmir, arriving today for my mother-in-law’s funeral … she passed away yesterday at the age of 93.  Mui would prefer that I not dwell on her passing.  So, let me just say that she lived a long and healthy life, and was much loved by family and friends.

Şule Füsun Erkun

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

Torbalı: A Day of Cars and Wine

Saturday, 27 August 2016
Alsancak, İzmİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 90F (32C) / Lo 74F (23C)

Had a great day in Torbalı  — one of the districts of the province of İzmir … a drive of 35 miles (55 km) or so.  More accurately, we had a great time visiting a museum and a vineyard … we didn’t actually explore the town this time.

Our first stop was the Key Museum, established to house a collection of cars assembled from all around the world — all polished to an eye-dazzling sheen.  Also on exhibit … a number of motorcycles, model cars, hood ornaments, and scarves reflecting the automobile culture of the time.

Benz 18/45 4-pax runabout (1914) — note the snake-shaped horn.

Renault Type NM 40 CV Coupe De Ville (1925)

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupe

Lalique hood ornaments were produced between 1860-1945 and adorned the hoods of stylish autos of the time … such as Bentley, Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Mercedes Benz, and more.

Batmobile (1966) — was used in "Batman: The Movie."

A collection of matchbook cars decorate the entrance to the model car gallery.

Twin Coach Helms Bakery Truck (1935)

Scarves were once a necessary item used by Roman workers laboring in hot factories.
At the beginning of the 19th century, they became a fashion icon, made popular by women who started using them to protect their hair from the wind when riding in convertible cars.

Ford A Model Speedster (1929); 4,320,466 of these vehicles were produced.


Hood ornaments date back to ancient Egypt … they were used to decorate chariots.

Indian Board Track Racer (1921)

Left: Mom, Aylin & Murat take a load off for a refreshing beverage.
Right: Perfect for a billiards / automobile aficionado.

From the museum we headed to the nearby Lucien Arkas Bağları [vineyard].  At first we weren’t sure if we were going to get where we really wanted to go — the GPS directed us to take a couple of narrow, dirt roads.  Roundabout our route may have been, but turns out it was a shortcut and soon we were pulling up in front of the restaurant on the property … LA Mahzen [cellar … the LA is a reference to the initials of the owner].

LA Mahzen overlooks the extensive grounds of the Lucien Arkas Vineyard.

The vineyard was established in 2010.  The website describes it as having been “… born of a dream to produce wines to world standards on Aegean lands, which have been the cradle of wine-making and viticulture for hundreds of years.”  I’m no wine expert, so I can’t say whether the wines are world-standard or not, but all four of us enjoyed our selections with the tapas-style meal we opted to order in lieu of individual main courses.  We concluded our meal with a quick tour of the cellar under the restaurant.

Terrace Seating @ LA Mahzen	A peek through the glass floor into the cellar.

Arriving well-after lunch time, we have the restaurant to ourselves.

Our tapas-style lunch includes a trio of bruschetta; a smoked meats and cheese
platter; arancini; and grilled shrimp.  Dessert is a delicious pumpkin crème brûlėe
and panna cotta with blackberry sauce.  Afterwards we tour the cellar.

We really enjoyed the ambiance, the food, and the wine at LA Mahzen … it was a great way to wrap up our daytrip to Torbalı.  Our only regret — had we known about the special harvest activities, which included “pick your own grapes,” we would have timed our outing differently.  Next time!

[More photos from the museum and the vineyard are in this online gallery.]

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.

It’s All About Food

Monday, 15 August 2016
Alsancak, İzmİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 92F (33C) / Lo 72F (22C)

It’s been two weeks since I left Mui in Eskişehir with his mom and sister, and returned to İzmir to spend time with my mom and sister.

Truth be told, we haven’t done much outside the house.  With the temps ranging from 96F to 102F (36C to 39C) it’s been much too hot to spend time outdoors.  That changed a bit this weekend … a cold(ish) front came through, dropping the temps down a bit.  Not for long, I’m sure, but we’re delighted to get a respite from the overwhelming heat.

Looking back on what we did do, however, everything revolved around food in one form or another.  Make sure you’ve already eaten before you proceed with browsing through this post :-)

We wrap up lunch at B’ready with a yummy double-chocolate brownie and uniquely presented, refreshing sour cherry iced tea.

Breakfast in Turkey is like no other anywhere else in the world.  It’s a feast that consists of a selection of small dishes shared family-style.  These breakfasts are known as serpme, a word that essentially means “sprinkled” … an appropriate description for the way the tapas-like dishes are sprinkled around the table.  Add to these dishes things like cream and honey, cooked-to-order eggs, sucuk [Turkish sausage], fresh breads and pastries, and gözleme [a type of flatbread filled with various savory toppings] … well you can understand why I describe breakfasts in Turkey as a feast.

Breakfast at Turkuaz Café in Ildır on a lovely Saturday morning.

An outing to Urla this past Saturday held a surprise in store for us — a harvest festival.  The town square was filled with kiosks where locals were selling goods ranging from handcrafted items and throw rugs to fresh-from-the-field produce.  After wandering around and buying some produce to take home with us, we wrapped up our outing with lunch at a small eatery that serves food cooked home-style.

Meatballs in a tangy broth at Ömre Bedel Yemekler [roughly “Food Worth Your Life”].

One last meal worthy of a mention in this post … an early dinner at Veli Usta Balık Pişiricisi [fish restaurant].  While we all enjoy the fish dishes on offer at this restaurant, we tend to order a variety of meze [Turkish tapas] instead … that’s what happened again this time.

Left: Murat’s plate with [clockwise from the left] sun-dried mackerel; purslane and
yogurt salad; octopus; roasted eggplant dip; a typical Cretan dip made with cheese, pine
nuts, olive oil, and garlic; marinated perch; and shredded carrots.  All yum-yum good.

Right: grilled calamari rings … much tastier (not to mention healthier) than deep fried.

I think I made your mouth water enough, don’t you think ;-)

© 2004-2016 Two to Travel.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.