We boarded the 9:30am ferry from Chios to Cesme with many tourists and some locals cross the narrow channel to shop for groceries or even fill their gas tanks. The prices on the Turkish coast are much lower than in Chios, which justifies for many a once a week round trip for shopping and fueling. the first thing you see when approaching Turkey is a huge Turkish flag towering over the small city of Cesme, a sign of nationalistic feelings in modern day Turkey.
Our rental van was waiting us outside the exit of the customs. Vassilis took the while, I setup the GPS and we headed for Izmir, one hour drive on a modern highway. There were wind turbines everywhere and a sense of an booming economy. We arrived in the Crowne Plaza hotel and checked in a room with excellent views of the Gulf of Izmir.
The Gulf of Izmir from our hotel
In the afternoon we drove to the center to tour the city. First stop Konak Square to see the city’s landmark, the 1901 built clock tower. Here you can see many interesting characters selling birdseed to feed the pigeons that frequent the square.
We walked to the central market, a definition of the Turkish bazaar. Innumerable small shops in a maze of tent covered, narrow roads, crowded by people shopping and making noise, amid a pandemonium of colors. Here you can find the most unlike shops side by side.
Izmir is the typical coastal Turkish city, a miniature of Turkey itself. It is a complex mixture of the east and the west, modern on the sea front, traditional and chaotic the further you move inland. Here you can find nice shops and restaurants with excellent service for the rich and slum like neighborhoods for the poor.
The location is undoubtedly amazing but the future is rather dim as the city grows exponentially to accommodate the ever arriving immigrants from Anatolia. We used Izmir as our base camp for the next days as we visited Pergamus (Bergama), Ayvalik and Efes. Next: Ionia.