Four Days in Izmir
Travel Day
We flew from Kayseri to izmir, changing planes in the massive and busy Istanbul Airport.
Izmir is on the Aegean coast and is Turkey’s third largest city (after Istanbul and Ankara), home to about 3.5 million people. I chose Izmir mainly for its good-sized airport and its proximity to archaeological sites.
Our hotel, the Renaissance Izmir, was modern, a big change from the historic cave hotel in Cappadocia.
Our room was large and comfortable. It was also conveniently next to the Lounge, which had free wine and hors d’oeuvres every evening.
We had dinner at a taverna near the hotel called Cınaraltı. Their specialty was manisa kebab: spiced ground meat grilled and served atop a piece of pide (flatbread) with yogurt, tomato sauce, and melted butter. Yum!
Day 1
We enjoyed a lavish breakfast buffet in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, a wonderful way to start the day.
Ephesus
We took a day trip to see the ruins of Ephesus, one of the greatest cities of the Roman Empire. After two thousand years, Ephesus was still magnificent.
We also saw the House of the Virgin Mary and the Ephesus Museum.
Read more about our visit to Ephesus HERE.
For dinner, we went back to Cınaraltı for more manisa kebab. We also tried “chicken grill,” which was surprisingly moist, tender, and tasty.
Day 2
This was a day for relaxing and catching up on journaling and blogging.
After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, we walked the length of the Kordon Promenade, along the coast of the Gulf of Izmir. The water of the Gulf was dark blue-gray, almost black. Fishermen propped their fishing rods on the sea wall. Two monuments commemorated the Turkish War of Independence.
Happy Hour in the hotel Lounge was substantial enough for dinner. It was nice to stay in for a change.
Day 3
We had started to identify our favorite breakfast dishes from the hotel buffet. We both liked menemen, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers and onions. The fresh figs were ripe and sweet. There was a nice selection of phyllo pastries, and I tried to taste a different one each day.
Aphrodisias
This day trip took us inland, to the well-preserved ruins of a Roman city known for its fine marble sculpture. Aphrodisias was a hidden gem. Read more HERE.
We enjoyed a late lunch with our guide and driver at Anatolia, a roadside restaurant near Aphrodisias that served local dishes in a rustic setting. We had sweet local peaches, meat pide, and kabak tatlisi (pumpkin dessert), a delicious dish of candied pumpkin topped with tahini and chopped walnuts. I asked about the plastic bags of water hanging from the rafters, and was told they keep flies away.
We even had live entertainment: a man played the bağlama (Turkish guitar) while his pet parrot danced!
Day 4
It was another day for taking it easy and catching up on our projects.
After breakfast, we walked to Izmir’s famous Clock Tower. The octagonal marble tower was built in 1901 to commemorate the silver jubilee of Sultan Abdul Hamid II - the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The clock mechanism was a gift from Germany’s Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II.
On the way back to the hotel, we had dürüms at Katik Doner. Doner kebab is seasoned chicken cooked on a vertical rotisserie and then sliced. Dürüm is Turkish for “wrapped.” It was a simple, satisfying meal.
I know we didn’t take advantage of many things that Izmir had to offer. But it was great having time off between tours and a hotel with great breakfast and happy hour perks. Sometimes, less is more.
