Kusadasi, Turkey - How Relaxing!

*Note - I'll be writing from the date of the journal until further notice. Thanks and enjoy*

September 7th: Kusadasi was our "chill and soak up the culture" spot of choice. We had our breakfast (consisting of black seed-filled olives, green olives with pimento, fresh tomato, feta, Havarti cheese, and bread) with a lovely view of the city and the sea. A couple of cats (I believe three generations of them) decided to join us, insisting we feed them the cheese. One even bit my finger for the scraps. Yikes!
Since we had a kitchen at our disposal, we went to the nearby market (a mini-Bazaar of sorts) and bought everything from potatoes to the locally-grown peaches, grapes and olives. They even had a fruit that resembled a lime in appearance, but, in actuality, it was an orange. How strange! Of course, being the obvious tourists that we were, we were swindled out of our money when trying to buy tomatoes and some spoons (which, I might add, are quite useful now that I'm in Thessaloníki). All in all, though, it wasn't a bad experience.

There is always going to be one of those "it wasn't funny then, but it is now" moments that happens on every trip. Well, we had it -- Coming out of the market after buying all of that food mentioned in the last paragraph, Mom noticed safety wires attached to our car's wheels and automatically presumed we had been booted by the Turkish police. My mom, acting out of fear, started to probe this poor Turkish man with questions, because he had parked behind us and had the safety wires on his tires as well. He apparently thought we were asking how to go to the Police Station and, not knowing English, he pulled a couple of Turkish passerby and it felt like they were playing "guess what the American is saying" with Mom and I. I'm sure they got a kick out of the whole ordeal. Good grief. Luckily, one of the men in the group knew some English and told us the safety wires had been there all along and that their purpose is to prevent thieves from stealing the rims of the tires. Even now, I have to ask myself, HOW DID I MISS THAT?!

The rest of the day was more relaxing. I caught up with my journal, Tucker went swimming and all of us read a book. We're such nerds (not that that's a bad thing). :) Dinner came and went - Kusadasi was going all-out for their last nights of Ramadan and had everything from a carnival to singers and comedians. At dinner, Mom and I accidentally switched meals and I experienced curry, first hand. It tasted okay, but my stomach just didn't take to it. Oh well, at least I tried it. We bought my second journal (I think I'm going to need it by November) and had some ice cream (chocolate, mint and vanilla). I proceeded to get everyone lost, trying to find our way back to the car, but we did stumble upon a shop with milk. Note: check first to see if it's buttermilk or not! Oops! We finally returned to the hotel and collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. What a day!

Flying, Pamukkale, and Crashing From Exhaustion

*To make this easier and more accurate (plus more detailed), I'm practically going to copy down what I have in my journal while we were in Turkey. Enjoy!*

September 6th: Looking back on yesterday's events and all I can say is "Oh Lord!". After waking up at 6am (for some reason or another, I awoke 15 minutes before the alarm was supposed to sound - a God-thing to ensure we didn't miss our flight to Izmir? I think so), the three of us rushed to the airport. We did have to tell the driver to drop us off at the "Domestic gate" (meaning inside Turkey flights) instead of the International gate, where we left the day before. Even going through security, the Istanbul domestic gate is nothing compared to Frankfurt or Atlanta -- period! Although I had to take off my shoes twice and I accidentally placed both computers on top of each other going through security, the journey to gate 110 went by relatively easy.

At the gate, when Mom and Tucker left to find food, I met this nice couple from West Virginia who were on a trip with their church from Washington D.C. to gather information lost on the religion. There was also a friendly gentleman from Malta (an island found in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea), who has been to Turkey every year for various reasons. He, the husband from West Virginia, and I talked about Turkey, discussing everything from bargaining tips to the political unrest and the differences between conservative Turks and their liberal counterparts. By the time Mom and Tucker returned, I had learned loads of information about the Turkish people. The plane flight was quick and soon we were settled into our rented car and were heading off, away from Izmir (the people were holding rallies to support political candidates that were either for or against becoming more Western and joining the EU).

Our first stop on Monday was to Sart (Sardis in English) - this town contained the Temple of Artemis, where King Croesus flaunted his wealth until the King of Persia - King Cyrus - heard of his money and conquered the city. Croesus definitely learned his lesson! We stopped at the Temple (or what remained of it) and took pictures of the ruins. Also, there was a lady walking up the street around the area that Mom had an animated conversation with regarding the royal jewels, gold, and silver taken from the excavated site. Just imagine what that poor woman and her family had to go through when gold was discovered!

Pamukkale was our next stop - it has natural calcium carbonate cliffs, also known as travertines. It's very white in color, unless it comes in contact with running water, which can turn it brownish-red or green (moss). Of course, we explored the area - there was an amphitheater, ruins of various kinds, and the cliffs. Mom and I even went into the water that was running down the cliffs. The ground was hard in places and soft/muddy in others, particularly where the water had stagnated.

After Pamukkale, it was around 6:15pm (already late in the day, but since the sun doesn't set until 8pm, it at least wasn't dark like in Germany). We started driving again and, about halfway to Kusadasi (pronounced Ku-sha-day-su), we needed gas...badly. Since it was Ramadan, everything was closed except for the BP (thank you, British Petroleum). We believe the lady working the cash register had pity on us and, when we paid for gas and some cookies/water, she gave us a cup and saucer, free of charge. This keeps happening, but you won't see me complaining!

We reached the hotel (Pamera) and, before I could collapse from the trip, Mom and Tucker dragged me out for food (around 10pm). Night life had a buzz of activity in the air - instead of going to Burger King, we opted for a small cafe. Mom ordered pizza, Tucker - pasta (big surprise there -_-) and I - Irish Breakfast. I tried food I haven't had before (an accomplishment in my opinion) and we had two cats that begged me for my sausage. Naturally, I let them have it. Finally, successfully avoiding the salesmen and getting back to our car, we reached the hotel and hit the hay (around 2am). Man, WHAT A DAY!

*And that, my friends, is one day. Just imagine what stories I have in store for you tomorrow! Stay tuned!*

Catching Up - One Night Stay

I know this post is long overdue and, for that, I apologize. It's been a stressful two weeks and I thank you for bearing with me while I get adjusted to Europe. Well, now that the apologies are finished, let's get started!

September 4th: Saturday was the longest day I've ever felt, not including anything related to IB. Both my brother and I simply could not slip into a nice long coma to last the first leg of the trip. Instead, we watched movies and read fanfiction the entire time. In all honesty, wouldn't you? The airlines had new videos, such as Shrek Ever After, Letters to Juliet, and The Karate Kid. By the time we arrived for our 4 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany, everyone was cranky as all get-out. We did see almost every single ethnicity walk around us, though. Who knew there were so many cultures. It was a very good eye opener for me, I must say.

Anyway, a couple of coffees and sodas later, we hopped on the flight to Istanbul for a one-night stay. Besides the staff telling the passengers they could only have one carry-on item at the last moment before boarding (it simply was not possible for our group), I wouldn't call it a horrible flight. For one, I actually got some sleep in.

September 5th: We landed, put half the luggage (for school) in a locker at the airport, and boarded a Courtyard by Marriott bus. Note: when traveling to Istanbul (or anywhere in Turkey, for that matter), do not allow some stranger (mainly a man) to come up to you and take you to where you want to go. People in this country normally don't help a foreigner just for the sake of being helpful. This is a society founded off of entrepreneurship and they will expect compensation for going out of their way to help you. Anyway, we came to the hotel and a man came out of the front gate and circled the bus, looking underneath. This is because there have been hotels recently that have been bombed. You never know what could happen. Going through the front doors, we were herded through a scanner (similar to going through security at the airport).

With minimal confusion involved, we went up to our room and collapsed. My mom and brother brought back food authentic to the region while I was unpacking. It consisted of lentil soup, steamed carrot and cucumber slices in herbs and butter, pizza, and Turkish coffee. We read a little and passed out from shear exhaustion (no surprise - it was Sunday evening there, Sunday midday in Marietta. And so it began.

Feel free to comment. I'll catch up eventually, so please stay tuned! :)