The next day we got up and got on another early morning flight. This time our final destination was Izmir, but we had to fly back to Istanbul first, then to Izmir, since there wasn't a direct flight. We arrived and checked into our hotel then went to lunch and to another market where Lofland, Arslan, and Camalan found these beautiful hats.
We spent the afternoon in a park near the Aegean Sea. Izmir is right on the coast and almost straight across the sea from Athens, Greece. It was warm and beautiful there.
We spent a while there. The boys had tea and then walked down the shoreline a ways, but we ladies just sat and enjoyed the peacefulness.
There were small jellyfish in the water, if you can tell. They're the translucent spots above the darker white bubbles.
And lots of barnacles
This is a sculpture of one of their leaders in the side of a mountain, a la Mt. Rushmore. I don't even know who he is.
That night we went to the house of one of our Turkish guys' family members. They made us an insanely huge meal, including an entire lamb and tons of side dishes. It was delicious. Then they gave us all gifts. I was so touched by their generosity and hospitality.
This was a very common sight in our hotels. The wi-fi signal wasn't very strong in most of them, so we often congregated in the hallway at night to connect with friends and family.
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