Istanbul Day Four

 Today’s title is a bit of a misnomer. We’re off for an overnight at Gun and Rashad’s summer house in Ezine on the very western tip of Turkey’s Asian side. The four hour drive was punctuated by a breakfast stop. Lucky me, I can read food descriptions in Turkish well enough to stumble my way through a menu. Chay Teshekular. Chain stores always have interesting localizations outside of the US and Starbucks is no different. A stop there revealed that they serve Turkish tea and even have a branded Turkish style tea set here. If I wasn’t going to be on the road for another month I’d buy it.

After another eternity we arrived at the house. On the way, crossing another world record bridge. The Canakkale bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world and extraordinarily impressive. As you drive up it looks like The Golden Gate until you realize just how massive it is. This behemoth is over a mile and a quarter long and nearly empty. Only one toll lane is open and a guard checks ID for everyone passing by. It feels like a typical strongman project. The historical win for a Turk of building the first permanent crossing of the Dardanelles should not be overlooked. Much of the new road infrastructure we saw on the way felt the same. Immense, incredibly well cared for, and empty.

Beggars everywhere

We unloaded the car and set off in search of history, first at the Apollon Smintheion. This is an ancient Roman temple complex in the area. The ruins are incredibly well preserved and make an embarrassment of anything I saw in Italy. You can see most of the temple, the gathering halls, and the hammam. The spring which fed the complex is still running today.

You don’t get that in Rome

An odd note from when I entered. The tickets for entry are denominated in Euros, which I have abandoned. I asked the man if I could pay in local currency and he took some time to crunch the total with today’s exchange rate for me, down to the nearest Lira. In the end he short changed me a quarter but what am I gong to complain about, that’s about a half penny. My hope was to thin out my wallet since it was at drug dealer thickness. After giving Kivilcim the five Lira notes and quarters I was a little closer to my goal. She was about a dime richer for it.

A ruin

Our next stop was just down the road in Assos. Hilariously named and beautifully located, an ancient port city on a hill from which you can see a ruined acropolis, theater, and Lesbos. Aristotle called this place home and the local tchotchke sellers are more than happy to send you back with a reminder of his image. The ancient city is still being excavated and has more to tell us still.

Akropoli

We went down the hill to the port for dinner at one of the many restaurants where you point at a fish and they fill it with your choice of Mezze. Great fun. Some of the selections were unfamiliar to Kivilcim as well so Jake and I were not the only two venturing into the unknown. To round off the night we went back to the house and gathered in the living room. Gun made tea and Rashad roasted chestnuts in an effort to stave off the cold. Since the house is a summer home, it has no heater and we were making do with blankets and an electric space heater. With warm company, that is more than enough.