My Weekend in Izmir

Friday, Kursad and I had dinner on the Konak Pier because I hadn’t been there yet, and we were able to eat on it as the sun went down. We left quickly, taking a taxi to make it to the famous Elevator before the sun finished setting. We were there two minutes too late, but it was still a beautiful sight. Before we left to go back down, we noticed some stairs heading up the hill. I wanted to see what was up there, so we started walking. Getting to the top we saw it was only residential, but still a cool sight to look at. We climbed down and walked to Alsancak, where we watched the soccer match (everyone except America is obsessed with soccer).

Saturday I went to the fruit market Meline had told me about earlier this week, and walked around for a while mesmerized by the color and marketing of the sellers. Sounds odd, but as a business major I notice this stuff. When everyone is selling nearly the same product, you have to do something to stand out. And to make themselves more appealing, they had all the fruit organized perfectly. As soon as a customer left, they fixed whatever they moved. They created shapes and designs with the setup. I thought it was pretty nifty, and it made sense. It didn’t matter what fruit. Watermelon, lemons, cherries, even lettuce. I know I went crazy buying fruit, but it was so cheap!

After dropping off the fruit and hanging out in my room to avoid the heat, I went back out and adventured to Konak by myself. I wanted to find the old Bazaar that I was at earlier this week because they had some trinkets I liked but had decided to wait on. I wasn’t able to find it again, but I enjoyed a nice dinner by myself (something I’ll have to get more used to). I came back after watching the sunset. I don’t think watching the sun go down ever gets old.

Sunday my tour guide (Kursad) and I went to a restaurant by the sea and had a traditional Turkish breakfast. We ordered honey, dried tomatoes, cheese I’d never tried, regular tomatoes, jam, Turkish butter, and regular butter. It was all set in small dishes in the middle, and you take bread and dip it in each one. I got an over easy egg with salami and garlic, and it was good for something different with egg. I couldn’t get enough of the bread dipped in the different options. I wish I could duplicate it at home. I also had my first Turkish coffee, and it wasn’t as terrible as I’d thought it’d be. Still, it’s not as good as the tea!

This weekend was active and fun. I was nervous at first because I don’t know many people here and I thought I wouldn’t know what to do, but it was easy to keep myself busy.