Izmir...and by that I mean....

Selçuk--Kuşadasi--Söke--Didim--Ephesus--Şirenci--Izmir

We [Emily, Becca, Susannah, Suay, and me] left campus at 6:30am, took a cab to the airport...arrived in Izmir around 10:30am. After several transfers of transportation, we arrived in Selçuk. We went to a museum, walked to St Jean's Church and Byzantine Fortress, and then bought lots of souvenirs! :-D

We made out way to the bus station and went to Kuşadasi which translates to "Bird Island" but they call is Pigeon Island [the reason revolved around the island being white because of all the pigeon poop?]. There is a castle covering the entire island so we ventured around for a bit and then we left for Söke. 

Suay lives in Söke. Her grandma lives in the apartment below, her family (Mother, Father and three daughters) live above. Lets just say...it made me miss my family even more! The 4 of us and Suay ate a delicious home cooked meal. It was exquisite! When her father came home from work rather late, we were introduced to Mezze which is basically appetizers. We had three different dishes and RAKI (the famous Turkish liquor). We stayed up very late but had such a wonderful evening!

St. Jean's church in Selçuk

Mezze & Raki

The next morning, we had a great breakfast of bread, cheese, honey, olives, and çay. This is the day of 10 transfers of transportation!

1. Dolmus in Söke
2. Bus to Didim [Temple of Apollo. Massive complex!]
3. Bus to Söke
4. Bus transfer to Kuşadasi
5. Bus to Ephesus [The best preserved classical city in the entire Mediterranean]
6. Cab to Şirenci [Old Greek village, known for its (free) wine-tasting...in every shop!]
7. Bus to Selçuk
8. Bus transfer to Kuşadasi
9. Bus transfer to Söke
10. Dolmus in Söke

Temple of Apollo-Massive columns

Temple of Apollo

The Library at Ephesus

I could go into more detail but that was the quick run-down. The actual city was Izmir wasn't that special. We went to a castle on the top of the hill and had a great view of the city! We went to the ancient ruins of Izmir...and then the rest of the afternoon we spent our time in the Bazaar shopping!

Indeed this is how we spent our four day weekend because it was the 87th Anniversary of the Turkish Republic!We returned Saturday, received a phone call Sunday morning from our Study Abroad director asking us if we were safely on campus because of the suicide bomber in Taksim square. Yes...I was freaked out. Taksim is a central place in Istanbul...when Mikita was here, we were there every night. So we weren't allowed to leave campus all of Sunday--that was the extent of our lockdown, but it is still quite nerve-wracking to know how close to terrorism I am right now. I'll keep y'all updated on what I know...but right now, that is all I know!