Dad in Turkey - Izmir

Hi All

It is Wednesday evening and we are in Izmir on the west coast of Turkey. Izmir is the largest port in this area. We are staying the Hilton Hotel. My room is on the 30th floor and over looks the harbor. Fantastic view.

Today we visited the largest archaelogical ruin in Turkey. The town of Efes was founded in 700 BC by the Greeks. Then it changed hands many times. It was ruled by the Romans, Turks, back to the Romans, etc., etc. In the 2nd century AD there were 250.000 people living in the city. It was the 4th largest city of the Roman Empire. In 900AD the city was totally abandoned because of frequent and devistating earthquakes. During one quake the major river supplying most of their water changed course and the harbor silted over. When that happened large swamps developed and malaria became so bad, they decided to move inland. So for 1000 years the city was slowly covered by dirt and it wasn't until 1904 when some Austrian archaelgists started digging in the area did they realize what was there.

Tomorrow will be our longest travel day. Wake up call at 6, bags out in the hallway at 6:30 and on the bus at 7. We are heading north to see Troy and hear about the famous horse. Then the following morning we visit a famous battle field of the 1st WW before driving on to Istanbul. Saturday we will have a full day city tour and then a farewell dinner. Sunday everybody heads home.

My travel companion for the past week is a widow from Cambridge, England. She is well traveled but this is her 1st package tour. She has enjoyed it, except for a mis-hap 2 days ago. She slipped and fell and cracked a bone in right wrist. We have three doctors in our group, so she has been well looked after. She will wait until she gets back to Cambridge to get it X-Rayed and put in a cast, if necessary.

Our tour guide, Atakan, has been warning us since we left Istanbul that November is the rainy season in Turkey and that we should keep our raincoats and umbrellas handy. There were days when it looked threating but no rain. Today it caught up with us. We had rain at Efes, a real downpour when eating lunch and then a late afternoon storm here in Izmir after our arrival.

Well, it is 9:30 pm here, so I am going to log off and go to bed. Long day tomorrow.

Regards,

John