Beautiful Izmir

On Tuesday we flew from Algiers to Izmir (on the Aegean coast of Turkey) through Istanbul on Turkish Air.  Turkish Air has excellent service and great food (for an airline).  We had a long and late night layover in Istanbul but everything went smoothly.  Our friend Fatih Tasgetiren was there (in the middle of the night) to welcome us at the Izmir Airport and arranged a private car to transport us to the Swiss Hotel.  This hotel is in the middle of the city and is probably the city's best hotel.  We had two nights to enjoy its amenities (all the sweeter after the relative hardships of Algeria).  Alice was in Izmir to review three prospective conference venue for a 2017 IEEE conference bid.  The first candidate was the Swiss Hotel.  

The Swiss Hotel as seen from our room in the Hilton Hotel in Izmir

The facade of the Swiss Hotel in Izmir -  a great place to stay with Nordic (or should I say Swiss) charm?

The Swiss Hotel put us up in an executive room with a spectacular view of the bay of Izmir.  We slept late and missed breakfast.  We were awakened with the Children's Day (a national holiday) activities outside on the waterfront. But not to worry, Alice's recently graduated Ph.D. student, Ozgur Kabadurmus, and his fiancee, Fatmanur, joined us for a great lunch at a famous kebab place nearby (Topcu).  The weather was super and the food was top notch. It felt great to be back in our second home, Turkey.

Some of the Children's Day celebrations on the waterfront

Surprisingly, the Swiss Hotel had a sculpture from the Colombian artist Fernado Botero.  We saw his work extensively when we were in Medellin in February.

Ozgur, Fatmanur and Alice with the view from the Swiss Hotel room

A delicious place for kebabs and other Turkish specialties in Izmir

Lunch with Efes beers - what could be better?

Alice is happy to see Ozgur - the first time since his graduation in August

The amazing and bountiful mezes

Ozgur's dish - a wrapped cheese and meat pastry topped with pistachios - yum!

Alice and Ozgur had a meeting with the sales staff at the Swiss Hotel and the manager of Bintur, the travel agency arm of the Yasar Group of Turkey.  The Yasar Group is a very major cooperation who also founded Yasar University where Fatih, Ozgur and Fatmanur all work as faculty members.  The manager, Selcuk Senel, arranged the free (!) stays and meetings at the hotels.  He is a whirlwind of energy and knowledge.  We toured the impressive facilities of the Swiss Hotel, which include acres of gardens - totally unexpected in the city center.

Randy and Alice then sampled the delights of the Executive Lounge Happy Hour briefly.  This consisted of superb appetizers and a full (and free) bar.  We joined Fatih, Ozgur and Fatmanur for a short walk along the water and thence to the fish restaurant in that area.  At dinner we were joined by Selcuk, his charming wife and excellently behaved baby daughter, the industrial engineering department chair, Murat Fadioglu and his vivacious wife, Vanessa, who is originally from Argentina (they met while both in school at University of Florida) and another faculty member, Onder Bulut.  We enjoyed lots of mezes, fresh fish from the Med, and wine (for Alice) and raki (for Randy).  

With Fatih on the Izmir waterfront

Izmir is especially beautiful at sunset (it faces west)

One of the renovated buildings on the waterfront - it looks like the U.S. northeast style

A vintage Izmir building with a ubiquitous portrait of Ataturk

Fatih and Alice are happy at the reunion

Bintur director extraordinaire - Selcuk Senel

Selcuk's pretty and friendly wife (and new mother to the sweetest baby in Turkey)

The engaged couple - getting married later in May in Istanbul

Randy enjoys his raki in a "pleasure keeper" - keeps the spirit cold without diluting it - a new experience for Randy

Murat and Vanessa also enjoy the night out

Onder plans a move to Kuwait - Onder, don't do it!

The night view from our room at the Swiss Hotel - beautiful Izmir!

The next day started with breakfast at the Executive Lounge - again, quite impressive.  Including a fancy coffee machine that grinds the beans to order and makes about whatever you could want automatically (Alice always opts for an Americano - black).  We then transferred with Sami Hasaltin, Selcuk's assistant, to Cesme, a resort town about one hour from Izmir.  It is located on a beautiful peninsula and we stayed at the Yasar Group's hotel there, the Altin Yunus (Golden Dolphin).  This is a typical Turkish high class all inclusive beach resort.  We were give a suite (two rooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms) with a balcony overlooking the marina and bay.  The Altin Yunus has a great location and beautiful grounds but is a little tired in decor and furnishings.  The food was about what you would expect from an all inclusive place.  

The golden dolphin statue of the Altin Yunus Hotel in Cesme

The main entrance of this resort hotel owned by the Yasar Group

Randomly, Turkey's first windmill for electric power is preserved on the hotel grounds.  Nearby, there are plenty of modern windmills generating electric power for the masses in western Turkey.

The bedroom area of our suite at the Altin Yunus

The living room - but the best thing was having two bathrooms!

The marina / sea view from our balcony

Alice and Selcuk met with the sales director there, the pretty, efficient and personable Banu Arat Timucin, and toured the facilities while Randy enjoyed relaxing on the balcony with the sea in front of him.  Alice and Randy then walked to the beach (a short walk on the other side of the resort) and a glass of wine/beer on the terrace.  Fatih was coming from Izmir with his graduate students (all lovely young ladies) and his young colleague, Onder Bulut.  We enjoyed dinner in a private dining setting with Banu and had fresh fish and wine.  After dinner we had drinks on the terrace.  Fatih and his crew from Yasar University stayed up to enjoy the setting while we went to bed (boring!).

The beach was pretty sandy by Turkish standards (they are used to rocky beaches) but the water was too cold for us to swim

Some of the flowers blooming on the hotel grounds

A dual selfie on the terrace

Happy hour

Fatih and Onder get ready for dinner

Fatih's lovely and smart graduate students

After breakfast, we were again escorted in an excellent manner by Sami back to Izmir, this time to the Hilton Hotel.  This hotel is also located in the city center and is an impressive highrise.  The hotel gave us an executive room with breathtaking (literally) views of Izmir from the 26th floor.  They also sent wine, assorted chocolate desserts, fruit and nuts to the room.  We could get used to this kind of travel!  After a fine lunch with wine at the very good hotel restaurant, we (Alice and Selcuk) again did the hotel tour, this time with two of the sales staff of the Hilton.  It is a beautiful hotel and a good choice if you visit Izmir.  Between the Swiss Hotel and the Hilton Hotel it would be hard to choose.  After the business concluded, Ozgur and Fatmanur joined us for a walk to the historic sights of Izmir.

Our final night in Izmir - the comforts and style (and excellent food) of the Hilton Hotel

View from our room on the 26th floor

We viewed a large and well kept active church a few blocks away - Basilica of Saint John.  Sadly, the most historic (and still active) church - Saint Polycarp - is only open to groups so we could not enter.  We wandered indirectly through the old bazaar area to the forum of Izmir.  This is gated and was closed so we could only view the ruins (not that impressive) from the outside.  We did a little shopping on the way back and then all enjoyed the Happy Hour spread at the Hilton Executive Lounge.

The large and functioning church in the city center

The entrance has a courtyard

The tasteful interior

Note the Turkish

The very nicely decorated dome

A sweet cat in the courtyard

A row of book sellers in the central city.  There was also a large international book fair going on in the city while we were there.

The oldest church in Izmir still standing and operating

The exterior - the interior will have to wait for another trip as it is only open to scheduled groups

A park in the central city

One of the happy street dogs of Izmir.  Turkey has many such dogs - they are tagged and seem mostly well cared for.  They are non-threatening and usually very large dogs.

Fatmanur and Ozgur are enjoying life in Izmir (both are natives of Istanbul)

A old han turned into shopping area in the historic area

Part of the Izmir forum as viewed from outside the fence - we arrived too late to go inside - next time!

The cute but weird billboard in the center city

We were to join Fatih across the bay in the Karsiyaka/Bostanli neighborhood for fish at a local mehane (a fish and drinking restaurant).  We did this by taking the commuter ferry across.  The ride was terrific as it was sun set and seeing the city from water was really special.  At the other side of the bay (the north side) we met up with Omer, Yucel and Duru Ozturkoglu.  Omer and Yucel both got doctorates from Auburn University and are now on the faculty of Yasar University.  We enjoyed about 15 happy minutes with them before we walked over to the fish restaurant.  

The best time in Izmir - sunset

At the ferry dock in the city center

Randy and Ozgur wait for the ferry

Ozgur relaxes on the ferry

The city center from the ferry

All four of us on the ferry

We reach Karsiyaka - literally, the other side

Our ferry boat

View from the "other side" towards the central city

The Ozturkoglus - Omer, Yucel and Duru

We are happy to see this sweet family again

We met briefly at a cafe before dinner to have an Auburn reunion

Fatih treated us right with assorted cold and hot mezes, fresh fish, raki and wine.  Alice and Fatmanur fed the local cats with their leftover fish.  (We were eating outside.)  It was a relaxed and fun evening.  We then cabbed back to the comforts of the Hilton.  We met Selcuk, his wife and baby, and the sales director of the Hilton for breakfast at the main Hilton restaurant the next morning.  This was a large buffet including omelets and waffles to order.  We took full advantage.  Afterwards, the ever faithful Sami took us to the Izmir airport where we boarded our short flight to Ankara on Anadolu Airlines (a branch of Turkish Air).  We had to pay substantial overweight baggage fees but there was no choice.  Saturday late afternoon we arrived in Ankara.

Izmir is a beautiful city that is easy to live in - affordable, reasonable traffic, many amenities.  It is also the most liberal and western thinking of the Turkish areas.  Head scarfs and other coverings are unusual and restaurants with alcohol abound.  The lifestyle is truly Mediterranean and appealing.  As an added bonus we have old and new friends in the city - we plan to return next year!