Izmir Conference - Day 1

Aili’s conference started today so Suzel and I joined the other spouses for the ‘Accompanying Persons’ tour of İzmır. We started at the Kadifekale castle built by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. with amazing views of the city and adjoining bay. Next, we headed down the hill to the Agora – an ancient site built by the Romans with arches and columns still be excavated today. Our group of ten in a little tour bus has a full police escort the whole way – with a motorcycle cop flashing his blue light and stopping traffic in front and a chase car following us. At each stop, our group has four policemen in suits with earpieces and walkie-talkies on our parameter at all times. I’m not sure if they were watching us or watching out for us but we get quite the looks from the locals!

Views from Kadifekale

The Ancient Agora in Izmir

After lunch with our significant others at the conference, we were off to the market in the old part of Izmir. Like a mini-Grand Bazaar, there were shops selling carpets, nagiles, lamps, jewelry and all sorts of antiques. Little cafes surrounded the market and dominated the middle square and the locals were all sitting, drinking their little glasses of tea. Suzel and I wandered up stairs and peeked into several artisan shops were tiny men worked away on jewelry. The building looked several hundreds years old, but our secret service escorts couldn’t give us much historical background (at least not in English). That evening we again joined the conference participants for an elaborate four course Turkish diner with authentic folk music and speeches by the conference administrators and local politicians in both Turkish and English. I think I’ll be skipping breakfast in the morning.