Hosting a visitor

April 21, 2023

Hosting a visitor

ONE of the joys of living in Turkey is showing a friend around. My well-traveled pal Phil Welsh duly arrived in April with no knowledge of the country and by the end of his one-week stay was a confirmed Turkophile.

We had beautiful meals out in Kusadasi and Tire costing between 300TL (about £12.50) for two people for a home-cooking style lunch in Tire to 1015TL (about £42) for a two-course meal in Kusadasi's Palm Beach, including three beers and two aperitifs (and a decent tip).

On his first full day, we took my dogs for a walk up the mountain above my village. A car drew up and two men who work for the American-owned company that operates 36 wind turbines in the area invited us for coffee. When we arrived at their sub-station we were treated to an amazing guided tour and an explanation of how the turbines generate power not just for Turkey's grid but for neighbouring countries.

The fins are 50m long and have a section of jagged metal to mitigate noise.

Phil and I

A fin that had been damaged beyond repair.

Fins ain't what they used to be?

Right to left: The boss (with beard), Phil and

two highly skilled workers

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It was soon time to introduce Phil to the traditional (massive) Turkish breakfast. Egg, toast, borek pastry, bread, chips, tomatoes, cucumber, rocca leaves, peppers, jams, honey, butter, cream, tea, several cheeses, olives, two sauces/dips, more tea. All for £5.20 a head.

We went to the nearest beach (Pamucak) about 45 minutes' drive away to walk the dogs and meet (and feed) some strays. There were four pups on the shoreline, with their mother.

No visit to Turkey is complete without a trip to the barber for a shave with a cutthroat razor, a trim of the nose hair and having your ear fluff burned off with a lighted taper. In Tire this costs 40TL (about £1.65) including the after-shave rub and a perfume spray to your sternum. Phil declined the face-pack.

Next up was a trip to local felt expert Arif Con, where Phil fell in love with the waistcoats. They were all too small for his frame so he had to have one made to measure, A local tailor duly obliged using material supplied by Arif. In three days he knocked up a beautiful lined garment costing around £62. You can learn more about Arif's work here.... https://www.conkece.com/

A fitting

Finished article

More of Arif'swork

Arif and assistant Dilek hard at work

Arif specialises in silk scarves, with felt edging.

They make brilliant wall hangings when framed.

We couldn't miss the famous Tire (Tuesday) market, allegedly the biggest in Turkey, where every street in the town centre is full of stalls. Until recently there was a man selling live LEECHES,

Next stop was Sirince, known for its wine production, both fruit wine and traditional grape wine.

View of the town

One day we went on a tour of sites south and west of Izmir, taking in Alacati and Urla.

Alacati

Urla

The highlight of Phil's visit was undoubtedly a trip to Ephesus. It's now 400TL to get in (£16.60). And you have to pay an extra £7 to enter the terraced houses. But if you pay 700TL (about £29) you can enter the houses, the Ephesus museum in Selcuk and St John's Basilica.

By the way, I have a Muze Kart (wonderful value at 60TL). But it only gets you into the site. You still have to pay the 170TL for the terraced apartments.

The amphitheater that held 24,000.

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The terraced houses

Sarcophagus

South Korean "influencers" in a photoshoot

outside probably one of the most iconic buildings: the library

Phil with column

Public latrines

My personal favourite....the public latrines

Ephesus was once a thriving port at the end of the Silk Road. Now there is an ambitious scheme to link the sea once again to the famous UNESCO site. A harbour has been made and a canal will be created to bring small tourist boats to the historical site.