Izmir

We landed in Izmir, Turkey's 3rd largest city with 3 million people. The noise was constant and there was very little wind even though it is a port city. We spent about 2 weeks there over 3 different visits. Mick's grandmother and aunt had lived there and we stayed with family friends who had looked after the grandmother in her later years.







Atatürk. There were images of him everywhere but this was by far the most impressive. In the early 20th century he transformed Turkey into a more westernized culture. He secularized the government, changed the writing from Arabic alphabet to Latin and he is most revered for throwing the Greeks out of Turkey in 1922.





Aunt Nezi and I with the family friends...Oyna, oyna...dance dance.

The mosque near their home



Nephew

All the ladies

Us with the nephews







Old synagogue



Political message spray painted on the concrete.

Face pimped. The families 23-year-old daughter attacked me with make-up. It was the 9th of September the first day of a 3 day holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan and also a special day for Izmir celebrating their independence from Greece.

Holiday shopping.