Tuesday, September 14, 2010

At the beach

View from the roof (taken last year by my brother-in-law) of the hill behind the house.

The house


Grapes


My brother-in-law's awesome ride

Outdoor shower. Next time I'm going to rig one that provides warm water heated by the sun. I don't like cold showers even when it's 100 degrees out.

The lower terrace, where I often read and relaxed.

The beautiful, huge upper terrace, where we would join my brother-in-law's family to eat and play games. They later set up a tent for the boys to sleep in.

Looking down at the neighbors from the terrace.

Our room. I thought sleeping under a mosquito net would be awesome, but that thought stopped as soon as the net starting catching on my calloused feet.

Torrential downpour

River (that was once the road) created by said downpour.

Rain through the olive trees

The view of the sea from the terrace after the rain. It was the clearest the air had been in 4 weeks. It had been unusually humid the whole time which made the view of the distant hills hazy. The next few pictures were taken on a walk after the storm.


The boat







It looks and is pretty idyllic. The sea is only 50 yards from the house, and there are sandy beaches with shallow water for yards and yards (good for kids and people scared of the sea) and rocky beaches (good for snorkeling). Unfortunately there is a little to much garbage (i.e. plastic bottles and cigarette butts) lying around. Mick likes to say that Turkey is still in the 70's when it comes to that. And some of the beachfront bars and businesses play music really really loudly, which ruins the tranquility that the area would normally have. Apparently it was relatively quiet because it was Ramadan. All the houses in the area could be taken away at any moment by the government since historical pottery was found in the area. Hopefully we can keep enjoying the place as long as possible.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Ocean Drive

The drive along the Aegean coast from Izmir north towards Dikili, where our beach house is located.










Sunday, September 12, 2010

Markets

The Sunday bazaar from the Şirinyer district of Izmir.











Downtown Izmir's daily bazaar named Kemeraltı.


Good luck charms





Cream puff Brides




Circumcision ceremony robes. Ask Mick about his very painful circumcision involving non-working anesthetics, scissors, and a 10 year-old swearing out the "doctor" and all his ancestors.

Zombie circumcision boy