These old men. Gotta love them... until they get a bit creepy.
So I hopped off the train this morning in Izmır, checked into a hotel, then headed toward the water. I would call it the 'corniche' but appears that I'm not in the Arabic-speaking world anymore.
Well, there I am, walking along the waterfront, when someone starts talking to me in Turkish. I am blending in now, since nearly everyone wears Western clothes and there isn't too much of a distinctive 'Turk' look that is prevalent around here.
Anyway, someone starts talking to me in Turkish, and it is this friendly-faced, white-haired, grandfatherly man. He (and most Turks) apparently know the word 'tourist' so we get that out there. Then I pull out my Lonely Planet (which has a useful phrases section in the back) so we attempted (and pretty much fail) at communicating through that.
Well, at some point during this walk and chat, we end up sitting on a park bench, and when a 'çay' man comes around, I have my first cup of tea for the morning.
Well, true to my desires to be an old man (and using the one of the three words in Turkish I know), I say 'tavla' (backgammon). And we are off again! He tucks my arm under his, and we find the nearest tea shop.
I don't think he was letting me win (he never did a bad move on purpose that I saw), but three times in a row I win. That's like my dream, beating an old Turkish guy at his own game.
We split up after that (I was getting a bit uncomfortable with the attention and the lack of English) and I headed to the pier.
I like boats and water and stuff, so I just on a random ferry headed to some town that is basically a suburb of Izmır. And looks like is it the shopping district as well! It was a nice pedestrian street with shops all along it and throngs of people. Someone told me today was a holiday (ne
ver figured out if it actually was) but there was a lot of the high school crowd there so I wouldn't be surprised.
Spent a lot of time walking, a little time getting my shoes repaired (remember those red sandals I love? The sole was falling off... but no longer! Glued back on for 5 TL or $3.50). With repaired shoes, I could walk all the more!
Had my first döner kabob since I've been in Turkey (similar to a shwarma, so of course I loved it) and hopped on the ferry back.
At which point I wandered up and down the waterfront, having a brief conversation with two Englishmen here for work, a waiter dote on me in a cafe where I got ice cream (and my third cup of tea paid for by a man today...), and some spatters of rain. (When I say 'dote', he noticed I got cold and put my scarf on so he brought over a blanket... wasn't that sweet? Probably should've stuck around for a conversation...) I have a few more books to last me through the evening if I decide to stay in, but the weather has gotten a bit better... so time to venture again!
(Also, for those of you tracking my progress, I think I'll head to Çeşme tomorrow and stay there for the night then head to Istanbul Tuesday morning, but I haven't looked at bus schedules at all, so we'll see what tomorrow brings!)
So I hopped off the train this morning in Izmır, checked into a hotel, then headed toward the water. I would call it the 'corniche' but appears that I'm not in the Arabic-speaking world anymore.
Well, there I am, walking along the waterfront, when someone starts talking to me in Turkish. I am blending in now, since nearly everyone wears Western clothes and there isn't too much of a distinctive 'Turk' look that is prevalent around here.
Anyway, someone starts talking to me in Turkish, and it is this friendly-faced, white-haired, grandfatherly man. He (and most Turks) apparently know the word 'tourist' so we get that out there. Then I pull out my Lonely Planet (which has a useful phrases section in the back) so we attempted (and pretty much fail) at communicating through that.
Well, at some point during this walk and chat, we end up sitting on a park bench, and when a 'çay' man comes around, I have my first cup of tea for the morning.
Well, true to my desires to be an old man (and using the one of the three words in Turkish I know), I say 'tavla' (backgammon). And we are off again! He tucks my arm under his, and we find the nearest tea shop.
I don't think he was letting me win (he never did a bad move on purpose that I saw), but three times in a row I win. That's like my dream, beating an old Turkish guy at his own game.
We split up after that (I was getting a bit uncomfortable with the attention and the lack of English) and I headed to the pier.
I like boats and water and stuff, so I just on a random ferry headed to some town that is basically a suburb of Izmır. And looks like is it the shopping district as well! It was a nice pedestrian street with shops all along it and throngs of people. Someone told me today was a holiday (ne
ver figured out if it actually was) but there was a lot of the high school crowd there so I wouldn't be surprised.Spent a lot of time walking, a little time getting my shoes repaired (remember those red sandals I love? The sole was falling off... but no longer! Glued back on for 5 TL or $3.50). With repaired shoes, I could walk all the more!
Had my first döner kabob since I've been in Turkey (similar to a shwarma, so of course I loved it) and hopped on the ferry back.
At which point I wandered up and down the waterfront, having a brief conversation with two Englishmen here for work, a waiter dote on me in a cafe where I got ice cream (and my third cup of tea paid for by a man today...), and some spatters of rain. (When I say 'dote', he noticed I got cold and put my scarf on so he brought over a blanket... wasn't that sweet? Probably should've stuck around for a conversation...) I have a few more books to last me through the evening if I decide to stay in, but the weather has gotten a bit better... so time to venture again!
(Also, for those of you tracking my progress, I think I'll head to Çeşme tomorrow and stay there for the night then head to Istanbul Tuesday morning, but I haven't looked at bus schedules at all, so we'll see what tomorrow brings!)
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