Dad & Mary visit Türkiye

I was fortunate to have my father, Ned, and his wife, Mary, come for a visit early this year during my two week semester break at the end of January. It was the first time for each of them to visit the country I have been calling home for seven years. For my Dad, with two of his children calling Türkiye “home,” I guess it seemed like a good time to make the trek around the globe. It helps that January in Michigan is cold and dreary, so heading to a sunny destination was an added bonus.

We were VERY lucky to only experience one real day of rain (more on that later) and their visit was BEFORE the cold snap that came in February. They started with a few nights here in Izmir to address any jet lag. Then we made a road trip via Betsy (my car) to Dalyan in Muğla, and then on to Pamukkale, in Denizli, before returning to Izmir for the final five nights. We joined Fawn in Dalyan and afterwards the four of us traveled together, and Fawn returned to Izmir with us. Keeping interests in mind, I did my best to craft an itinerary for the visit which would be suitable for everyone (to be honest this was almost half of the fun for me–I love the planning and organizing!).

FIRST DAYS IN IZMIR

I loved having the opportunity to show Dad and Mary “my world” so to speak. It included touring my school campus and library, spending time in my apartment and on my rooftop terrace, walking around my neighborhood, and of course meeting my colleagues and friends. I made chili for their first night and we enjoyed sitting out on the terrace which is a place I spend a lot of time on–alone, and with friends. Other evenings we went outside to visit the seaside pub restaurants and to meet up with friends such as Erden and Frances, and with Fatih’s son, Kaan. And we enjoyed a lovely dinner at home prepared by Fatih and Ibo for which Fatih’s mother, Emine, was a special guest (it was her first time to visit my apartment). 

DALYAN DAYS

For this segment of the visit we introduced Dad and Mary to our gem of a village. It is a unique place where lake, river, sea, and mountains intersect in a stunning tapestry. And of course meeting some of our friends that make the place special.

We also made a day trip to Fethiye to visit the ghost village of Kayaköy (part of the population exchange that occurred in 1923). Fawn and I had both visited before, but we decided this would be a different type of historic site from the others we would visit afterwards which were all more traditional ancient cities. It was definitely a better season to visit the site as it is fully sun-exposed with no shade, as is true of most historic sites. 

Though it was the off-season for Dalyan, I was able to organize a boat trip to Lake Köyceğiz. We rode through the reeds, toured around the lake, and enjoyed a barbecue lunch on the water, surrounded by beautiful nature and perfect weather (sunny and about 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit). Dad, Mary, and Fawn got to enjoy having the Sultaniye Mud baths nearly all to themselves (and Fawn took a quick dip in the lake too!). 

And last, but not least, Fawn collected together some of her Dalyan community to celebrate her milestone 60th birthday at Temsi Restaurant. Once again she and I exist in different decades, only briefly sharing the same one for about a year or so. 

ROAD TRIP TO DENIZLI

We departed Dalyan for a bit of a road trip to allow our guests to see more of the country’s landscape, and in order to visit a additional key sites. We encountered our one day of rain on the travel day. Thankfully it wasn’t a torrential downpour so the driving wasn’t difficult.

But it did make our side trip to Lake Salda a waste of time. Because there was no sunlight to illuminate the water, the water did not appear as stunningly blue as I know it can be. We still rode the shuttle out to the edge, umbrellas and all, and then back to the car and made our way onwards to Pamukkale. We arrived to the hotel after dark.

We stayed two nights at Adempira Thermal Hotels–where we tried their thermal waters (meh!–it was overly crowded and, in my opinion, the waters were lukewarm at best. I much preferred Pam Thermal Hotel from my previous visit).  We enjoyed the buffet breakfasts and dinners (something for everyone, no matter their preferences), and each of us enjoyed a massage or Turkish hammam experience on our final evening in Denizli (thanks to Dad for this treat!).

Thankfully the rain and clouds had cleared and we were able to tour Hierapolis (ancient city) and visit the Pamukkale travertines (created by minerals left behind from the flowing thermal waters) on our full day in the area.

As I had hoped, they enjoyed seeing the landscape along the drive (Dad noted that there was only ONE kind of pine tree in every forest we drove past–you know he is the eternal forester, always curious about the trees in a place) and visiting the travertines and the ancient city.

On the drive back to Izmir we took a brief detour and visited Afrodisias, perhaps one of the most stunning ancient cities as it has a very unique oblong stadium (one can really envision the chariot and foot races one has seen in all the gladiator style films). I visited this site in my first year at ACI and was mystified by it (partly on account of it being after a rain storm with low lying clouds enveloping the site AND red poppies blooming on the ground). Sadly the museum there, which is excellent, was closed for upgrades. However, we enjoyed the walk and had a tea at the cafe there before continuing home to Izmir. 

RETURN TO THE BIG CITY

Once back in İzmir we visited Kemeraltı, our covered and historic bazaar, where Mary was able to do some shopping for souvenirs and gifts for people back home, and Dad and Mary could try salep, a tasty winter drink. We visited the historic Asansör (elevator) and made a privately guided day-trip to Ephesus (featured photo at the top of this post is in front of the Library of Celsus), St John’s Basilica, and the House of Mary. We took a walk to İnciraltı, the largest green space near my neighborhood, to see the flamingos there as well as a number of other water fowl and birds.

We enjoyed a “meyhane night” in Alscancak with assorted friends and family, a Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı) in Urla one morning, and finally a last supper at Isabey Winery which allowed me to share with everyone the wonderful public transport system available in the city (metro to Izban), not to mention good wine and delicious food. It was a beautiful last night together.

I drove Dad and Mary to the airport very early in the morning on February 1st, and then took Fawn on to the Bus terminal so that she could return to her home in Dalyan. All-in-all it was a wonderful two weeks together. I love that more than half of my immediate family has visited me here. 

I heard that when my brother, Forest, called dad after his return home and asked, “well, what was your favorite part or thing?,” my father replied something like, “it’s impossible to select one thing, it was all wonderful!” It doesn’t get much better than that!