Aegean Pearls: My Life in Izmir

Since arriving in Turkey, I've known I wanted to hike. It's been hard to do: temperatures have been in the mid-30s most days since I arrived at the beginning of August (it is now mid-September). But I really want to see this country and experience it, and hiking is the best way to do both. My third week in country I found the article " The Most Beautiful Hiking Routes in Izmir ," and I've taken it as a personal challenge. Over the Victory Day (August 30) weekend, I chose the trip to the Ionian city of Teos. To get to this ancient city, I hopped on a bus at a stop around the corner from my house. It was a three hour bus ride with two transfers. It was totally worth it. I was in such a hurry to see an ancient city -- I prefer the term, "lost city," because I am an Indiana Jones fan, but the fact is that the site is open to all-comers -- that I got off the bus one stop too soon.  I quickly found a path into the site via the "back way." As I follow...

  Two dimensional, The colors of Aegean sunset Splay the horizon I'm up to most challenges, but Aegean sunsets have me in thrall. I don't know if I'll ever be able to describe them. The poem above was one of my first tries. It may take me years. The most beautiful sunsets I've seen were in Arizona. Those were vivid, 3D spectacles that reached orange-purple arms across the sky and embraced me. I'm not sure if it's the summer haze or a lack of clouds (I asked someone, "When will it rain again?" and they told me, "October."), but the sunsets look like a watercolor painting, back-and-forth swathes of color. Zoom in on this photo and look at the horizon. There are deep-purple mountains (or islands--that's a mystery I WILL uncover personally, I assure you) just above the waves.