Day 4--Ismir (Smyrna)

It definitely was an early morning! We had a wake-up call at 5:15, got up, had our bags in the hall, ate breakfast, and were on the bus ready to roll by 6:15. At this point our group is (as Bonnie describes it) "under-slept and over-fed". However, before our bus pulled away from the hotel’s internet connection, we managed to get an e-mail from Jessica with the wonderful news that Connie’s surgery had gone well. The group was very thankful for the good news.

The flight to Ismir was short and uneventful. The seat assignments had no rhyme or reason, and very few couples ended up seated together. My seat on the plane was with Jarred. I have no complaints, but you might need to check with him for a second opinion.

Ismir is known as Smyrna in the Bible (Rev. 2:8-11). It is now Turkey’s second or third largest city, and as with all big cities, traffic control is a major issue. Our guide, Orhan, is still with us, and we are getting accustomed to his brand of Turkish-English. He begins many sentences with something that sounds like, "Ladies and Yentlemen…"

The weather today was partly-cloudy and comfortably cool…nice for sight-seeing, but a clear blue sky would have been better for photographs. Our first stop was at the top of Mount Pagos for a beautiful overview of the city and the Aegean Sea. Local women set up carpet looms on Mount Pagos, and it was interesting to watch them work their craft.

We drove down the mountain to the area of the only remains of the city of Smyrna from the second century. We were impressed with what we saw and watched workers in the area as they carefully uncovered additional ruins. Perhaps the next time we come (!) there will be even more to see. One photo shows Ferrell, Olen and Lucy exploring the underground level and water system of the agora (marketplace). The other photo is of Lucy and me in front of the columns at the agora.

For lunch, the bus dropped us off in a lovely, modern area of town with many outdoor restaurants just across the street from the Aegean Sea. The peanut-butter-crackers-for-lunch-bunch enjoyed a table with a view, and treated ourselves to ice cream bars for dessert before we took a walk beside the water. At the front table are Lucy, Jack, Margaret, Olen and Donna Jo. Those at the table in the background are Catherine, Buddy, Marge, and Dave.

We drove by the Konak Clock Tower on our way to the Archaeological Museum and then made a brief stop at a church named for the martyr Polycarp before arriving at our hotel late this afternoon. As we checked in the hotel, one of the room-assignments had been confused somewhat. Norm was assigned to Shirley’s room, which caused several bloggers on our group to make a mad dash for the internet! Barbara Jo: Not to worry. Appropriate changes were made before the group left the lobby, but it does make an interesting story! Dinner is scheduled for 7:00 tonight, and Dr. Mark Wilson will be our guest for dinner. He has promised to speak to our group for a few minutes after dinner. Dr. Wilson is the gentlemen who helped Ferrell locate the Roman Road just north of Tarsus that we were so excited about when we were of the tour of central Turkey last spring.

If I hurry there might be time for a short nap before dinner. Our day was great! I hope you can say the same!