Izmir with Friends: Day trip to Tokoğlu, a winery, & Urla

Yes, we came to Izmir to see old friends (who live here) and get some relaxation.  We're about dead center on the western coast of Turkey.  

"İzmir is a metropolitan city on the west coast of Anatolia, and capital of İzmir Province. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara, and the largest urban center on the Aegean Sea.

In 2019, the city of İzmir had a population of 2,965,900, while İzmir Province had a total population of 4,367,251. 
İzmir has more than 3,000 years of recorded urban history, and up to 8,500 years of history as a human settlement since the Neolithic period. In classical antiquity the city was known as Smyrna – a name which remained in use in English and various other languages until around 1930, when it gradually phased out in favor of its Turkish counterpart İzmir."


On our first full day, Dan and Banu took us on a car tour that began with a car ferry across Izmir's bay and then westward about fifty miles.

Here are Banu and Dan (better photos to follow), as they lead us on a tour of Tokoğlu.  Gerri met them when they were all U.S. Air Force officers in Utah, and last seen them in 2003.  There was no real contact since then, save for maintaining  inactive contacts on Facebook - Banu noticed Gerri posting our future plans to visit Turkey and reached out to us.  Banu (who is from Turkey) and Dan have been living in Turkey for almost a year.  They provided advice for our planning, and we made plans to see them before leaving Turkey.

Here's a sensible way to deliver packages in an old village loaded with tourists.

Rick Steves:  "Considered the George Washington of the Turks, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk almost single-handedly created modern-day Turkey from the battle-torn, corrupt, demoralized remnants of the Ottoman Empire (he was the President from 1923-1938)"  -- we see his image all over Turkey.

We never really thought about it, but artichokes do bloom if left alone.  Hmmm, is glass cleaner involved?

An eye bead or naẓar (from Arabic  meaning 'sight', 'surveillance', 'attention') is an eye-shaped amulet believed by many to protect against the evil eye.  In Turkey, it is known by the name nazar boncuğu.

Do not drink tap water in Turkey - it's generally safe and clean, but purification processes might not agree with your tummy.

Brunch is served...

Ah, there's a better photo of Dan and Banu...and another one of those feast of many plates for the first meal of the day.

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Mr. Turtle "Let's Ride!"

Cats on the prowl...

The mail never stops...

...hoping for a handout.

Bargains at the Saturday Market abound...

​Now at a winery in the hills - MMG Winery - thanks to Banu and Dan for the fantastic vino!

This is one of their favorites with the stunning views of the hills with vineyards...

Here, just past mid-May, the grapes are still very young...

Now we hit another quaint little old town - a part of the larger town of Urla...

An early dinner is served up - don't confuse these dishes with "left overs" - it tasted very good.

Another public service message:
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​The XEV Yoyo is an electric city car manufactured by Italian-Hong Kong-based startup XEV.  It has a replaceable battery pack, accessible from the rear bumper, that allows for rapid swapping of batteries that saves time compared to plug-in charging. It also has a front mounted charging port.

XEV designed this car using only 57 components. The only parts that are not 3D printed are the chassis, seats and glass components.  It has a top speed of 89 km/h (55 mph) and a maximum range of 150 km (93 mi).