We woke up moderately early to pack, checkout and get on the road to make a 10:30a rental car return at the airport in Izmir. The highway to Izmir was really nice and not busy, running through the unpopulated countryside, allowing us to make good time.
Since we were well ahead of schedule, we decided to stop by our hotel for the evening to drop off our bags so we wouldn’t need to carry them back from the airport on the metro. The hotel was difficult to find while driving, so we got close and parked, them walked the one-way/blocked streets to find it. Once we knew where it was, we illicitly drove there and quickly dropped our bags.
We got back on the road, filled the rental car with gas and made it to the airport with time to spare. Side note on gas stations in Turkey: They are full service, but you go inside to pay with a slip the attendant gives you, then bring your receipt back out to the attendant *shrug*. The one difficulty we encountered was entering the rental car return area, which was blocked by a card key-locked gate. After puzzling on the gate quickly, we backed out of the way to let the cars behind us through. Trying again, we couldn’t find any way to activate the card key lock (so we’re now clearly frustrated/confused). then another car pulled up behind us. As we were getting ready to back out again, the person behind us came up and asked for our rental car “wallet”, then pressed an obscure button to manually open the gate and print a ticket that he put In the wallet and gave back to us. He then said “follow”, so after driving through the gate we followed him into the garage and directly to our rental return place. Once again we were impressed by how kind and helping the Turkish people have been.
With the car returned (and no luggage to carry), we also wanted to use this opportunity at the airport to get our rapid COVID (PCR) tests that are required for entry into Croatia. We had researched that the testing area was in the International terminal, so we walked the long route from the rental car returns to the terminal. Once there, we saw that the doors to the terminal said “passengers and staff only” with a security screening immediately inside. We watched for a minute and didn’t see anyone showing a boarding pass, so chose to go through the screening not know if/how we get out. Inside we found an information kiosk and, to our relief, learned the COVID testing area was nearby. We went there and got in what appear to be one of three lines that weren’t too long, but after 20 minutes we still hadn’t moved. At that point we were directed to another line with even more people, which was apparently the correct line to start in. 45 minutes and $30 later we had successfully gathered test vials and our unique test barcodes, then went to have the exam administered at one of the testing booths.
We had watched videos about Istanbul’s airport testing, which made Tammy happy since they were only doing oral swabs. As we stood in line for these exams though, Tammy realized that they were oral and nasal swabs - here she is being “probed”.
With COVID exams successfully administered, we were given a website to get our results allegedly in two hours. So we found the metro entrance, then wrestled with the metro card machines, only to find after purchasing one that the trains were free today (maybe because it’s Sunday?).
The ride into downtown was pretty full, so 30 minutes plus of uncomfortable standing. We then transferred from the metro to a tram, but in our rush to catch one, accidentally picked the one going the wrong direction. It wasn’t too long of a detour, but we were ready to be to the hotel by now. Once we switch trams and got off at the right stop, it was a short walk to the hotel. We‘ve seen many, many of these games throughout Turkey - they seem popular. It is essentially a punching bag game and you get points (for speed and power?).
After getting to our hotel (Emen‘s Hotel) we collected our backpacks (and now a Turkish dish), got checked in and shown to our room...now a well earned nap was in order :-).
We woke up and checked for our test results - nothing posted yet. It was well past lunchtime, so we headed out for food, walking toward the water. We quickly realized how hot Izmir is.
Needless to say, this significantly abbreviated our walking plan. We did make it to the water and had a good lunch at a somewhat Western influenced restaurant, but were alright with having some “home” food simply for the variety. Tammy had pasta and Don had pizza.
With a little food left over, we headed back to the hotel on a different route - but pretty much made a beeline for the A/C. Once the sun went down and the evening cooled off, we headed back out for one more adventure. The goal was to find dessert, but it turned into much more.
When we turned out of the alley onto the main street, there were people everywhere selling things on the sidewalk - like a giant flea market!
Our guess is that this happens every Sunday night in Izmir - how fun! We also noticed just how many people are sitting out on the sidewalks, in doorways and alleys, probably until their apartments cool down. It really make a vibrant community feel.
We walked a short distance then turned into what looked like a bustling food area. We walked by a several restaurants looking for desserts then found this place selling fried chicken. They were doing a lot of business so we decided we needed some. We thought we had ordered two pieces...here is what we ended up with.
It was two meals with four pieces each! To get chicken fresh from the fryer like this is a treat on its own, but the two meals only came to ~$4.50. The vibe in this place was planned mayhem, which made it that much more fun!
We walked through the neighborhood back streets on the return to the hotel and stopped in a couple small shops for dessert (finally) and a drink. There is so much going on in these streets that you never see by only walking the major roads (and maybe a little that you didn’t want to see).
This is a pic of the hotel as we returned tonight - another example of old & new together.
When we got the food all unpacked in the room, we realized that we had way too much. Don took one meal down to the reception desk of the hotel who seemed delighted to get a fried chicken dinner. Even with the pared down portions, we struggled to eat it all.
Then as we laid on the bed eating chicken, we got our COVID tests back - both negative. WE‘RE GOING TO CROATIA!
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