Aegean and Aegean

Today I went to Ceşme. It’s a town and a  peninsula that juts into the Aegean. It’s very close to Izmir and many families have had vacation homes there for quite a while. It seems that most people in Izmir go to Ceşme for the summer and it’s easy to see why. 

This was the first time I've ever dipped my toe in salt water so it was an especially interesting experienced for me. I was amazed at how buoyant I was in it.  My Turkish is still developing but I can at least successfully order tea and say hello. Today I learned the words for "sand" and "sea" and met some new friends.

I know it's hard to pick me out but from left to right is Anıl, Mert, Myself (Note the golden tan and toned librarian physique) and Murat. They're all brothers and, like every other Turkish person, extremely friendly and hospitable.  They fed me so I'll be coming back to Ceşme and the küçük plaj (little beach) very soon.