Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapi Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

On Wednesday we finally had a day to relax. Part of me felt guilty for not getting out and exploring Izmir more but after leaving home at 10 AM on Saturday and not arriving at our final destination until Monday afternoon, followed by a go-go-go day on Tuesday, we were all ready for some down time.

While we slept in a bit, we did make sure we were up in time to visit the breakfast buffet.  And oh. My. Goodness. We were officially spoiled for the rest of the trip. It would be hard to imagine any kind of breakfast food that was not included on this buffet.  The photo below doesn't even include it all though most of the stations are represented.  The dining room was large and they had the sliding doors out to the patio opened.  Fortunately we'd missed most of the business people as they'd already left for work or their conference so it was relatively quiet.  We were reminded, however, that the rest of the world doesn't have the aversion to smoking that we do as the smokers were relegated to the patio, driving the rest of us indoors.

Our room was upgraded from the standard size to one slightly larger since we needed a rollaway bed.  While we'd hoped for twin beds, we made do with a king for a few nights so we could have that larger room.  We faced the hotel's courtyard which contained a large grassy area and the pool - which had a café underneath it!  We had good intentions of eating there but never did.

In the evenings we really enjoyed walking along the waterfront and dining at one of the dozens of al fresco restaurants there.  There were so many choices we had a hard time deciding each night.  Running between the restaurants and the Aegean Sea was a large grassy area where people would gather to chat or have a picnic in a very family-friendly environment.  The stray dogs that are all over Izmir (they appear very well cared for and have excellent manners!) would wrestle with and chase each other and then come by for a pat on the head.  We thought it was an excellent use of the land as the people took obvious enjoyment from it.

After dark we noticed one of the hotels had this design on the waterfront side.  It's the Turkish flag and the silhouette on the right is that of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey.  Though he died in 1931, his name and image are very present in modern Turkey.