Alacati/Cesme

We lazyed around our hotel till about 11:00, having leisurely breakfast of cheese, olives, tomatoes, and tea, went for a swim, and since it was a beautiful day, we took our time packing and heading South. Sami took us to the North end of the island, where we got stuck briefly on the rocky and dirt road. We left and headed South to Alcatepi, after deciding it made more sense to be leisurely, drive along the coast, rather than taking another two or three hours to go to Pergamum. Sami had done a lot of driving and we knew it was at least 5 hours to Cesme. So, we took coastal roads, winding our way along the long, long coast, pass various configurations of developments, then fairly nice waterfront homes, to chai houses and restaurants, to parts that were undeveloped. There were very few towns, mostly just small villages that might be near a development. On the road side, the mountains and pines dominated, with occasion rocky hillsides. It took quite awhile to get close to Izmir, but it gave us a real feel for the coast, for the kind terrain and fauna that filled it. When we got near Izmir, we stopped at a truck stop Sami knew that had wonderful lential soup, served with red pepper in melted butter. The cook was a huge guy who told us how to make the soup up to a point, when he smiled, and said the rest is a secret. The ride to Cesme was a breeze, as the new highway which takes you around Izmir was open, and the road from Izmir to Cesme is three lanes, with almost no traffic.

When we got off the highway, we were stopped and checked by the army, to, as Sami said, make sure no terrorists were getting to the major tourist areas. We then drove into town, then started heading up into the mountains, through olive groves, eventually winding our way up rocky roads to Sami’s house, a stone structure, with great terraces and landscaping. His property is surrounded by hills, or small typical Aegean moutains, covered with scrub and mostly olive trees. He planted over 1500 this past year and he already had mountains full of them. It is an isolated place, in a very chic area just ten minutes away by car. Clearly, this area is dedicated to olives as almost all of the farms nearby are growing them. Sami bought this farm about seven years ago, and the house was basically destroyed. He had it torn down and designed it with a friend. It has two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room, with an outdoor courtyard which connects the guet bedroom where we stayed with the bathroom and the rest of the house. He is having it covered, in fact, as we leave to create a bit more space. Like all the houses, this one is made of huge stones quarried in the area. The stones are larger and more regular than Hasan’s house in Gocek, which seems to be the style in this area. The living room is comfortable but a bit dark, suggesting they spend most of their time on the two terraces, one which looks south, the other east. The one, the largest, has couches and lounges and chairs, the other has a long dining room table, and it looks over a heavily landscapted yard, with a pond, various trees and flowers, leading to a gazebo like structure. The yard is surrounded by walls, though the views from the porches is obsructed by the foliage from the trees and plantings. Obviously, Sami likes the trees. He has two spirted dogs, Bonchuck and Balim(my honey) who chase and follow his car each time we arrive at the farm. Balim jumps up on the stone walls, runs along it, as we drive to the house. Sami also has a donkey, just for fun, who seems to roam the acreage, my guest would be 3-4 hundred acres. He has a family of five living on the property in a tiny little one room cabin, which he is also expanding this month, something the need. They take care of the farm when he is not there, and of him, when he’s there. They cooked breaksfast and a dinner for us, and generally our his staff when he’s there. They seem competent and as is the case, Sami is very nice to them, but they are very subservient, as most Turkish peasants are to their bosses. After a walk around, we took a late afternoon drive around both Cesme, the largest town which has lovely villa line streets, an enormous Sheraton Hotel, and great beaches, the best in the area. We then went to the Alacati area, which seems to be the in place, as it’s a stone village, obviously Greek at one time, that over the past ten years has been renovated and become the place to be, with its cosy streets, boutique hotels, interesting restaurants and shops, though it seemed larger the Cunda. It was dark as we roamed, Sami saying hi to friends, and since it was off season, many of the shops and restaurants and hotels were closed for the winter. We stopped in one hotel, owned by a woman, RC graduate, who Sami credits with starting this area. She buiilt the first boutique hotel, people loved it and others followed. It has a lovely inner courtyard, lanscapted professionally, with a swimming pool. In fact, this is the way many of the other hotels in the town are organized, six to ten rooms, with inner courtyard. We looked for a restaurant that Sami liked but it was closed so we ended up going to one called Ahtapot. It was tiny, with about four tables inside, decorated with all kinds of chandileers from the ceiling, typical Turkish bulbs, and posters and artifacts on the walls, a really quaint place. The chef/owner stood behind a stone bar, about ten feet long and cooked on a two burner stove. We sat outside, had a great time, talked, ate, watched the cats play in the streets, as motorbikes raced by about five feet away because the alleys were so narrow. We had sardines grilled octopus that was so tender, clams, fava beans, eggplant puree and a white wine fish stew that was perfect. We all loved the food, the ambience, the garcon, and got some interesting pictures. We started talking about ice cream so Sami ordered some from the little vender on the street who makes his own…I loved the lemon and Evie the razzberry. We walked back throug through deserte streets, though some of the eczanes and tailor shop and chai houses were still open on the main square, as was a barber. We drove home through a pitch black night, to the farm, and an amazing sky of stars, though no moon. It was a great day.