Dia 171 / Day 171 - December 20/2012

En la mañana estuvimos caminando por el frente del mar en Izmir.  Almorzamos en un lugar de comida local y luego entramos a una pasteleria a comprar un postre; alli conocimos un turco que vive en Florida, USA; nos invito a tomar te, nos dio postres gratis y nos atendio como si fuera su negocio… luego supimos que era de un amigo de el… esto no pasa sino aca en Turquia.

En la tarde tomamos el bus para donde Elcin, la couch surfer que nos va a hospedar una noche mas en Izmir.  Llegamos donde ella y conocimos a Hakki, su esposo, y a Imge, su hija.  Son una familia adorada, era la primera vez que hospedaban a alguien.  Estuvimos conversando de la cultura turca y nos recomendaron visitar algunos lugares cerca a Izmir.  La comida estuvo deliciosa, comimos Cigkofte, es como una “carne” vegetariana hecha de trigo y se come con lechuga.  Al final de la noche Hakki toco algunas canciones folkloricas usando la Baglama, un instrumento tipico de Turquia.

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In the morning we walked around the sea side in Izmir.  We had traditional food in a local restaurant and then we wanted to have some pastry; we met a Turkish guy that lives in Florida, USA at a local store; he invited us for tea, he gave us pastry for free and he welcome us in the store like if it was his… we later found out that it was his friend’s store… this only happens in Turkey.

In the afternoon we took the bus to go to Elcin’s house, the other couch surfer where we are going to stay for one more night in Izmir.  We arrived at her place and met Hakki, her husband and Imge, her daughter.  They are a very nice family, it was their first time hosting somebody through couch surfing.  We talked about the Turkish culture and they recommended some places we should visit.  Dinner was amazing, we had Cigkofte, it is like a vegetarian “meat” made out of wheat and you eat it with lettuce.  At the end of the night Hakki played some traditional songs using the Baglama, a traditional Turkish instrument.

Al frente del mar, Izmir, Turquia
Sea side, Izmir, Turkey

Al frente del mar, Izmir, Turquia
Sea side, Izmir, Turkey

Al frente del mar, Izmir, Turquia
Sea side, Izmir, Turkey

Vendedor ambulante, Izmir, Turquia
Street business, Izmir, Turkey

Carlos, Sema, Serefnur y Marcela, Izmir, Turquia

Marcela, Serefnur y Sema, Izmir, Turquia

De izquierda a derecha - Elcin, Imge y Hakki, Izmir, Turquia
From left to right - Elcin, Imge and Hakki, Izmir, Turkey

De izquierda a derecha - Imge y Hakki, Izmir, Turquia
From left to right - Imge and Hakki, Izmir, Turkey