Today's our travel day to Izmir. We wanted to take the ferry across the Sea of Marmar then the bus to Izmir but apparently that only runs in the high season after May. The alternatives were a 10 hour bus ride or an hour flight for $20 more. So the flight it was! We planned an hour and a half for the cab ride to the airport since we have no idea about traffic, but on this Sunday morning it only took us 12 minutes (plus a few more when I thought the driver was asking if we were on an "Internal" flight and said yes, when he really asked if we were on an "International" flight and therefore took us to the wrong terminal. Luckily, I figured it out before we got out and made him circle again and drop us at the right building. We landed in Izmir around 2pm and arrived at the "Brand New" Izmir Turkish Police Guest House. The staff was all VERY excited to check us in as our group was the 'first ever' guests in this new building. They brought us coffee, then after checking in, offered us wine and cheese. At the reception, I met Aili and Gisela's colleagues from around the world - Tinus form South Africa, Hank from Sweden, George from the US as well as researchers from England, Canada and Australia - plus the Director General of the Turkish National Police (and, yes, we hit it off fabulously! - we'll at least that's what his interpreter said and she rolled her eyes). The best part is that the guest house was full so had to put Aili, Suzel and I all in the same room - the only hotel room I've ever seen with three single beds! I think I may need some of that special 'mother-in-law' tea! (I joke, but traveling with Suzel has been nothing but pleasant - and no, I'm not just saying that because I know she'll read this!) Aili's conference started the next day so Suzel and I joined the other spouses for the 'Accompanying Persons' tour of Ýzmýr. We started at the Kadifekale castle built by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. with amazing views of the city and adjoining bay. Next, we headed down the hill to the Agora - an ancient site built by the Romans with arches and columns still be excavated today. Our group of ten in a little tour bus has a full police escort the whole way - with a motorcycle cop flashing his blue light and stopping traffic in front and a chase car following us. At each stop, our group has four policemen in suits with earpieces and walkie-talkies on our parameter at all times. I'm not sure if they were watching us or watching out for us but we get quite the looks from the locals! After lunch with our significant others at the conference, we were off to the market in the old part of Izmir. Like a mini-Grand Bazaar, there were shops selling carpets, nagiles, lamps, jewelry and all sorts of antiques. Little cafes surrounded the market and dominated the middle square and the locals were all sitting, drinking their little glasses of tea. Suzel and I wandered up stairs and peeked into several artisan shops were tiny men worked away on jewelry. The building looked several hundreds years old, but our secret service escorts couldn't give us much historical background (at least not in English). That evening we again joined the conference participants for an elaborate four course Turkish diner with authentic folk music and speeches by the conference administrators and local politicians in both Turkish and English. I think I'll be skipping breakfast in the morning.