Blogs from Izmir, Aegean, Turkey, Middle East - page 4

Wszystko sie zmienilo, swiat chwilowo wywrocil sie do gory nogami:((( Gdy w srode pisalam o stanie zdrowia Arka, byl to pierwszy dzien kiedy wreszcie opadły emocje, wreszcie mogłam zostawić go na chwile samego. Wreszcie wyszlam ze szpitala. Przechadzalam się ulicami Izmiru cieszac sie, ze nie bedzie operowany, a jednoczesnie czujac ogrony smutek, ze w poniedzielek wroci do Polski i przez rok nie bedzie mogl wsiasc na rower. Wlasciwie ten smutek, przyslanial radosc z tego, ze mimo powaznego wylewu do mozgu, nic mu nie jest i ze w 100 procentach jest caly i zdrowy! Ok 19stej wrocilam z internetu do szpitala. Arek siedzial w lozku caly dumny i blady, bo mimo przeciwskazan lekarzy wstal, umyl sie, ogolil oraz przebral w nowa pizame. Bylam troche zla, ze dopiero co lepiej się poczul, a juz wstaje. Rozumialam jednak tez, ... read more

Coming to Izmir (formerly Smyrna) is special for me because it is the birthplace of Br William Borrell of our Melbourne Province who died last year. Bill went to the international Juniorate and Novitiate and then, following his initial Marist training, volunteered to go to China to teach some of the many children of French immigrants during the early and middle parts of the 20th Century. In the late 1940s he was put under house arrest for twelve months. During my visit to Turkey, there have been frequent references to the silk trade route between China and Europe via Turkey. Having grown up in Smyrna, Bill would have been very aware of this trading path, especially for handpainted porcelain artefacts. ... read more

(continued, funnily enough, from 15a) We don't just assume that the Greeks thought along lines similar to the modern mind, we assume even more implicitly that they expressed themselves in similar terms. Indeed, the limpid clarity of classical writing has been a model not just for our prose writers but for our poets. I myself have peddled the direct simplicity of Greek diction, unmistakable not only in tedious legal wranglers like Lysias but also in the sublime music of poets such as Sappho, Homer and, in later times, Theocritus. We tend to identify lucidity of language with lucidity of thought, and to believe that, minus a few inevitable cultural barriers, Greek is thoroughly intelligible. Oh dear. The trouble comes with dramatic poetry. The problem, I think, is that drama is a communal activity in a way ... read more

Another lazey day today with an outing into Izmir to look at some shops and check out the new Marks and Spensers that has just opened here. Had another nice lunch at a cafe and a walk along the sea front. We managed to make some Skpye calls home which was just lovely as the web cams were all working. We spent the rest of the day veging out and we will not be too late to bed tonight as we have a big day tomorrow at Ephesus.... read more

We went out to Foça today which is a lovely village that sits right on the Aegean. We had a great lunch in a little restaurant on the harbour and then walked through the town. We then headed off to try and find a place for a swim. We did not realise that here in Izmir "beaches" are owned and you have to pay to use them. After driving up the coast a bit we did find a nice little spot that we could climb down to and we had a fantastic swim. The water was swimming pool clear and had that tourquise and blue look that you only see on poastcards - magic. PJ and his new friend beaver came out to catch some sun whilst we all swam. As and Australian the only upsetting ... read more