Day 4 - Assos and Izmir

This morning we toured Assos and the Temple of Athena. We got a beautiful view of the Agean Sea, Greek Islands, and a hint of our hotel at the bottom of the Acropolis. After some brief shopping on the hike down the hill, we drove for about an hour and twenty minutes to a gas stop, then an hour twenty minutes to lunch, an hour twenty minutes to Pergamon, and yet another hour twenty minutes to our hotel. We had a fantastic four-course lunch  at a modern hotel in Bergama, which is just beneath the Pergamon Acropolis. At Pergamon was a brand new gondola to carry us to the top of the mountain, which saved us many uneasy stomaches. However, we heard many complaints about modern technology adjacent to such beautiful ancient ruins just for someone to make some money. From the top of the mountain, we could see (and hear) a thunderstorm rolling in. We attempted to minimize the number of photo-shoots and just do the tour, but as you will see in a few weeks, there are always plenty of photos. Good news...if your camera runs out of batteries, there are 17 more :) From there we traveled to Asklepion, but unfortunately the storm beat us to it. About half of us went to explore in the rain, though, which was very unique because we were able to run around and experience the ancient Roman ruins from a whole new angle. After another hour and a half drive (in soaking wet clothes) to Izmir, we were able to settle down in an incredibly beautiful hotel to warm up. We had the rest of the night to relax, and we even experienced a small earthquake! Apparently it had a 5.6 magnitude from an epicenter 250 km away.  We ran down 6 flights of stairs to find no one else reacting. I guess earthquakes are a regular occurrence in Turkey - almost daily!

Pictures to come...

5.6 250km away