We came to izmir, we loved it, and now we're considering living here.
But there are a few downsides we'll discuss too.
Let's get started!
Yes, we are in the third largest city in Turkey,
now actually called Türkiye with its recent name change,
and izmir has surprised us in so many ways.
Mostly good ways with just a few exceptions.
We've traveled to multiple cities in Turkey now,
both as a short-term visitor but also to explore the idea
of having a place where we can come for the long term
when we want to have a break from traveling.
We are searching for a place where we can become a more permanent part of the community,
and let me tell you, after visiting Izmir it's
definitely a contender for the type of place we are looking for.
And now I will tell you the reasons why, starting with the city's beautiful waterfront.
We think the waterfront is the most delightful thing about Izmir.
The waterfront has a collection of walking paths and bike trails and parks, plazas
,and green spaces
that go along almost the entire perimeter of the city.
And yeah a lot of cities in Türkiye have a waterfront with walking paths, we know that,
but here in Izmir we just think the waterfront has a very different feel.
First of all there are no beaches in the city itself so
we don't have that kind of vacation resort atmosphere.
It's just everyday citizens of the city hanging out at the waterfront.
There are always families enjoying this part of the city along with younger people, older couples,
and this seems to be the place where everyone comes together to have fun in the city.
There are a variety of things to do along the waterfront including playgrounds for the kids,
and I guess for old people like me too.
You can challenge some teenagers to a game of table tennis.
There are restaurants for a slow-paced leisurely meal,
there are statues and sculptures to check out,
and there's even a small museum that we think is worth visiting.
So we think the waterfront here really sets the tone of the city
and it's for us the top feature here and gets a thumbs up.
The second thing on our list is the people we have met here in izmir.
The people are friendly everywhere in Türkiye,
but here in izmir our interaction with the local people has far surpassed our expectations.
It began with our Airbnb host who now is more than just our host but also our friend.
We really enjoyed spending time with her and we absolutely recommend renting from her,
so of course I'll put a link to her airbnb profile in the description below.
And one thing that I'll say about the people here is that there's kind of a young vibe,
and part of the reason for that is that there is a large university population here.
We have come across younger people here who want to practice their English,
and that also gives us a chance to practice our very very basic Turkish, we are trying.
There are older people here too of course,
but I don't know the older people seem younger in spirit at least.
The older people always seem to be smiling and laughing,
and of course I have no idea what they're saying but I just
sense a lot of joy in the older people here.
We like that. And the size of the expat community
is just perfect for us, not too big and not too small.
We give a thumbs up to the people and the community here.
The next thing we like about Izmir is the public transportation that is available in the city.
In addition to walking and biking along the waterfront that I already mentioned,
first we have the Izban train
that not only gets us around the city but also into the surrounding area.
Using the Izban is also an easy way to get to the airport.
And by the way there are flights from izmir to many parts of the world, another plus for izmir.
Another train line within Izmir is the metro line
with trains that usually come about every three or four minutes so we never have to wait too long.
There are also two street car trams that roughly parallel the waterfront.
I won't lie, the streetcars are slow they won't
win a contest for the fastest form of public transportation
but that's okay with us we're not generally in a hurry.
There are buses that connect the areas not served by the trains or trams.
Another way to get around is on a dolmuş which is a shared minivan.
And our favorite way to get around the city is on the ferries.
There are seven or eight ferry terminals around the city.
These ferries are frequent, fairly inexpensive,
and they can save a lot of time if we want to go from say the Balchova neighborhood up to Bostonli.
It's a lot quicker to take the ferry than it is to take the train all the way around the harbor.
And the ferries are just relaxing it's kind of like being on a leisurely cruise around the bay,
sort of,
but at the same time we're going somewhere that we need to go.
The overall transportation system we think is excellent for a city this size
and we think it's one of the best things about Izmir.
Izmir's location on the map makes it a great base for visiting the surrounding archaeological sites
that are abundant in this area of the country.
There are many sites but we suggest focusing on Ephesus locally known as Efus,
and that's because it's probably the biggest and most popular site in the area,
just about an hour on the train from izmir.
The history of this ancient city spans over multiple eras
having been under control of numerous empires,
and it was an important center for early Christianity.
There is also a museum with a lot of information and artifacts from the archaeological site,
And there's a big fort at the top of the hill that is worth visiting.
We were planning to visit the archaeological site the museum and the fort all in one day,
and probably could have done that
but we soon realized we wanted more time here and added an extra day.
We give this experience a thumbs up.
Let's continue on to the weather which for us, yeah, we have mixed feelings about it.
We've been here during a cold snap and then again during a heat wave,
but it's that summer heat that makes us hesitate.
So i've got to split up our rating for this one,
thumbs up for the spring and autumn
but the scorching summer sorry but that's a thumbs down for us.
Let's talk about the cost of living next,
and I always feel awkward saying in these videos how inexpensive it is here
because for someone earning their income within the country,
when i describe the cost of living, it's meaningless.
Türkiye has been suffering from enormous inflation for a long time,
with inflation more than 10 times higher than our home country right now.
But for us the exchange rate with the US dollar works in our favor and makes it affordable.
Izmir itself considering it's a big metropolitan city
has reasonable prices compared to other similarly sized cities.
Our spending during our visit averaged a very reasonable 43 dollars per day for the two of us
for our housing food transportation in the city and activities.
But we had a huge discount on our Airbnb because it was a new listing.
I'll put more information about the costs of living here in Izmir
down below in the description.
But for us izmir is generally affordable compared to the rest of the world.
The next thing we really like about Izmir is the food that is available here.
Of course we eat all the typical and delicious turkish food.
One food item here that can be found in other parts of Türkiye
but is especially popular here is kumru.
This is a sandwich which the closest comparison I can come up with
is a cross between a salami sandwich and a hot dog sandwich.
It comes with a big hunk of fried cheese tomatoes and pickles,
and one of the best things about this sandwich is the bread
which is a chickpea sourdough that is delicious.
Another food item we've seen in other parts of Türkiye but even more so here in izmir is lokma.
This is kind of like a donut dipped in a honey syrup, and these are actually given away for free.
When somebody dies the family will sometimes hire a truck to give away lokma as sort of
an act of kindness
or a way to honor or remember the deceased.
And for the best pide in the entire country head over to Nergiz Pide.
Your stomach will give you a round of applause if you eat here believe me.
But yeah the food in Izmir, just plain yum.
Somewhat related to food is the markets which pop up on certain days of the week.
An example is the Bostlani market which is on Wednesdays,
and there is almost everything here: vegetables
cheese clothing spices olives fish shoes and a lot more.
Okay the traffic lights here we like them, they are so cool.
Some of them the entire pole lights up for the color of the light
and I have never seen that anywhere else before.
All right more seriously earthquakes, yeah the earthquakes here can be very damaging.
They happen in other parts of Türkiye too
but here in Izmir there was a big one a few years ago
and you are still seeing the effects of that earthquake even now.
It is never pleasant to be in a disaster zone.
So that's our list things we like and don't like about Izmir,
and we think we have seen enough of turkey to make our decision as to whether or not
we will pursue somewhere in this country to establish ourselves and make a home,
and we'll talk about that in the next video.
And whatever we decide we are absolutely not done traveling.
We are going to continue to explore and bring videos to you from around the world,
so be sure to subscribe to our channel so that you can be notified when our future videos are ready.
Thanks for traveling with us!