Arrived from Canukkale to Izmir at 5:15am this morning with the view to getting a ferry from there to Italy but after having walked for miles in the rain and been misdirected several times, I finally dicovered that the best chance to get a ferry was continuing on to Cesme. Which I did about 6 hours later. I seem to have the most impecable timing for this stuff! I discovered yesterday that today, the 10th November, is Attaturks anniversary so everything is closed until 10 am. The place was knee-deep in military types but I was lucky enough to be standing (or rather hanging around sheltering from the rain and waiting for the shops to open) in the Plaza where the ceremonies of the morning were taking place. The whole place was "secured" by police and MP's, and I had to go through the search process once again. There was much "joking" by the police on duty regarding me in shorts (not for the first time!) and they all rolled up the legs of their uniforms to show me they had thermals underneath lol. There was some military marching and the laying of wreaths but the most poignant moment came at the actual time of his death ( 9.10am) when there was a whistle blast and everyone just stopped in mid stride (even those unlucky enough to be in the rain). All traffic halted and there was just dead silence (this is in the centre of the fourth biggest city in Turkey) with everyone standing to attention while the flags in the Plaza were raised and then lowered to half-mast. Next thing all hell breaks loose with police sirens, whistles, foghorns and every car horn being sounded to shatter the silence. This went on for a good 2 minutes ... while everyone still stood rigid. Then all at once it was over and everyone carried on as before - just like a movie restarting. Quite something really.

Cesme, on first look, seems to be just what I imagined a Mediterranean town would be like - mind you the addition of some sun would be nice. Where Im staying is just off the waterfront in the old town and backs onto a series of winding cobbled streets leading further up the hill. There is an Ottoman castle buýlt ýn the 1500s at one end, plenty of outdoor cafes down at the harbour looking out over moored yachts and huge palm trees, and behýnd us ýs the old gaily coloured terraced houses. Theres a Turkish Bath House nearby and lots friendly Turkish people about. At the height of summer this is one of the main tourist areas (as one resturanter told me "many, many, MANY Englýsh tourýsts here ýn the summer") but it doesnt really have that "tourist" feel about it. I think I could comfortably while away a few days here if need be and if the storm keeps up I've got a good book, music (ripped a heap of music from a guys MP3 player the other night in exchange for charging it up), and lots of editing on the laptop to do along with scrapbooking to complete. Plenty to keep me occupied, especially as it now gets pitch black by 5:30.