The Izmir Bay after the rain

Rain never lasts for long in Izmir and the bay looks even better straight after a shower. The harbour almost deserted this very day is on the right and in the far, on the left are the marshes with their salts bassins and birds nesting.

Stairways not always lead to Heaven

Karatas is an old quarter of Izmir, it was for a long time the main settlement for Jewish families seeking a place to live away from the post inquisition troubles. This is here the famous singer Dario Moreno family lived once. With the population growing the settlement gain in heights and long stairs link the lower city to the upper streets.

Here even the woman’s dog seems dragging his feet in face of the effort awaiting on his way back home.   

Turkish Stars' show

It doesn't happen often one can look at a flying fighter jet from above, if his is not himself a jet pilot :)

Last 9th of September, as every year, the Turkish AitForce acrobatic team "Turkish Stars" made the show. An hour of breath taking performance for these seven jets and their pilots.

Unfortunately the show was set for 6 PM and the sun at this time is already lowering behind the jets, giving poor contrasts and colours to work with.

To give a scale about the performance I am at around 50 meter elevation, they fly really low over the city!

More about them on
https://www.facebook.com/turkishstars
and
http://www.turkyildizlari.tsk.tr/EN/Index.aspx    

The Turkish Stars

Cormorants, Pelicans and Seagulls are not the only birds flying over the bay, the Stars making their last fly before the 9 of September show. They fly low over the city and the bay and make their acrobatics just a stone-throw away from the shoreline. 

The are flying 8 supersonic jet fighters, a variant of the F-5 Freedom Fighter.

The Cormorants

I have never seen that much cormorants over the bay, they generally spread on poles or moored boats in half a dozen lazily picking a fish around or drying their wings, what cormorants best do :) , this morning there were hundreds of them flying swiftly in long lines and raising slowly over the water to form long V formations

Father and Daughter

In their memory, RIP

Ali Ismail Kormaz just left our world to rest with his brothers who like him, just peacefully protested, exercising their democratic elementary rights. Thursday we met and walked to remember him and the reasons we have to stand up. Many are recovering from their wounds, sometime marked forever, sometime fighting for their life directly hit by tear-gas shells.