Tchibo - What a shop.

Tchibo is a shop that is located in Forum Bornova it has been around for quite a while now and is possibly the most interesting shops in the Forum Bornova complex. It has a great selection of items that are forever changing. It has a coffee shop inside that offers reasonable priced coffee and unlike the products that are up for sale remains the same. The interesting thing about this store is sometimes you go in and find nothing in particular that you would like to buy but then on other occasions you can't stop yourself from letting the moths out of your purse or wallet. That is the beauty of this place it is a little treasure trove of delights that can help in the home, decorate the home or cloth your body. Great store - me likey likey!

Latest Links October

To view our latest additions to the del.icio.us tags, scroll down below, alternatively browse through the tag words in the sidebar on the right.

-a useful on-line dictionary: English, German, Turkish... -with the weather getting colder, go to the movies at Forum Bornova's Cinema , to the opera, ballet or enjoy a musical. Alternatively, Forum Bornova and its new shops will provide an entertaining afteroon -discover Ertugrul's tour of Turkey, including Blue Trip Cruises, Spas, and Diving -check out SPAs in Turkey under our SPA tag for a week-end gettaway, or our Holiday tag for tips on visiting Pamukkale or Marmaris. -find a job via Karyer.net or envisage other possibilities via kareyer.net portal including getting paid to do surveys from home.

As always, should you want to share your links or give feed-back, please write to us at izmir.info@gmail.com or comment at the bottom of this post.

Forum Bornova - a shopping oasis

Recently back from a trip back home, we drove to Bornova's Ikea and were amazed to see the Forum Bornova, a village-mall not only completed but swarming with people.

The construction site of just a few weeks ago, had been replaced by a new shopping complex brimming with people on the last day of Bayram.

Next to Ikea, which opened in April 2006 but still working on persuading the local customer with its self-service DIY concept, the Bornova centre looks like a Moroccan resort sprinkled with details reminiscent of Parc Guell of Barcelona.

It even has a kind of prominent turret-like structure not unlike a bell tower or a fortress.

Forum Bornova is literally constructed as a mini village, with street names, trees, fountains, mini ponds with bridges or stepping stones, cafés, and of course a variety of shops as well as cinemas.

There is a large Kipa food store but also smaller shops selling TVs and DVDs, CDs & books (D&R), watches and jewelry, fridges, washing machines, saucepans...

A host of clothes & shoe brands are present (including Top Shop, Next, Diesel, Massimo Dutti, Hotiç, Lewis, Collins, Lacoste, Stefanel, Guess, etc.), home decoration (Zara Home, Spazio), cosmetics (Douglas) and some food and beverage stops to restore you before you drop (including a Starbucks, Gloria's Coffee and thankfully, a rather discrete Mc Donalds).(scroll down for a link to a complete list of shops)



The streets are clean, clearly labeled with directions, and the general atmosphere, if totally artificial, leaves a rather positive impression. It's great that the climate allowing for an outside mall was acknowledged and put into practice. It's perhaps not as sophisticated as Istanbul's Kanyon, but it's an enjoyable shopping experience and it's appropriate in style to sunny Izmir. A new shopping oasis is born: Shopaholics, enjoy!

More information, including
a detailed list of shops
Site Map
Pictures
A calendar of events
cinema schedule
a press review...

Bostanli Market - Karsiyaka

A little while ago, on a Wednesday, a newfound friend wanted to show me "the best market in Izmir". It's in an area called Bostanli in "Karsiyaka" (literally "the other side"). Karsiyaka, where she lives, is on the other side of the Izmir Gulf from where I live, so we were going to meet there. Dreading the nightmare traffic & driving I decided to try the car ferry instead.

It is absolutely brilliant! Perhaps it's not quite as good as being on the Bosphorous in Istanbul, but you still get the breeze, the seagulls surfing on the wind, that incredible smell the sea has... Only 30 minutes, but it was like a holiday! Being on the water takes you away from the bustle and includes a Simit and Turkish tea served on board - so it definitely beats the traffic! Plus it was a really great introduction to the feast of smells, tastes and sights the market offered.


The market is a typical open-air-cater-for-all-tastes/sizes/needs-market like the ones you find in many east European countries, with colorful stalls and noisy negotiating going on everywhere. A never-ending array of stalls, selling fruit, veggies, cheeses, olives, nuts, sheets, belts, sunglasses, underwear, and all sorts of leather goods. Pointing at my camera, trying to make sure they didn't mind being photographed, (some people/cultures believe you steal their soul by taking their picture), I soon found myself encircled by stall owners trying to grab my attention yelling "Check! Check!" Puzzled, I looked to M, my Turkish friend, for assistance. "It's ok, "çekim" means "to take" -they don't mind".

Well that's an understatement! The love being photographed! Many of them would lead me to their stall and strike a pose with their produce. Some even wanted to have a look at my camera to see how they looked or would take a different pose if they sold a variety of goods. So, the pics are not that spontaneous, but there you go! As it turns out , being photographed, completely distracted them from selling me their goods, so I was able to stroll through the market buying only what I needed without being coerced into buying all sorts of stuff /quantities I didn't want in the first place. There's a tip, in Izmir, when in a market or bazaar, shop with your camera!

Seriously, though, the Bostanli market in Karsiyaka (every Wednesday) is definitely worth going to!
Note: The ferry car crossing costs 7.50 YTL one-way (price correct on 04/05/2009)

Konak Pier

Konak Pier is located about 300 meters from the Clock tower. As its name indicates, it literally extends over the sea.

We have gathered differing versions as to what the building originally was; a landing for ships -it isn't very far from the (old?) customs office building- or a food market.


At any rate, it was apparently restored in keeping with the spirit of the original architecture and offers splendid views of the sunset.

"Konak" in Turkish means "mansion or large and imposing house" (Redhouse dictionary)


Konak Pier is now an attractive shopping mall and houses a number of up-market clothes and shoe shops, a book-shop (English press and books available), a cinema, a hairdresser, beauty shop, and a variety of bars, cafes, and restaurants.






Preferred restaurants include:

Mezzaluna, for a fine Italian meal, (right at the end of the pier, turn right, as if you wanted to go back along the other side)




Although the view from Mezzaluna (left) is not quite as good as the one from the tip of the pier.





Home Store Cafe-Bar-Restaurant (right at the end of the pier) where you can have a club sandwich or sushi, tea and cake, or an apéritif while enjoying the comfy cushions and the lounge music.


Konak Pier also has its own parking lot. Although small, the parking valets manage to squeeze an amazing amount of cars in! (5 YTL/hour).

Where to live in Izmir - Part One: Karsiyaka

Today's post, the first of our "Where to live in Izmir?" series, courtesy of Meryem. Click on any of the photos to enlarge. Note by: Izmir Blogger

My name is Meryem and I live in the area "Karsiyaka" of Izmir. Karsiyaka literally means "On the other side" and it is, from the city center of Alsancak and Konak. A road connects the parts, but on a regular basis a passenger ferry crosses the bay. There is also ferry for the cars to Bostanli boat terminal. Opposite the boat terminal (in Turkish: Iskele) of Karsiyaka you can find the busy centre with many shops and restaurants. If you continue to walk along the seaside, you have apartments with the following view from the balcony (see photo top left). The apartments with sea view are quite nice, some bigger than others. Some buildings look very nice on the outside, and you can take it from me, that those are maintained well and are nice from the inside as well.

When you pass the statue of dolphins and small basin with water, you are in the middle of Karsiyaka and Bostanli. Opposite of the "Bostanli Iskele" (a very busy place as cars also leave form here to the other side) the area of Bostanli starts. The liveliness stems from the many shops and restaurants and some nice cafes.

On Wednesdays, there is huge market where they sell fruit, vegetables, cheese, nuts, clothes and shoes!
The area furthest to the left, Mavisehir, is relatively the newest area and very popular among richer Turkish families. It is a matter of taste if you like these high 32 store buildings, although the colored villas are quite large and have a garden as well. (see picture of pink colored house) EGE Park is the shopping area, with many luxurious shops, a bowling centre and cinema.

So this was in short a tour through "the other side" of Izmir. I have been living here for 4 years now and I like it very much! All the shops you can find are here, there is enough parking space, the parks along the seaside are green, and go on for a few kilometers, it is easily reachable by the ferry from Alsançak... The only thing is, there aren't a lot of houses with gardens to be found, only the colored villas in Mavisehir... So if you don't mind living in an apartment, than Karsiyaka is absolutely worth checking out!

More pictures of Bostanli market