Day 6 - Dikili and Bergama

Mylène its getting a little exhausted from the heat so we took a rest day in Dikili at the behest of our very kind host, Emre.

He's a London-educated economist who worked as an investment banker in Istanbul before moving to Dikili in order to take over the family business: plastic confectionary box manufacturing. His father was a bee keeper by trade but was frustrated about not having suitable boxes to store his honeycomb, so he started the company. I had a chance to visit the factory in Bergama where they are able to custom manufacture the molds and mount them onto the injection machines where the forms are pressed and produced.

Bergama is also the city where the Berlin-based museum, the Pergamom, gets its name. There is an ancient acropolis on top of the highest hill, similar to the one in Athens. However, the Germans were "gifted" most of the buildings and artifacts for safe keeping during World War I (this is actually part of an ongoing quest of the Turkish government to try and recuperate such artifacts from museums such as the Pergamom, the British museum and the Louvre, with little success).


The view from our host's apartment in Dikili - waterfront.


Mulberries are in season


I'm not sure why, but I ordered a Turkish tea (çay) in Bergama despite the heat. The place was packed with old men drinking çay and playing backgammon, so why not?


A selection of products from our host's plastic box factory, most of his customers are chocolate or died fruit producers.

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