Let's travel again this week. I have chosen for you a summer trip in a place that it keeps a special place in my heart. I have chosen... Kusadasi.

It is the first time I publish at my blog a travel outside the Greek borders. Kusadasi is a Turkish town very close to my island, Samos and it is a place I use to travel every summer.

It is a famous destination in Minor Asia and you will find it as a visiting place at the most cruises which cover the Aegean area. Kusadasi for me is far more important than a tourist destination. It is the birth place of my grandmother, Fotini.

I have visited it many times but the last 2 years I decided to introduce it to my children too. Last year my daughters accompanied me in Kusadasi and this year it was time my son to meet the town that is connected with the history of his family.

We arranged all the details and an August morning our boat sailed from the harbor of Samos for a short trip (one and a half an hour trip) to the coasts of Turkey . Our destination... the harbor of Kusadasi.

Kusadas? is a resort town in the province of Ayd?n on the Aegean coast of Turkey, 90 km south of Izmir, and 71 km from the inland provincial capital of Ayd?n.

Kusadas? is near the ancient city of Ephesus and to other places of interest including Miletos, Didim and Pamukkale, and a short distance across from Kusadas? lies the island of Samos.

The area has been a centre of art and culture since the earliest times and has been settled by many civilizations since being founded by the Leleges people in 3000 BC. Later settlers include the Aeolians in the 11th century BC and Ionians in the 9th century. Originally seamen and traders the Ionians built a number of settlements on this coast including Neopolis.

An outpost of Ephesus in ancient Ionia, the area between the Buyuk Menderes and Gediz rivers, the original Neopolis is thought to have been founded on the nearby point of Y?lanc? Burnu. Later settlements were probably built on the hillside of Pilavtepe, in the district called And?zkulesi today. Kusadas? was a minor port frequented by vessels trading along the Aegean coast.

In antiquity it was overshadowed by Ephesus until Ephesus' harbor silted up. From the 7th century BC onwards the coast was ruled by Lydians from their capital at Sardis , then from 546 BC the Persians, and from 334 BC along with all of Anatolia the coast was conquered by Alexander the Great . From then onwards the coastal cities were the centre of the mixed Greek and Anatolian culture called Hellenistic.

The Roman Empire took possession of the coast in the 2nd century BC and in the early years of Christianity according to what the West Christian Church believes, Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus) and St John the Evangelist both came to live in the area, which in the Christian era became known as "Ania", although the spirituality was clearly not ingrained as during the Middle Ages the port was a haven for pirates.

Later as Byzantine, Venetian and Genoese traders began to work the coast the port was founded (as Scala Nuova "new port"), a garrison was placed on the island, and the town centre moved from the hillside to the coast.

From 1086 the area came under Turkish control and the Aegean ports became the final destination of caravan routes to the Orient. However this arrangement was overthrown by the Crusades and the coast again came under Byzantine control until 1280 when first the Mentese and then the Ayd?noglu Anatolian Turkish Beyliks took control. Kusadas? was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Mehmet I in 1413. The Ottomans built the city walls and the caravanserai that still stand today.

In 1834 the castle and garrison on the island was rebuilt and expanded, becoming the focus of the town, to the extent that people began to refer to the whole town as Kusadas? (bird island).

At the begining of the 20th century a lot of Greeks lived in this town. My grandmother's family lived also there. Even the differences were present because of the different religions the people lived peacefuly there in an amazing multicultural community.

During the Turkish War of Independence Kusadas? was occupied from 1919-1922 first by Italian, then by Greek troops. It was eventually captured on September 7th 1922 by the turkish army.

After the capture of the city from the Kemal's forces and under the orders of their leader they started destoying whatever was Greek, Armenian or Assyrian. The family of my grandmother, Fotini, suffered from this genocide. Yes... I call it genocide not a catastrophe as some use to call it. It was genocide and has recognized by the official Greek government.

My grandmother had to leave her town, forget whatever fortune had there and starts a new life somewhere else but she was one of the luckiest people and believe me... they were not a lot. She succeeded to survive... and that was an achievement for that period.

I like to visit this city every summer. I like to be at the town of my grandmother. I have never met her as she died a long time before I born leaving my father to grow up as an orphan but every time I come to this city I feel that I meet her spirit. It is a secret communication between me and her.

I like to spend my time at the center of city visiting the Turkish bazaar... the Anatolian market. Maybe she enjoyed also the shopping therapy and liked also the visiting of the small shops with the Anatolian merchandise. The smells of the exotic speces and the tobacco with the taste of different fruits for the oriental tobacco pipe, the famous nargile, are mixed and give a special character to this town.

After the long walk around the center of the city, Panos, my son and I were hungry. So... time for Turkish food. I like to taste all the foreign cuisines and I like the Turkish as it is very close to the Greek cuisine. The Greeks who forced to come in Greece at the start of the previous century brought also with them the exotic Anatolian recipes and they enriched the Greek cuisine.

We chose a small restaurant at the center of the town and we met a very polite and friendly waiter who also offered to take us a photo with my camera.

We had a funny conversation with this young Turk who also reminded to my son that he should pay for our lunch as he is the man at the table and when Panos told him that he has not money as he is too young to work he proposed him to wash the dirty dishes of the restaurant in order to pay for our meal.

I have to admit that the kebab was very tasteful and we both enjoyed it. Panos as my escort took care the fill of my glass with beer.

What I like mostly in Kusadasi is the visits of the shops that offer Turkish delights, cookies and of course... my favorite sweet, Baklava.
When they asked us at the customs office in Samos if we have brought something from Turkey we said yes... we have brought 5 kilos of baklava. The custom's officer started to laugh and told us to be careful because for his big fat stomach the responsible was this Baklava.

The sunset brought us entering at the harbor of the capital of Samos. Beautiful colors welcomed us to Samos after a wonderful day in Kusadasi.
One more visit at my grandmother's town has ended leaving us sweet memories from the "Fotini's City"! Allow me to call it this way. That is how this city is stored in my memory.