Ayvelik, the coastal town much beloved by Turkish tourists, is where I spent three leisurely days. It's known for its olives and even boasts an olive museum, although I never did find it. (People kept, comically, pointing in opposite directions. I don't think anyone had actually been there.) But Ayvelik, I learned, has a sad history. In 1923, after the Turkish War of Independence, Ayvelik's Greek Orthodox population was exchanged for the nearby Greek Island of Lesvos' Muslim population. Orthodox churches were converted to mosques and abandoned houses were left to crumble. Can you imagine: you'd have to leave behind your home and business and neighborhood. You're close enough to visit your old house, only a 2 hour ferry ride away, but you can never return. It would be analogous to the government requiring all native Midwesterners living in New York to relocate to Chicago, permanently, and vice versa. People would be furious!