Turkey – Day 3 – Ephesus and Sirince

We are currently staying in Selcuk close to the western coast to visit a couple of key sights in this area.  Key amongst them is the well preserved Greek ruins of Ephesus which they claim are only second to Pompeii in the extent of their preservation.  We headed to Ephesus early this morning.  It is an incredible place set in a wonderful landscape.

Water pipes that supplied water to the city

Main street

Rose in the Odeon or small theatre

Sculptures

Marble Street leading to the Library

Public building

Public latrines – slaves would warm the seat for their masters

Library of Celsus

Facade of the Library of Celsus

Amphitheater

Ephesus, as everywhere else in Turkey, had many feline in habitants.  The cats I’ve seen so far in Turkey are the best fed and well groomed stays I’ve seen in any country.

After exploring Ephesus for a few hours we went for lunch at a small restaurant to enjoy Gozleme which is thin pastry folded around filling.  We were able to watch the one woman rolling out the dough very thinly and fill it while another cooked it over an open fire.  It was very yummy, especially when accompanied by pomegranate juice.

We then boarded our bus again for a trek up the mountain to visit a cute little village called Sirince.  The village specialty is fruit wine made from the produce of the valleys around.  We got to try many different kinds including melon, peach, bumble berry, and cherry.  The melon was the best – it would go down very easily.  Some of the others just tasted like schnapps or cough syrup.

Bumbleberry wine

Modelling my sip

Protection against the evil eye embedded in a shop door way

We also made a quick stop by the ruins of St John’s Basilica which was a 6th century Byzantine basilica built by Justinian on the site of the tomb of John the Apostle from the first century AD.  It is really hard to imagine how massive and magnificent this church once was as there isn’t much left in tact.

Ruins of St John’s Basilica

During our free time, Rose and I wandered visited a souvenir store in Selcuk owned by Julia.  I have seen many stores with colourful embroidered table clothes/bed covers/ wall hangings.  She had many beautiful ones and was a pleasure to talk to.  After much deliberation we each got one.  I’m not exactly certain what I’m going to do with mine as it’s rather large and too fancy (silk hand embroidery) to use as a table cloth.

Julia, the shop owner, and I looking over the many choices of beautiful embroidery

My new souvenir

Tomorrow is October 29, the anniversary of Turkey’s founding in the 1920s.  The city has been decorated for days – draped mostly in massive Turkish flags and pictures of Ataturk.

This evening there is a big concert and celebration taking place in the square next to our hotel which from the sounds of it, the crowd is enjoying very much.  I hope it doesn’t go too late as we leave early tomorrow morning to take the train to our next stop.  This tour is really fast moving.  When we aren’t seeing sights then we are travelling to the next spot.  There is very little time for us to do our own thing.  However given the shopping extravaganza we went on this afternoon that is probably a good thing!