SUNDAY 26th JULY 2009 (EPHESUS)

SUNDAY 26th JULY 2009

Up super early in order to catch a taxi to the 'OTOGAR' (main bus station). Our 8.00 am bus eventually departed 8.45 am for which we were grateful as at that time of the morning it was already HOT and no air-conditioning in the bus while it sat.




The drive to Celcuk took 45 minutes. Its here we caught a smaller bus to EPHESUS, an archaeological gem dating back 6,000 years BC. It was an ancient Greek city partly developed because of its sea trade and location. Nowadays the sea has receded 6 kilometers from the ruins.






It is thought this is where the gospel of John was written, the tomb of St. John lies here;
'Alexander the Great' liberated all Greek cities and gave privileges to Ephesians building a new temple; Cleopatra hung out and numerous other historical facts that we've only ever read about -many happened here. Lots of familiar names, but I've forgotten most of my history!

It is one of the best places in the world to see what life was really like in the Roman times. So much of it is still intact. I imagine so much has yet to be discovered - unbelievable to see. Apparently 200,000 people lived here in its heyday. It's so incredible to realize that people lived here all those years ago and that documentation still exists about what and how life was. The most fabulous facade on-site was that of the Library of Celsus.




We were gobbed-smacked from the moment we entered to the moment we left nearly 4 hours later. We particularly liked eaves-dropping as the 'guides' spoke to their various groups. One particular story we loved was when all the respected 'gentlemen' of the time told their wives they were going to the library. They went to read history, geography and literature. Unbeknown to their wives there was an underground tunnel from the library to the bordello close by. Turns out the 'gentlemen' were studying history, geography, literature AND anatomy...!!!


It was great to be able to take our time, stop and soak in the atmosphere. The more you look the more you see and you can only see if you STOP. Incredible place.
























From here we caught a taxi to the top of the nearby Mount Coressus to visit 'Mother Mary's House' (or House of the Holy Virgin). We almost didn't go but thought because we are so close we should. This single building had more of an impact on us than the whole of Ephesus and we were so pleased we visited. Despite the large numbers of tourists we were able to see and photograph the chapel without anyone in sight and enjoy the lovely trees and gardens in the vicinity.

It is believed the Mother of Jesus Christ spent her last days here. The world was divided for preaching following the persecution of the Apostles in Jerusalem following Christ's death and so St. John moved with his mother to Ephesus.
There are facts according to the scriptures and facts confirmed historically re the authenticity of this place. There is mention in both Christian and Muslim faiths.

Back to Celcuk we visited St. John's Church (signposted St. JEAN's) then I set out on my mission to find the many stork nests that lived on the aquaducts in this city. And I wasn't disappointed - there are many. Our first day out on The HORS showed me my first ever stork nest and I regretted we didn't stop. I have seen the occasional nest since but here, in Selcuk, I had the time to stop and stare and enjoy these beautiful birds.


We also visited a ceramics factory - all 200,000 pieces were stunning. We were shown how the items are made and the hand-painting process. We were particularly taken with the ancient wine server. Would have liked one of those but couldn't warrant the cost - hugely expensive.


I continued to wander about staring skywards looking for and finding many stork nests, the smile on my face HUGE. Despite this I even found a tortoise at ground level and watched him amble ever so slowly to some undercover scrub. All this in the middle of a city (population 40,000) is fantastic.

Because we traveled by bus to Celcuk we decided to catch the train back to IZMIR to experience something different. We boarded at 7.20pm but no-one mentioned it would be 'standing-room' only. Half an hour into the trip we were able to get a seat (thank goodness) and settled in to watch the evening lights of IZMIR pass as we made our way through the suburbs.

We had quite a walk back to Otel Balca but despite our tiredness we did enjoy the evening breeze and now that we are orientated to the city knew we weren't THAT far from home.

A fascinating day - history, nature, religion and dirty stories from days gone by...