Visit Sultans' Land - Izmir, Turkey (Day 8)

The next day, the weather was much better.  It was little cool but, sunny.  Today, we were going to the very famous Ephesus.  Actually, according to our itinerary from the travel agency, we were supposed to explore other ancient cities but, somehow our yesterday driver told us that we would be going to Ephesus.  I didn't want to make any fuss.  I just thought that as long as I got to see everything, it didn't matter which one I saw first.  Today, we had a chance to really have a good look at the hotel.  Our hotel, Nilya Hotel, was a small and charming hotel with two stories.  It was decorated with local wooden work as well as beautiful flower pods.

At the front of the hotel, a couple tables were provided for people to hang out under trees.  It felt a bit like staying in a people home.

Since our hotel situated in a small street, our big tour bus could not get in.  So, the guide (this time the guide picked us up) had to park the bus somewhere and came to get us at our hotel.  Same as yesterday, we had quite a lot people on the same bus.  Lots to see today, first, we would go to the ancient city of Ephesus then, to the House or Virgin Mary, Temple of Artemis and finally to a carpet making place.  We headed to Ephesus which was surprisingly close to our hotel, just a 15 mins ride.  I have been to Ephesus before, about a year back.  I came with a cruise ship and docked at Kusadasi.  The cruise provide a day trip to Ephesus and we took it.  It was such a wonderful place, especially for history lover like me.  Ephesus was an ancient Greek city which later became Roman's.  This was one the largest city in Mediterranean area during the Roman time.

Ref: http://www.planetware.com/map/ephesus-map-tr-eph.htm

We entered the site to the Upper Agora area.  I think almost immediately, our eyes were drawn to the Odeon which looked like an ancient theatre.  It looked pretty grand then but, that was incomparable with the Great Theatre that we would see later.  This Odeon was used for poetry reading and small concert.

In the area of Upper Agora area, there were also the Temple of Isis as well as Prytaneion which was once a Council Chamber or a Town Hall.  Unfortunately, we could barely made out anything as they are all in ruin. 

walking downward along the path and our guide pointed out one of the most photographed statue here (I thought).  It was the statue of Nike, the Goddess of Victory.  This is basically the origin of the Nike logo.  It was a little difficult to take picture of her as just about everyone on our tour and other tours were doing the same thing.

There were also some other beautiful carved stones for us to admire.  We were walking along the ancient Roman road, I think it was called Curetes street, taking random pictures till we reach just about halfway to the Library of Celsus.  Our guide stopped us to show us a few important area.  

First was the Temple of Hadrian which was dedicated to Emperor Hadrian who visited this place back in 1st century AD.  It was easy to spot because on top of the entrance, there was a carving of Medusa.  The place wasn't opened for public to enter though.

On another side of the street, we were directed to look at the mosaic work on the ground.  The pattern and color were amazingly fresh after all these years.  It just showed the quality of the ancient work.  It also made me think why things that are made during our time, the modern time, are so fragile and not durable.  We have much more advance technology but, the quality is getting worse and worse.  I would say that the commercial mosaic that are made and sold now, would not last more than my lifetime...what a shame.

We were getting very close to the landmark of Ephesus (for me) but before that, our guide needed to show us something else first.  Right opposite from the Library of Celsus is the Brothel.  This is a series of houses behind the Hadrian Temple.  It has two entrances, how convenient, from the Curetes street and the marble street in front of the library.  It housed bath and lavatories and these were what our guide (and every guide) wanted to show us.  I have seen from some of the Roman period movie how the toilet of that time was.  However, seeing the real thing just made me feel kind of ...how should I say...self conscious somehow.  It basically was so public!  Everyone taking of their business together!  Visitors were encouraged to try sitting on the toilet to get a feel.  We were all giggling about that.  So once everyone got their chances to take care of their business, we moved out of the lavatories and to the street.  There, we finally faced with a magnificent sight of Library of Celsus.  This library was built to commemorate a Roman Senator Celsus (actually he got a very long name) back in 135 AD by his son.  It was said that he built this library with his own money...how nice.  In the ancient time, it must have been super grand since it was recorded to have three stories and housed more than 12,000 scrolls.

It was difficult to get all the details in because of its size.  Once we got closer, we had to crane our necks to get the detail carving of the stone.  The last time I was here, our guide told us to stand at the base of the stair toward the right side of the building (facing the library), so that we could get most of the column as well as the carving on the ceiling.  It worked with a person in it too.

If we wanted to get everything, we probably would need to be here all afternoon.  Since we didn't not have luxury of time, I tried my best.

When it was time to re-grouped, I just felt that I needed to look at it as much as I could. It was like I was leaving something so dearly, kind of funny but, I kept looking at it again and again until we were to far along the marble street.  

At the end of the marble street, we reached the Great Theatre.  It was called 'Great' for a reason.  This is the largest theatre in Anatolia and it can accommodate 25,000 seats.  It is said that during the 1st century AD, Apostle Paul came here and preached the gospel.  True or not, that would depend on what people believe.  Another amazing thing is that it is still used in the modern time.  I read somewhere that Elton John had played here as well as Sting.  However, during Sting concert, the fan caused some damages so, it was decided that no concert would be allowed here anymore.  That was too bad...not that I could afford to fly here just to see concert.

On the opposite side of the Great theatre is the Harbor street and this was the street that leaded to the South entrance or exit for us.  Our guide just gave us sometimes to look around some more, go to restroom or shopping if anyone should want to.  We just took a few more pictures and got some refreshments before joining our guide before heading to the next stop.  Here are some more pictures from Ephesus.

Our next stop was...lunch which was so sad to accept that it was almost exactly the same as the buffet we had yesterday at Pamukkale.  We just ate and be done with it.  
After lunch, we resumed tour and went to the House of Virgin Mary.  It was actually not to far from the entrance of Ephesus.  From there, we had to drive uphill to get to the house.  This house is believed to be where Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived till the end of her life.  According to the Christian's belief, Mary was brought here by Saint John after the resurrection of Christ.  It was discovered by a French priest who followed the vision of a Roman Catholic nun only in 19th century.  Officially, the Church haven't certified its authenticity but, Pope Leo XIII did come here for pilgrimage.  The house is now a sacred place for both Christian and Muslims who also believe in the virgin birth and accept her as the mother of the prophet Jesus.  (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/ephesus-house-of-the-virgin

On the way to the house, I really felt like this place was a sanctuary.  The path was covered with greenery and it was so peaceful.  Unlike other tourists attraction, people did know there place and everyone was trying to keep their voice down.  At the end of the path, we could see a small, very simple and kind of shabby stone house.  It didn't really look like much.  I mean because Mary was the mother of Jesus, it's natural to think that her place of worship would be worth her status.  It's easy to forget (personally) that she was also a simple peasant who lived her life quietly.  We were quite lucky that there wasn't a line to enter the house.  It's a very small house.  There is a room for small living quarter and a kitchen.  The interior of the house is still kept very simple.  We could see some images and statues of the Virgin Mary as well as a shrine toward the back of the house.  There are also some small glass area which show Rosary and other items from Pope who had come here.

It was one-way inside the house.  Before leaving, we could make a little donation and for that we received a candle similar to a normal church.  However, since there is limited space inside and for the safety of people and treasures inside, the candles are placed outside, in front of the exit.  Actually, we didn't take the candle the first time because we didn't know where to put it.  Once we saw it outside, we went inside another round to pick up the candle.
From here, there is a path that leads down pass the office of the resident nun and to an outlet of a spring.  This spring runs under the house of Virgin Mary and it's believed to have healing quality.  So, we both drank the water and we thought about what we need to be healed.  I was feeling fine so, I figured that what I need was good memory.  I did damp my head with some of the holy spring water.  Whether it helps or not, we would never know.  At least I still remember the detail of the trip after so many months.

Next to the spring is a wall of wishes and prays.  People have been tiding paper with their wishes on this wall in the hope that it would become true.  We just skipped it.

Once, it was time, our group moved on to our next destination, our last sightseeing destination which was the Temple of Artemis.  This temple is considered to be among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  It sounds super magnificent.  Anyone who pictured it as huge temple would be greatly disappointed.  The original Temple of Artemis was built in 650BC to worship Goddess Artemis.  It is estimated to be as large as four time larger than the Pathenon.  The temple was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt a couple times just to be dismantled for its marble. 

Now, there is only one column left in the middle of the marsh.  It was kind of cute that a family of stalks chose to nest on top of the survival column.  When I was here last year, there was also a stalk nest up there, probably the same family.  When we were there, our guide basically had to show us a picture of what the archaeologists think it would have look like.  We all needed to use our own imagination to see its glorious past with more or less success.  After that, our guide gave us time to look around so, my friend and I went down to the marsh.  Actually, there was not much, just a few part of the collapsed columns.

From here, the guide took us to a carpet shop.  He said that this was not an ordinary shop.  It was also where a girl learn how to weave a traditional carpets.  He said that the owner of this place created jobs for local girls by training them, selling the carpet for them and then, split the fee with the girls.  Who knows how much the girls got for their carpets.  The owner took us around and explained the process of making Turkish rugs.

There were a few girls working on the carpets so they demonstrated for us, both wool and silk carpets.  It did make me appreciate my carpet that I bought in Istanbul even more.  Then, he took us into a big room with rugs on the wall and a big pile on the other side of the room.  It was like a presentation room.  He told us about different types of Turkish carpets, their originalities, materials and designs.  At the same time, he would show us the actual carpets.  There were quite a few of them that caught my eyes.  I still like silk carpet for its color and softness. 

He informed us that there is a real silk carpet and a fake one which design to fool tourists.  The fake one actually made from cotton but, it was processed in such a way that its texture is as soft as silk.  The one distinction between the fake and the authentic is the thickness.  The fake one, though just as soft, is much thicker than the real silk carpet and so, it cannot be folded like the real silk.  I remember when I bought my silk carpet in Istanbul, the shop owner shows us how pliable it was.  What's more, they even folded my carpet into tiny package for traveling.  Honestly, at first I did have a little doubt that we could be fool with this fake carpet.  However, once we heard about the real silk property as well as seeing and touching the fake and the real, we were reassured...ours are real for sure!  Just when we thought that they showed us just about every kind of Turkish carpets, they brought out the jaw-dropping carpet.  It made of silk and everything about it said luxury.  Beautiful color and super detail pattern, I think everyone wanted to bring it home.  

We wanted to know the price so badly, not that we would buy it because it was huge.  One of the lady in our group was surely wanting it.  She kept giving excuses for not to buy it like 'I have grandchildren and they are going to spill things on the carpet' but, everyone could tell from her face that she wanted it.  We had to eavesdropped to hear the price...something like over 20,000 EUR!!!  That's just crazy.  We got the feeling that that lady would loose big time.  In fact, we left the place without her and the husband.  Our driver dropped us off one by one.  Since we lived so close, we got dropped off first.  We went back to our hotel first for a little bit of rest.  But it was early and we have yet to explore this town so, we went out again.  First stop was an ancient ruin so close to our hotel, we just could not miss, Basilica of St. John.  This is supposedly the site of St. John, the Apostle of Jesus, tomb.  It's said that St, John came to Ephesus and wrote his gospel here.  He died and laid to rest in a church named after him.  The Basilica was built over the same church in 6th century by Emperor Justinian in the believe that this is the site of St. John's tomb.   

Ref: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/ephesus-basilica-of-st-john

The Basilica was destroyed in 14th century.  If the entire building still stood now, it's estimated to be the 7th largest Basilica.  However, all we have now are bits and pieces of the past.  The archeology has reconstructed some part of it so that, we all could see what it would have looked like.

Walking in, we saw lots and lots of rubbles, mostly from the Basilica's columns.  But then, where is the rest of the column cuz, we only saw mostly the top of it, at least these are the decorated part.  Though they were all from the same Basilica, the designs of the columns are quite different.  Inside, we could see an area with 4 columns and a head stone.  Looking from the lay out, this must have been where the alter used to be and the headstone was probably for the tomb of St. John.  Honestly, I didn't know the significant of this place at the time.  Didn't realize that this area contained many religious significant places.

From the edge of the Basilica, we could see all the landscape.  To the front of us was part of the town of Selcuk and to our right, we could see Isabey Mosque.  This is one of the oldest Turkish mosque with a courtyard.  This mosque was constructed back in 13th century and, sadly, was built with stones from Ephesus as well as Temple of Artemis.  From the information on the internet, it did look beautiful but, from where we were, it didn't really look like much to me.

From the hill, we could also see the Temple of Artemis (with a little bit of zooming).  It was difficult to notice since there was only one column there.

That was the end of our historical tour today.  Now we changed our focus to the town of Selcuk.  We wanted to see what this little town had to offer.  We went through the walking street that we went fir dinner yesterday to the end and did some exploring.  Along the way, we could see local people carrying fresh produces; fruits and vegetables.  We knew that somewhere there must be some kind of market close by.  One way to get to know other cultures is to see where people do their shopping and what buy, that's what I thought.  We love going to a market, especially and open market or farmers market.  We didn't really know where the market was so, we basically watched where people were coming from and went that way.  On the way there, we saw a van with so many kinds of sausages hanging at the back.  What a creative way to show their produce.  Look carefully and you could see the owner as well as a scale.

A short walk away and our strategy paid off, we finally found the market!  All the fruits and vegetable looked so good and colorful.  They were pretty cheap too.  We saw that they were selling strawberry for 2 LT a kilo or something like that which was nothing compare to what we have in our country.  What's more, it was very sweet.  We just couldn't resist and we ended up buying a kilo.  Also, we got to see something new, I have never seen the fresh artichokes with stems before.  I didn't even know how the artichoke grows.  They just put them in buckets as if they were a flowers.

There was also some cheese shops.  The cheese just look similar to what we saw in Istanbul.  There were cheeses in just about every shape; round, patty, thin sheet and strips.

After some walking around, looking at fresh products as well as apparel and shoes. we decided that we had enough.  All we got from the market was the strawberry.  By that time, it was early evening already and we decided to have dinner.  We went back to the walking street and did another round of restaurant survey.  We wanted somewhere very local looking.  We finally settled at Tat Restaurant & Cafe.  Honestly, we chose this one because of the food that was shown behind the glass display as well as the fact that the owner was playing chest with a local in front of the restaurant.  Once we saw us looking, he came to give us a tour on the food that his restaurant offered.  We were totally sold by his hospitality and so, we took the table in front of the hotel since the weather was so nice. 

We ordered two appetizers; minced eggplant (again) and fried pastry.  Then, we chose our main course from the display window, a spicy kebab for me.  It was quite amusing to watch the owner.  He never stopped playing chest with his friend.  He played and only got up when the food was ready or some customers walked in.  The appetizers were as good as expected.

The eggplant was totally yummy, soft, smooth and tasty especially with warm local bread.  Then the fried pastry, I believe it was with mushroom filling, was also delicious.  While we were having our appetizers, I wanted to try the traditional Turkish liquor, Raki.  This is a strong alcoholic drink which is popular in the area.  Most of the time, local would drink raki with seafood or meze.  I have heard about it for sometimes and wanted to know how it taste.  So, I asked the owner for it.  His reaction to my request was very surprising.  He looked at me with wide eyes and said something like OMG!!  He must have thought that I was such a bad girl.  I told him that I just wanted to try it so, he said ok.  He brought me two glasses, one with raki and another with water.  My friend and I were looking at each other because none of us knew what to do with it.  Should I drink raki first then, water?  So, just to be sure, we called the owner and ask him what to do.  He explained to us that I could drink pure raki or I could mix the water in if it was too strong.  So, first, he told me to try the raki and tell him what I thought.  &%$&#%$&@$%....It was super strong!!!  I guessed my face already gave away my thought.  So, he mixed the water in for me.  He said that how much water to mix in depended on my liking.  I think he mixed half of the water in.  It was much better, more manageable.  Honestly, I didn't like it too much.  Even with half the water, it was still very strong.  I didn't finish my drink because I was afraid that my friend might need to carry me up the hill to our hotel.  That wouldn't be good.  Then, the owner brought out our main dish.  I might be disappointed in the drink but, the kebab did make it up.  My spicy kebab was very juicy and tasty with a little of spicy taste.  He served it with rice, some greens and more bread. 

While having the dinner, we noticed a big brown tabby was trying to get some food for us.  He was the biggest cat I saw in this trip.  He wasn't very chubby or bulky but, when he was sitting up straight, he was strangely tall.  That might have to do with his strange crooked back.  His head was almost reach my lap level.  Sorry no policy for giving away food, not because I don't like cats but, I didn't want it to do this to others.

 We were at the restaurant until it was getting dark.  Tonight, we once again had to pack because we would be flying out at the end of tomorrow after another full day of tour.  So, we retired for the day.

To be continue...