Ian and I flew a short 45 minute leg to Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey after Istanbul and Ankara.  From there it was an hour’s drive to Kusadasi, our home for the next two nights and our base for touring Ephesus.  Kusadasi is also a popular port for the ships that cruise the Greek islands; they stop here for a day and the passengers do their half day tour of the ruins before sailing off to the next port.  It is in a very pretty harbour setting beside the Aegean Sea.

Afternoon light over Kusadasi viewed from our hotel room

We checked into our waterfront hotel, where we have a large suite with a wonderful view over the harbour, a spa bath, a TV with HDMI (so we can finally watch the TV shows we brought from home, and see our photos on a decent screen) – everything except the kitchenette that was advertised on the hotel’s website.  When we queried the lack of anything resembling something to cook with, the helpful hotel staff said we could use the kitchen downstairs where they make breakfast.  Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to food, so we said ok and hunted down something microwaveable in the supermarket.  Ian will give you all the details of the endless hunt for gf food in Turkey, suffice to say if you don’t have a car it is very difficult to get to a supermarket big enough to potentially offer anything gf.

We also explored the waterfront before dinner, then cooked our meal.  The staff here must think we are very strange but they accommodate us with a smile.  We watched the sun set and the lights come on from our 4^th floor vantage point.

In the morning we thought we had a leisurely pickup of 9.30am, at least that’s what our paperwork said.  At 8:35am, while we were in the middle of breakfast, our tour guide turned up.  “Didn’t you get the message?  Your time was changed”.  Someone forgot to tell us.  One very fast dash to clean teeth and grab daypacks ensued, and we were on the road to Ephesus.  We were joined by a couple from South Africa, and another couple from the US (though he was originally Russian).

First stop was the House of the Virgin Mary, a small stone house in the mountains where it is believed by some that she spent her last days hiding from the Romans.  This has never been proved.  For us it was a diversion to a mildly pleasant hillside garden, though many people write wishes and attach them to a wall in the hope that the Virgin will make them come true.  We were told not to bother wishing for an iPhone 5.

Ian wishes he could find gluten free food in Turkey (wish so far not granted)

Then it was on to Ephesus, the third largest city of the ancient Roman empire (after Rome and Alexandria).  It was settled first by the Greeks in the first century AD, but moved twice, and the site that is visited these days is the third, Roman settlement.  We were guided through the site for a couple of hours, but I could easily have spent twice as long here, it was fascinating.  There are two agoras, or marketplaces, a small and a large amphitheatre, a huge library, shops, marble streets, public toilets, even a brothel (or “house of love”, interestingly connected to the library by an underground tunnel!)  You could really begin to imagine the Romans going about their day to day life, strolling the streets in their togas and leather sandals, meeting at the agora, catching a game of cricket at the amphitheatre (ok, maybe not cricket).  After 120 years of archaeological excavation, only about 15% of the site has been uncovered.  There are the grand sights like the library and amphitheatre, but lots of small details to take in as well.

Us at Ephesus

Small ampitheatre

Nike, Goddess of Victory

Public lavatory.  The Roman men came here to discuss important affairs of state. The women sensibly stayed home. If you were important enough, you sent a slave ahead of time to warm the seat for you.

The amazing Celsius Library

Ancient Roman librarian

The large ampitheatre, just like the MCG

After lunch we made the ubiquitous stop to a carpet place – guess it had to happen eventually.  We were told it was a school and there was no pressure to buy, but after a short demonstration of how the silk threads are made and the carpets are woven, we were shown an array of carpets.  They were beautiful and you could see how much skilled labour went into them, but the hard sell was soon applied.  It would be lovely to have one, but we couldn’t imagine where we would put it – certainly not on the floor; they are too valuable to be walked on.

One of the carpets that we didn’t buy

We called in at a small museum which contains some of the artifacts discovered at the Ephesus site, followed by a stop at the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Only one of the hundreds of 20 metre high marble columns has been reconstructed (and then only about 15 metres high), but as you look at the huge site you can see a Christian church, a mosque, and the remains of a Greek temple, all of which have co-existed side by side for hundreds of years, in another indication of Turkey’s acceptance of all religions.

Statue from Ephesus Museum

Site of the Temple of Artemis (foreground)

Back in Kusadasi, we explored the small island joined to the mainland by a causeway.  It contains a small fort that is being restored.  We picked our way around the rocks at its base, dodging the fishermen.  Then it was time for another waterfront walk, another kitchen dinner, a wave goodbye to the cruise ship, and so to bed.

Just another Kusadasi sunset