Weather: sunny and warm
Temperature: mid-twenties to top of 30 degrees at 3pm.
Today we travelled for just over three and a half hours to our next nightly stop-over at Selcuk which was to be our base to explore the well-known ancient city of Ephesus (Efus).
We stopped briefly and at the risk of becoming road-kill at the side of the road we took photos of an old Roman aqueduct at the bottom of a hill.
After lunch and check-in we visited the Ephesus Museum to see some of the relics from the site. Artemis was represented several times in statues and there was a complete room dedicated to Eros. It was then onto the old city which was built in four stages over four sites.
At 3pm the temperature had risen as we set off to explore the entrance area of Ephesus perusing the Roman baths, the agora, the basilica and the Bouleutron (or Odeon).
We walked down the old royal road made of marble and our guide pointed out things of interest on the way. In Roman times the emperors were revered and several buildings were built to honour them including Hadrian’s gate (yes, another!) and Domitian’s Palace (81-96 AD).
We could see the Library of Celsus (114-117AD) in the distance and marvelled at the enormity and completeness of the facing wall. As we drew closer we all took turns taking photos of each other knowing we probably wouldn’t be this way again!
Our next stop was the famous theatre of Ephesus which was built in the Hellenistic period and covers an enormous area seating up to 24 thousand people. It is currently being restored and there were workers in the central seating area and further up to the top right. The top most seating is 30 metres above ground level. St Paul is said to have spoken to his people three times here.
Ephesus is known for its leather so Ergun took us to a leather outlet. It was a lot of fun as we were seated in a room and treated to a fashion parade of their wares. I pretended I was Kylie Minogue in the front row in Paris although I could see from the looks on the males’ faces on the other side that they did not share my excitement!
It was then onto the showroom for a quick lesson in grading and then we were let loose………suffice to say several people went away happily with their purchases including David who bought himself a black leather jacket.
With a quick round of drinks before dinner in one of the hotel rooms we were taken to a local restaurant which specialised in a lamb dish. It arrived on an iron platter with a burner underneath to keep it warm.
And the day had not ended here…..we then went to Julia’s shop (a long held promise from our guide) who specialised in silver. As one male wag on the tour described the women shopping inside (while the men sat outside)– it was like white sharks in a feeding frenzy! Some interesting pieces were purchased and we spend several hours poring over (and buying) some pieces.
It was then home to bed as the day will start early with our biggest drive ahead of us.
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