A Six Month Odyssey

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21 Feb 2020
Izmir - Selçuk

Today we caught the train to Selcuk and we're staying at St John Hotel for the next three nights. The dude at the front desk hasn't made a great impression, and neither has the damp smell in the room.

There are about ten things on the list to do here over the next two days and I'm wondering if we're going to fit them all in.

We arrived at around 2 and had a delicious bowl of lentil soup for lunch. The restaurant is owned by a lovely couple. The dishes are made for the day and you basically choose what you want from whatever is cooked on the day. I did notice on the board out front that they serve Moussaka. I asked the owner if they have it available for dinner and he said he didn't think so. He ducks out the back to check with his wife who tells him she will make it for us!!! We're coming back at 6.30pm!!

After lunch we went to St John Basilica. What a spectacular site! And guess what??? We can use the Museum pass!

According to the council sources of Ephesus, John the Baptist came to Ephesus, together with The Virgin Mary somewhere between around 37 A.D and 50 A.D - dont quote me, I tend to skim over ridiculously lengthy information boards. REALLY long story short, he was exiled to the Island of Patmos and returned from exile in 95 A.D. and spent the last years of his life on Ayasuluk Hill, (where the castle was later built), where he wrote his gospel and letter. He was also buried there when he died at around the age of 100.

It astounds me sometimes that we are standing and walking in the steps of some of the most important and influential people in history. We really have to stop sometimes and pinch ourselves.

Unfortunately, we have been wandering around the site so long that the gate to the Ayasuluk Castle has closed, but one of the workers has told us she will let us in again for free tomorrow morning to visit it.We can see the Isabey Mosque and the Temple of Artemis from the hill, so we figure we might as well visit the Mosque as its right next door. The temple will need to wait until tomorrow as we can't locate the entrance.As it happens, the Museum is also on the way back, so we stop in there too. Wow! It really is the prequel for Ephesus tomorrow. The preserved statues from the site are spectacular! And guess what?? It's included in the museum pass ?

On the way back, Shane suggests we drop in to the Boomerang cafe and restaurant for a drink because he's read that the owner is an Aussie. He really has done his research for this town it seems! So we have a couple of drinks with this Turkish expat who has returned to Turkey with his Chinese wife. She speaks Mandarin and English, he speaks Turkish and English and the kids speak Turkish with a bit of Mandarin and have quite a good grasp of English. The kids come home from school and its quite a comedy, with all languages being spoken so that everyone is understood.

Two doors down is another returned Turkish expat, Harry. Now Harry is in for a good long chat. I suspect he could have been related to Chopper Reid! Harry's favourite saying is "anyway, to cut a long story short". And guess what? No, it has nothing to do with a museum pass.....Harry owns a rug store!

"Here we ago again" thinks Knackers! So after I stand my ground and tell him we really don't have time to go in to the store today, we end up in the rug store for about ten minutes. He has some stunning pieces, and I might go back tomorrow....no pressure of course?

So there we have it. We've seen over half of the things we wanted to see in our first afternoon and best of all, the Moussaka for dinner was everything I had hoped for!

22.02.20

Selçuk

We finished what we started yesterday and visited the Castle this morning, and then caught the town bus to Ephesus. There is no doubt that the Library is the star of this site, and we have arrived early enough to have it to ourselves. Got to love the off season and a bit of Coronavirus thrown in for good measure.

The Terrace Houses on the site are an extra cost......unless.....you guessed it.....you have a museum pass. I can see Shane's brain ticking over, counting back to work out how much this card still owes us haha

Shane says: 21 Lira down after today. Or 39 if you don't count the extra visit to the castle.

Sharls says: When we get the bus back at around 2pm, we ask the driver to drop us on the side of the road at the Temple of Artemis (daughter of Zeus and brother of Apollo), which is really underwhelming given that it was one of the ancient wonders of the world, so we push on in to town for some lunch.

The Saturday markets are on and they are alive with colour and people pulling buggies loaded with fresh fruit and vegetables and all manner of produce. I want to know where they have been hiding all the fruit and vegetables, because we can't find it being served anywhere!!!

Shane says: We find ourselves in the market trying a bit of this and a bit of that. 10 Lira (about 2 fitty Aussie) gets us a kilo of beer nuts. Another 10 Lira gets Sharls nearly 2kg of chonks ( lollies for our friends not from Australia). I'm trying eucalyptus teas. Great market, freshest food available.

Psst ....I'm trying to distract RTDD (running the double denim ) girl from heading back to Harry at the carpet store. I seriously don't need a 2K rug. Like my beer budget is anywhere near that!!Pfft. ??

For breakfast this morning, Sharls starts to laugh as we take a seat. In front of us, amongst the spread of cold cheeses and meats, is a sachet of Nutkum. Well all the dad jokes come out after this little ripper. Like........................................well I'll leave it up to you. We did pocket a sachet. All I can say is Sharls likes her Nutkum.

Sharls says: haha, breakfast anyone? I made a deal with him. You ride the Kamil Koc bus to Pamukkale on Monday and I'll eat NutKum for breakfast! Looks as though I'm having eggs. I dont know what he has against Kamil Koc. ?

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Photos

Selçuk
Ephesus Library

Selçuk
Ephesus Library

Selçuk
Ephesus

Selçuk
Ephesus

Selçuk
Ephesus Library

St John Basilica
Baptismal font of St John

Selcuk
Ephesus