Tuesday, May 7, 2002 18:42
Weather: Warm & sunny, nice breeze.
Location: Ephesus restaurant, Selcuk.

A good day! I got a lot done. After a comfortable night at the Barim Pension, I enjoyed a sit down (on the floor cushion) breakfast and headed out. I picked up a map at the nearby tourist office, and set out to walk to Ephese, 3km down the road. I probably made it about 30m before a passing moped guy asked if I wated a ride for 1,500,000 TLR, which seemed fair, so I hopped on.

Ephesus itself was densely populated with busloads of tourists, but despite all that was genuinely stunning: the ruins of a Roman city of 250,000 people, including houses, temples, markets, two arenas and a brothel, all abandoned to time, Turks and earthquakes when the harbour silted solid. The most spectacular building was the library, restored in 1978 by an Austrian archaeological team, presumably out of guilt over the number of Ephesian artifacts resident in Vienna. The Grand Theatre was half again as big as the one in Epidaurus, though not in active use and with slightly less impressive acoustics. (Still good solid Greek design, though adapted by the Romans for public benefits like executions and throwing people to lions.)

I left Ephesus past the hippodrome (closed to the public) and walked a couple of km up a side road to the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, which, in contrast with Ephesus, had none (0) tour buses or tourists, despite the entrance fee of zero (0) TLR. There wasn't, admittedly, a lot to see -- a ruined tomb, whose gate was locked anyway so it wasn't possible to get too close -- but the view back to Selcuk was good, and getting away from the bus tours so wonderful, that I ate it up anyway.

From there I walked back into town for lunch at a Turkish pizza parlour. Mine had a thin layer of ground spicy meat, no cheese or tomatoes, maybe some onion mixed in, absolutely delicious.

Next stop after lunch was the museum in town, not large, but with many interesting objects from Ephesus, including statues and mosaics, rescued from the hordes tramping through and brought to this safe refuge for study. I noted how many of the Roman emperors depicted in noble statues were the ones generally considered Bad by posterity, whereas the Good ones tended to get short shrift.

After the mueum I tracked down an Internet cafe and updated the Blog. While I was walking there, I passed a large open area where a few hundred students were practicing one of those complicated choreographed dances that are used for Olympic opening ceremonies and celebrations of the Great Leader's birthday in North Korea. While I was in the cafe, another horde of children went past, banging on drums and blowing trumpets. Apparently this is all in preparation for Youth and Sports Day on May 19. Since April 23 was National Sovereignty and Children's Day, when apparently students might be expected to do performance art as well, I wonder how much these kids actually learn in their spring semesters.

For the rest of the afternoon I saw the other "obligatory" sights of Selcuk: the (ruined) church of St. John (under painstakingly slow restoration) and the (only slightly ruined) Isa Bay mosque, big and therefore another tour bus destination.

Before dinner I had a fruitless search for a Herald Tribune, during which I was intercepted by a jewelry shop owner and her two New Zealander friends, all three polishing silver rings and drinking apple tea. They invited me to join them, and (surprise) it turned out that the Kiwis were working in London and travelling in Europe for a couple of months.

Julia, the silver shop owner, recommended this restaurant which has indeed been excellent. My bus to Istanbul leaves in two hours...
posted by Tom at 7:00 PM | link |