Ancient Ephesus

Here's the thing. This trip was all about going to the Acropolis. We initially investigated Athens as the destination, and tossed around spending the week there. But...it's a foreign city, where neither of us speak the language, and know nothing about the city itself. We love cruising because it's a safe way for the two of us to travel. Celebrity takes us to amazing places, vets the local excursions, and deposits us back in our room by night. It's safe, low stress, and we've been to amazing places this way!

But like I said, Athens was "the thing".  Sure, we chose the excursions, and we researched the places before doing so, but none of it was bucket list. The travel was the bucket list. And so when we woke up in TURKEY the other day, it really was a pinch me sort of thing. 

Kuşadasi has sort of a Kirkland vibe from the water, doesn't it? Kirkland in the 80s? We watched the sun rise, and watched the city wake up. 

Then we were off to Ephesus. Yes, the same Ephesus from the Bible, where Apostle Paul came, and where Apostle John lived and wrote. It's also the same Ephesus from the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The same Ephesus where Marc Antony and Cleopatra walked. There is literally too much history here to comprehend (or explain!). So much life has been lived here since it was created in the 10th century BC.  I'll do my best!

In the upper gate the first thing you come across are the baths. They were created around 104 AD. Built out of marble, there were three baths: cold water, warm water, and hot water. I think that's trendy again at spas nowadays! The baths would have been about 120ft long, and decorated with mosaics. 

Next up is State Agora. I admit I was on the struggle bus understanding what this place was. But "agoraphobia" which is the fear of open areas, is stemmed from this root word. An agora is an open place where people gathered. The upper agora in Ephesus was a place where people gathered for political or social reasons, exchanging information and so on. 

The first "theater" is Odeon.  Built in the 2nd century AD, it had a capacity of 1500, and also featured a wooden roof. 

At the Acropolis I genuinely got separated from the group because I was going slowly up the hill. In Ephesus it was a different story. It was crowded, our guide was keeping a peppy pace, and I just thought "wait a minute!!!". I'm never going to be here again, and I wanted to see everything. So I took a left when everyone went straight and zoomed around having my own adventure. Yeah - I zoomed. The marble is old and worn, making it slippery, there are stairs everywhere, and yet, I zoomed. You may be tired of hearing all the things I can do with these new knees, but I'm not tired (yet) of talking about it. 😁 I haven't felt this free in...years. 

I saw a bunch of stuff. And because I was solo, I'm not real sure what it all was! Sometimes you don't need to know all the things to be able to appreciate it. 💗

Nike

Like I said, the marble is worn, it's original, and though they have put some traction strips in places, it's difficult to manage. But my feet walking where John's feet were? Cleopatra? And tons of other Greeks, and Romans,  traders and slaves, politicians and philosophers, pagan worshipers and early Christians? They all walked on these same stones. 

And Louise too! 💕 I eventually zoomed around and caught up with the tour and my bestie. 

We walked down Curetes Street, past the Hercules Gate and the Fountain of Trajan.

And then we were at the pièce de résistance: the Library of Celsus. 

Isn't it absolutely beautiful? It was built in the 2nd century AD and housed around 12,000 scrolls. Four female statutes stood out front symbolizing fate, knowledge, virtue and wisdom. It is considered the third largest library of the ancient world, Alexandria holding the top spot. 

This niche, and others like it, housed the scrolls. 

And like the rest of this trip, I climbed up the steep steps and became completely overwhelmed by the titanium (or whatever it is!) that allowed me to experience this ancient moment. One of us has pretty much sobbed their way through Europe while the other has caught all the moments. And yes, I've flashed these babies after every set of stairs. And tourists across the continent have pictures of to prove it! ;)

Back in the day, the square in front of the library might have been filled with poets and orators.

One more! I really just want to look at the pictures of the library F O R  E V E R. I was loathe to climb down and join the group. 

At the other end of Ephesus is a second theater, the Grand Theater. It has a seating capacity of 25,000!!! Not a typo - they believe that 200,000 people lived in ancient Ephesus! The hills that roll on either side of the ruins on both sides of Curetes Street are believed to have ruins just below the surface of where people worked and lived during this time. 

There are also pieces all over, like in Delos, that they have yet to piece back together. 

On the way back to the ship we learned about Turkish rug weaving (amazing!), and sampled Turkish apple  tea. One of us also drank ouzo (and lived to tell about it!). 😃

And thus ends one of the most perfect travel days ever. We didn't know that we would ever be here, and we still can't believe that we were.  The world is big, and waiting for you to see it!

💕

Temple of Athena Winnie Foster (Delos)

 On Monday we were in Mykonos! 

Well, our ship was in Mykonos. We spent the day at the archaeological site of Delos. If you're starting to see a theme, you're right! We love exploring ruins, history, and ancient cultures. 

I used Athena in the title because she is sometimes known as the goddess of warfare and wisdom, and when this tabby cat popped out of the ruins like she ran the place I had a whole new understanding of Ms Winnie Foster. If you've met her, and most of you haven't for very specific reasons, you know she is a fierce defender of me and her home, and also has a wry way of looking you up and down like she knows waaaay more than you do. I'm going to try and keep her royal lineage from her, lest her head get that much bigger. 

Delos was settled in the third millennium BC, and also was the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo. I'm just going to leave that right there and let you Google if you're interested. Our brains are full of Greek (and Roman!) mythology, and fact and...fiction? are merging rather seamlessly. 😉

Delos was a religious destination, housing several temples dedicated to Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Zeus and others. It was also a major trade hub, and during its heyday, around 30,000 people lived here. During the Roman rule, it was declared a free port, and no taxes were collected. As a result, a wide variety of people lived and traded here: Syrians, Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, and many more. 

It lived several lives before being abandoned. I think pirates had something to do with that, but I'm not quite sure anymore. I do know it wasn't a volcano! Because of its relatively long life, there are different kinds of architecture, art and decoration to be studied. 

Only about 10% of the city has been excavated, but even so, they know that it was a place of great wealth and grandeur.  Some doorways still stand of marble, and mosaic floors. Most wall frescoes have disappeared, but a few remain to give clues to what it might have been like. 

Marble doorway.

Mosaic floor.

Same floor, original mosaic from the museum. 

There are marks in the window frame where bars would have been. They assume this was a bank, because the frame is made of marble, showing it as a place of wealth.

One of the few remaining frescoes. It's so similar to something that we saw in Akrotiri!

 

In Akrotiri the excavations have revealed the top floor of some houses, with evidence showing there are possibly three and four stories. In Delos, columns indicate that there were two story houses (the top floors missing), and there are errant staircases to support that theory. 

And like any bustling town, there were shops! You can see in this fish market that there are two doorways. One would have been for the fisherman, and the other to his home. Other shops only have one door, showing that the shop was rented, with the housing not being attached. This fish shop has a marble surface that would have kept fish cool, and also has two fish shaped impressions, and cutting marks. It's amazing both how much is lost in ruins, and how much can be learned from what is left behind.

They even had sunken pots to keep the contents cool!

There was also a theater, evidence of plumbing, and water collection. For an ancient town, it was pretty advanced! 

When Delos was abandoned, there was a lot of pillaging. Even so, there are pieces of architecture scattered as far as the eye can see in every direction. Excavation began here in the late 1800s, and there is so much left to do. 

Mykonos might be an incredibly cute town, but there were several cruise ships in port, and as mentioned, it was H-O-T, so we retreated to our room to gear up for the next adventure!

How cute is this traveler?