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!

💕