Ephesus - what to say? It's a city, largely intact, from the 10th century BC, population of which could have been between 30-50,000. When you go to a museum and see pieces separately, it's hard to imagine how they all fit together, but spending two hours walking through this site, it makes at least some sense.
Good thing it made some sense, because I could hardly understand our tour guide. With Indonesians, Russians and Italians in my group, I should have been able to comprehend a thick Turkish accent better than all of them. But I kept turning to two sisters from Verona, Veronica and Clara, for clarification. They understood him. He looked like William Shatner, and I was afraid to ask any questions. He was all business. But the Verona sisters were great; it's funny how you know within about two minutes who is going to be your instant friend. Clara is a high school economics/law teacher, and Veronica works at a bookstore. Kindred spirits. We are going to meet back in Istanbul.
Anyway, it was one of those days where I drank it all in, and swore to read about it when I get home. But I will leave you with some pictures:
The goddess Nike - see the swish?
Here is the one column left from the original 127 of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
And here is the house where Mary - yes, THE Mother Mary - lived. She lived WAY up on a hill, about 20 minutes from Ephesus, but we didn't really learn why. Oh, and St. John also lived in Ephesus...
Sorry I cannot provide more information. I blame my tour guide. Hopefully you enjoyed the photos!!
6 comments:
I so wish i was with you for the mud baths and Ephesus! So much history, and to walk in places I've only read about and seen pictures of. It would be amazing. I'm so glad you are having such a fabulous time in this part of your journey. Oh, and I've decided what I want for my birthday: one of your new delicious eggplant dishes for dinner!
Ahhh...
Remember when you shared with me what you read in Stumble Upon... about visiting the 10 most beautiful, intriguing libraries of the world?
It's still a dream.
Ephesus is calling.
Your whole experience has been dream-like.
The experiences and sights seem so, so other-worldly.
U provided plenty of info considering u had unapproachable William Shatner lookalike ( which is Hilarious!) thank u for showing us Mary's House!!! That is really special.
Somehow I always pictured Mary's house being made out of wood (and thus long since gone) since her husband was a carpenter.
I'm also surprised there aren't more people around it - I would expect it to be surrounded by throngs.
What a cool place to see!
Brian...a better picture would have been the candle area outside the house, or the wall of prayers filled with paper slips (like what I have seen on the wailing wall). Many tourists were very emotional at Mary's house.
Oh, that makes sense. I just assumed she wasn't home or something.
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