Asena Kusadasi

... on me! (More Turkish security). What a score! So, I hope that really was the Italian president, because it was very exciting!<br> After that, we were entertained by costumed re-enactors playing dancing girls, emperors, tradesmen and gladiators. Cheesy but appreciated. When we left the park, we walked through a gauntlet of trades people in a bazaar. I had great fun bargaining for Turkish Delight, Apple Tea, and saffron.<br> As usual, a few guests were late back to ...

... We walked up to 2 kilometres in the complex and passed several temples, the treasury and a couple of amphitheatres. <br><br>Finally we ran the gauntlet of the souvenir shops at the exit to get to the bus which took us back to Kusadasi which has a population of 60,000 which swells to one million in summer. Remind us never to venture here then! There we were tempted to go to see a demonstration of silk winding and carpet weaving at a carpet shop. It's hard to cedit that a silk worm ...

... 1.5 hours when I realised that I couldn't find what supposed to be so beautiful, wonderful, magnificent and mindblowing. Either I just have seen too many other ruined sites to be more approaching or I am just realistic by saying that I was simply disappointed about the helpless appearing heaps of stones beside the theatre and very few remaining facades. <br>But the nearby village of Selcuk was a good place to be anyway - just to find an excuse!<br>

... a fight. If the loser fought well according to the crowd or judges, they were allowed to live.<br>We saw the old library (only for men of course), the brothel, the baths, the political theatre, and the hospital. We learned that there was a huge earthquake at one time and that many people died (they think it happened during the night because in one area that they are still excavating they found many remains of people in the houses). As a ...

... carpets. We figured since we will both be moving into new apartments within the next few months they would be well worth it. We are getting the carpets sent home and are looking forward to enjoying them for a long time! Nazmi then drove us back to our hotel in Kusadasi. On the ride, we were amazed with his ability to navigate the narrow streets filled with pedestrians and mopeds while talking on his cell phone in a large manual transmission van. Michael took ...

... When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus instead of Pergamum the capital of the western part of Asia Minor. Ephesus entered an era of prosperity. It became the seat of the governor, growing into a metropolis and a major center of commerce. It was second in importance and size only to Rome. Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100, making it the largest city in Roman Asia and of the day. Ephesus was at its peak during ...

... of home. Got the Turkish massage and might as well have been mugged. I ended up forking over a lot of money and ended up with some sore limbs and occasional nightmares. After Istanbul I came to Selcuk (pronounced sell-chook) to see the famed Ephesus. What an amazing site. A very well preserved Hellenistic Period town. The turkish pizza here is amazing. It's called Lamacun ...

... expected to see the fruit trees and the olive trees. But I didn't expect to see the small fields of cotton. I mean small - so small that women are harvesting the cotton by hand. The terrain is more rugged than I expected. Shortly before we reach the area of Ephesus, I notice a small fort high on the sharp hill to the west. It reminds me of the fortress of Karak in Jordan, though this fortress is set much higher in the higher elevation. Our ...

After yet another breakfast of egg, tomato and cucumber we hopped on our final tour of Turkey - and hopefully the final tour of our trip! Coincidently a couple Candadians who were on our first tour in Capadocia were on the same tour with us. Not so surprising for us as we seem to bump into them at each location. The tour today was the great ancient city of Ephesus, but our first stop was the Temple of Artemis - one of the seven wonders of the world. However today all that stands ...

... The Roman Capitol for Asia Minor We got a ride to Ephesus from the brother of the owner of the hostel where we were staying. By random circumstance ( ;) ), the brother owned a carpet shop, and asked if we might be interested in listening to his sales pitch after we toured the ruins. Since he had just given us a 25 minute ride to the ruins, we agreed. The Roman ruins at Ephesus have been partially restored to their old splendor. Even with only a partial restoration, it was easy to ...