Surmeli Efes Hotel Selcuk

... in France during the NATO conference in April and these were obviously government security and secret service. Never one to be shy, I left my group and walked right up to a Kalashnikov carrying soldier in full battle gear and asked him what was going on? He gave me the once over and said what sounded like, 'That's the Italian president, Napolitano'. Wow! So I then went up to a secret service guy and asked him. Same answer. I asked which one it was and he pointed ...

H's Notes<br>We woke to find ourselves mooring in Kusadasi. Our tour to Ephesus had been planned for the afternoon so we took ourselves off for a walk along the seafront and out to Pigeon Island which gives Kusadasi its name. <br>The tour to Ephesus was quite stunning and the ruins were far more extensive than we had ever envisioned. According to our guide Ihsan who was born in Greece but who has lived in this area for over 30 years, only a quarter of the Ephesus complex has been ...

(Steve)<br> <br>Turkey was an interesting place. Friendly but quite pushy, the merchants literally stood in the street and tried to herd us into their stores, acting as if you were rude for not looking at their wares. We had pre-booked an excursion to see the ancient ruins at Ephesus that was well worth it considering the out of the way location and the commentary of our guide. Once built near a bay and an important trade route, silting turned ...

... Christians at Ephesus), Mary finished out her days in this house after migrating to Asia Minor with John. The location was "discovered" in the 19th century by Sister Anna Catherina Emmerich, a German invalid who had never left home. The discovery was in the form of a dream, from which the nun awoke with a stigmata. The site was later found as described and was visited by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, who both verified its authenticity. The validity of the site is also supported by the ...

... of us together. We defintely had some interesting pictures taken of us.<br><br>When we returned Sarah had received an email from the hotel in Pummakale and they said they would send the glasses to her by bus the next day. We were tired from our day in the sun, so after sneaking out of the hotel to have lunch somewhere that wasn't Mehmet's restaurant, and came back to relax on the roof terrace. Lindsey promptly fell asleep on the couch, and ...

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... flew into nearby Izmir, and then took a short minibus ride over to Selcuk. We were amazed and impressed to find so many solar panels covering the roofs of the buildings we passed by. Nice and early, we arrived feeling great, particularly knowing we'd avoided the 8hr bus ride. We checked into our guesthouse, and eventually made our way over to the ruins of Ephesus (and later to see what remained of the Temple of Artemis - the 3rd world wonder site we've visited). The ruins of ...

... everyone and hýs dog trýed to conquer ýt! Before the Chrýstýans took over there were many reýlýgous groups happýly co-exýstýng. Unfortunately when the Chrýstýans came they destroyed all of the 'pagan' ýmages...pýctures statues etc. of the gods that the others worshýpped - one can see the marks and dývets where there were ýmages ýn the columns etc. The whole of Ephasus ýs slowly beýng excavated and some money has been put ýnto the d ...

... city was established as a port on the mouth of the river Cayster and was one of the foremost cities of the world for its being on a strategic trade route in Anatolia. The city itself and the ruins are all on the sides of a fertile valley. The extensive ruins including the theatre, library or gymnasium create the special atmosphere of Ephesus, and appeal to every visitors. This was probably one of the most amazing sites i have ever seen ...