Ephesus

Ephesus was one of the most important cities of the ancient world.   One of the major trading ports in the Mediterranean, it was originally settled thousands of years ago, and reached its zenith in the first and second centuries AD.  It remained an important port until the fifth century. However, by the time it was abandoned in the middle ages it was little more than a village.

The main drag through Ephesus

We follow in the path of ancient Greeks and Romans down streets of marble stones polished by two thousand years of footsteps.  A walk along a colonnaded arcade  brings us to an ancient 25,000 seat amphitheater built into a hillside.   It is believed to be the largest theater in the ancient world.  Plays, concerts, poetry readings, speeches and gladiator bouts  entertained patrons for over two thousand years.  Sting played here in the 90s.  Katherine McDowell even recited Shakespeare here in 2012.

Kate holds forth in the amphitheater 

 We wander among the tumbled ruins of ancient fountains, houses and shops in the Agora.  Fragments of towering columns,  great arches, and mortarless stone walls stand as reminders of this once great city.   Slaves, saints and sinners called it home.  Once an important seaport, Ephesus  fell victim to siltation of its harbor from the nearby river and the remains of the city is now miles inland.   Abandoned in the Middle Ages, Ephesus was literally buried by the sands of time.  Today as we pass, the ancient stones bake in the afternoon sun.

Hadrian's  Gate

The remains of the Celsus library

Ephesus; where  visitors and residents  were a veritable who's who of the ancient world including:  Heraclitus, a pre-socratic philosopher (the expression, "Know thyself", has been attributed to him), Zeuxis a 5th century BC painter,  Agasias, a 2nd century BC sculptor, Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaianus, founder of the Celsus library in the 1st century AD and Manuel Philes a 13th century AD Byzantine poet.  ( I know you never heard of any of them but you should look them up).  Later such luminaries as St John, St. Paul (Bible type people) visited or lived here.  Even  Mary (yes, that Mary) is said to have lived here in her last days

Medusa pediment over a fountain 
(Don't be fooled as countless have...the Afro is made of snakes...so beware)

Ephesus was an important site even as far back as the 8th century BC.   Here, too, is found the remains of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; the Temple of Artemis.  The temple now lies in ruins and rubble with one lone column still standing to mark the spot. 

Antipater of Sidon, who compiled the list of the Seven Wonders, describes the finished temple: " I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus: but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy", and I said, " Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand".

Statue of Mary  (I have included this as a tribute to Deb's mom.)

TURKEY-FIRST IMPRESSION

Karacabey at night

Turkey has leaped into the 21^st century with both feet.  Modern highways whisk cars, trucks and buses to all corners of the nation.  Skyscrapers dot the skyline of every major city. (However, I am not too impressed with the architecture.  I am equally unimpressed with traffic engineers). Supermarkets, gas stations,  and outlet malls are on every corner. Urban factories churn out cars, washing machines and TVs.  Every man, woman and child seems to have a cell phone, every guesthouse has Wi-Fi, and English is spoken almost everywhere. 

Deli case at the local supermarket

Karacabey main square

At the same time,  village life goes on much as it has for thousands of years.   Olive trees dot the hillsides.  Fields full of tomatoes, cucumbers and squash cover every bit of arable land. Near the coast acres of hothouses look like snow on the ground.  Flocks of sheep graze every patch of available forage.  Little old ladies in babushkas and wildly patterned balloon pants and skirts ride  tractors alongside  their husbands and sons who are invariably clothed in horizontal striped sweaters, dark vests and snap-brim caps.  Their dour faces look like dried apples parched and wrinkled from years in the sun (and possibly too many cigarettes).

Despite their generally dour appearance, the Turks are friendly and helpful.   Throw out a few words of Turkish  and one is rewarded with a big smile and a new friend.   Although generally very quiet, the Turks become gregarious with a little encouragement (or a few drinks). We feel very safe here and Turkey is one of the easiest places we have traveled.

Countryside on the way to Izmir

Room for one more?

My impression of the food here is mixed.  Most rooms come with a breakfast of cheese, bread, tomatoes, cucumber, jam, boiled egg, and tea or coffee.  The bread is usually white and tasteless.  However, the cheese is usually a very good feta or cheddar. In a few places we have had some of the best yogurt I have ever had. I am not fond of boiled eggs and am already tired of the breakfast here being a granola and fruit kind of guy.  Restaurant food is good if one takes the time to find where the locals eat.  Lamb and chicken predominate and we have had some great fish as well.  The best food has been in locansas which is the local equivalent of a diner.  The mezzes or appetizers are served cold but are a vegetarian's delight with eggplant, beans, tomatoes, and olives.  Salads are fresh and dressed with lemon and oil and, as a bonus, safe to eat.

City goats grab a bite

A happy? local

Driving in Turkey is an adventure but no more so than driving in New York or Los Angeles.   Turks, like good race car drivers, treat the other moving objects on the road as static obstacles to weave amongst.  To the casual observer, the Turkish style of driving looks crazy, but when one finds the rhythm of the street, it is actually predictable, relatively safe, and  a fun place to drive.  (Deb probably disagrees with this last statement).  Roads are good and well signed but cities can be difficult to navigate.  However, our new best friend (our GPS), whom we have dubbed Lady Garmin, guides us in and out of the cities.  Also, she somewhat reliably finds us diesel when we are low on fuel, a place to spend the night and restaurants when we are hungry.

Horse carts compete with automobiles

Turkey has not been my favorite place to travel but it is growing on me.  So far we have seen some spectacular antiquities, some beautiful beaches and dramatic landscapes. The Turquoise Coast is among the best in the world.  The mountains, which often plunge directly into the sea,  are barren on top and pine or scrub clad at lower elevations.  The condition of the antiquities doesn't  compare to other places we've been but the history oozes from the stones under our feet  

Sunset over the mountains

ISTANBUL

Istanbul has long conjured images of the exotic east; hookahs, veiled women and men in funny little red hats.  Todays Istanbul is all that but so much more.  It is not the city I first visited 35 years ago.  Today Istanbul is more Europe than Asia.  The once squalid streets are now clean and cobbled.  Run down ancient houses have been repurposed into guesthouses to accommodate the millions that visit each year.  Modern shops replace the once cobbled together shops of the rug merchants, goldsmiths and souvenir stands.  Sidewalk cafes with immaculate linens line quiet side streets.  The city is clean, safe, and easy to navigate yet I miss the old Istanbul.

The beam from a lighthouse strobes over the Bosporus as coastal freighters pass beneath my window.   Lightning flashes in the towering nimbus above while thunder rolls across the amber lit city below. 

View from the window of our paysione

The mussein’s call to prayer reverberates off ancient stone buildings.  A pushcart vendor hawks his wares near a dancing fountain illuminated by   multi-colored lights. 

Corn anyone?

The massive walls and domes of the Blue Mosque rise high above the square flanked by conical hatted minarets piercing the sky. 

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

Kate and Richard in Topkapi Palace harem

Kate admires the Palace

Across the square, lofty red stonewalls of Aja Sophia are punctuated by glowing stain glass windows. 

Aja Sophia

Aja Sophia

Music blares from a disco up a nearby street. Turks stroll by in swirls of cigarette smoke and strong cologne.  Women in the latest European fashion walk arm in arm with others in full headscarf and long flowing dress.  A trolley rumbles by on steel ribbons as pedestrians dodge and weave between scooters, cars and buses.  Tall trees shift in the evening breeze. 

The "Sunken Palace"  underground cistern

FALLIN' INTO NEW ENGLAND

A roaring fire warms me and dries my rain spattered clothes.  Jasper the golden lab contentedly lies in front of the fireplace emitting the familiar odor of wet dog.  A sip from glass of small batch rye whiskey  warms me all the way down to my belly.  Through  large glass doors  misty mountains painted with the last golds of a New England autumn disappear in the distance.  Nearby, a few cows graze in an impossibly green pasture  flanked by white bark of now bare birch trees.  I can almost hear the rush of the water in  the river in the  Kedron Valley below.  I look up and admire the soaring post and beam structure of the living room in Gordon and Doria's  magnificent home in Woodstock, Vermont.  (Long time readers of the blog may remember an earlier post about a tramp through Deadfall Meadow with Gordon and Doria who is Deb's cousin).

View from Gordon and Doria's Living Room

"NEW HAMBURG, NEXT STOP, NEW HAMBURG,"blared the speaker above our seat. An afternoon trip up the Hudson River on the Metro North Railroad is nearly at end after a rush along the river glistening in the afternoon sunlight.   Distant low flying seagulls dipping their wings in the water become sailboats as we near our stop.  The river is flanked by a kaleidoscopic vision  of reds and oranges and golds and rusts in the hills above.

   

Afternoon on the Hudson River

We have arrived in New Hamburg near Jean's house; another of Deb's cousins.  (She has a lot of cousins in New England.  Must be something about the long winters)     We gather our bags and rush from the train.

Bridge over the Hudson

The next morning after enjoying  the hospitality of Jean and husband Tony, we are off to Vermont.  We follow back roads flanked by riotous foliage to the Taconic Parkway.  There are few better drives in the world than a drive through New England  in the fall.  As we speed through the rolling hills of New York, Massachusetts and Vermont,  a bright sunny day sets the hills on fire.   After a circuitous route using a smart phone as our guide  we eventually arrive at Doria and Gordon's just as the sun is setting.  Gordon is quick to press a microbrew into my hand as we watch the sun  set over Killington Mountain behind firey orange clouds. After a pot of Gordon's beef stew, several more microbrews, too many glasses of red wine, local artisan bread, and much laughter,  somehow I find my bed and fall in for a good nights sleep.

Vermont locals

The next morning dawns rainy and cold so most of the day is spent in Doria and Gordon's gorgeous house looking out across the verdant hills and lush valleys of Vermont.  Frankly, there are not too many places I would rather be on a cold rainy day.

We take a break in the early afternoon for a drive to the very quaint town of South Royalton.   South Royalton has a small claim to fame as the birthplace of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church.  Other than its charming houses, buildings and setting (as if that isn't enough),  South Royalton has a burger joint to recommend it called Worthy Burger.  A short menu of organic beef burgers, beef tallow fried french fries and an extensive microbrew selection provide a perfect way to while away an hour on a rainy New England day.

Back row:  Gordon, Lynn, Richard

Front row:  Doria, Dennis (another cousin!), Deb

Doria and Gordon's house-Woodstock, Vermont

Lunch is followed by a backroad tour through a quintessential northeastern countryside of rolling hills, rushing streams and hardwood forest, much of which is  still in full fall color.  Old farm houses dot the countryside with cows, sheep and horses populating the meadows.  We stop by Ben and Amy's (son-in-law and daughter of Gordon and Doria).  A short conversation through the open window of the truck spatters me with rain and I am happy when Gordon suggests that a fire in the fireplace is just the thing for a cold rainy day.

Is this New England or what?

Richard "lost" in the woods of Vermont