Ephesus, Turkey, Sunday, June 10, 2007

This morning the rain poured down again. We had reserved a car, but the weather was so bad that we could not make it to the rental agency, so our hotel called the agency, and they brought the car to the hotel. Breakfast at the hotel had been sparse, but not bad. The staff was very pleasant and helpful.

The major historical site in Bodrum is the Mausoleum. You read in yesterday's blog that Mausolus had been the ruler of the area. His burial site was named for him – hence “mausoleum.” This is the source for our current usage for the word. Although we use the word to mean any structure marking and enhancing a burial site, the original was specifically for Mausolus himself. There wasn't much to see at the site, but at least the rain let up for a half hour, almost until we finished touring the grounds.

We drove off in the direction of Selçuk, somewhat to the north. The rain had slowed us down considerably. By lunch time we were only about half way, so in the town of Milas we looked for a restaurant. We passed a place that had a lot of locals, including many families, so we decided to stop.

Among the three of us and the 50 people in the restaurant, I think we shared a knowledge of about 7 words in common. Luckily, the menu had some pictures on it. And we pointed to a couple of customers' dishes to learn what they were called.

We ended up ordering a bowl of lentil soup (Rosi), a bowl of lentil and tomato soup (Ed), both of which came with a pita-like bread with cheese melted on top, and a Turkish pizza, called pide (Yoyi). It was delicious, as you can imagine.

Eventually we made it to Selçuk to look for our hotel. We turned at the sign that pointed to the central market square of the little town, and they spotted us immediately: the tourists. We parked the car to look for directions, and before I could get out, someone was asking at the window if we had a place to stay. When I told him that we have reservations, he brought me across the street to his own pension to talk to his son, who speaks English. I told him where we have reservations, and he called the hotel, who then came over to the marketplace to lead us over to his hotel.

We drove a couple of blocks until we saw an attractive building with the hotel sign in front and checked in to the Hotel Bella, “where you come as a guest, but leave as a friend.” It is a cute little 14-room hotel a block from the town center and market, and immediately next to a bunch of important ruins, including the Basilica of St. John, and some old Roman ruins. In addition, right next to the hotel, rising to the level of the 4^th floor terrace, was a stork's nest, complete with stork.

The hotel welcomed us on their terrace with tea, while one of the owners introduced us to the city and the layout of the ruins at Ephesus. They would shuttle us to the far entrance and pick us up at the near entrance so that we don't have to pay for parking and so that we don't have to re-trace our steps back through the entire site to get back to our car. We were to enter one of the shops and let them know to call the hotel.

Our visit to Ephesus was as impressive as it was tiring. Luckily it had not rained much in this area, but it had gotten quite hot. Although late in the day, it remained hot.

The site encompassed the entire erstwhile city of Ephesus. There were not simply a couple of old buildings, but numerous temples, public buildings, individual homes and apartments, archways and gates, theaters, marketplaces, marble roads, colonnades, baths, and tombs – all in various stages of ruin and/or rehabilitation. From one end to the other was about a kilometer. No description here could do it justice.

When we got back to Selçuk, we took out the car to find a restaurant. We could have walked, but for some reason, we got in the car. We found a restaurant in a pedestrian mall area, where we had mezes (appetizers) for dinner. Besides the lentil soup that Yoyi wanted, we had cacik (yogurt/cucumber/garlic salad), fried vegetables (eggplant, potatoes, pepper, squash) with a yogurt sauce, yaprak (grape leaves stuffed with mostly rice), and a dish similar to humus, but made with fava beans. All served with a pita-like bread called lavash. Our favorite was the fava dish and the lavash. Rosi and I drank a different brand of beer, which was even better than what we had drunk the evening before.

While we were eating, we again heard the call to prayer that we hear every day at sunset, and occasionally at other times. While strolling after dinner, we passed a tiny mosque, and were able to see the men praying inside.

We were beat! And expected to sleep well tonight. We were almost frustrated in that respect, as there was rather loud music from what must have been a night club a few blocks away. But closing the windows and turning on the A/C blocked out the noise for the most part. Relaxing now, we were able to appreciate the attractiveness of the room, decorated with woven wall hangings; Turkish rugs on the floor; the towels folded in a decorative manner on the bed; a balcony overlooking the street. Time to go to sleep.