Ephesus - the most well preserved Roman city in Turkey

29/01/01
The weather report was better so we headed off on the train south to Selcuk then caught a taxi the 3km to the top gate.
The site is quite impressive and you can see that a lot of restoration work is continually going on. You can also see that it had been dirt and grass covered farmland for a long time, there are sheep goats still grazing.
The city was home to 200,000 people at its peak and had been on the harbour but that silted up and now the sea is quite a long way away.
The view down the marble road to the library facade is awesome. There is underground infrastructure like pottery pipes everywhere and the hillsides along the road are covered by a mass of what appears to be multi level brick houses. It's amazing that after 1500 - 2000 years the domed roofs covered in dirt grazed by animals and with trees growing haven't all caved in.
Anyway, enough rambling, heres the pics.

Pottery pipes

Top of a drain

Check out the software. Roman sandals, ha ha.

It looks more impressive when you see it for yourself. But WOW.

Library

25,000 seat theatre

Part of a mosaic on the side of the street

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Izmir archeological museum

The hotel in Izmir didn't have internet and the internet cafe operators just had a look of "why would we need WiFi" when you ask them, so I am catching up.
27/01/2011
Izmir bazaar. Quite like other markets and some covered areas like Istanbul's big bazaar, I wouldn't like to see it in peak season as it was quite hectic and its the middle of winter.

Great arches.

Gotta love those middle eastern butcher shops.

28/01/2011
Archeological museum
We were going to go to Ephesus then looked outside and backed up the decision with a weather report. Basically it was raining cats and dogs, either that or all the feral ones had gotten wet, either way it was bloody cold and wet so we decided to go to the museums instead.
They have quite a selection of artifacts, pottery, bronze, gold and silver coins, marble statues.
The statues were quite interesting and most were missing arms and head. Upon closer inspection most had a small hole on the end of the arm or shoulder and many had a large hole where the head should be. Until now I had assumed that these type of statues had been carved as a bust without arms or head. It now seems that the arms were attached by means of an iron rod and the heads the same or in several cases where there was a large hole the head was a removable socket piece. Clearly some had bits that had broken off as they had been carved as a whole piece and had had an accident but it was fascinating to find that most must have been complete forms.

I am sure this head would have fitted into a body.

I am sure this body would have had a head as there is a large rounded hole in the neck.

You can clearly see where Aphrodite had a hand.

A bronze statue of an Olympic runner. Sadly most of the bronze stuff got reused so not many bronze artifacts remain.

Pottery

Some Turkish weapons.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Back in Istanbul

We have been away from an easily accessible internet connection for a few days so no updates. Tomorrow I will post about Ephesus but am too tired now.
Just for fun will put some funny signs.

Note the sign above the dark.

Awesome, they're genuine in some way.

Anything with ar** in the name is funny by default.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

More buses, Canakkale to Izmir.

Actually the bus ride was quite good, thanks to the calming effects of the codeine in nurofen plus combined with front seats and my walkman I had a fantastic journey, Sharon on the other hand, who didn't indulge in the tablets or music, was not impressed by the driver living up to the reputation of Turkish drivers.
There was snow through the hills for the first hundred or so kilometres then we basically followed the coastline. Apart from the fantastic scenery it was an uneventful 6-7 hour ride.

From the ferry. See our hotel "Boss Hotel" with snow on the hills behind

Yeah baby, front row seats.

Fantastic scenery

One of the rail stations in Izmir

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Parks museum

On the south side of town is the national parks museum. We went there yesterday. It is quite small but worth the visit.
Today we have been across to Canakkale to buy bus tickets and it started snowing. Quite exciting and freezing at the same time. Afterward we got the ferry back across to Kilitbahir which is about 5km south of Eceabat. We took shelter from the snow and cold in a cafe before exploring the fortress, then caught a minibus home.

Museum photos

Snow

Fortress

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Canakkale

We took the ferry to Canakkale, its about a 25 minute ride and costs only 2 lira each.
We are pleased we aren't staying there, its busy and the hotels are more expensive, there's not much to do or see, same as where we are but at least we have a cheaper hotel and peace.
We went to look at the military / naval museum but it was closed. There was a digger busting up the driveway so we watched that for a few minutes, I guess we are easily entertained, we could also see some torpedoes and canons in the large garden area at the front. After a bit I went back to talk to one of the guys and he said we could look around the garden for free. I was quite excited and we went in. It was great. There are torpedoes, canons, field guns, AA guns, mines, torpedo tubes and even half a German U boat.
The best discovery was when we were about to leave, there was a plaque beside the path we almost walked passed, it was the AE2 memorial plaque that Sylvan asked me to look for as his great grandfather was on the submarine. I had searched the net and asked the guide on the tour yesterday to no avail, I had basically given up on finding it and suddenly here it was. It was quite incredible considering we almost didn't even get into the garden in the first place.
Afterward we had a look toward the town centre and the guns used to defend and stop the allied forces in march 1915. The mounted gun has a massive hole in the side and many wounds on the front.
Afterward we went and looked at the wooden Trojan horse and walked along the waterfront before catching the ferry home again.

French gun tube and carriage, 1905

Mines

German U-boat

The AE2 plaque

Gun in town with a massive hole

The Trojan horse.

Fantastic sunset from the ferry.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Eceabat

After the tour I had a look about the town. It has some interesting old buildings but not much else. It is quite odd talking to people as everyone assumes you are waiting for the ferry or a bus, they are surprised that we are staying here and not Canakkale across the Dardanelles which is more of a city, only about 5000 people live here and it is a fishing and farming town.

Cabbage, onion and lettuce are the main salad vegetables.

There are plenty of people riding these antique bikes around.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5