Selçuk and Ephesus

Here are the pictures from our trip to Selçuk and Ephesus.

Selçuk and Ephesus

Ephesus, Take 2

Since our last experience of Ephesus was in 100+ degree weather, several buses and taxis, and hoards of tourists, we thought we'd try something new and go when it was cooler, take the train, and avoid the crowds. Turns out, that was a brilliant experiment! (I will try to keep all of the minute details to myself and just give you an idea of our brilliance. But don't hold your breath.)

Chris had a day off *gasp* on Friday, so we got up, took the bus to the train station, and $6 were on the train for the hour ride to Selçuk, the town closest to Ephesus. Pleasant and cheap transportation, it doesn't get better than that! Our hotel was a 2-3 minute walk from the train station, so that was convenient as well. Right after checking in, we headed for St. John's Basilica and the Castle/Citadel on the hill.

St. John's Basilica was built by Justinian in the 6th century over the tomb believed to be St. John and in place of the more modest church that was already there. The Basilica was in the shape of a cross with the tomb in the center where the cross intersects. It is perched on a hill, just below the castle, and has magnificent views of Selçuk, Ephesus, the temple of Artemis (or what remains of it anyways-more on that later) and Isa Bey Mosque. It is considered a holy site, and thousands have made a pillgrimage there, including a Pope in 1967. We took lots of pictures, you can see those later.

At the bottom of the hill is Isa Bey Mosque. After interrupting (accidently!) two teenagers "talking" behind the mosque, Chris went in to take pictures while I stayed outside because I had forgotten anything to cover my head. Soon this man approached me and asked why didn't I go in? Before I could even respond, he told me that head covering wasn't a problem, shoes weren't a problem, come in! He then introduced himself as the imam of that mosque (!) for 25 years (he's now retired) and said he would give me a tour. So in we went, met up with Chris, who was coming out, and got a special presentation. Later, Mustafa wrote our names in calligraphy and told us to come and see him if we needed anything else while we were there. What an absolutely wonderful man!

So, yours truly was hungry by this point. (I know, what a surprise, right?) We walked for a bit and stumbled upon the restaurant that had been rated #2 on tripadvisor.com for places to eat in Selçuk, Mehmet and Ali Baba Kebab House. One of my students had also recommended it. The owner, Mehmet, was absolutely awesome, and although they had a very limited menu, it was divine! We ordered gözleme, chicken kebaps, and köfte. YUM! Afterwards, we ended up staying and chatting for a couple hours while drinking numerous cups of tea.

We were pretty tired afterwards, so we went back to the hotel and took a nap. We woke up hungry.

Dinner was at Ejder Restaurant, just down the street from our hotel. The owner, also Mehmet, does all of his cooking from fresh ingredients and cooks them over charcoal while we watch. Chris had adana kebap, I had suşi kebap, and we both had mercimek (lentil) soup. That was honestly the best mercimek soup I've had yet! Mehmet said it was "Mommy soup" and I believe him! He introduced me to eating green chilis along with the soup, as well as raw onion, green chilis, and bread together. We had a really great time in a lovely atmosphere, and I think I'm doing pretty good for not going on too much about the food, yes?

The next day we had intended to go to Ephesus, but when we were at breakfast, the owners of the hotel (brothers) told us they were planning a special luncheon for their mother, and would love it if we joined them. Because it was right in the middle of the day, that put a crimp in our Ephesus plans, but because Ephesus would be there tomorrow and this luncheon was a one-time thing, we put it off until Sunday and went to the Ephesus museum instead.

Wow. Some awesome stuff. Look at the pictures.

We also stopped by the market that they have every Saturday. Basically a huge bazaar, spread out and nice and airy. I like the Hatay bazaar, but I must say, this one was awesome. Bigger, more space, fewer people, more stuff. It had it all.

Lunch at Mehmet #1's again. More gözleme. More chatting. I liked him better and better, he's hysterical. When we left, a street vendor had started to do an impromptu demonstration of his vegetable slicer, and was attracting all the neighbors! Mehmet just sat back and grinned.

So, we went back to the hotel to go to this luncheon. When we got there, people were milling around, but no one seemed to be eating, so I figured we must have come late, although that didn't seem to be a problem. Jimmy, one of the brothers, got us a plate of food, sat us down, and then wandered off to talk with his family. We began to realize that we were the only hotel guests there, the only ones eating, and I started to feel a little awkward. But that was NOTHING compared to how I felt when one of the women in the other part of the room suddenly decided it was time to pray. Women covered their heads, and ten minutes later they were still going as Chris and I stared at each other and whispered, "Should we finish the food? Should we leave? What should we do? What is going on?" When it appeared that it wasn't going to end anytime soon, we quietly snuck away. After getting down 1 flight of stairs, I busted up.

Nap time again.

Then dinner time. And it was time for round 2 at Mehmet #2's restaurant. (Hey, he had a huge menu and we weren't finished trying new stuff! Or finished with with that divine soup.) This time, Chris ordered the suşi kebap and I ordered the mixed grill, which consisted of lamb cutlets, beef kebap, chicken kebap, and a small steak. Just as we were settling in and talking, two couples came in. When you're used to being the only ones in the restaurants, it can be surprising to realize that there are more people in the town! They turned out to be from the US and one couple was celebrating their 25th anniversary, so we got to celebrate with them. Mehmet even ordered (in secret, of course) a cake with their names on it, and picked some flowers from his garden out front. We all had a wonderful time and exchanged contact information. (After this trip, I came to the conclusion that Chris and I need business cards.)

Wine on the rooftop terrace, pictures and chatting with Jimmy some more, and then off to bed!

Ephesus is MUCH cooler (literally and figuratively) in the spring before the tourists come than in late July and early August! *Note: the sun is still lethal though- I have a crazy sunburn, and it's only March! This must be a record!* We had time to wander and see things we hadn't the energy or stamina to before, and this time we had enough money to pay the extra entrance fee and see the terrace houses. SO WORTH IT! That was, by far, Chris' favorite part, and probably mine too. While we were there, we met another American who is living in Ankara at the moment. We followed him around for the rest of our time there, bugging him to take pictures for us. Gene was a good sport though, and when we found out we were on the train together on the way back to Izmir, he put on a good face. Maybe he's just a good faker?

Train trip back was more crowded, and then we thought we were in the right place for our return bus (right across the street from where it dropped us off, yeah?) but apparently it takes a different route back, so we ended up taking a cab. Not the best ending, but a great trip. And now that we know Selçuk is only an hour away by train and we know people there, I have a feeling that we will be going down there for the weekend more frequently.

So, my post is only short story length, not novel. Progress is good.

Chris, if I've forgotten anything, feel free to add it in. But in your own post, this one needs to stay the length that it is, otherwise it'll be novel length as usual :)

Istanbul Pictures

Thought I'd surprise everyone by actually posting the pictures the same day that Barb blogged about the trip. Don't get used to it.

I feel like we should start taking pictures of the food we eat, though, to better match Barb's exposition.

Istanbul March 2010

Istanbul, Round II

It's been awhile since we were in Istanbul. About nine months, actually. So Chris and I decided it was definitely time to go back and see all the places we missed in Round I. My boss, who is desperately trying to convince us to move to Istanbul and stay another year in Turkey, offered to pay for the airfare up there if I would come into the office and work part of the day on Saturday, March 6. Hmm, let me think about th...uh, YES?! So after Chris finished with work on Friday, we headed to the airport.

I hate airports and I hate flying. Let's get that out of the way first. Now, let me add that I also hate flight delays, particularly when I'm hungry (I hate everything and everybody when I'm hungry though, so take that into consideration). You get the idea of our experience there, although I must add that when we checked in, they were kind enough to put us in the emergency row exit so Chris could actually sit in the seat like a normal person.

We got to Istanbul and took a taxi to a shopping center where we were supposed to meet my boss. When we got there, she had a surprise for us- Mongolian Barbeque!!! Omg, can it be?! ETHNIC FOOD?! What a concept! For those of you not familiar with Mongolian BBQ, you go up to a buffet with raw food (meat, veggies, etc) and pile as much as you can get into a bowl. I usually choose seafood and chicken, while Chris usually heads for the beef. At the end of the buffet, you also get noodles, then add spices and sauces. Then you take your bowl of goodies to the grill, which is a huge (HUGE) circular grill and they grill it for you. Absolutely divine, and no two things ever taste the same. This restaurant was even better than usual, since they had an employee who, after looking at what choices you had made as far as meat and vegetables, would then suggest sauces and spices to accompany it. MUCH better than I could have ever done (who thought oyster sauce was so good?!). So basically the best food I've tasted in months. Add to that a glass of red wine that actually tasted like wine (was that OAK I taste?) and Yeşim knows how to convince ME to move to Istanbul...

The next morning, Chris woke up ungodly early with me (what a trooper, and on one of his two days to sleep in too!) and we headed to the Istanbul Arlin office. Wow. They have multiple teachers, many classrooms....I'm impressed! I discussed TOEFL strategies with the teachers there and got new ideas. I also got to see Jaime, my friend who moved to Istanbul a few weeks ago. We left the office a little after 2PM and headed to Sultanhamet, the old part of Istanbul and also where Jaime lives. Chris and I were, surprise surprise, super tired, so when we checked into our hotel (The Agora Guesthouse, absolutely DIVINE!), we took a nap, agreeing that we'd meet Jaime for dinner later.

Dinner was... wait for it .... INDIAN FOOD!!! Our waiter was a little taken aback, I think, when we just kept ordering more and more food. We had lamb samosas to start, along with mango lassis, then Chris had chicken korma, I had butter chicken, and Jaime had a vegetarian dish with white beans in a red sauce that I couldn't pronounce, let alone write!

Let me tell you about each dish. Chris' was the most memorable, at least for me. Although the chicken was on the bone, which made eating it a little bit of a pain, the sauce is what was amazing. First, let me just say that Turks don't do sauce. Pizza comes with about one tablespoon of sauce on it. Sandwiches are usually rather dry unless you add your own condiments. Pasta is served with 1/4 cup of sauce. Just not really done here. Which is why the creamy, nutty flavored sauce with cinnamon tasted SO good with the naan we ordered. And the rice. By far the best chicken korma I've ever eaten (Sorry, Bombay Cuisine)! My butter chicken was also good, and thankfully the chicken was off the bone, so I didn't have to deal with that. My sauce was the typical butter chicken sauce, with lots of spices and flavorings. In other words, delightful. Jaime's entree was good as well, but I was so busy stuffing my face with Chris' that I didn't taste much of hers. However, I'm always amazed at how good Indian chefs can make vegetables and beans.

After taking almost 3 hours at the restaurant, there really wasn't much time to do anything else, so we headed back. On the way back, however, I made room for some roasted chestnuts, which are sold by street vendors everywhere. I hadn't tried them before, but omg, I am making up for lost time now! The shells flake off easily, and the nuts inside are soft, sweet and very good while they're still warm from the pan. I could eat those all day, seriously.

The next day, after a huge breakfast on the rooftop terrace, we went to Topkapı Palace. Chris took some pictures, although some of the coolest things we saw you couldn't take pictures of. For example, we saw sultan's clothing, dating from the 16th century onwards. We also saw several thrones, weapons, religious relics (John the Baptist's hand- gross) and an 80+ carat diamond!!!! (I want one.) The palace also had several courtyards and stunning views. Chris took pictures, he'll put them up one of these days. :)

Next, we went to the underground cistern. It didn't take long for us to walk through, probably only 20-25 minutes. But also probably one of my favorite things. Maybe because there were fewer tourists jostling me and pushing me along? But basically it's this huge underground cavern held up by 336 pillars, built by Justinius in the 6th century and forgotten until the 18th century, when it was restored. Also, there are two Medusa heads holding up pillars in the back corner. Pretty cool, esp considering their size, location, and position (one is upside down, the other turned sideways). Chris has pictures of this too, and you'll see why I liked it.

But, let's talk about our next meal. We were (predictably) starving by the time we were finished with the cistern, so we met up with Jaime and headed to Taksim (in the modern part of Istanbul) for Chinese. Ahhhh, Chinese. We orderd spring rolls and dumplings for appetizers. Those were the biggest spring rolls I'd ever seen! Chris ordered General Tso's chicken, I had crispy spicy ginger chicken and Jaime had...noodles. Made us look bad. But the food....I don't think any of you can understand how good it tasted unless you've been deprived for months. Think of how good that first slice of pumpkin pie tastes on Thanksgiving when you haven't had it since last Thanksgiving. Or your Mom's cooking if you haven't been home in awhile. It's a little like that.

Afterwards, we waddled out, and Jaime informed us that just 5 minutes away was a place that did a Bailey's-soaked brownie. Well, really, who can turn down brownies, let alone ones with Baileys?! So off we went. Crowded restaurant, rude waiters, but oh, that was a gorgeous brownie.

It was time to get back, pick up our luggage, and get to the airport. The flight back was uneventful (and on time!) although they weren't quite so considerate with the seats and Chris ended up contorting himself to wedge his knees in. Good thing it's only a 45 minute flight... And we'll keep that short flight time in mind. I think I'm getting a craving for Pad Thai...

African Encounter

I thought for once that I'd write something on the blog and give Barb a break.

Anyway, we've now seen the sands of North Africa. We didn't visit Africa, however. It visited us.

I got out of work on Monday and noticed that the cars all had mud sprinkled on them. It had been raining, and I figured a bus had driven by and gone through a mud puddle or something. Then I noticed that ALL the cars were covered with mud. Then I noticed that it was still sprinkling rain, and that my coat was flecked with mud, too.

Apparently on a fairly frequent basis, there are big sand storms in North Africa and the Middle East and the clouds of sand make their way around the entire Mediterranean. So when it rains, the sand comes down in the raindrops. It literally rains mud. You learn something new every day.

Long, long overdue videos

So, remember when Barb wrote about our Pamukkale trip and said there were videos from the trip? No? You don't? That might be because it was in November. Sorry about that. But I have spliced the videos together, compressed them, and put them online, and now I am finally getting around to linking to them in the blog. So here you go. There are three, one from each of the ancient sites we visited in November: Aphrodisias, Pamukkale/Hierapolis, and Laodicea. Enjoy!

From Videos

From Videos

From Videos