Almost the End of the Road

 Towards the Sea

We descended from the mountains into a very different landscape.  By now, we had been traveling for almost six weeks and the thought of spending some time near the beach was looking pretty good to us.  Our first seaside town was Antalya which is very popular with Europeans.  I'm a girl who grew up on the beaches of New England with weathered shingled bungalows and modest guest houses.  Here, as in most of the Mediterranean, seaside resorts boast high rises and cheek to jowl loungers at beach clubs.  While it is nice to recline and have beach boys bring you drinks it is not the beach scene I am used to.

We did have a very nice cruise on a wooden boat which featured a stop at a most impressive waterfall.  It had rained pretty hard when we were in the Taurus mountains and it appeared all that water ended up in Antalya careening into the sea.  Very pretty.  Michael took the opportunity to swim off the boat which only a few brave souls did (read not me).  The current was strong but he made it back to the boat.

The Antalya coast - Antalya is the 5th most populous city in Turkey and is also known as the "capital of tourism" and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera.

These tourist boats decided to adopt the theme of "Pirates of the Caribbean" or perhaps Pirates of the Mediterranean.

They started playing music on the boat and several of our fellow travelers decided to "rock out".  Notice the Roman centurion standing on the right, a testament to the Romans conquest and settlement of this area.

The rain in the Taurus mountains eventually flows down to the Mediterranean cascading off of these cliffs into the water.

I was one of the few to brave swimming in the water and captured this shot of the boat from the water...

and this passing tourist boat.

The Antalya Archeological museum is one of Turkey's largest museums. It also has a display of sarcophagi from the Roman period. As can be seen from this one and the one below, these sarcophagi were ornately carved, with many featuring sculptures of the occupant(s).

This rare human sized bronze statue was modeled after Lucius Verus, who ruled the ancient city of Boubon from 161 to 169 AD.

This sarcophagus cover featured this woman lying in repose.

Aphrodisia was a lost city, destroyed by an earthquake in the 7th century. Its earliest habitation was in 5000 BC, but by the 6th century the Sanctuary of Aphrodite was well established.

The Roman Emperor Augustus took Aphrodisias under his personal protection, and the next 250 years saw the construction of monumental buildings using locally quarried marble.

This bouleuterion served as the meeting place of the city's administrative council (the Boule). It had a seating capacity of 1,750 and was constructed in the late 2nd of early 3rd century AD.

Even today offerings are left for Aphrodite.

This stadium was 270 meters long and 50 meters wide with a capacity of 30,000 and is one of the best preserved. It was used for athletic games as well as gladiatorial contests.

Its size is quite impressive when you see how small the two people appear in this picture. Look for the yellow shirt one is wearing to the left of one of the tunnel entrances.

On the way out we encountered a musician who was playing a stringed instrument. He had trained his parrot to dance (or bob) in tune to the music.

From here we went to one of our favorite stops - Pamukkale.  Picture a mountain that looks like a snow bowl in Colorado.  But it's not.  The white covering the rocks is calcium carbonate expelled from hot springs.  Over millennia the cliffs have been covered and recovered in a white sheath.  this location has been a "spa" since ancient times with the ruins to prove it.  You are allowed to wade in certain designated sections although you must be aware that it is slippery.  It is a beautiful area with soaring pines and vast vistas.  A well preserved warm spring pool (since Roman times and baths along with a large stadium and other buildings made it an interesting multi-faceted stop.  We found out an interesting way of figuring out what the population of any Roman town might have been.  Citizens comprised only about 10 percent of a town and only citizens could go to a stadium or amphitheater.  Thus, you could calculate the total population based on the number of seats in the stadium/amphitheater.  In some cases slaves were allowed to attend gladiatorial events (i.e. bread and circuses) but they did not  determine the size of structures.

This looks more like an alpine scene with snow and dripping icicles, but the green trees in the background are a give away that this is not snow. 

Pamukkale (cotton castle) is formed by carbonate mineral deposited from the flowing spring water.

You are allowed to walk on the carbonate material in your bare feet. The material itself is quite smooth and not slippery, but there are patches of algae which are quite slippery.

The extent of this carbonate covering, which has built up over centuries is quite impressive. It extends for 3 kilometers and is 160 meters high.

The hot springs not only created this travertine effect, but were also found to be useful in setting the dyes used with woolen fabrics.

You can even soak your feet in the pools which form, trapped behind the carbonate material.

The Romans built channels in the 2nd century to direct the flow of the water...

and even created pools for bathing in the water, which are still used today. This is known as the Cleopatra Pool, who is said to have visited and bathed here.

The ancient Roman city of Hierapolis was located here, but was first settled by the Greeks as a sacred place (hieron). This photo give you an idea of the size of the amphitheater constructed by the Romans...

and this photo is sure to give you acrophobia, which is why Deirdre chose not to join me on my trek to the top of the amphitheater.

Bodrum is truly a seaside town and, to me, more friendly than Antalya.  On our first day we visited a castle which houses an underwater archeological museum.  Not that IT was under water but all the artifacts had been discovered in the briny depths.  It was really impressive. Honestly, by this point we were getting kind of artifacted out so the next day we headed to our hotel's beach club.  Very toney.  How toney?  I ordered a bloody mary that was $22.  That's worse than L.A. prices.  Oh well.  The water, even in early/mid October was very welcoming, the sky was clear and blue and we lounged in solitary bliss.  We were once again ready to do battle with the tourist hordes.

Like the Greek island Mykonos, Bodrum also had these ancient windmills.

Much to our pleasant surprise these goats and sheep also enjoyed the environs of the windmills. The one goat was using his horn to scratch his side, while the dog was in restful slumber on his back below.

This black faced goat with the rasta hair was content to rest as well.

From the hilltop vantage point of the windmills, we got an excellent view of Bodrum Castle (also known as the Castle of St. Peter). It was built by the Knights of St. John between 1406 and 1522.

The entrance to the castle with its four towers (French, Italian, English and German) after the builders of each one of the towers.

The castle now houses the Underwater Museum. This late Roman wreck was found 100 meters south of Yassiada (Flat Island) and was from around 400 AD. It was 19 meters long and contained over 1100 amphoras (mostly of wine, but also olive oil and grain).

This bronze censer, with its octagonal shape is unique. It also has 3 legs with lion's feet.

An assortment of tools recovered from a ship.

This ship (called the Uluburum shipment) contained copper ingots (which appear as dessicated leather above) weighing 10 tons, tin ingots (mixed with copper to make bronze) and 170 glass ingots, which were melted and formed by molds. Glass blowing had not yet become a known thing.

This peacock was strutting around the castle.

This sculpture is from the Bazukkale shipwreck dating from the 7th or 6th century BC. It contained 13 whole or broken sculptures.

The magnificent sunset view from our hotel in Bodrum.

The design of the hotel was somewhat eclectic and included this graffiti room...

and this graffiti hallway. You can even see graffiti on the ceilings. Guests are encouraged to contribute their own graffiti.

Deirdre lounging at the hotel's beach club.

The Excesses of Ephesus

People need to stay home.  Not us, of course, but everyone else.  Ephesus was a circus.  At times you really couldn't even see the ruins with any clarity.  Still, if I harness my frustration, it must be said that it is a very impressive view into how sophisticated the Romans were.  Anytime I see sights like this I wonder how Europe could have ever descended into the Dark Ages.  Then I think about the current tendency to deny science or rational thought and shudder.  But that is not germain to the subject at hand - or is it? We then paid a visit to Mary's House which resides on a hilltop quite removed from anything.  The site is beautiful and the house quite sturdy and cozy considering its age.  To the faithful it is quite meaningful but I think it would be interesting to anyone.

This was one of the smaller crowds as we traversed the ruins of Ephesus...

and encountered another bouleuterion from 100 AD. In addition to council meetings, musical performances and contests were also held in this venue.

These columnar statues were originally part of the Temple of Domitian...

and their actual size can better be appreciated in this photo.

This photo will give you a much better idea of the crowds in Ephesus.

This mosaic floor was part of Alytarch's Stoa (a 4.7 to 5.5 meter wide hall) built in the 4th to 5th century AD.

This was the entrance to the Temple of Hadrian (dedicated to Diocletian)...

and included these stone engravings.

The Romans were among the first to install modern, public  latrines with flowing water underneath to remove the waste.

This is the facade of the Library of Celsius circa 125 AD, which was 1900 square meters and contained over 12,000 scrolls.

This amphitheater could seat 25,000...

and was designed to fit into the hillside.

A side view of the Library of Celsius.

The line queuing up to enter Mary's house, where she was said to live when she left Jerusalem, and where St. John is said to have cared for her until her death.

A statue of Mary and a photo of the altar dedicated to Mary. Deirdre & my reflections are visible above the altar.

This photo is of some of the many petitions left for Mary asking for her intercession. It is difficult to comprehend the number of petitions written on scraps of paper lining the wall near Mary's house.

The last stop was Izmir (previously known as Smyrna). Another seaside town but not beachy.  Here the most memorable sight was the Agora.  We had seen many Agora but this one was very intricate and included what was the water source for over 200,000 inhabitants of the city.  You may remember that this was the terminus for the Silk Road and a thriving port city for thousands of years.

The underground arches of the Agora (marketplace) designed to support the Agora and also provide water to the city.

This underground tunnel was used to funnel water from the aqueducts to the city.

Here you can see the water still pouring out with the inscription Smyrna above (the original name of the city).

The water flowing through the channel, which was below the Agora.

The columns of the ancient Agora which would have supported a roof, over the Agora.

These two lions show the effect of years of erosion.

One of Turkeys dogs taking advantage of the shade provided by this remainder of a column.

This shows the two columns of the Agora and the underground arches supporting the Agora.

A basillica (or what remains), said to be the largest one constructed by the Romans.

Izmir harbor...

and the lighthouse with the mountains in the background.

We spotted this hooded crow strutting in the grass along the waterfront.

From here it was a quick flight to Istanbul and then a long flight back to the U.S..  A few days to recuperate with Justin in LA and then home to Ajijic.  After a trip to California  for Christmas we'll be in Ajijic for several months before heading out once more.  Hope you have a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy 2025.