Friday, October 25: Şirince and Ephesus
We began the day by driving to Şirince, a small town near Kusadasi, which is noted for its wineries.
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| Intrepid tourist in Şirince |
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| Hillside housing in Şirince |
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| Center of town |
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| Stop at a local winery |
From Şirince, we headed to
Ephesus, one of the most famous ancient sites in Turkey. The city was originally built in the 10th century BC, and was a major city in both Greek and Roman times
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| Welcome to Ephesus! |
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| Model of Ephesus |
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| Water pipes from Roman times |
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| Sculpture of Nike. Can you see where the Nike logo came from? |
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| Road to the Library of Celsus |
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| Some Greek inscriptions |
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| A Roman public toilet |
One of the highlights at Ephesus is the terraced houses, where the wealthy people lived. The houses have been covered for protection and contain a lot of artwork on the walls and floors.
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| Mosaic floor and walls in terraced houses |
The most famous site in Ephesus is the
Library of Celsus, which was built in about 110 AD.
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| Our group at the library |
Another notable spot is the Roman Amphitheater,
After leaving Ephesus, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. I did not order the brain soup.
Eventually, we returned to Kusadasi, where I wandered around for a while before dinner.
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| Our hotel is the dark building towards the left |
Saturday, October 26: Pergamon and Troy
Our first stop today was the ancient city of
Pergamon (Pergamum) a major archaeological site from the Greek era.
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| A daytime view from our hotel in Kusadasi |
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| Political signs on the way to Pergamon |
On the way we stopped in a small town for a lunch of "homemade village food". The two owners (pictured below) didn't speak a word of English, but were very glad to see us.
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| Homemade Village Food |
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| More carpet sales on the way to Pergamon |
Pergamon is (was) built on a hill just outside the modern city of Bergama. The Greek construction dates from about 300 BC. Below are a few shots from the site.
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| Pergamon amphitheatre, with city of Bergama in the background |
From Pergamon, we headed to the ancient city of
Troy. Although there is not much left to Troy, the city had been rebuilt 8 times over the years, and the various iterations are referred to as Troy I through Troy IX.
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| Walls from Troy VI (about 1700 BC) |
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| Walls from Troy II and III (2550 to 2200 BC) |
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| Walls from Troy I (about 2900 BC) |
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| Excavation showing walls from different iterations of Troy |
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| A ramp from Troy II |
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| Ruins from later iterations of Troy |
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| Not the original Trojan Horse, but you can go inside |
Sunday, October 27, Gallipoli and back to Istanbul
We overnighted in the city of Canakkale and in the morning we took a ferry across the Dardanelles strait to the Gallipoli Peninsula, where the
Gallipoli Campaign, a major World War I battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies (mostly from New Zealand and Australia) took place.
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| Ferries departing the port of Canakkale |
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| Welcome to the Gallipoli peninsula |
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| Town of Kilitbahir, on the Gallipoli Peninsula |
Our first stop on the peninsula was the town of Eceabat, which contained several memorials and a model of a battle.
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| Battle Memorial |
We then drove to the other side of the peninsula to see the ANZAC memorial, and one of the cemeteries.
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| Memorial at ANZAC Cove |
From Gallipoli, we headed back to Istanbul.
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| Housing between Gallipoli and Istanbul |
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| In the suburbs of Istanbul |
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| Mall of Istanbul |
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| Outskirts of Istanbul |
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| Closer to the center of Istanbul |
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| Remnants of a Roman Aqueduct in Istanbul |
A couple of us on the tour got some tickets to a Whirling Dervish show that night. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures of the show, although to be honest, it wasn't that exciting.
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| In the lobby |
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| Before the show |
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| During the show (stolen from Wikipedia) |
After the show we strolled around the old part of Istanbul and then took a tram back to the hotel.
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| A restaurant area near the show |
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| Turkish treats |
And a couple of random shots...
Next: Days 12-13: Beirut and Sidon
