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Kusadasi, Turkey
DAY 1 June 29, 2010 Tuesday
Arrived in KUSADASI, Turkey by ferry at 9AM. Walked past the Bazaar (best shops that we saw in Turkey), Starbucks for a coffee & muffin, to the Avis car rental. Rented a car for 4 days. Told the salesman that we wanted to go to 7 places - and he located them on a map for us. So we set out.
EPHESUS (SELCUK)
Saw Ephesus ruins in the afternoon, 4:00 - 7:00pm - 2 kilometers of ruins in the shape of an L, Bath Street and Academia Street. Awesome. Medusa on Hadrian's Temple, Library, Gymnasium, Stadium, etc.
7 Sleepers Site - FREE. Tombs of men who slept for 200 years from mid 200 AD. We read the "Seven Sleepers" series of books by Gilbert Morris to our kids in 1999. Climbed over barbed wire fence to see the sites.
Went to restaurant by the 7 SLEEPERS - saw a Chinchilla and puppies. Dressed in Turkish attire for photos. Spinach pancake bread, carrot juice, tea. Shopping.
FIRST NIGHT - SELCUK (Ephesus). Pension Vardar - family run, perfect for the 4 of us, 2 rooms, including breakfast on the rooftop overlooking the town. Cold shower. Turkey is 99% Muslim.
DAY 2 June 30, 2010 Wednesday
Drove to Mother Mary's House in Selcuk. Stood in line to walk through a little stone house, then got holy water from a spring (thought we were supposed to drink it, but that is a no-no).
LAODICIA (LAIDOKEA)
Drove several hours to PAMUKKALE - One of the best sites - spent 3 hours there at the calcium deposit mountain called "Cotton Castle" - spring water flowing into pools down the mountain side, aqua blue water and white rock - stunningly beautiful. At the top of Pamukkale, behind it were the ruins of HIEROPOLIS - holy city with bath, bym, theater, Temple of Apollo next to a church where Phillip was martyred. Built by king of Pergamum in 190BC.
Drove to LAODICIA to see the ruins and stadium.
Drove several hours to Otel in Sarigol on the way to PHILADELPHIA. Cold shower using a faucet. American flag at the reception was upside down. No English speakers. Key didn't work; A/C didn't work, window wouldn't close, but comfy beds. We were the only guests in the Otel.
DAY 3 July 1, 2010 Thursday
Usual breakfast of goat cheese, egg, tomato, cucumber, olives, bread, and tea, served by a scary looking waiter with a Frankenstein scar. Krista was in shock and couldn't speak. Puppies came around and licked our toes.
PHILADELPHIA (ALASEHIR)
In the city of ALASEHIR. Very small church called St. Jean Church - in the "City of Brotherly Love."
SARDES (SART)
Built in 547 BC. Saw the Temple of Artemis & Gymnasium. Small craft shop - bought a hand-trimmed scarf & necklace ($5 USD each) - 72 K from Izmir (SMYRNA).
Arrived in Bergama (PERGAMUM) at 6:45pm - too late to see Pergamum. Stayed in Otel Sunset in Saragol by the sea, about 10 K from Pergamum (Bergama). Only hotel in Turkey we stayed in with an overhead shower and warm water. Walked in the town, got ice cream, light dinner, walk on the beach at sunset.
DAY 4 July 2, 2010 Friday
PERGAMUM (BERGAMA)
Acropol - ruins high up on a hill. Had largest library of over 200,000 books. Stadium, temples, large amounts of ruins. Small tourist shops.
THYATIRA (AKHISAR)
Drove a couple of hours to Thyatira. Very small ruins in the middle of the town of AKHISAR. Ruins were not well maintained - graffiti on the ruins.
Otel Abem in KUSADASI.
SMYRNA (IZMIR)
Drove through Izmir, big city of 3 million people, didn't see the ruins of Smyrna.
Back to EPHESUS to see ST. JOHNS CHURCH Had a baptismal. From there, we could see TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS remains of the only standing column, one of the 7 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
DAY 5 July 3, 2010 Saturday
Up at 6 AM to catch the 8:30 AM ferry to SAMOS ISLAND.
- comments
Julie Liedstrand Turkey was a great place to travel, but it is important to have a rough itinerary already planned. Our trip would be a good one to follow in order to visit the seven churches. Pamukkale was amazing! And the figs are delicious!