29.2.2016 Ephesus – Tire

Our excursion program starts at 9:00 am. Our Turkish travel guide Serap speaks German, little problems with personal pronouns and some particular phrases are her personal touch and does not cause criticism. Serap is a strong personality and she does not deny her weight of 105kg (her own statement) steht and she flirts a little bit with her weight.

During the bus ride Serap tells us something about her private life, we get to know, that she lives in Kusadasi and that her husband comes from the Black Sea coast. In Turkey people from the Black sea coast have a reputation similar to the reputation of East Frisians in Germany. We get to know that the life in the big countries and and the life in the countryside is very different in relation to work and social position of women. Serap's informations does not exclude political subjects. Among other things we learn, why we pay so little money for this journey.

Today our first target is the excavation of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, later owned by the Roman empire. Today the excavation is in the urban area of Selcuk, a few kilometers north of Kusadasi, so we reach it very soon.

Serap tells us that Ephesus was a seaport town in the beginning, but because of erosion (still a big problem) Ephesus was separated from the sea.

Serap has an amazing amount of stories considering the still visible (Magnesia gate, Scholastica spas, Temple of Hadrian, public toilets, Celsus Library, Big Theater ) or today unvisible (Temple of Artemis as part of the seven wonders of the ancient world) buildings. More than I can grasp while looking for or selecting  photo shots.

At least I remember that the building opposite the Celsus-Library has been regarded as a house of pleasure for a long time and so the marble top near by showing a footprint besides a woman's head was supposed to be a direction sign to the house of pleasure. But today most of the archaeologists don't think so. Also I remember that the Great Theater at the end of the Marble Street, that starts at the Celsus Library, until recently was used for concerts (i.e. Elton John, Rod Stewart, Liza Minelli).

Whe Serap ends her guided tour we have some time to expalin the excavation for our own. But the terrain is big and there are too many opportunities for photo shots. For this reason but also because of the simple fact, that we had not enough TL (no chance to change money) to pay the entrance,  most of us could not visit the famous Hanghaus.

We take a small meal and then Mehmet takes us to Tire by bus. Here we find a museum, where some craftsmen (women and men) demonstrate thier professions . So I see the making of ropes for the first time.

Besides that it's obvious, that there are a lot of different mosquesin Tire.

Just in time for the evening buffet Mehmet takes us to the Hotel Le Bleu, where Serap tells us, that we will awakened at 6:00 am and our trip will start at 7:00 am next morning.