We went on another fun weekend trip so this calls for another blog post.
We left Thursday night and boarded our familiar bus for an 8 or so hour bus ride to Ephesus (Turkish people say Efes though). Once we arrived we met our tour guide, had a bit to eat, and entered the area of old ruins. We got in with our museum passes that were only 15 TL (because we're technically Turkish students) and have gotten us in pretty much everywhere - Hagia Sophia, other Istanbul museums, the beach at olympos, and even this area plus more. If you happen to be a Turkish student, be sure to get one of these museum passes because they're a great deal.
So we entered the ancient city and first stopped to see ancient mile stone markers and then saw a huge theater that was mind-boggling in size if you ask me. I believe the tour guide said it could fit 24,000 people at one time. Oh, and all of these ruins were incredible because no one knew they existed until 1850s or so when some people from Europe (I think Britain) found a bunch of marble and realized there were a ton of ruins buried. We only saw 25% of the ruins that existed because they're still in the process of digging them out.
Mile stones
Theater
We then walked past a ton more pieces of ruins and eventually saw what use to be a library that held I think 12,000 books made of parchment. This library was actually reconstructed by a group of civil engineers, archaeologists and other people to the best of their abilities. I liked the details in the structures the most because they were quite intricate and it just made me think of the person who must have spent countless hours on those details that people still appreciate today
People who contributed to reconstructing the library
Inside of the library
I hate to sound like an uninterested young person but then we walked by more old stuff that all started to look the same. I might have been a bit more interested but it was hot and I was ready for lunch. But the two coolest things were the big theater and the library and there was also a smaller theater and some pieces of water pipes at the end that I found cool.
Old School Toilets
Mosaic tile
The long path of old stuff. The library is in the way back
Then it was lunch time at a buffet for 10 TL which I wouldn't say was my favorite meal of the weekend but the watermelon was super tasty. After being recharged for a bit we went to where Artemis' temple once stood which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. Now all that's there is a reconstructed column representing about how tall the temple was. Back in the good ol' days it would've looked like this with 127 columns.
Then
Now
We then hopped on the bus to see what once was a cave know as the "Seven Sleepers" where seven men stayed when they were exiled for being Christian (at least I think that's the story). There really wasn't too much to see so then we hopped back on the bus again on our way to Mary's last home.
Before we went up to The House of the Virgin Mary there was a huge baptismal which I found a bit interesting because I was raised baptist. Then we went to where Mary's house was but now it's a small church that still has Mass today. You could pick up candles in the church and leave them in a small box of sand and also leave messages or prayers on a wall and of course they had a gift shop and small restaurant at the end.
Baptismal
Church
Candles
Wall of messages
Then our tour guide we had a surprise for us and boy did he. We watched a leather jacket fashion show with legit models and everything. Then of course the models grabbed Ryan, Vince, and me to go back, put on a jacket and walk the runway for fun. I was laughing the whole time because I couldn't believe it was happening. They then tried to get us to buy some jackets of course but the issue was that it was real leather and we were college students. Even with the 40% discount they offered it was still way out of our price range.
Even though the boys looked good in the jackets none of them actually bought one
Then we got to our hotel on the beach of the Aegean Sea, grabbed a beer because we had free drinks until 11:00 and headed up to the pool on the roof. We then relaxed, had a massive tournament of flip cup and went to our buffet dinner. The food was pretty tasty and it was also on the roof so we watched the sunset as we ate. We ended the night on the beach drinking a bit more but passed out by midnight because we were pooped from the day.
First beer at an all-inclusive place
Dinner time
Saturday
I'm getting tired of writing in details so I'll try to keep it more simple for this day.
Woke up, ate another buffet at the hotel with good eggs, went to a museum that was really cool because it showed some of the actual statues and some other pieces that were in Ephesus, and then went to a Turkish rug shop. I actually really enjoyed this because it made me appreciate the details in Turkish rugs. We first saw how they form silk from the cocoons, saw how Turkish knots are way better than Chinese knots and makes the rugs durable for three generations, and then saw a TON of rugs varying from cotton, wool, and silk rugs. I really wanted to buy a rug that was about the size you'd put at a door but it would've been about $250 so I decided I'll go back when I'm old and have a big girl job.
Then we went to St. John's basilica which was like a castle, saw the location where he was buried I think 7 meters below the ground, and then headed to another mosque. I hate to say it but at this point all the mosques/churches are looking the same now.
It was then lunch time, went to another buffet that was better than the lunch the day before and headed to an old Greek town known for its wine. We first saw a church then went to a wine cellar where we tasted a bunch of wine. I bought one bottle to share with my mom and aunts at my aunt's lake house and one bottle to share with my roommates. I wish I could've bought more because the bottles were cheap and good but I ran out of money and also I only have so much room for stuff going home :(
Once we were out of there we went back to the hotel, relaxed, ate buffet #4 on the roof, over the sea with the sunset in the background. Then chilled on the beach for a while, then the guys convinced me to go out to a club even though I wasn't feeling it initially, had a good time, when swimming in the sea at 4 a.m. and got to bed.
Sunday
Half of us managed to wake up at the time we were suppose to but there were still some that needed a few more minutes of beauty sleep/didn't set an alarm. After buffet #5 and one hour after the planned departure we got on the bus to go to Pamukkale.
It took a while for us to get there and we were delayed about 30 minutes because our two bus drivers were determined to get the best price on tomatoes after asking about six stands in a little market. We probably would've been a bit upset if we were in the U.S. and this happened but we just thought, "of course it's happening because we're in Turkey and things don't always make sense here."
We then got to Pmukkale which means "cotton castle" with our museum cards and was amazed with the site. I was looking forward to seeing it because I've "stumbled upon" it before on stumbleupon.com and was so happy to actually be there!
Then it was time for a 5-6 hour bus ride and we were back home in Eskisehir!
In other news:
- We had some delicious sangria before going out to Up 'n' Down last Wednesday
- Got my test scores back for my two tests and I wish I would've studied less
- About to head out to Del Mundo again tonight to get my free beer for showing my passport
- Excited to celebrate Vince's birthday tomorrow
- Hopefully I'll get on that blog about Turkish food but writing blogs takes way too long
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