Ephesus: The Best Preserved Classical City in the Eastern Mediterranean

I just wanted to start off by saying that I am alive and well (for those of you who have e-mailed me asking if I am okay since I have not posted in a while). I have so much I need to update, but I will skip to the more exciting stuff for now. Get ready, this post is going to be a long one (like a really long one)!

Last week Tuesday I left for a 4-day trip to Selçuk, Ephesus, and Çeşme. Ari, our friend Chance, and I decided on Monday night around 10 PM to leave for İzmir the next morning. We then booked our plane tickets, hostels, and made our travel plans, all within 1 hour. For such a quickly organized trip, everything went smoothly and according to plan.

We arrived safely at the airport in İzmir on Tuesday afternoon. I say "safely" because we flew on Pegasus Airlines, which is a cheap Turkish Airlines that made an emergency landing in 2010 due to a malfunction in the nose gear. Ari even made a joke about how we could stand on the plane, and me and Chance actually believed her. We happily exited the plane after sitting for about an hour, then took a 1 hour train to the small town of Selçuk, which is a 5 minute drive to Ephesus.

We stayed right outside of the town center at a hostel called Atilla's Getaway. Although the rooms were tiny, the bathroom was outside, and the Aussie owner was kind of an asshole, it had a bar, pool table, and swimming pool (which models nicely in photographs, as you will see below).

Atilla's Getaway

After taking a quick dip in the freezing pool, we headed back into town and had dinner near the Roman aqueduct.

Chow Time

(There I am eating chicken... in Turkey)

Roman Aqueduct in Selçuk

We explored the town for a bit (which took about 5 minutes because that's how small it is), and then decided to drink Efes (Turkish beer that sort of tastes like a combination between Bud Light and Natty Light - so in my opinion, not that tasty) at Destina Cafe & Bar, which we realized the next day is right next to the last remaining column of the Temple of Artemis, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Chance also taught me and Ari how to play Backgammon, which is widely played throughout Turkey, especially by old men sitting at tea houses with nothing to do and nowhere to go. 

Chance and Ari at Destina Cafe & Bar

(You can see the column of the Temple of Artemis over Chance's left shoulder)

Last Remaining Column of the Temple of Artemis

(Taken the next day, as evidenced by the lighting, after we realized we were next to it the previous night)

We went to bed early that night so that we could get an early start Wednesday to see Ephesus, which, as I've already mentioned, is the best preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean or according to some, in all of Europe. 

Ephesus

Me and Chance in front of the Library of Celsus

Episteme (Knowledge)

Temple of Hadrian

Relief of a Man on a Horse Chasing a Boar

(Represents the mythic founding of Ephesus)

Flower Power (lolz)

The Odeon

I could be cliche and say that the pictures above do not do Ephesus justice, but they actually do because they don't capture the thick dust that coated the ruins and coated our bodies... Anyway, Ephesus was an incredible site to see, and was quite overwhelming. I kept touching all the stone and marble, trying to imagine how many tourists, excavators, and ancient peoples must have touched the same rock. It is unbelievable that Ephesus was built without any of the modern technology we have today. Well, actually it's not that unbelievable because it doesn't have any characteristics of modern technology... but I think you know what I mean. The intricate details in the stone made me wonder who took the time to carve the stone and what it was worth to them. 

I'll finish this post later.