- Turtle and passenger
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The light in the morning was wonderful and we once again spent some time in the library photographing every square inch since we were essentially alone. After finishing at the library, we toured the reconstruction that has been going on since 1999 of the old original houses near the library. Once again we were very pleased and surprised to find archeologists and people working on the ancient tiles and mosaics attempting to put them back together. I imagine it will take many more years to complete the task. These houses must have been awesome when they were inhabited.
- Archeologist reconstructing puzzle of pieces from ancient houses
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- Reconstruction of ancient houses at Ephesus
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As we left Ephesus, a shepherd drove his flock of goats and sheep across the parking lot. We rushed to catch some images of the herd near the ruins of Ephesus. The state permits them to use the land to allow the goats to graze to keep the grass and wildflowers in check.
We then went for another wonderful lunch that I wish I could describe, but like all the meals we have had here, it was again delicious and like nothing we have ever eaten before. The dish was small noodles filled with meat in a yogert style sauce with mint and olive oil and roasted red peppers. We also tried a local drink of pickled carrot juice which is actually quite tasty! Sort of like pickle juice.
After lunch we wandered through the small village and Meli needed to get an earring fixed by a jeweler she knew there. Inside the small shop we noticed lots of photos of Brad Pitt and it turns out, this man made the jewelry for the move Troy, which starred Brad Pitt! The jeweler also was in charge of the ancient local church which was under restoration. This village was among the exchance back in the 1920s when the British moved all the Christians out and moved the moslems in. The jeweler said that at one time there were 10,000 people living in the village, but now less than 1,000 remain.
Meli then took us back to her house to use the Internet since the connection in our Hotel isn't working. When we returned to the hotel, we found the road blocked and learned the Trans-Turkey bicycle race was finishing right by our hotel! This is the 2nd stage, and the winning bicyclist from this stage (and will wear the yellow shirt tomorrow) is from Spain. We had to rush back to our room on foot and return to the race quickly in order to catch some pictures of the cyclists. If Lance Armstrong hadn't been injured recently, he would have likely been in this race.
- Yellow shirt tomorrow?
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Our trip is winding down and though we are tired, it has been an amazing adventure in an incredible country. Tomorrow afternoon we have to fly back to Istanbul and will leave Meli behind.
