Ephesus
(Monday, 13 November 2006) Written by Keith Rhoades
After writing last night I gave into corporate America and went to mc Donald’s.  After all the difficulties yesterday I wanted something familiar.  I prefer to contribute to the local economy but couldn’t deal with it anymore.   Though...I did not have a Big Mac.....I had a McTurk....essentially a Big Mac on a pita flat bread with Turkish Sauce. Today was a crown day!  I woke up and had my little breakfast and then went to catch my tour.  The tour holds up to 9 people....I was the only one!  I got a private tour with the most awesome guy.  His name was Elyim....very nice and we hit it off because his university studies were in archaeology and religious studies. Our first stop was the tomb of the apostle John.  He lived in Ephesus and they tried to kill him twice but failed so they sent him to the island of Patmos where he wrote his book of John and Revelations  He then returned to Ephesus and died and Constantine had a church built there.  From there we went to the home of Virgin Mary and where she died.   There is no proof of this but is based on scripture and some other ancient writings.  There was fire there in Sept and it burned all the way up to the house and stopped.  There is also a spring underneath which people feel is holy water.   I got my Old Catholic feelings going and I even lit a candle and dipped my hands in the holy water.  Apparently she lived there the last 11 years of her life with St. John.  Pope John Paul declared it a pilgrimage site. After we went to Ephesus...it was everything I had hoped and more.   Elyim explained how the city was founded.  It had 250,000 people at its height and was the capitol of Roman Asia at that time.  Of course the most famous thing there is the library, which was the 3rd largest at that time.  It was surreal to stand there amongst those pillars that I had seen and dreamed about for so long.   I felt so grateful to have this moment.   We then saw the Amphitheater which held 25,000 people...it was very impressive and Elyim explained that is where Paul preached to the Ephesians before being jailed.   If you ever get to Turkey...you must see Ephesus....by far the best ruins ý have seen...better than in Italy! After that Elyim took me to lunch which was part of the tour...it was a Turkish buffet.  Very good.   I asked him a  lot of questions and particularly about Islam.  He was raised Islamic but no longer practices.  In fact he has no religious beliefs but enjoys studying religious history.  Since there was no one else on the tour...he took me to a village out of the way to see how the local people make ceramic tiles with Islamic designs... I bought a few.  He then took me to show me how the locals made Turkish rugs and leather goods...both local artisan crafts for the economy.  We then went out for Turkish Tea ..very good....and Turkish Coffee very thick! We talked and talked about Religion history archaeology culture.  Ý told him about my walk through that neighborhood yesterday and he said I was crazy...Brave heart!  He cautioned me about going to Bethlehem and said that could be dangerous.  Anyway we hit it off so well..we are meeting tonight so he can take me to an authentic Turkish Belly Dance Show!   This is my last night in turkey...tomorrow I have free until the afternoon and need to figure out how to get to the airport.  I fly out of Izmir to Istanbul and then arrive in Amman Jordan at 2 AM!!!!  Ý am 1 day shy of being half way through this trip and am 15 dollars over budget....not too bad considering unexpected things.    I will try to send out a quick email tomorrow before I leave but I may not be able to write until I get to Jordan and I have no idea what the situation will be there.  I've learned three Turkish words...of little use since tomorrow I will have to learn some Arabic fast! IKeith


 
[ Back ]