A marble road, some columns, some broken statues and a theatre or two

The Roman Theatre at Ephesus...Nelson is center stage and the acoustics are excellent

Nike, Goddess of Victory (and shoes)



Library of Celsus (John found the secret passage to the brothel...we think!)


John, taking a break where generations of Romans have gone before......


(text to follow as soon as I find the lost document...how do these things happen?)

Faruk, our tour guide in Cappadocia, said that all ancient cities are the same: a marble road, some columns, some broken statues and a theatre or two. We had already booked the tour to Ephuses, so regardless of his opinion, off we went.

We were the first ones picked up by the mini-bus. Next we collected two women from South Florida, Tatiana and her mother. Tatiana works as a tour guide taking Italians from South Florida to visit Toronto. I find it a bit hard to imagine, but that‘s what she told us! She thought that our tour guide looked “jaded” so we made a pact to make our day a tour he’d remember. I don’t know if we managed to do anything memorable, but once we got to Ephesus and he started telling stories and answering questions he was quite animated and interesting. Our other companions were a single traveler from South Korea, a young couple and a single from Japan, two young Australians fresh off the night bus from Gallipoli, and Miguel Madrid.

Miguel Madrid describes himself as a “Columbian-American-Canadian”. His daughter lives in Prince George and his ex-wife lives in Kitwanga. He worked Fort MacMurray during the oil boom. He spent 20 years in Florida, and recently returned to Canada because the money and the quality of life are better. Now he’s based in Toronto and he works installing fixtures in high-end shopping malls. He decided to take a break and booked a month in Dubai. After a week he realized he’d done everything there is to do in Dubai at least twice, so he came to Turkey. He figures you better stay positive because you get what you give in life. He never stopped talking and he was great company.

Ephesus is a marble road, some columns, some broken statues and a theatre or two. It is absolutely breathtaking in size and scope. I was thrilled to be in the place where the Apostle Paul got run out of town for trying to convert people to Christianity. One of the main businesses of ancient Ephesus was hosting people who came to visit the Temple of Aphrodite. The craftsmen who made models of the goddess and the temple to sell to the tourists of the time were angry because they figured if Paul got too many converts no one would be buying their souvenirs and they‘d go broke. So they started a riot at the auditorium. Paul tried to go and speak there but his friends talked him out of it and took him to a guardhouse outside town for a few days until things settled down. That’s the story, anyway, and I’m sticking with it. Why not?

We also visited the site of the Temple of Aphrodite, and it’s less than a marble road, some columns and some broken statues. What do they say in the guide books? Worth a stop but not a detour. The House of the Virgin Mary requires a bit of a willing suspension of skepticism, but what the heck, we went there too.

Our last day in Turkey was spent around the town of Kukadasi, exploring the port and chatting with the locals about what they will do during the off season. The man at the leather goods store is going to visit Romania. The next day we picked up the itinerary for our Greek Island tour from the travel agent and got a private mini-bus ride to the ferry. Oh, the luxury of organized travel!