15/1/25
The renovated farmhouse was in a very quiet part of the city fortunately. We had a very quiet night, even though there was thunder and lightning again. The bikes were also perfectly sheltered under a canopy for a change.
At half past 8 we went for our included breakfast. Ishmail brought us coffee, just normal filter but it went down nicely. We had some bread and jam, but also tomato and cucumber. Bit odd for breakfast but why not. Frankie had some kind of coco pops type cereal too. But with water and jam to wet it. An older couple from Seattle that had arrived last night turned up too.
Gloria and Phil had accidentally missed their Ryanair flight from Dublin to Bodrum. The gate had changed three times and confused them. They then hitched a ride to Istanbul with Pegasus airlines instead. Looked at ‘too many’ mosques and then flew to Izmir. Then caught a train to Selçuk to see Ephesus. They were liberals, though Phil, who looked like a mystical hippy with long silver hair and a beret, was originally from Arizona. We talked of our agreed hatred of Trump and the psychological conundrum of people voting for someone so unbearably immoral. Gloria, who was less mystical with shorter hair, joked that the American electorate all thought they would get an electric car if they elected Trump.
We enjoyed our chat and then they left us to go to the ancient city. We weren’t doing too much to start with. The rain was set to carry on so we gladly hid in our room. Just not doing anything much for a change. Once we were sure it had stopped raining we decided to head out to explore Selçuk.
The town is one of the most visited destinations in Turkey. Because of Ephesus. On Ayasuluk Hill, behind the hotel we were staying at, is the Basilica of St. John and a Byzantine castle. The former was built on the site of Apasa, the capital of the Kingdom of Arzawa, which reached its height during the 14th Century BC. John the Apostle was probably buried there and then the Roman Emperor Justinian I built the basilica which would still be considered to be in Ephesus though now it’s in the modern town.
There were tour buses unloading outside as we arrived. They were Chinese tourists. The sellers outside had copies of books in Chinese ready to flog to them. It was €6 each to go in, not too expensive and the site was fairly quiet. There were even additional signs and explanation boards in Chinese. It was a bit surprising but it must be a primary income stream. It was a nice ruins to walk around, with many nooks and crannies to explore.
Afterwards we wandered up to the castle. We think, from reading online, it was built at the same to protect the basilica. It was well preserved but had clearly been molested by cement. It’s a shame that during the period of discovery they didn’t realise that using it would be so destructive. There were a few buildings to explore on the top, but you couldn’t walk on the walls unfortunately, depriving us of the good views and preventing us from pretending to be
guards.
We sauntered back down to the basilica, and then sat in the Sun overlooking the Isa Bey Mosque. A famous piece of 14th century architecture left by the Anatolian beyliks. It was nice to have nowhere to go and little to do. We were thinking and talking a lot about the next part of our journey, heading up the coast to Istanbul.
Keen to have a restful rest of the day we headed into the town. We found the most excellent casement of bread that we’d seen thus far. Multiple types of ekmek, flat breads and boule. We bought a few different types. Afterwards we walked out of the city to a shop that looked interesting on google. Boy, was that a mistake. It was a tourist bus trap. Everything was priced in Euros and it was all extortionately priced. Like €10 for a box of halva you can buy for about €1. We slowly circled the shop floor before leaving in a hurry.
Back to the usual supermarkets we went. On the way we stopped to buy some baklava. We asked for one of everything. It wasn’t cheap, but we never eat out so we felt vindicated spending £14. We also got a selection of fruits, vegetables and pastes. The usual fare. Also some reasonably priced halva, some poppy seed paste and some spiced cherries in syrup.
Happy to lounge on the bed eating, we whiled away the rest of the day. Gladly, nothing happened at all. We watched some programmes on the tablet and waited for the night to fall. We planned to visit Ephesus the next day.
Surly They Won't Make It 