ephesus

I just realized I never really finished my Turkey posts. I uploaded all of the pictures from our little day trip to Ephesus and never posted them. Whoops!

Ephesus is cool. I hope I can remember stuff about it. We downloaded a Rick Steves podcast at the recommendation of our friends Kate and Peter (who happened to be in Turkey when we were!) and it saved us a lot of hassle having to pay for a guide, because, like a guide said to us when he was trying to get us to hire him, if there isn't anyone showing you around Ephesus, then it's just a bunch of rocks.

So anyway. Ephesus is big and kind of overwhelming and the only things I knew before I went were that the apostle Paul taught there and that if you don't go early in the morning, the site will be overrun with Chinese tourists getting off of their Mediterranean cruise. (Both turned out to be true.) It's also one of the biggest archeological sites in the world (if not the biggest) and they are still excavating it—only about 15% is actually uncovered. There's an active dig going on right now and we decided to pay the extra 15 lire and check it out, which was pretty awesome.

Honestly, my memory is failing me a little because there was just SO MUCH going on. Notable takeaways—Ephesus is surprisingly hot and dry in November; this city was bustling at its peak and imagining people living and working there was crazy; the Romans were really good city managers; some people think that the Virgin Mary came to live near Ephesus after Christ died AND that St. John is buried nearby too; Paul not only taught there but he lived there too, to try and convert those hedonistic polytheists; the word "meander" comes from the incredibly windy river Maiandros that runs near the city; Pavarotti sang at the theater without a mic once upon a time because apparently it has amazing acoustics (I think Sting performed there too? It's apparently quite a popular venue when it's not under construction); ancient Roman toilets are a little too weird and communal for my taste; the feral cats and dogs are FREAKY; and the Temple of Hadrian is dedicated to a teenage boy that the emperor Hadrian was in love with. What is with those Romans and their boy love?

I'm pretty sure that post supersedes any information you'll get from Rick Steves, right? I pride myself on being thorough.