Dear Friends and Family,
We spent the day with our friends sightseeing along the Aegean coast before meeting up with the family for dinner.
What We Did
We slept in after the wedding. And, we had breakfast at the house before heading out for the day. Our friend wanted to take us down to Ephesus for the day. His wife hadn’t been there either, so it was a new experience for her as well.
Ephesus is the ruins of a Greek town from 400 BC built by Alexander the Great’s successor, Lysinachus. First stop in Ephesus is the theater. The acoustics in it are amazing. Your voice carries from the stage to the seats and back without any effort. We were wondering how the back seats heard anything. Now, we know.
From the theater, we walked through the agora to the Library of Celsus. It was so beautiful and so well preserved and so stunning, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I could have sat there in the blazing sun all day just watching the building and marveling at its grace. But, everyone was headed on to the next part of the tour, so I hurried to catch up.
The book describes the next section as a group of private homes with murals. But, in 1999, they began restoring the homes. For 10 YTL ($8), it’s a separate portion of the tour. They have been taking the ruins and recreating the houses the way they would have looked 2,400 years ago. The greenery has been removed. The columns have been up righted. The marble facing has been pieced together and remounted on the walls. The mosaics have been pieced together and remounted on the floors. And, a glass walkway/staircase has been added so you can walk through it all without adding to the wear and tear on the pieces. I have to say, I like it. It might not be the most authentic anymore, but it’s more real.
We took a quick stop at Hadrian’s temple and the gates of Hercules before heading up to the last third of the walk. There was a Bollywood singer sitting under an awning preparing for a video shoot for a music video. We were curious to catch a take. The last third of the walk features an Odeon which was the town meeting place and a colonnade of columns. Nice, but the real show stoppers were in the first two thirds. Plus, we were anxious to watch the taping.
The shoot took all of 90 seconds and featured the singer running down the main street. The Baywatch run in a nude colored sari with silver fringe had us cracking up. Apparently, she was supposed to be running towards her love. She put on the face for the shoot, but the second the camera stopped rolling, her perpetual sulk came back. Not impressive at all.
After Ephesus, we headed to the Virgin Mary’s house. According to local lore, Mary came to Ephesus from Jerusalem to escape persecution. Her home is preserved and is a favorite place to visit by both Catholics and Muslims alike. A mass was just beginning when we entered the main area and Mr. mouse encouraged me to partake. It was in Italian so it was nearly impossible for me to follow the mass, but, I tried my best. I took communion and said a quick prayer before going to join my friends. In case you’re wondering what a non-practicing Catholic prays for after partaking in an Italian mass, I thanked God for sharing the beauty of Turkey with us. And, I asked for help and support as I lend my friend help and support in his marriage. And, I tacked on the usual plea, to look after the health and happiness of my parents and grandparents, and for good measure I asked the same for both sets of my friends’ parents. It’s that simple.
We drove back to Izmir to meet up with the parents. We met at the bakery, so you know it involves food. Then, we headed out to dinner, which involves more food. Then, we headed back to the bakery, for more food before heading back to the house, where we opened the fridge, to find, surprise, surprise, more food.
But, before we move onto the food monologue, at our final bakery stop of the evening, my friend’s mother offered to read our fortunes in our coffee grinds. You drink your coffee. And then, you cover the remaining grinds with the saucer. Then, you make a wish. Then you invert the cup/saucer, making sure you turn towards you, not away from you. Then, you let the whole thing cool until it’s room temperature. You can put a ring on top of the cup to act as a cooling fin, but nothing else. Once the cup is cool, she taps once and flips the cup over and reads the grinds remaining in the cup. And, then she pours the grounds from the saucer into the cup and reads the saucer. I won’t go into what my fortune said because I’m still figuring out what it all means. But, it was a good way to spend some time at the bakery without eating.
What We Ate
Our friend made us a delicious breakfast to start the day. We had cucumber salad and tomato salad. We had fresh hot peppers. We had olives and cheese. We had bread and beef sausage. We had peaches and pears. And, we had tea and juice. We ate it in their garden where the tomato, peppers and cucumbers were grown. What an excellent way to start the day.
We skipped lunch. At the bakery, we had baklava and some cookies. For dinner, we went to another restaurant my friend has been going to forever. Mr. mouse had a chicken shish kebob. I had the İskender kebab which is gyro meat covered in tomato sauce served with yogurt on the side. I let my friend recommend his favorites at each restaurant for me so I could try them out. So far, it’s all been delicious, so no complaints here.
For dessert, at the bakery, Mr. mouse and I split a cake. It’s like an ice cream cake with chocolate sauce. It’s very refreshing and not too sweet. And, we had several cups of tea and one cup of coffee. I’m beginning to feel a little round.
What I Learned
Nothing new to report for Friday, I won’t make something up to fill the space.
Cheers!
mouse
We spent the day with our friends sightseeing along the Aegean coast before meeting up with the family for dinner.
What We Did
We slept in after the wedding. And, we had breakfast at the house before heading out for the day. Our friend wanted to take us down to Ephesus for the day. His wife hadn’t been there either, so it was a new experience for her as well.
Ephesus is the ruins of a Greek town from 400 BC built by Alexander the Great’s successor, Lysinachus. First stop in Ephesus is the theater. The acoustics in it are amazing. Your voice carries from the stage to the seats and back without any effort. We were wondering how the back seats heard anything. Now, we know.
From the theater, we walked through the agora to the Library of Celsus. It was so beautiful and so well preserved and so stunning, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I could have sat there in the blazing sun all day just watching the building and marveling at its grace. But, everyone was headed on to the next part of the tour, so I hurried to catch up.
The book describes the next section as a group of private homes with murals. But, in 1999, they began restoring the homes. For 10 YTL ($8), it’s a separate portion of the tour. They have been taking the ruins and recreating the houses the way they would have looked 2,400 years ago. The greenery has been removed. The columns have been up righted. The marble facing has been pieced together and remounted on the walls. The mosaics have been pieced together and remounted on the floors. And, a glass walkway/staircase has been added so you can walk through it all without adding to the wear and tear on the pieces. I have to say, I like it. It might not be the most authentic anymore, but it’s more real.
We took a quick stop at Hadrian’s temple and the gates of Hercules before heading up to the last third of the walk. There was a Bollywood singer sitting under an awning preparing for a video shoot for a music video. We were curious to catch a take. The last third of the walk features an Odeon which was the town meeting place and a colonnade of columns. Nice, but the real show stoppers were in the first two thirds. Plus, we were anxious to watch the taping.
The shoot took all of 90 seconds and featured the singer running down the main street. The Baywatch run in a nude colored sari with silver fringe had us cracking up. Apparently, she was supposed to be running towards her love. She put on the face for the shoot, but the second the camera stopped rolling, her perpetual sulk came back. Not impressive at all.
After Ephesus, we headed to the Virgin Mary’s house. According to local lore, Mary came to Ephesus from Jerusalem to escape persecution. Her home is preserved and is a favorite place to visit by both Catholics and Muslims alike. A mass was just beginning when we entered the main area and Mr. mouse encouraged me to partake. It was in Italian so it was nearly impossible for me to follow the mass, but, I tried my best. I took communion and said a quick prayer before going to join my friends. In case you’re wondering what a non-practicing Catholic prays for after partaking in an Italian mass, I thanked God for sharing the beauty of Turkey with us. And, I asked for help and support as I lend my friend help and support in his marriage. And, I tacked on the usual plea, to look after the health and happiness of my parents and grandparents, and for good measure I asked the same for both sets of my friends’ parents. It’s that simple.
We drove back to Izmir to meet up with the parents. We met at the bakery, so you know it involves food. Then, we headed out to dinner, which involves more food. Then, we headed back to the bakery, for more food before heading back to the house, where we opened the fridge, to find, surprise, surprise, more food.
But, before we move onto the food monologue, at our final bakery stop of the evening, my friend’s mother offered to read our fortunes in our coffee grinds. You drink your coffee. And then, you cover the remaining grinds with the saucer. Then, you make a wish. Then you invert the cup/saucer, making sure you turn towards you, not away from you. Then, you let the whole thing cool until it’s room temperature. You can put a ring on top of the cup to act as a cooling fin, but nothing else. Once the cup is cool, she taps once and flips the cup over and reads the grinds remaining in the cup. And, then she pours the grounds from the saucer into the cup and reads the saucer. I won’t go into what my fortune said because I’m still figuring out what it all means. But, it was a good way to spend some time at the bakery without eating.
What We Ate
Our friend made us a delicious breakfast to start the day. We had cucumber salad and tomato salad. We had fresh hot peppers. We had olives and cheese. We had bread and beef sausage. We had peaches and pears. And, we had tea and juice. We ate it in their garden where the tomato, peppers and cucumbers were grown. What an excellent way to start the day.
We skipped lunch. At the bakery, we had baklava and some cookies. For dinner, we went to another restaurant my friend has been going to forever. Mr. mouse had a chicken shish kebob. I had the İskender kebab which is gyro meat covered in tomato sauce served with yogurt on the side. I let my friend recommend his favorites at each restaurant for me so I could try them out. So far, it’s all been delicious, so no complaints here.
For dessert, at the bakery, Mr. mouse and I split a cake. It’s like an ice cream cake with chocolate sauce. It’s very refreshing and not too sweet. And, we had several cups of tea and one cup of coffee. I’m beginning to feel a little round.
What I Learned
Nothing new to report for Friday, I won’t make something up to fill the space.
Cheers!
mouse
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