The fish auction, Eski Foca

 Every morning in Foca the local fishermen bring the days catch to the local fish market.  At 9:30 am, bidding commences as restauranteurs and other interested buyers set the market price.

 

The old fishermen grimly gather around as their livelihood is auctioned off.

Cats are also extremely interested in the days catch.

The seas are plentiful here.  The rocks teem with sea urchin, yet to our surprise no one seems interested in harvesting them!  Its like the Turks have never had "uni."

sea urchin, and a bottle cap

We tried to harvest them ourselves but lacked sufficient tools.  Next time we'll come better prepared.

Eski Foca

 

 Walks on the boardwalk, dips in the blue-green Aegean Sea, a private cove, translucent waters, sailboats on the horizon, fresh fish dinners, sunsets on the water, a room with a view.  Now that's a honeymoon.

Ephesus, Selcuk

Alex at the Library of Celsus, in Ephesus

 Everyone who goes to Turkey makes the trek to Ephesus.  This site was originally an Ancient Greek city, then a major Roman city, and 4 devastating earthquakes later was evenutally abandoned.

At one point this city was the 2nd largest in the world and housed the 2nd largest library in the world, the ruins of which Alex is standing in front of.

Alex had been before, but in the decade since his original visit a lot has changed.  There is now a major archaeological restoration project at the terrace houses which you can walk through, for an extra fee.*

The terrace houses were a network of several homes built on a hill which have been painstakingly reconstructed.  The floorplans are clearly visible, as are some detailed mosaics and frescoes.  The reconstruction is still in process and its also interesting to watch the archaeologists work.

Another important building at Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis.  The statues of the goddess are now in the Archaeology Museum in Selcuk.  The statues are an interesting amalgam of beliefs, featuring bees (a symbol of the region), what are possibly bull testicles (or eggs, or breasts, or ____), zodiac symbols, etc etc.  The museum is worth going to, especially as any visit to Ephesus likely requires a night stay in Selcuk.

Selcuk is a small town whose claim to faim is its proximity to Ephesus, as well as the tomb of St. John and what is possibly the dying-place of the Virgin Mary.  You'd think with all the important Christian, Roman and Greek sites that the Christian church would have a huge presence or archaeologists would overrun the town or, at the very least, some tourist companies would lord over the area.

Nope.  The CRANES run this town.

Small groups of beautiful large cranes have nested on all the best spots in town, including tops of crumbling aqueducts, mosques, and the amplitheater at Ephesus.  It's their world, we're just passing through it.


*Something important to note about travel in Turkey.  Whenever there's an additional charge to see something at a site (eg. the Sultan's Harem at Topkapi palace, the Dark Chapel at Goreme, the Terrace Houses at Ephesus), PAY IT.  We were incredulous at first (an extra 15 lira after paying 20 already?) but each time its been more than worth it.  Yeah its still tourism robbery, but if you don't suck it up you'll miss the best stuff!

Konya, part II

 When we're home and can organize our thousand photos better, I'm going to do a post on all the amazing mosques and churches we've been to.  The architecture is amazing, as is the tilework, carving, frescoes, etc etc.

 Also amazing?  the fresh fruit we've been buying at the local markets.  Pictured is the tray of black mulberries we quickly consumed.  Mulberries in Turkey are so different from the mulberries growing in the U.S.  They look the same, but the flavors are so tart and sweet here.  You can also buy white mulberries, which are just as delicious, but sweeter without the tartness.

a day in Konya

 

Apologies for my radio blog silence!  Alex has really taken over since we've been in Turkey (though he did erroneously publish once as me).  This trip has been an amazing whirlwind.  In the past three days we've left the Cappadocia/Urgup region for Konya and after Konya, Izmir, Selcuk/Ephesus, and now Foca for a little r&r!  Foca is a lovely little beach town, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  For now, some pics from Konya.

Above, the whirling dervishes performing Sema, their ecstatic spinning ceremony, in the tradition of Mevlana.

Mevlana Turbasi aka the Green Mausoleum, the tomb of Mevlana, better known in the West as the philosopher/poet Rumi.

Ziggy

Before leaving Istanbul for Anatolia my friend Kaya told me to contact his old grade school buddy Selim who lives in Urgup Cappadoccia. Turns out Selim is the man to know in Urgup. He helps to organize the music festival he runs a few shops and operates a high end restaurant with his wife Nuray


For one of our nights in Cappadocia we went and had a great dinner at his place Ziggy named after his much beloved dog. We had a selection of dishes to share: roasted eggplant, fava puree, stuffed peppers, and sauteed sheeps liver.

It was all excellent. And with the view in this place we can't recommend it enough.

Not in the cities anymore

 We've spent the past few days in the region of Cappadocia. A mostly rural area famous for it's bizarre geological formations. The volcanic stone that covers the region are used to carve houses some of which you can see behind Lilly in the picture above.

 The pace of life is strikingly slower here than in Istanbul or Ankara. You can see a kid playing on the tractor above in Ortasehir.

Here's some old friends chattin it up in Urgup.

 

We also took a hike in Ihlara valley and took a rest on a bench placed in the cool mountain stream.

We got some much welcome rest and relaxation in the countryside turkey style.