I am back in Bursa after a very long weekend of travel with the best of company! Pictures will be up soon on smugmug, but for now I will provide a recap of my journey:
Friday we took an overnight bus to Izmir, the third most populous city and the second largest port in Turkey. We arrived very early in the morning and set about finding a cheap hotel, which ended up costing only 13 YTL for modest accomodation. We spent our day sightseeing, visiting an archeology museum, watching an Olympic qualification men's volleyball game (Serbia vs. Netherlands--wish you were there Mindy and Dana!) and enjoying the nightlife!
The next morning we took a bus to Ephesus, once the trade center of the ancient world and a relgious center of early Christianity. For me, the highlight of my trip was standing on the steps of the Roman Celsus Library (pictured above) -- the façade of which has been carefully reconstructed from all original pieces. No picture can put into words the beauty and magnificance of this structure that towers above its visitors! After visiting Ephesus we met some friendly locals who took us to see the cave of the Seven Sleepers, a legend about seven Christian men who were persecuted and then retired to a mountain to pray, where they fell asleep for a very long time whilst the cave was sealed and then reopened.
We left Ephesus and took a bus to Denizli, where we stayed with some Turkish friends. The next morning we visited Hierapolis, whose name means "sacred city," and was beleived by the ancients to be founded by the god Apollo. Here we picknicked among the ruins and sang a song in the beautifully decorated theater of Hierapolis. In 200 BC this theater could hold 20,000 spectators! Located next to the ruins of Hierapolis are the white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, the "cotton castle" (also pictured above).
In the end I saw three very different places in three unforgettable days!
Friday we took an overnight bus to Izmir, the third most populous city and the second largest port in Turkey. We arrived very early in the morning and set about finding a cheap hotel, which ended up costing only 13 YTL for modest accomodation. We spent our day sightseeing, visiting an archeology museum, watching an Olympic qualification men's volleyball game (Serbia vs. Netherlands--wish you were there Mindy and Dana!) and enjoying the nightlife!
The next morning we took a bus to Ephesus, once the trade center of the ancient world and a relgious center of early Christianity. For me, the highlight of my trip was standing on the steps of the Roman Celsus Library (pictured above) -- the façade of which has been carefully reconstructed from all original pieces. No picture can put into words the beauty and magnificance of this structure that towers above its visitors! After visiting Ephesus we met some friendly locals who took us to see the cave of the Seven Sleepers, a legend about seven Christian men who were persecuted and then retired to a mountain to pray, where they fell asleep for a very long time whilst the cave was sealed and then reopened.
We left Ephesus and took a bus to Denizli, where we stayed with some Turkish friends. The next morning we visited Hierapolis, whose name means "sacred city," and was beleived by the ancients to be founded by the god Apollo. Here we picknicked among the ruins and sang a song in the beautifully decorated theater of Hierapolis. In 200 BC this theater could hold 20,000 spectators! Located next to the ruins of Hierapolis are the white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, the "cotton castle" (also pictured above).
In the end I saw three very different places in three unforgettable days!
2 comments:
Sweet Ruins!
Thanks for this great blog, Very well & insightful.
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