Tantalizing Turkey

 

Turkey

DAY 93 – April 8, 2011 – What a rich, varied, and welcoming country! 

We arrived early in the morning in the exciting harbor of Kusadasi, Turkey to find a gorgeous, mountainous area with a spring-green valley filled with olive, peach, pear, pistachio nut, almond, and citrus trees – all in bloom!  There were many farms with rows and rows of grape vines all pruned and ready to burst with new green leaves. 

Kusadasi is located on the southwestern coast along the azure blue Aegean Sea.  We were unprepared for the wonders that we discovered here on our two-day visit.

Turkey is bordered by some of the world’s most contentious nations such as Iran, Syria, and Iraq…and the Black Sea.  Somehow this beautiful country has remained strong and free despite the warring  nature of some of its neighboring countries.

The World Heritage site of Ephesus, the second largest city of the Roman Empire, is located just outside this port city.  It dates back to 6,000 BC, and more than 250,000 people lived there.  The Temple of Artemis is located there…it is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Only 40% of the ruins of Ephesus have been excavated…most of the city was discovered buried beneath Roman buildings  from the 1st Century BC.  We spent a 10-hour day exploring Ephesus and did not see it all.

The next day we had the opportunity to travel into the countryside to visit small villages, local artisans, farmers, and restaurants that were all tucked into the sunny, 70-degree hills and valleys along narrow winding roads and switchbacks…challenging to the driver of our huge tour bus.

We learned about and tasted a variety of locally produced special wines, such as green apple wine, and we saw many colorful olive oil soaps and local produce.  Our lunch was served outdoors at a charming hillside restaurant overlooking the valley below, and the menu included some of the most wonderful olives and delicious traditional skewered meats and local vegetables, all basted in many flavors of olive oil and spices.  Scrumptious!

Below are some photos of the two days we explored this delightful area in Turkey:

Traveling on our way to the ancient city of Ephesus, we passed a beautiful large statue of the Virgin Mary out in the middle of nowhere.  High above on a distant mountaintop is a small building, believed to be the last known home of the Virgin Mary before she died.  This golden sculpture marks the primitive roadway leading to her modest stone dwelling that overlooks the entire area of hills and valleys.

When we reached Ephesus, the roadways/walkways leading into the recently discovered ancient ruins of Ephesus are littered with pieces of precious, catalogued marble stones that have been recently discovered and unearthed…awaiting some type of reassembly.  (If you are good at putting puzzles together…this is the place for you!)  Many of the columns have been recovered completely intact. 

One of the most magnificent buildings unearthed in Ephesus is this huge 1st Century BC Library of Celsus, carefully reconstructed from original pieces.  This building once held nearly 12,000 papyrus scrolls.

The detailed sculptured and decorated marble figures and columns of the Library building are testimony to the Ephesians’ talents and their dedication to education, women’s rights, and openness to strangers.  Ephesus was conquered and plundered by the Romans when Augustus became emperor in 27 BC.

Somewhat difficult to see in the early morning sunlight, this is the Theatre in Ephesus, a large stone amphitheater built into the hillside that seated 44,000 people…believed to be the largest outdoor theatre in the ancient world.  Today the city of Kusadasi, Turkey holds Saturday night opera concerts here under the stars.

The second day in Turkey we took a 7-hour panoramic drive into the mountain town of Sirince, where the housing and shops exteriors are Greek and the interiors are distinctly Turkish.

We ended up in a little local village for our lunch.  Here is one of the quaint streets.

The charming old stone arched entrance to our lunchtime restaurant.

A panoramic view from our outdoor restaurant overlooking the valley’s great red tile rooftops.

We spent the midday learning all about the local handicrafts, such as the making of wonderful olive oil soaps.  We enjoyed wine tasting and seeing farms growing Turkish specialties, such as the vineyards for a wide variety of wines, orchards of green and black olives and citrus trees, and all kinds of vegetables. 

We finished the day at a silk weaving factory where we learned how silk cocoons were boiled in water so the single thread could be unwound from the cocoon without breaking, then spun and woven in the old, traditional method for collector-quality Turkish carpets.  Our visit ended with learning the knotting and weaving process and then an amazing showing of gorgeous Turkish carpets in all different sizes, shapes, and colors – most room-size carpets took 3 years of hand weaving!

See a few photos of the steps of making 100% silk Turkish carpets:

 Step  1 – the cocoons are boiled in a big vat of water.

  Step 2 – the silk threads are stretched on hooks back and forth in a 24-foot long room while they are still wet, then spun on the wooden wheel shown.

Step 3 – the silk fibers are dyed many different colors, and then knotted and woven following exacting paper diagrams as a reference for the weaver.

Step 4 – the end result - as we all looked on in amazement while drinking delicious cups of rich Turkish coffee!  (Carpet prices started at $4,000 and up…)

On on we go…to the island of Greece….