Sunday 28th September

Amphitheatre, Ephesus

We walked back to Ephesus first thing in the morning, and were lucky enough to uncover further items of pottery and glass.  We also saw the Artemision, the Stadium, the Theatre, the Arcadian Way, the Celsius Library, Temple of Suapis, The Agora, the Odeon, the Gymnasia, and the Double Church where the famous council of 431 was held.

Virgins house, Ephesus

We then proceeded to walk towards Mount Aladag (Solmissos) – 7km and 420metres high to see the home ofthe Virgin Mary.  We were fortunate enough to get a lift half way by coach – which also took us back again to Ephesus after lunch.  One of the passengers on the coach was an Englishman who we met previously aboard the Akdeniz!

Once back at Ephesus we proceeded to walk to Kusadas, on the coast.  We stopped for about an hour on the way to swim in the sea.

At various points on the road we found little shelters of stone or straw, containing earthenware jars of water, together with a cup – for the thirsty traveler.

After booking in at a hotel, we met a school gym instructor who took us to tea and with whom we spent the entire evening.  He was very charming and could speak quite good English.  He was so anxious to perfect his English, that on his free days he would go to Izmir (50 miles away) on the off chance of meeting an English tourist, with whom he could hold a conversation.  He introduced us to “udahchai” – a tea made from lavender I think!  It was pale yellow and very perfumed – served milk-less, but with plenty of sugar, as the ordinary “chai”!