Efes (Pilsen)

Sleep was goooood. I kicked Turkish out of bed by accident in the middle of the night though. He might claim otherwise but seriously, I can't even feel guilty about it because I was unconscious :) I love our Holiday Village. The staff are friendly and chit-chatty, helpful too. We don't have to carry any form of credit around, we are given a card to swipe (pay when we check out).

Pathway to our little chalet (behind me)

The very useful card! *being a jakun* LOL

We did something extremely interesting today. Turkish, his Mum and I visited Ephesus! The title Efes is its name in Turkish but it's also the name of their local beer LOL Anyways, Ephesus is an antique Greek city. The area is still being excavated for more buried stones/ruins/whatever that's left from its heyday. Today was too damn hot, I fortified myself with layers of sun block and wore a cap (even when I'm not a big fan of head gears). Ephesus was an eye-opener for me. I don't think I've walked through Greek ruins before.. Roman, yes.

Our tickets ;)

On the grounds of the Parliament, they spoke business here

Turkish and I posing in front of a (ruined) temple

Ephesus is HUGE. The main sites we covered were The Grotto of The Seven Sleepers, The Temple of Hadrian, The Roman Celsus Library, The 44,000-seater Amphitheatre etc. There were too much too see, left and right. The place was packed with tourists! I was damn scared I would get knocked down by the pushing fat ladies. Those stones were scattered everywhere, the archaelogists are trying to rebuild the city. But I must say.. I think most of the historical site diggers.. well, let's just say they don't look too professional LOL

See what I mean :P (Turkish's Mum talking to them)

Missing pieces are cemented to return its original look

Turkish looking/deciphering the ancient Greek letters hehehe

The Roman Celsus Library facade (top left is Turkish's thumb LOL)

The broken statue behind me is Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom

The Amphitheatre was the highlight for me. It is sooooooo freaking huge, imagine how last time with no loudspeakers, no mic nothing.. either the person has to have thunderous voice or audience with elephant ears. Then Turkish chirped in that the architecture of the curved seatings echoed the sounds so basically, transmission wasn't a problem. He added the acoustic may not be perfect but it was good enough. Hehehehee always handy to have a boyfriend with knowledge ;)

I couldn't take the full view of the Amphitheatre :(

Turkish and I (where's my cap??)

After following the crowd to through and through, we exited Ephesus and proceeded to the famous House of Virgin Mary. It was believed that Virgin Mary had lived and died/ascended to Heaven in a stone house on that hill. The Apostle, St.John brought her there after Jesus' cruxification. I'm not sure how true it is but there is an American Society of Ephesus to back up the "history". Signboards all over the place said visitors should dress decently before entering the house.. other girls who made me look full-clothed could enter, so I slumber only went inside LOL No pictures though.

Meryemana in Turkish means Mother Mary

Simply called "Mary's House" (Jenny's her neighbour LOL)

Light a candle for blessings.. *amen!*

Gigantic bronze statue of Maryemana

Aaaaahhh.. my complexion became darker +1. Love it! We didn't visit the Temple of Artemis though. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I guess there isnt much to see anyway.. I don't think that place exist anymore even. But it would be nice to go kick the sands which the great building once stood ;) I totally enjoyed our visit to the Ephesus. I look forward to visit Greece soon! That would be SO awesome!! :)

Wait for my footsteps, world!! LOL