A Strange World

In August 2000, I went to Turkey for about 3 weeks. It was my honeymoon for my first marriage and was, frankly, a pretty grand time. There was much to see in Istanbul, then a little (2-day) bout of indigestion followed by a long drive from the city to Ephesus (we went by way of Ankara because the person who rented us the car said the roads were better and it would be easier, but it was about 5 additional hours). We spent the night in Sart, the site of the ancient city Sardis, capital of the kingdom of Lydia, then drove the short trek to Seljuk and found a pension (European for very cheap hotel, this one was 8$ a day, no hot water). After a break, the owner of the pension drove us, two blond American girls, and a red-headed American guy to Ephesus, one of the great ruins of the world. Once a city of 250,000, the Mediterranean retreated and the city shrunk. It was never pillaged, just forgotton, and then largely excavated in the 20th century. Afterwards, we were taken to a tourist site where one sat in the shade (it was very hot in August in the summer) and drank juice and ate some flatbread that a "peasant woman" made. It was tasty, but very touristy.

During the wandering through the city we hung out with Erik, the red-headed guy. He was on his way back from a Peace Corps tour-of-duty in Armenia and was spending a few weeks in Turkey before returning home. He was a very interesting person and the three of us had a really nice time seeing this astounding site. After the van ride back to Seljuq, we had been warned that every Pension owner also owns a carpet store and would try to bully us into the store and get us to buy something (in gratitude for the "free" ride to Ephesus, or something). Thankfully, when the owner parked outside the carpet shop, he was so focused on the blond girls that Erik, Lilah, and I just wandered off in a different direction and escaped! We found a really nice lunch somewhere in the city, mostly the "meza" appetizers for which Turkish cuisine is justifiably famous. Lilah and I bought him lunch, because he was running on pennies and we were flush with the cash given to us at his wedding.

So I tell you this story because ( Read more... )