I woke up at 8 (ın my room all alone) and showered (with my new soap and shampoo, I like the way they smell) and ate the same type of breakfast I had in Istanbul. I dıd not eat the same things. I loved the bread. I walked down to the harbor to catch the bus for the tour I went on. The two girls were Lauren and Fiona. They were Aussies (who isn't an Aussie in Turkey right now other than me?). They are both from Sydney originally but Fiona moved to London 1.5 yeas ago and Lauren just joined her about a week ago. Fiona has been to just about every European country since moving to London. I am jealous. They're both nice but got tired of the tour about half way through and were not in good moods after that. We got on the bus and picked up more people from hotels in Kuşadasi and then went to Selçuk (a town inland and only 1 mile from Ephesus). There were about 20 people in all. One couple from Ukraine who were old and only the guy spoke Enlgish. A couple from Toronto (the guy was originally from France and the woman from Winnipeg). Another couple where the woman was from Bolivia but lived 
in Haiti for a while and had visited the Mayo clinic for some tests or something as a kid and the guy was from Spain but originally somewhere else. There was a couple (sensing a trend?) from Sussex County, England. They were nice and it felt good to hear an English accent again. A couple from Holland were also present. There were two other Aussie girls who were "bigger" and smoked a lot and had I think 4 cans of pop each throughout the day. That's about it I thınk. There were twenty or so total. One Aussie girl came with but only saw Artemis's Temple and Ephesus before she had to leave to catch a plane. She thought the tour was only going to be a half day 
thing and she really wanted to see Mary's House (more on that later) but ended up not being able to see it. Lauren and Fiona bonded with her and, after she left, Fiona said the girl's whole situation was "dodgy" about twenty times.Anyway! Our tour guide was Mehmet. He was ok. Not that good, not that bad. He said "magnificent" too much. "Magnificent ruins" was his most used phrase the whole day I think. We went to Artemis's Temple first. It was built about 2300 years ago and is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was huge although there is not much left of it now. There is no gate or 
entrance fee so the vultures (souvenir sellers) were out in full force when our bus pulled up. They are like mosquitos. I don't like them if you can't tell. Then we went to Ephesus. It was a huge town back around the Roman period. We went through the ruins from the top down to the bottom. This was good because it saved the best for last (theater and library). There were A TON of tour groups and people on the upper level but much less around and after the library for some reason. Lots of columns and carvings and awesome stuff. The library is amazing. The theater was built to hold 25000 people and still holds concerts in it (Sinatra sang there and some have U2 and some 
other famous people). The marble roads with columns lining them were cool too (minus the crowds). I would have liked to have spent a little more time there but I also would have liked all the crowds to go away so nothing I could do. Our next stop was lunch. It was at a cafeteria like place. I had a huge assortment of different stews, salads, rice, chicken fingers, and pudding. It was sooo good. Best meal I have eaten so far (most healthy anyway). Fiona wanted better food and a better atmostphere (it was basically a truck stop) but I thought it was fine.
entrance fee so the vultures (souvenir sellers) were out in full force when our bus pulled up. They are like mosquitos. I don't like them if you can't tell. Then we went to Ephesus. It was a huge town back around the Roman period. We went through the ruins from the top down to the bottom. This was good because it saved the best for last (theater and library). There were A TON of tour groups and people on the upper level but much less around and after the library for some reason. Lots of columns and carvings and awesome stuff. The library is amazing. The theater was built to hold 25000 people and still holds concerts in it (Sinatra sang there and some have U2 and some 
other famous people). The marble roads with columns lining them were cool too (minus the crowds). I would have liked to have spent a little more time there but I also would have liked all the crowds to go away so nothing I could do. Our next stop was lunch. It was at a cafeteria like place. I had a huge assortment of different stews, salads, rice, chicken fingers, and pudding. It was sooo good. Best meal I have eaten so far (most healthy anyway). Fiona wanted better food and a better atmostphere (it was basically a truck stop) but I thought it was fine. The group splıt up after that. Half went to the 
Archaeological museum and half went to the Vigrin Mary's House. I went to the house. It is way up in the mountains surrounding Selçuk (sell-chook) which made it very peaceful and there were no stupid seller people. The house was basically a hole in the ground but there was a small church as well. I have had more religious experiences at Aya Sophia in Istnabul, St. Peter's in Rome, and Ste. Chapelle in Paris but it was still cool. The group met up again and we went to a place where they make (and of course sell, that was the point of the whole stop) carpets. We watched some women at work and then had a bunch of guys try and sell us carpets while we drank either red wine or apple tea (tea was great). It didn't bug me much beause it was still interesting and the carpets were beautiful. Plus, they looked at my blue jeans and t-shirt and knew I was not going to buy anything so they left me alone. Then we went to a mosque. Kind of boring and very bland compared to the ones in Istanbul (even the smaller ones). Then we went to (no kidding) a leather jacket fashion show. Fiona was peeved were doing two of these blatant "get you to buy something" activities but whatever. As Holland Guy said, "At least you will always remember it". Ain't that the truth. I felt weird because the models kept making eye contact and it was just a weird atmostphere if you ask me. Then we dropped everyone off.
Archaeological museum and half went to the Vigrin Mary's House. I went to the house. It is way up in the mountains surrounding Selçuk (sell-chook) which made it very peaceful and there were no stupid seller people. The house was basically a hole in the ground but there was a small church as well. I have had more religious experiences at Aya Sophia in Istnabul, St. Peter's in Rome, and Ste. Chapelle in Paris but it was still cool. The group met up again and we went to a place where they make (and of course sell, that was the point of the whole stop) carpets. We watched some women at work and then had a bunch of guys try and sell us carpets while we drank either red wine or apple tea (tea was great). It didn't bug me much beause it was still interesting and the carpets were beautiful. Plus, they looked at my blue jeans and t-shirt and knew I was not going to buy anything so they left me alone. Then we went to a mosque. Kind of boring and very bland compared to the ones in Istanbul (even the smaller ones). Then we went to (no kidding) a leather jacket fashion show. Fiona was peeved were doing two of these blatant "get you to buy something" activities but whatever. As Holland Guy said, "At least you will always remember it". Ain't that the truth. I felt weird because the models kept making eye contact and it was just a weird atmostphere if you ask me. Then we dropped everyone off. I walked over to my fast food fish sandwich place. I sat down and the woman who takes orders recognized me (that made me feel good). I asked her what the optıons were agaın and she brought me into the kitchen and showed me. I got a "chicken fish" sandwich (breaded fish). DELICIOUS!!! I added some salt and that made it just great. The salad was awesome too. It was simple but so great. Then I walked over to my Baklava place and bought some more. That guy recognized me too. I got one pistachio piece and two walnut pieces. YUM!!! I ate them while I watched the most amazing sunset of my life (that is saying something). The sun turned bright red and I actually watched it cross below the horizon. Unreal. A guy in front of me caught a fish and the Bolivia couple watched teh sunset near me but did not notice (rightfully so, they had each other). I keep thinking each day has to be the most interesting, most spectacular, most different day of my life and they just keep getting topped. That is true throughout my time abroad. Tomorrow I have to catch a bus to Bodrum at 7 am (yuck). The adventure cotinues...
Mom emailed me and asked about my schedule for the next week or so which made me think I should post it here. There is a lot of traveling but it's not as bad as it looks. So here ya go.
Thursday and part of Friday - Bodrum
Part of Friday and all of Saturday - Greek Island of Kos
Sunday - Ferry to Mykonos
Monday - Ferry to Santorini
All of Tuesday and all of Wednesday - Santorini
Thursday - Ferry to Heraklıon, Crete
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