Ephesus

Day 5, November 16, 2013--Halic Park Hotel (Ayvalik)-House of Mary-Ephesus-Pine Bay Resort (Kusadasi)

Ephesus holds such an important place in the history of Christianity that I really looked forward to revisiting there for the second time. Having spent another night at a resort type hotel without enjoying the facilities, we got up early to have breakfast so we could at least explore the surrounding areas of this hotel.

The huge dining room was pretty quiet because they opened earlier than said time. We were told breakfast was at 7 but when we got there at 6:45, it was already opened.

Sunrise from the balcony of our room, after breakfast.

Beautiful!

a partial ocean view from our balcony

Halic Park Hotel, Ayvalik

This is a resort type hotel but it was off season when we were there.

The beach and the public walkway next to the hotel.

a little further up

the pool was drained

back to the beach and walked up a little more

very nice!

hotel grounds

Back on the bus for the drive to Ephesus.

For some reason we were stopped for a random check. They seemed to be very thorough, checking the driver's records, checking the mileage, making sure that the driver was not driving overtime.

Near Izmir

many bitter orange trees everywhere

House of Virgin Mary

Legend had it that Mary spent her last years here with apostle John whom Jesus instructed to take care of after His death. Based on the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, Catholics believe that this is to be the last home of Mary and it is a popular Catholic pilgrimage with visits from several Popes. Of course there were arguments opposing the idea. Nevertheless, we were here, again, to see this little house on top of the hill near the city of Ephesus.

getting off our coach

the pool

Entrance to the little house, no pictures inside.

Exit

People can fill up their bottles with Holy Water.

Papers with hopes and wishes.

Ephesus

After driving down from the hill we arrived at the upper entrance of Ephesus. It seemed like not long ago that we were here, in fact, it was three years ago that we came to Ephesus on a private tour when we were on the cruise. It was hot and crowded the first time we were here. Much quieter this time around. Felt very fortunate that I got to visit Ephesus twice, and of course, being on a budget tour, we did not get to go inside the Terrace Houses this time.

Some of the ladies in our group.

and the men

The first view of Ephesus...

and many more.

So nice without people fighting over photo spots.

one of many cats around

walking downhill on the marble streets

father and son historic moment

public toilets

impressive Library of Celsus, once held nearly 12,000 scrolls

stadium/theater that seated 24,000

leaving the area

Looking back at the stadium/theater, Paul was said to have preached here.

Many more extra seats here.

Temple of Artemis



A short drive away is the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, is now represented only by one inconspicuous column. (Acts 19:23~41) We stopped here for about 10 minutes and we were warned by the guide of the gypsies gathering there trying to make a quick deal. They were actually quite rude when they failed to bargain off a sale.

On our way to our hotel for the night.

Pine Bay Resort, Kusadasi



This is a huge resort and seemed popular with many clients even at this off season period. There is the main building and there are many bungalows scattered around the hillside.

Hotel Lobby level looking down at the indoor pool area.

Huge bathroom in our bungalow, except the water drainage was not done right, the floor was flooded.

Quite nice just looking at it!

Our room--the bedroom

the first room upon entering the bungalow

Buffet dinner in the main dining room where we had a decent dinner with plenty of food.

One incident though--a member of our tour group ordered a large bottle of water but after one taste, they found out that the content inside the water bottle was actually vodka! A mystery that the hotel staff had to solve. By the way, the french fries were great!