day three Izmir
Midnight again.
Today:
7:30am skype date with the ‘rents.
8:30 breakfast; chorba (soup) yogurt and apricots. I know it’s a little funky but I”m trying to make my way around the buffet without eating it all in one go.
10:am pickup by Hande in her Hyundai and we started out for Ephesus
11:30 arrival along with twelve back bent skyscraper-length tour buses.‘Decided to have a soda and wait for the crowds to disperse.
12:00 went in in spite of the crowds not dispersing
1:00 watched a wild 12 miutes of neon bright polyester reenactment of a Roman gladiator game complete with bellydancers and fire breathing, impressive against the backdrop of the ancient ruins and Aegean Sea. (We shall be returning to this instance.)
2:30 made our way slowly back as the sun was making Hande walk in zig zags and slightly cross eyed due to the 100 degree heat.
3:00 tea in a tourist shop
3:30 made our way up the mountain to the House of the Virgin Mary along with...
3:45 Lit two candles
3:50 Made three wishes
4:00 headed to a Greek village in the hills
4:30 sat dodwn in a stone restaurant with a terrace and hade Pide, meze and local wine
4:50 meandered our conversation into business talk
6:30 finally paide our bill and meandered into the rest of the village of little stone white houses and Turkish ladies in flowered headscarves and polka dot dresses.
7:00 Fell asleep in the passenger seat as we started the return down the mountain toward Izmir
8:20 ran quickly upstairs and did a “Sailor bath” along with a lot of calisthenics to try and be hungry for the
9:00 FIsh dinner with the hotel Dutchess. Suffered through grilled Calimari, pepper dusted Octopus, fava, crushed eggplant with garlic and yogurt, grouper soaked in butter
11:00 Hande and the Hotel Duthchess wished to take me for a night tea which turned into an ice cream in spite of my protests
12:00 Dead tired and so full I think I might burst open like a Paige Pinata.
See you tomorrow assuming I’m still in one piece.
