Day IV- the Grand Theatre

What was, without any doubt at all, the most moving time of our day at Ephesus, was the time we spent toward the end. Some tourists/groups enter from the side we exited, and so come upon the great construction pretty much as the first thing in Ephesus. Maybe that leaves them sufficiently awestruck for the rest of the tour, or maybe it renders everything that follows less impressive, or both. We entered from the north end, and so, through statues and pillars and temples and inscriptions and stunning restorations, came to the very end.
The Grand Theatre took us like a sandstorm would a desert nomad. It entered our view, then our thought and made its way inevitably but movingly, to our emotions. It might just be rock and rock, but in it lies the ambitious grandeur of people who did not know the M of machines, but for whom the S of spectacular was all too frequent. In it lies the capacity to hold 25,000 people who could behold a spectacle and hear people talk far below with no electronics. In it lies the wonder of today, at the amazement of the past. In it lies the ability, at the very least, to make two people want to sit there for the longest time and just look at it.

(there's D!)

And then , weeks later still say very little but smile inwardly when they see photographs of themselves at it.

in: travel / turkey / turkey travel / ephesus / selcuk / dna day4

Day IV- Efes

We’re in a small run-down red car that serves as the shuttle from Jimmy’s Place. It’s a free shuttle, and it’s a shuttle to go to the one place that justifies the existence of Selcuk town on the tourist map.

Ephesus.
The site for Roman ruins is one of the largest in the world. And why not- Ephesus, or Efes, has been around since around 5-600BC, seeing people and civilisations come and go.
Its cold here as well. Not as cold as Istanbul, but not as sunny as our last day there either. We make our way past the YTL15 tickets booth and milling guided groups, into the site. On our left is an imposing but inviting hill, one of many that from one side of this ancient city. Ahead us the land stretches out for a bit before disappearing behind the curve of the smaller hill on the right. There is enough about the history of Ephesus that can be read, the stories behind the ruins, the imagination they provoke.
But what is ours entirely to absorb is the place, and being there by ourselves. Don’t mistake me, for all of the 5-and a bit hours we spend there, we are surrounded by tourists. Mostly large groups, being herded by guides who any or all of loud, interesting, showy and hurried. We are on our own pace, though- innumerable groups start after us, pass us by and disappear towards the other end, while we linger here and there, explore some rocks and sit on others, take photographs or just stand around, trying to take it all in. That the sun comes out soon after we enter and stays with us for the day is a blessing we are truly grateful for- suddenly everything looks richer.

I am surprised at how I have little to say about Ephesus now. Unless you are a history buff, you are not going to see it from an entirely historical perspective. Most likely you will enjoy the walk; be awed by the incomprehensible age of the things around you, by unfathomable and countless stories hidden in writings and rocks alike, by beautiful and imposing structures, by the desire to build them- of a kind that will never come back.

One has done no justice to this with words, so maybe you could go check out the photos, they might do a tad better.

in: travel / turkey / turkey travel / ephesus / selcuk / dna day4