Malena in Turkey

So after the long overnight bus ride wıth no sleep (that our special guest blogger will write about once I stop hogging the computer) the only logical thing to do was take a nap.  We found a hostel and pretty much crashed there for a while.  The hostel owner also decided to go above and beyond, and asked Kate and I if we are twins!  Sisters I can sort of see… but twins??

In any case, we decided to take it easy for the day, and save Ephesus for Sunday (the next day.)  The good news was that it was market day in Selçuk!

However, our first stop of the day was the Ephesus museum.  There was a neat exhibit on gladiators there, complete with bones showing how they died (pitchfork through the head, sword through the soldier, etc.)  The best part was where a resident philosopher compared stadium, circus, and sex.  Apparently they are the only places people can look themselves in the eye and our emotions can soar to such heights.   Fantastic.

In addition to the deep thoughts of the day, the Ephesus museum also included some statues that hadnt been stolen by the Brits and a statue of Artemis with rows of breasts that are thought to be severed testicles, according to the Lonely Planet (although I dont really see it.)

After we had finished in the museum, we went to the market!  We had some language difficulties there (amazingly, not everyone in Turkey speaks English.)  We nearly ended up wıth 10 pounds of oranges, and we still have three quarters of a pound of green olives left!  I have yet to master the tourist art of taking pictures of locals without feeling embarrassed, so my market pictures kind of suck.

Then, back to the hostel for dinner!  We met a mysterious older Dutch woman there who had an intriguing relationship with a much younger carpet salesman (Ahmet), but we couldnt put out finger on exactly what it was.  Lots of flirting, whispering “I love you” in Turkish to each other, etc.  I think I prefer it a mystery.  The carpet seller, however, did manage to clear up a number of other questions Kate and I had, including that of the shoes!  Apparently mine are in a traditional Turkish style that the youngest generation doesnt wear anymore.  Hooray!  Also, all these Turkish guys that talk to us (and other tourists) are apparently just “following the money” - you dont say!  I was glad he cleared that one up for us.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 4th, 2006 at 2:24 am and is filed under 01 - Turkey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.