Closing the Loop!

Hello!

We are just getting ready to go downstairs for our last breakfast (we hope!) at Yacht Classic Hotel.  Today we will be moving on to Selcuk, which is one of our favorite places in Turkey. 

R's veggie soup

R's sea bass

My chicken shish

The first time we came to Turkey, we flew from London to Izmir.  And, as Izmir has millions of people (I think it may be the second or third most populated city after Istanbul) we thought we would stay a little farther away and we chose Selcuk.  Selcuk is a really lovely smaller city with just enough things to do to make it interesting but not overwhelming in any way.  This is the gateway to Ephesus and there is a wonderful museum here (that was being completely overhauled the last time we were in this area.)  But we enjoyed Selcuk so much our first visit, that we rearranged things to return when we were leaving, and we have been back several times since. 

R's artistically arranged breakfast!

That’s why I think of today’s trip as really sort of closing the large driving loop we have done.  We will still have Canakkale (Troy!), Bursa and the airport to go, but still … it feels that way to me!

Now, dinner last night!  As we had a late lunch, we didn’t get downstairs until 7:30 pm, and there were only a few others enjoying dinner.  We both had their veggie soup for starters, which was excellent.  For mains, R had their sea bass, and I had their chicken (tavuk) şiş (shish).

Both were good, although I was a bit concerned about the chicken being thoroughly cooked (it was…fortunately!) and R said whoever scaled his sea bass didn’t really do a good job.  So, with that, we headed back upstairs for a relatively early night. 

R in our room; balcony to right, window seat to the left!

View from our box window looking down!

View looking out to temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders!

Our drive between Fethiye and Selcuk took a little over four hours, but we traveled through some really spectacular scenery.  In a way, with huge rock outcroppings, it reminded us a bit of Texas Canyon, to the east of us in Arizona.  (Sorry no pictures, but R was navigating!)  We stopped for a quick lunch in Ayden, which looks like a lovely city; a lot of very new building going on, and got into Selcuk around 2 pm.  We had good instructions for how to get to the hotel, but of course – just as the last time we were here, we came to a street that, quite literally, had the cobbles pulled up and there was no way across.  Back down to the center part of town and this time we went the “back way” – down by the Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world!) and up.  Well … got to another place where we knew we were close, but - Where to park?!  Had Robert get out to find the hotel and get help but as it turned out, while the place was literally five feet from where I was waiting, no one answered the bell!  Always helps to have cell phones that work, so I dialed the phone number, and voila!  Success!  Mourseline, the manager, came right out to help us park and bring in the luggage. 

We really like the Ayasoluk Hotel!  It is new in the past four years, and has a lovely courtyard and a stunning pool!  Obviously we won’t be using it but it’s nice to know for future reference!  He took us to our room 203, a “box” room on the second floor.  By box, a lovely mattress has been incorporated into a day bed in the window enclosure; makes for a fabulous place to read.  And the room, while not huge, is very nicely laid out and has lots of windows and light! 

Courtyard of our lovely hotel!

Zeus head

Gold statue from Egypt!

Lovely Roman glass platter

We also have a small balcony, as well as a lovely window in the bathroom.  Not sure how many people are here, but am hopeful that we’re not all alone!  Also, the restaurant is open tonight, which is a good thing!  In prior visits, we had stayed at Hotel Nyla, which was fine but dark and went to the Hotel Bella (their sister property) for very good dinners.  Thought we would check it out now that we’re back in town.

6,000 year old spoon, at left

Mosaic from Terrace house

Courtyard of Effes museum

Beautiful griffin, 2nd C. BC

So, deposited our bits and pieces in the room, and got all of our “devices” logged in properly.  It does seem like a good, strong WiFi signal.  TV is rather hopeless but there are a few English speaking channels – but no EuroSports!  Oh well!  I did want to get to the Ephesus Museum this afternoon, if at all possible.

Another visitor enjoying the courtyard's sunshine!

Golden goddess figure

Frieze from Hadrian's temple

Walked down the hill to the museum – and it is a stunner!  We had been to the “old” museum (same site, very different building!) when we were here years ago, and when we came back three or four years ago, the museum was closed for renovation.  It is now open and seriously, is quite a lovely space.  Lots of explanations in excellent English and Turkish, and the outside of the space has been thoroughly overhauled and modernized.  In we went!  We didn’t exactly have the museum to ourselves, as there was one other couple there but several of the security guards were having quite an animated conversation, which certainly made us feel we weren’t alone!  The museum covers the finds from Ephesus, from as far back as 6,000 years ago.  Obviously, the principal finds are from both the Hellenistic (400-30 BC) period and Roman times (30 BC -  going forward into AD), but some of the really ancient finds were quite beautiful. 

Part of Roman aquaduct; stork nest at top right!

Me at dinner

R's lentil soup

R's rare steak

My plentiful chicken in parchment

Great dessert!

Spent a good hour or so there, then decided to head back to the hotel, walking along the main street and then up to the top of the hill.

It was interesting to note that the Hotel Bella looks to be completely closed (for the season?) so I guess it was good that we hadn’t planned on dinner there tonight!  Also, I was hoping to spend some time in Bella’s shop, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen either! Hmmm...

Back in the room now, and enjoying our lovely, warm room!

More later!

m

xxx

Just back from dinner downstairs in the hotel’s restaurant.  Again, we were the only people!  Seriously, how do places stay in business?  No answer, but I’m glad they do!  For starters, R had their lentil soup, which he said was pretty good.  I had their hummus, but honestly, it didn’t have enough tahini in it for me, so I left most of it.  For mains, R had their beef tenderloin, which came rare, how he likes it (although we had a bit of time conveying what rare means), along with potatoes and pearl onions.  I had their chicken in parchment – which was HUGE!  Seriously, three people couldn’t have eaten that much food!  But it was really good – chunks of chicken in a pastry crust with peppers, onions, and leeks.  Excellent, although I couldn’t finish even half of it!  Then, the manager treated us to a very interesting dessert – not sure quite what it was – some sort of ice cream with chocolate sauce.  So that’s it for tonight!  Tomorrow at some point we will be heading to Ephesus, and then probably doing some local touring!  More then!

Much love,

m

xxx