Izmir is one of the oldest cities in the Mediterranean, it is surrounded by mountains and olive groves, and the blue Aegean Sea. The drive to Ephesus is through fields or farmland, fig trees, olive trees, fruit trees and mountains.
Ephesus is one of the most beautiful ancient cities in the world and considered the 7th wonder of the ancient world. It was built in the 3rd century BC and dedicated to the goddess Artemis. The ruins are amazing and they have done an incredible job piecing them back together. We visited the Amphitheater, Library of Celsus, Temple of Hadrian, Scholastic baths..aka toilets or a slab of stone with holes lined up where the men would go every morning and shit and chat. also saw Lower Agora, state agora and Odeon.
Next stop a beautiful garden of roses also home to the carpet makers...we got a demonstration of how the silk is spun out of the worm cocoons and how the carpets are weaved...so much work!! The silk carpets take months to make. I could not resist buying a beautiful angora wool rug, made in the mountains in this little town, all the colors in the rug come from natural dies, saffron, crushed bugs and flowers, the angora wool is a unique gray color in its natural state. They folded it up and stuck it in a carry-on bag and off I went!!!
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