GG’s Visit

(Written by GG)

What an incredible day we had in Ephesus. St. John the Evangelist went with the Virgin Mary to Ephesus where she lived until she died. We visited a restoration of what is believed to have been her house there. We all thought of Lita, who would have loved to visit Mary’s House.

Ainsley read from our guide book on Ephesus at each ruin site, from the Library of Celsus, which held over 12,000 scrolls, to the Great Theater, to the Terrace Houses etc. etc. Amazing restorations going on at the Terrace Houses, one putting together 120,000, yes 120,000 pieces, to restore a beautiful wall. Lunch at a Gozleme Evi, pancake house, where we watched a woman roll a small piece of dough into a full, very thin, 36 inch circle that became the pancake which was then stuffed with cheese, spinach, meat, etc. and cooked on a concave grill. Yummy!

A walk to the ruins of Artemis’ Temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, concluded the day. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and her temple drew people to Ephesus, which actually had a population of about 300,000 back then. Dinny, you no doubt already know that Artemis, the Greek Goddess of fertility and the hunt, is also known as the Goddess Diana.

The next day we wandered around the ruins of the 6th century AD Basilica of St. John, an unbelievably large church on top of the tomb of St. John. PopPop would have loved to visit this basilica. At the wonderful Museum of Ephesus, visiting school children besieged us. Two sculptures of Artemis were there along with impressive medical instruments.

We met an Australian couple on the very crowded bus from Selcuk to the port at Kusadasi. While waiting to board the ferry, the Aussie volunteered that it was a good day, new clothes! I could understand that; I was wearing the same hiking pants that I had on when I arrived four days before. According to Ainsley, clothes are dirty when they are the color of dirt or when you spill on them.

Our stay in Agios Konstantinos on Samos Island has been extended two days; it is a gorgeous island with beautiful beaches, so many hiking trails leading to small villages (each with its own church) and, in one case, to waterfalls, monasteries, lovely flowers, and port towns. The first morning on Samos, Gabi, the proprietor of the Atlantis Hotel, took us to their green house (2,000 square meters according to her husband, Dimitri) where they grow birds of paradise that they sell in Athens. There they also keep a horse, a pony, bunnies, cats, and a sheep. Gabi is from Germany; she says a bale of hay costs 50 cents in Germany and 6 euros on Samos! Ainsley, Jack, and Eliot each rode the horse, Nikita, and found the bunnies that live in the green house, good weed control. After that, Dimitri showed us their vineyards, the land for which they rent from the adjoining 19th century church. They grow muscat and cabernet sauvignon grapes.

While visiting the Monastery of The True Cross, Moni Timio Stavro, a tour bus driver (Christo) handed me a cell phone and said, “You have a phone call.” I replied, “No I don’t,” and he said, “Yes you do, it’s Gabi.” It turns out that Christo lives in Agios Konstantinos, had seen us walking in the village, and must have known that we were staying at the Hotel Atlantis. He called Gabi, whom he knew from her 20 years as a tour guide on Samos, hence my call. No secrets in a small village. As I write this, the fish monger is driving through Agios Konstantinos hawking his fish through a loud speaker. Not nearly as pleasant as the music we heard at 2 AM from the christening party held in the village directly below our hotel.

Tomorrow we take a nine-hour ferry ride to Athens.