I was wrong when I wrote in my last post that Ephesus would be the last of the seven churches we would visit – I forgot about Pergamum! But i get ahead of myself.
We did visit Ephesus of course. We started the morning with a simple communion service at the site called the Home of the Virgin Mary. It was another stellar spring day, the sun was shining,the birds were singing, and it was , as one of our group described a thin place. As we said Psalm 23 together and heard Paul’s words (to the Corinthians) about the origins of communion it was a moment vibrant with the Holy.
Ephesus is a huge and busy site – we saw lots of tourists there. We have been spoiled foremost of the trip often being the only group on the site. We had the added treat of viewing the terraced house. These are the ruins showing where the wealthy people of Ephesus would have lived with their beautiful mosaic floors and lovely frescoes painted on the walls. It was wonderful to imagine the life lived those centuries ago. Of course we did our group photo in front of the library there; what an amazing ruin that is. And the group photo, compliments of Rostad Tours gives us a wonderful reminder of our terrific group of travellers.
After our stay in Izmer we travelled north and east along the coast and saw, yet again, just what a scenic and fertile land Turkey is. Field after field of fruit and olive groves, lots of canola and grain crops,and on every hillside flocks of sheep and goats.
We spent the morning exploring the ancient city of Pergamum. It is a fine example of Jesus’ saying, “A city set on a hill cannot be hid.”
We took (at some moments, a harrowing) taxi ride up the side of the mountain to get to the site. More beautiful ruins showing the ancient temple, the altar to Zeus (which led John to chastise Pergamum in the book of Revelations) and of course the amphitheatre where the seats are on such an incline it was almost dizzying to navigate down the steps.
We then visited the site of ancient Troy – yes there is a wooden horse there! The visit was interesting but we were getting weary and for the one afternoon of our entire trip we had rain so that visit was brief !
We shifted to modern history when yesterday morning we stopped at the beach known as Gallipoli. I found this stop very moving to think of the many, many lives lost both Turkish lives and members of the Allied Forces. Preparations were underway for Anzac Day later this month when the area will be overrun with visitors from Australia and New Zealand. Newfoundlanders were in this World War 1 battle too and many lost their lives. It was a solemn drive as the bus made its way to the top of the hill that still shows the trenches we the battle was won, or lost, depending on your perspective.
We then sped along the highway catching glimpses of the beautiful coast line, until we arrived back in Istanbul. Arriving in time for a quick stop at the Egyptian Spice Bazaar and one last shop at the Grand Bazaar.
At dinner last night we said our farewell to our great tour guide, Yasar. He told us to urge all our friends to visit Turkey and to come back again. Many of us agreed that it is a country to vast and with too rich a history to take in in one visit.
