Day 5 - Izmir/Ephesus (8:30-3pm)
I can’t remember what time I woke this morning - probably early again. I am a very light sleeper and the deck chairs being put out each morning on the deck above us usually woke me up.
We went to breakfast again and this time I opted for a nice healthy bircher muesli with yogurt whilst my husband decided on eggs benedict. This was the one misfire as far as food went - the toasted bread and the hollandaise sauce were both served cold which he found very off-putting, and my bircher was a lot runnier than I am used to. Superb cappuccino though so that made up for a lot! We also go a glorious photo of the infinity pool outside La Palmeraie and one of the deck staff setting up the naughty corner for that days chair hoggers.
It was fun sailing into Izmir. It seems to be a relatively busy port with plenty of passenger ferries beetling around with scant consideration to the Leviathan majestically sailing between them.
I had dithered for ages over what to do for this port. It was a given that we would visit Ephesus. But in what manner? Ship tour, self tour, private tour? I didn’t want to be part of a much larger group - 12-15 is generally my limit with organised tours. In the end I decided that since it was such a major site and because it was so far away from the port, the best thing to do would be to book a private guide. We were very fortunate to have another member on our roll call who was interested in joining us on the tour, together with his spouse, so we could do a private tour and split costs. It ended up being around US$80 per person (x4) for the full day which we felt was very reasonable. We ended up using Ephesus Tours by Otti Travel.
So we arranged to meet H&M at the TopSail Lounge and whilst we waited for the ship to dock we had another cappuccino - nom nom!
Our guide’s name was Atilla and he was a trained and licensed guide with a huge passion for his job! Along with the van came a driver so Atilla spent the hour long drive chatting and telling us all kinds of interesting things about Turkey, Ephesus and so on. He was also very interested to hear we were from New Zealand and waxed lyrical about the special bond between the Turkish and Kiwi people.
The NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs states: “The friendly and positive political relations that exist between Turkey and New Zealand are based on shared fundamental values and the common historical encounter in Çanakkale in 1915.”
This is a piece of evasive political speak (my underlining) that only serves to highlight how generous and forgiving the Turkish people have been.
Basically, our "common historical encounter" consists of our lot (together with Australia, Britain and France) invading their country. The Allies tried to push through the Dardenelles to capture Constantinople (Now Istanbul) so as to secure a route through to Russia (an ally). Naturally the Turks objected to a bunch of Frogs, Poms, Kiwis and Aussies trying to take their land by force and they defended it very successfully - leading to the Gallipoli campaign where both sides suffered heavy casualties and we got thoroughly trounced.
Wikipedia states:
The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war and a major Allied failure. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nation's history: a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. The struggle formed the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of the Republic of Turkey eight years later under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who first rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli. The campaign is often considered as marking the birth of national consciousness in Australia and New Zealand and the date of the landing, 25 April, is known as "Anzac Day". It remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in those two countries, surpassing Remembrance Day (Armistice Day)
Even for my generation, Gallipoli is still a very poignant subject. The exhibit at the Auckland War Memorial Museum is called “Scars on the Heart” and it was very much that on a national scale - it was a HUGE scar on our national psyche.
It baffles me that Atilla could talk emotionally about the special relationship between our two countries when WE INVADED THEM!!! We tried to take their land from them. We came from the other side of the world and shot at their young men, and threw our young men in front of their bullets, and killed and died by the thousands. I don’t know that our country could have been so generous and forgiving if roles had been reversed.
In 1934, Ataturk, now known as the Father of Turkey, wrote:
These words are inscribed on a memorial to Ataturk commemorating Gallipoli in our capital city of Wellington and they are read every year at our ANZAC day commemorations.
The NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs states: “The friendly and positive political relations that exist between Turkey and New Zealand are based on shared fundamental values and the common historical encounter in Çanakkale in 1915.”
This is a piece of evasive political speak (my underlining) that only serves to highlight how generous and forgiving the Turkish people have been.
Basically, our "common historical encounter" consists of our lot (together with Australia, Britain and France) invading their country. The Allies tried to push through the Dardenelles to capture Constantinople (Now Istanbul) so as to secure a route through to Russia (an ally). Naturally the Turks objected to a bunch of Frogs, Poms, Kiwis and Aussies trying to take their land by force and they defended it very successfully - leading to the Gallipoli campaign where both sides suffered heavy casualties and we got thoroughly trounced.
Wikipedia states:
The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war and a major Allied failure. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nation's history: a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. The struggle formed the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of the Republic of Turkey eight years later under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who first rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli. The campaign is often considered as marking the birth of national consciousness in Australia and New Zealand and the date of the landing, 25 April, is known as "Anzac Day". It remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in those two countries, surpassing Remembrance Day (Armistice Day)
Even for my generation, Gallipoli is still a very poignant subject. The exhibit at the Auckland War Memorial Museum is called “Scars on the Heart” and it was very much that on a national scale - it was a HUGE scar on our national psyche.
It baffles me that Atilla could talk emotionally about the special relationship between our two countries when WE INVADED THEM!!! We tried to take their land from them. We came from the other side of the world and shot at their young men, and threw our young men in front of their bullets, and killed and died by the thousands. I don’t know that our country could have been so generous and forgiving if roles had been reversed.
In 1934, Ataturk, now known as the Father of Turkey, wrote:
"Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives,
you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us
where they lie side by side in this country of ours.
You, the mothers who sent their sons
from far away countries wipe away your tears,
your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well."
you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us
where they lie side by side in this country of ours.
You, the mothers who sent their sons
from far away countries wipe away your tears,
your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well."
These words are inscribed on a memorial to Ataturk commemorating Gallipoli in our capital city of Wellington and they are read every year at our ANZAC day commemorations.
Atilla surprised us by showing us a picture of this memorial on his cellphone and asking me to read out the words. It was a unexpected and touching moment. As a Turk, he obviously had deep feeling and great admiration for the man they consider the Father of Turkey.
Soon after we came to the Temple of Artemis which we had specifically asked to visit as well. I must admit, it was a lot less impressive than I had imagined. There was basically nothing left of the Temple except its footprint and a few tumbled columns. It was a very large footprint though which gave some idea of the sheer scale of the Temple in its day.
The one column was standing tall, Atilla explained, had been re-erected in modern times. This lack of historical authenticity did not seem to bother the family of storks who were nesting at the top of it.
We stood in the shade of a mulberry tree whilst Atilla was telling us about the site and were visited by geese who were keen to scavenge mulberries from the ground. Atilla picked a couple from the tree and we tried them - a new experience for us both. By the way, the nursery rhyme is completely wrong. They are most definitely very large trees and not bushes at all!
Atilla also pointed out the structures on the hill which he said were a mosque and a church coexisting in harmony. I can't recall which structures it was so I'm including a selection from that general direction.
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