Hello!
We had dinner last night here at our hotel. Nice dining room with big open windows. Our appetizers included a mushroom salad and some eggplant stewed in tomato sauce. Our mains were roast boneless chicken breasts with tomatoes, rice pilaf AND French fries. Everything was excellent – it appears that finding chicken in Turkey (boy, does that sound odd!) is going to be MUCH easier than finding it in France! Yea!!
Up and out for breakfast at the usual 8 a.m. Breakfast nowhere near as spectacular as Hotel Nilya. We had several kinds of cheeses, tomatoes and fresh oranges with great bread. Packed up our car gear and headed out for the site of Aphrodisias, about 90 km away. It took about an hour and a half to get there, through some absolutely spectacular mountain scenery! As it turns out, from our place in Pamukkale, we have a beautiful view of snow-capped peaks – who knew?!
Had an interesting experience finding Aphrodisias…turned at the sign for the museum, drove 10 feet and there was a barrier across the road! What the…so, headed along the site looking for an alternate entrance…drove to the end of a very dusty dirt road – locked up! We were very concerned that for some reason the site was closed, and it wasn’t even Monday! Went back to the first turning – and there, in Turkish, of course, was a sign saying “Aphrodisias Parking Lot” – and we were the only car there! So, got out, locked car, there was a man collecting parking fees, who then directed us to a tractor with a trailer attached, rigged with about 30 seats – all to ourselves! He crossed the road, and voila, the barricade opened, and we were in! And the ONLY people there! They had a museum, a small café and a gift shop – it was lovely – and very, very lonely! It was a truly wonderful ancient site – excavated extensively by NYU beginning in the 1960’s. In fact, the professor that led the excavations until his death was Turkish-born and is buried on the site. We were lucky to have had everything to ourselves for at least an hour when finally other people began to arrive. Aphrodisias was originally founded as a small town and shrine to the goddess Aphrodite. However, apparently education was highly prized there, and the town became renowned for its school of sculpture. It was everywhere. We have never seen such elaborately carved sarcophagi. One of their themes seemed to be faces, as they were everywhere as well. One of the things that makes this site so interesting is that so many of the statues were recovered and are now either in place or in the museum. Several guidebooks say that it is even more spectacular than Ephesus (which we very much agree with!) but because it is so far inland, not that many people see it; definitely too far away for cruise ship tours.
By the time we toured everything – the museum is lovely – and had the requisite Magnum Classic break, it was well past lunch time. Going back in the trailer to the parking lot, it was PACKED with cars and buses! Whew! Dodged a bullet on that one – the Brucato rule lives – be there when they open!!
I will now take this opportunity to comment on tractors…they are literally EVERYWHERE. Robert thinks, and I agree with him, that people may only be able to afford one – either a car or a tractor, not both…and in that case, it seems most of the people here choose tractors! And use them for transportation! They are out on the highways in droves – and oftentimes aren’t pulling anything – but they may have from one to 3 people attached, hanging on for dear life to the fenders! It’s an interesting phenomenon, that’s for sure!
From Aphrodisias we headed to Nyssa, in the hills above the Buyuk Menderes valley. This is a very small site, but included a really cute bouleuterion, which is like a small semi-circular theatre, but holding only 12 rows of seats. There was also a larger amphitheatre and the remnants of what was supposed to be the second best library in the country after Ephesus. This was really up in the hills among groves of olives – very peaceful and beautiful.
Back then, again, to Pamukkale for a short rest before dinner. We decided that tonight we would be totally spontaneous and wing it – NOT eat at the hotel. Thank goodness for TripAdvisor! I Googled and came up with Traverten Pide (Pizza), which was a couple of blocks away. Wound around until we found it … very basic, but thought we might as well take the plunge! The family speaks almost NO English, which is fine, as we were able to point to things on the menu that we wanted. I started with a “traditional” soup – tasted like egg-drop, actually; R had lentil soup. Then R had their Adana kebab – (VERY) spicy meat with rice pilaf and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers with yogurt. I went for their vegetarian pide (pizza). Both were fabulous! As you can see from the photos, the décor was pretty basic, but as long as the food was good – so! A quick walk through town, a few more pictures, and now we’re in for the night!
More tomorrow!
Much love,
m
xxx
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