EPHESUS-history and hilarity

We took one day of our week in Turkey to travel south to Ephesus and explore. We got on an 11-hour bus ride and rode overnight to Selchuk, the city nearest Ephesus, then took a taxi to the city. We ride busses in our country, but the buses in Turkey are AWESOME. They were comfortable, had TVs on each seat, and had wifi. What?! It was great 11 hours, and it landed us HERE:

I was in Turkey in 2002, and Ephesus was by far my favorite place we visited on that trip. It's even more incredible now than it was then--so much more developed! Hills that were covered in grass and shrubs are now gone, revealing incredible terraced housing underneath.

Isn't it amazing that the Apostle Paul lived in this city for THREE years? So incredible.

Baby figs:

This mosaic road is 2,000 years old, and so well preserved!

My team in front of the Library:
What would this trip be without a mid-air shot?

This is one of the areas that has been uncovered since I was last in Ephesus, the terraced housing. This is actually ONE house, used by a very wealthy Ephesian family. The crazy thing is, Marc Antony and Cleopatra visited Ephesus a long time ago, and they probably stayed at a house like this one. Crazy, right?

CONTEXT, folks.

Geoff in the Ephesian Amphitheater:

Jeffrey:
Stephen in the Church of the Virgin Mary:

When we got out the city, we came upon an area of shops with pushy souvenir-vendors. My favorite sign:
We kept walking through this area, and I was taking pictures and the boys got a bit in front of me. Now, I'd like to preface this little story by saying that I get a lot of unwanted attention from men where we live, and the boys on my team are really good about stepping in during situations like those. So, back to Ephesus: I was walking past these shops, and this guy in a striped shirt came up to me, and being super pushy, tried to get me to go into this shop with him--he was being obnoxious and wouldn't drop it when I repeatedly said no and tried to go around him. So Stephen turns around, steps back toward us, and just yells, "NO." I was thankful for his intervention, but even I laughed at his response to this guy. Anyway, I skirted out of the way, but Striped-Shirt wouldn't drop it, and just kept yelling at Stephen, "No what?" and "I didn't ask you anything!" and "I was talking to her, why did YOU answer me?" and so on. It was a little bit funny how angry he was! And it was a little bit funny that Stephen almost got in a little tiff with an Ephesian. Anyway, always thankful for my team who has my back. Especially with creepy men.

Next we went by minibus to the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There is very little left of it, as you can see here:

But what you can see is super tall...here's a little height comparison...can you see us way down there?

Next, we went back into the city, had lunch, and headed to the beach.

My feet in the Aegean Sea:

While I was taking pictures of my feet, the guys were a having a very manly competition of sheer brute strength, as you can see. Naturally, I decided to give it a try. I threw it like 7 inches (and that may or may not be exaggerating). Awesome, right? But because of my company, I would have won the woman's division.

Aaaaaaand then, the sun started setting. And this happened:

This too...Sistine Chapel in Ephesus?:

Then more displays of manhood:

Then, some stacking of people:

And finally, a little bit better use of a setting sun:

What's not to love?