Monday, May 17, 2010

AROUND EPHESUS

SIRENCE & SELÇUK - JULY 2009



"SIRENCE - Once a Greek village, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, it looks a lot like Berat


"STREET BAZAAR"


"HOUSES""


"BAZAAR - Genuine Fake Watches? Never seen..."


"REMOVING OBSTACLES"


"SELÇUK FORTRESS - On Ayasoluk Hill"


"BAD LUCK - Warning on the wrong side doesn't let you see the storks..."


"BASILICA OF ST. JOHN - St. John is believed to have spent the last years of his life in Ephesus writing his version of the Gospel. And Justinian I ordered the construction of the church in the 6th century on what is supposed to be the burial site of John the Evangelist"


"ISA BEY MOSQUE - Constructed in 1374-1375, by the Seljuk beys"


"BODRUM BAY IN GOLD"

53 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! My computer has had some problems with the NVIDIA Graphics driver, so things are getting harder to get in touch with you. Hope to have it solved one of these days, but meanwhile, sorry for not being able to visit your blogs as often as I would love to…
Meanwhile, after Ephesus’ Masterpieces, we’ll be visiting the modern village of Sirence and cruising the town of Selçuk. Hope you like to see them and wish you a great week ahead!!

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Quelle mer !
On en ressort tout doré ?

SusuPetal said...

Thanks for the tour, Gil. Good that you showed us that beauty with the golden sea.

Olivier said...

encore une belle promenade, de superbes découvertes et un beau final

Beefybob7 said...

Hi Gil,

Loved the genuine Fake watches.

Going over your recent blogs.

Best wishes,
Bob

Baron's Life said...

The bazar (Market) shot is very attractive to me

joo said...

looks like a great place to be, especially on such cold and rainy days we have to deal with recently.
The sea of gold is terrific and i love the stalls with fruit!
Greetings:)
Joo

Nisha said...

The last picture is amazing. And the place so great.

Jen Laceda | Milk Guides said...

beautiful! except i wonder about the "genuine fake watches" hahaha

Lakshmi said...

what an amazing variety of pictures! just wish me luck that I can go to Turkey this year

Thérèse said...

Great details and a very special architecture!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Brilliant pictures! "BODRUM BAY IN GOLD" looks heavenly! Absolutely marvelous!

diane b said...

The last shot of the golden sea is fabulous. Ephesus sure is an ancient town. Its history must be fascinating.

Lori said...

The last shot of the Bay is just magical with that gorgeous golden light. This is a place I must visit one day!

indicaspecies said...

Thank you for sharing beautiful images of Ephesus' Masterpieces and on this post.

Genuine Fake Watches....pretty cheeky..hehe!

Shionge said...

You have been to the most exotic place Gil....beautiful shot!!

Mariposa said...

i love the bodrum bay in gold. gorgeous!!

MedaM said...

Interesting and beautiful place full of history and old structures. Your photos are wonderful as always. The last one is just breathtaking.

My Unfinished Life said...

the last pic is just so amazing!!!!!
would love to see the bay at sunset or sunrise!!!..
turkey is so beautiful!!

My Unfinished Life said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

Hi Trotter,
I've missed your visits but you have a good reason :-) Love your pics of Greece--#1 on where I want to visit someday. I especially love the last shot of the golden water--so lovely.

Pietro Brosio said...

Hello Gil! Another nice and thrilling post! The pictures and the collages are absolutely beautiful! I like so much the hills of Sirence.
Happy new week! :-)

Urmi said...

Very beautiful pictures with wonderful description. Nice and interesting place to visit.

eye in the sky said...

The houses all look the same. Talk about beauty in uniformity! Re: removing obstacle, made me laugh hard. Hilarious!

Good luck with your comp. Always hate it when that happens.

yyam said...

I hate it when I have problems with my computer..urgh! Hope your problem is resolved soon.

Thanks for posting these great pictures...love the rustic feel...it's always like going on vacation just looking at your pictures..:)

rochambeau said...

Sorry about your computer problems~
Thanks for sharing these photos!
Especially the Basilic of St. John the Divine. And the genuine fake watches of course. Did you get one? ;-)

xox to you and Mrs. T.
Constance

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Gil

This has turned into a travel month for me with little computer time but I enjoyed catching up with you today. Your photography cathes all the sights that really tell the story of each place you visit.

Love all the details in your photo collages. I laughed over the "genuine watches" sign! That is an honest vendor.

The Golden Seljuk beys is magnificent!
.

Sylvia K said...

Hi Gil!

What a fantastic tour!! And your photos are breathtaking. I love the detail and so much wonderful color. I lived in Spain for a over a year and traveled some in Portugal, these brought back lovely memories.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your comment! Have a great week!

Sylvia

Anonymous said...

so if a car is in the way, you just get out, pick it up, and move it. LOL... I love that! And also, the 'genuine fake watches'. As always, you entertain us with history, gorgeous photos and humor. ~~ Lynn
P.S. so sorry for the broke computer. that's always a pain!

Nikon said...

Beautiful looking place, Gil - looks like a place I'd like to go to!
I love the Genuine Fake Watches, and the folks picking up the car :)
Thanks for all of your visits!

juka14 said...

A beautiful golden sunset! I like the fort also, looks like it's still in a good condition.

Joy said...

Gil! That last photo is indeed golden! I love it. And all those shops - fun time for shopping. Looks like a really interesting place to visit.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Have a great week!

Emery Roth said...

An interesting tour of the suburbs. yes, the two towns look remarkably similar. Is this the local generic architectural style?

Regina said...

Hello Trotter sorry for the broken computer.

Wow all are magnificent!
Love the Basilica of St. John the beloved and gorgeous seascape!

Thank you for sharing all these.
Cheers and enjoy the great week.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful shots of the place. The fortress is amazing.

Marja said...

great pictures I absolutely love the last one

Emm said...

Lovely shots of the surrounding village and the bazaar. And that photo of the sunset in Bodrum is exquisite too. Did you stay in Bodrum?

A Lady's Life said...

What happened to your computer?
Did it get attacked in greece?

There are some bad viruses going around.
I liked the women sitting on the bench pic.
It is so peaceful and serene
Too bad Greece is in trouble.

Cloudia said...

looks like some celtic design in the mosque...





Aloha from Waikiki, Friend

Comfort Spiral

Ron said...

Great pics and post. I really love the last pic the best. It makes me feel so relaxed. Great shot of the people trying to move that car.

PeterParis said...

All just beautiful, but finally perhaps the pure nature, the Bodrum Bay in gold, is the most striking! :-) (Good luck with your computer!)

april said...

Right. the first I remarked were the many windows that look all alike.
Have a nice rest of the week, gil.
Greetings from Cologne,
Ingrid

Chuckeroon said...

Hi, Trotter; you faithful old shagging dog! So nice to have you always looking in. Like you I'm "challenged" but OK. Photography's a bit hard these days as the injuries heal. LOVED the Ephesus set. Really inspiring stuff! Those "Ancients" , eh?

Cergie said...

Je suis un peu déçue qu'il faille deux personnes pour déplacer la voiture ; en français on dit "fort comme un turc", j'ai remarqué que c'était vrai, les turcs sont capables de porter des charges impressionnantes à dos d'homme (un réfrigérateur par exemple)
Ces masions sont étagées dace au site et au soleil, elles semblent couvertes de tuiles assez plates et ne sont pas très pentues (pas les petites échoppes plus bas qui ont des sortes de "tuiles romaines"). C'est la preuve s'il la fallait que le climat est TRES clément. Ceci dit, la forte pluie est bienvenue sur nos jardins depuis hier (et la campagne environnante).

BLOGitse said...

Oh, la laa...thanks for a beautiful tour with you!
When are you visiting Casa?
I go to Finland next week for 10 days, back 19.6. - welcome after that!
Our container has been sailing from Cairo to Barcelona! We don't know where it is now. It means unpacking (all summer clothes, shoes etc.) is going to happen...hopefully not after summer!!! I miss my coffee maker, Chinese knives, pots and pans...

BLOGitse

Paz said...

I love that you ended the photos with the last picture of the bay in Gold. Beautiful.

I love the architecture sights.

I'd love to explore this place. The next best thing is through your blog. Thank you.

Paz

Trotter said...

Hi Folks! I’m using my Dell desktop, which although good enough is a bit slower than my tower; so visiting and posting are suffering the side effects of the collapse of the NVIDIA GE Force Graphic Processor only seventeen months after I bought the new computer… Anyhow, I manage to read all your comments (from all those who care to drop a line… ;)) and will try to reply accordingly… ;)
Turkey 2009 is almost coming to an end and I believe that the delay in posting is going to stay just below the usual twelve month period. With so little travelling these last years, I’m afraid that only my busy schedule at work (and the broken computer) will prevent me from shortening the posting delay well below one year… ;)
Sirence is an interesting village, quite similar to the Albanian town of Berat; but though there was a hint on the subject, it seems nobody would take the time to get to the previous post and make the comparison… I’ll have to wait for Kim, to see if she notices the point; but that won’t be an achievement as Kim lives in Albania and knows Berat quite well… ;))
Have a great week all of you!!

Daniel,
Ça serait intéressant de prendre un bain dans cette mer et en sortir comme si on avait été touché par le roi Midas… Il y en aurait encore beaucoup plus de baigneurs et baigneuses à Bodrum… ;))

Susu,
That sea was just waiting for to dive in and forget the cold time you get on your Finnish winters… ;))

Olivier,
Quand on parle de promenade je me souviens plutôt de promenade à pied, mais c’est vrai qu’il y a aussi des promenades en bus et, comme on a vu dans le post suivant, des elles promenades en bateau… ;)

Bob,
That ad was a great highlight of the trip to Sirence… You know that Bodrum is famous for its counterfeit luxury items and it surely challenges New York’s Canal Street in that kind of business… The Big Apple will have to learn a lot with those guys over there and visitors will have to learn with the legions of Germans buying that kind of LVMH stuff… ;))

Baron,
You find everything on that bazaar, from aubergines to the amazing genuine fake watches… I’m still intrigued today with what that would probably mean; «genuine fake» seems a contradiction in terms… ;))

Joo,
Well, a great place to be, perhaps only if you’re so depressed with the bad weather you’re getting at home… ;), otherwise I would say it is an interesting place to visit. Period! I can’t imagine myself living there the whole year… ;)).
There were plenty of aubergines and watermelons, and the golden sea was a terrific shot… ;)

Nisha,
It seems that the Bay in Gold made the unanimity of the visitor’s comments for top picture on this post; I also think it was a great catch: lucky to be crossing the spot on the right place at the right time… ;)

Jen,
That was exactly my trouble; what would that genuine fake mean? Probably that the guys were serious in counterfeiting… ;)).
I’ve had some trouble commenting on your blog: actually, I see only half of the word verification letters and can’t post the comment. I wonder if this happens only to me… ;-(

Lakshmi,
With your wide range of travelling these last months, I don’t think you’ll need any luck to get to Turkey… ;)). Anyhow, if that depends on my wishes, you’re already there… ;))

Thérèse,
Those houses with windows all over remember the city of Berat (not to be confused with Borat… ;)), in Albania, from which I made a post on the previous Blogtrotter «Town of a Thousand Windows»; maybe you still remember that one…

Rakesh,
That’s definitely the top one picture on this post and I believe it’s worth the premium… ;) Right place and right time…

Diane,
It seems I’m repeating myself, but the point is that most of the comments seem to be focused on the Golden Bay and don’t pay the deserved attention to the first two pictures of the village of Sirence, which show a lovely spot!! ;). Ephesus is no longer seen on this post, but you’re right anyhow… ;)

Trotter said...

Part Two:

Celine,
My pleasure to show you all these lovely spots; of course, nothing compared to the views of the Himalayas you’re presenting to us at your blog… But, like we say in Portugal, literally: “who gives what he/she has, to nothing more is obliged…” Something like: «that I do my best, is all you can request…» ;))
Genuine Fake is a superb marketing… ;))

Betty,
You’re right: «I have been»… The problem is that nowadays it is so hard for me «to be» in some exotic places… Anyhow, things will get better (it seems that optimism doesn’t make any sense for a follower of Murphy’s law… ;)) and I’ll manage to get to some exotic places still in my long list, hopefully in the near future… ;)

Mariposa,
You don’t seem to be alone in that love with the Bodrum Bay in gold… ;). I’ll send that to the «golden waters picture contest» the day someone in the blogosphere will create such a weird game… ;))

Medam,
You’re not so far from the place actually; and history is something that definitely is not missing on such a place… Thousands of years…

Star,
Sunset is OK for me; sunrise, I’ll leave it to you, early bird… ;)). And don’t forget to take the wonderful sunrise pictures: I love people who wake up early and take lovely sunrise pictures to show us, the ones who are (and will be…) still asleep at that time of the day… ;))

Rhonda,
Sorry for the absence, but further to the busy schedule (it seems there is no way I can slow down a little bit…) it happened this computer break… But I’ve tried my best not to lose touch with your wonderful paintings…
Greece is great (and cheaper nowadays, it seems…); and these are Hellenic and Roman ruins… But the place is not exactly Greece; just across the Aegean Sea: Turkey…

Pietro,
I knew you would be touched by those hills in Sirence and by the houses in the village… It’s actually a wonderful view… I wonder whether that is Albanian influence in Turkey or Turkish influence in Albania (Berat…). It can, of course, also be a third party influence on both… ;))

Babli,
The pictures are beautiful just because the spot is absolutely outstanding; as for the description being wonderful, that’s surely the virtue of the Author… ;)). Thanks for the compliment… ;)

Eye,
They look the same, but they are not the same… All different, all equals… ;)
The «removing obstacle» picture shows how people can entirely close the eyes to of others’ rights: the street was far from being large, and there an intense movement of tourist buses there; anyhow the car driver found no better way to park is car than in the middle of the road, obstructing the passage… So, the only way to go through was after «removing obstacle»… ;))

Yvonne,
Computers are a bit tricky; mine seems to have been sent to the HP Centre in Spain to get fixed… It seems it will take a month to see it back, hopefully working well…
Great to help you vacationing virtually through my blog… ;) The rustic side after the ruins was indeed an interesting experience and the lunch with the fabulous view of Sirence was also a highlight in this excursion…

Constance,
The Basilica was surely an impressive building! Whether John the Evangelist, John the Apostle, John the Divine and a certain John of Patmos are all the same person is something that has already risen tons of pages of discussion… ;))
No genuine fake watch this time; had enough from Canal Street in the eighties and nineties… ;))
Xoxo

Pat,
I’ve noticed on your blog that you have been busy travelling all around the US; I’m truly envious, that is sure, being stuck here and without a decent computer… ;). The bay in gold is already in Bodrum; the Beys «just» built the impressive mosque, probably on the ruins of a church built on the ruins of a Roman temple, built on the ruins of a Greek temple… ;))

Sylvia,
I’m glad that you enjoyed the post! I already spent a great deal of my life abroad, but actually never lived abroad… ;) It’s probably time for you start thinking on travelling back to Portugal… ;)

Trotter said...

Part Three,

Lynn,
That’s exactly how it works; too boring to wait for the transit policemen who are enjoying lunch with wine and probably with the driver of the ill parked car… At least, that’s how I saw it happening in Sirence… ;). »Genuine Fake» is surely a marketing masterpiece… ;)
My pleasure to entertain you all around this blog; anyhow, you’re not so many… ;))

Paul,
It’s time for you to start packing… Removing obstacle and genuine fake are two of the highlights of this post… ;)
My pleasure to visit your blog; but I truly believe it’s time to get a new post there… ;))

Juka,
The fort was probably restored one of these days… Not as impressive as the Indian forts in Rajasthan, but still a quite impressive fortress to see!! The sunset is my treat… ;)

Joy,
The last picture makes the plenum in this post; top one for almost everybody… ;)
There wasn’t much interesting to buy over there, except for the (in)famous counterfeit watches (genuine)… But it was fun anyhow strolling among all those shops in the bazaar… ;)
My pleasure to visit again your Norwich; we were missing it for a long, long time…

Ted,
Truly rustic suburbs… The resemblance between Sirence and Berat is remarkable, but I don’t know which one influenced the other, if there was any influence at all… I didn’t notice that the other villages in the region looked similar to this one, so probably there was a particular reason for the phenomenon…

Regina,
Hopefully that computer will be fixed by the end of this month, at the latest, they say… ;)
John the Beloved? That is another one to get into the confusion of how many of the Johns are actually the same person… A tricky issue to solve, profiting from the fact that today you have the holiday of the Corpus Christi… ;)

Rajesh,
It would make sense that you would be impressed in particular by the fortress; but I tell you: it has no comparison with the fabulous forts in Rajasthan and the other forts in India that you usually show in your wonderful blog…

Marja,
Thanks! I’m glad it gave you pleasure to see all these pictures in the post; sometimes it’s difficult to anticipate what will be the reaction of the viewers on the uploaded photos; difficult choice… ;))

Emm,
As you may see from previous posts and will still have a chance to see again in the next and last post on Turkey 2009, we stayed at the Club Med Bodrum, a nice place with a superb location less than ten miles from Bodrum, I believe…
The Bay in gold was a typical shot of the right person on the right place at the right time… ;))

Lady,
It seems that the Graphic Processor broke down… But it wasn’t a virus. Just bad hardware… ;) Anyhow, not in Greece; first because I was not in Greece in 2009; that’s Turkey and you’ll be creating an incident with the Turks in case you insist calling it Greece… ;)) second, because I don’t use to take my computer with me when I travelling on holidays… ;))
Those Turkish women were probably waiting for some customer to buy anything in their shop, but they didn’t seem to be making such a huge effort to get any clients… ;)

Cloudia,
Aloha! I know very few about Celtic signs, so sorry but can’t help to decode whatever maybe there, either Celtic or Arabic… ;))

Ron,
After all that effort to remove the car, nothing better than a dive into that golden sea to stimulate the senses of people involved in the tough activity… ;)). Amzing the way those guys just let their cars in the middle of the road obstructing the traffic… ;))

Peter,
The golden bay made the plenum here… It’s true that I had the luck to be crossing it at the right time…
As for the computer, I was told that it was sent to the HP centre in Spain to get fixed… Amazing; I thought that just changing the Graphic Processor would be enough to solve the problem…

Ingrid,
Don’t know whether they borrowed it from Albania (Berat) or whether the Albanians borrowed it from the Turks… But that it looks very much like the town with a thousand windows, it looks… ;)

Trotter said...

Part Four (and last...)

Stuart,
Great to see that things are getting better! That beer at Heathrow or around has to wait with all these BA strikes… I wonder how I am going to spend all my miles on a company that seems to be flying fast to disaster…

Lucie,
Je n’ai pas vu aucun turc avec un réfrigérateur au dos, mais je crois que quelques-uns pourront certainement le faire… ;)
Tu auras peut-être raison en ce qui concerne le climat, mais si le vent souffle du Nord, je me demande s’il est une bonne idée d’avoir toutes ces fenêtres…
Très beau aujourd’hui à Lisbonne, mais je n’ai pas envie de faire la queue dans la voiture pour arriver à la plage (jour fériée au Portugal…)!

Blogitse,
You know, now, further to the direct flight Lisbon-Casa with Air Portugal, we also have Lisbon-Marrakech, and that is a great challenge… ;). But you may fly Casa-Lisbon and then straight Lisbon-Helsinki… If you’re travelling soon, make a diversion… ;))
Well, if it has moved to Barcelona, it seems to be closer… ;))

Paz,
Next best… That’s what I have now… No trips, just memories… ;))

S-V-H said...

I loved it to be cruising the golden waters of Bodrum Bay. Thanks for taking me with you ;)

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

Love the genuine fake watches and the true eggplants !

Trotter said...

Sue,
My pleasure!!

G@tto,
Genuine Fake, never seen. That's amazing... ;)