Month 5 has been our slowest moving month yet, with only 2 countries visited. We finished up with Greece and headed into Turkey, saw friends and family from home, and made some big decisions about our future travel plans.

Here are our stats for this month.

Countries visited: 2 (Greece and Turkey)

Beds Slept In: 11

UNESCO Heritage Sights Visited: 4 (Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus, Acropolis Athens, Historic Areas of Istanbul, Hierapolis-Pamukkale) Total on RTW: 34

We traveled by 2 planes this month!

We traveled by 0 trains this month!

We traveled by 7 long distance buses.

We traveled by 3 boats.

We traveled by 1 rental car which took us Izmir to Fethiye.

Top Moments:

~ Our first top moment came at Tlos, an ancient Lycian ruin near Fethiye, Turkey. We had been struggling with generally gloomy weather and experienced a crazy rainstorm just the day before, but the day we visited Tlos was grand. It is low season in Turkey and we were the only people at the entire site. It was a neat hilltop fortress and town that had been inhabited from the 2nd century B.C. by the ancient Lycians, through the Romans, the Byzantines, and the Ottoman Empire up until the 19th century. The ruins are expansive, well preserved, and nestled in a gorgeous mountain paradise. This was made even sweeter as Della’s entire family (sister and parents) were there to share it with us!

Enjoying the view from the fortress citadel of Tlos

Lycian rock tombs, Roman walls, and an Ottoman citadel, set on an amazing backdrop – Tlos

~ Our second top moment was in Athens. There is something magical about entering the amazing ancient Acropolis through the impressive Propylea, and seeing the Parthenon standing before you in all its (scaffold-ed) glory. We had been spying on the acropolis from different areas of Athens for a week but had stayed away, waiting for Della’s family to join us, so entering it (finally) was pretty awe-inspiring! It is definitely on the beaten path, and it really is disappointing that the Parthenon is so covered with scaffolding (Della’s parents said it had been when they visited 35 years ago as well), but despite that, it was pretty great to see!

Entering through the Propylea

Our first glimpse of the famous Parthenon

~ We also really enjoyed seeing the glorious Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It was our first full day in Istanbul, and the family headed straight to the famous church/mosque/museum. It was such an impressive building that was exquisitely decorated on the inside. It also felt massive, definitely awe-inspiring. It was the type of place where you come back with a huge crick in your neck from having spent hours allowing your eyes to explore the giant domes and impressive ceiling artwork.

Inside the Hagia Sophia

~ We were so fortunate to have another visit from family! This time Della’s sister joined us and brought their parents along for the ride. It was really special for Della to get to celebrate her 31st birthday in Fethiye, Turkey surrounded by family. What a treat!

The whole family together!

One of Della’s bday presents- Peanut Butter!

Runners up for Top Moments:

~ We spent several days in Nafplio, Greece before heading back to Athens to meet up with Della’s family. We enjoyed all of our time there, visiting nearby sites such as Mycenae and Epidavros. We also did NOT enjoy being left stranded by the Greek bus system KTEL on two different occasions. But, really, one of our favorite things about Nafplio was climbing the Palamidi Fortress. We got a late start on the climb and ended up having to book it up at top speed because it was closing quite soon. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend as much time IN the fortress as we had hoped. However, even after we were kicked out of the fortress, we were still on the top of this mountain, overlooking the beautiful town of Nafplio, with fortress walls surrounding us, witnessing a gorgeous sunset. We sat and relaxed, read our books, and watched the colors change, feeling on top of the world!

Feeling on top of the world!

Beautiful Nafplio

~ We both read a book last month called The Greek Treasure which was the story of Sophia Schliemann, a Greek girl married to the famous archaeologist Henry Schliemann, who discovered the ruins of ancient Troy. We actually only semi-enjoyed the book, but it did get our imagination running and give us a good background for some of the archaeological sites we would shortly be visiting. The book described how Henry and Sophia Schliemann built an amazing mansion in Athens where they lived and displayed the gold treasure that they found in Troy. The building was an homage to Homer’s stories and everything related to ancient Greece. We were super excited to discover that their mansion has been preserved as a museum. It has a small exhibition about them and their lives and discoveries, but is really dedicated to Numismatics. We visited! We loved seeing the place in our novel brought to life… and learned a whole lot about ancient coins!

Exhibit sign about Henry and Sophia Schliemann with us reflected

The mansion, dedicated to everything related to Ancient Greece. Those are quotes from Homer on the walls

~ We had a great experience this month when we semi-randomly ran into a friend from back home in Selcuk, Turkey! It was so much fun to stay at the same location and catch up with her! One evening, the entire group headed up to a small “Greek” town called Sirince in the mountains above Selcuk. The town is know for its sweet berry wines. As we explored the semi-dead town that evening, we ran into a local sitting on a bench drinking a bottle of wine. After striking up a conversation, he brought us back to a wine tasting bar where we enjoyed yummy wine and the great company of family and another familiar face from home!

Chatting with our new friend

Family and friends together drinking wine!

Items Missing, Broken, Discarded, or Added:

Discarded/Broken:

1. Swiss Army Knife (we’re not entirely sure where we lost this knife…)

Added:

1. New sandals for Della (a birthday present)

2. New pair of smartwool socks for Eric, brought from the US by Della’s family

Packing Update:

Eric was excited to receive a new protective bag for his backpack. Della’s parents brought this bag from home so that Eric could use it to wrap his backpack in while flying. It helps keep all the straps safe! We have continued to use our cold weather gear so are so pleased we brought it all. We still have not used much of our warm weather gear and are tempted to strip it out of the bags… Though we think we will need it in Asia.

Books Read: (Have you read any of these??)

Della has read Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler, The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (OK, so these last three are rereads of stuff she has already read, but she was getting ready for the new Mockingjay movie AND Kindle Unlimited is good…), and City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare.

Eric has read The Bookseller of Kabul by Asme Seierstad, Snuff by Terry Pratchett, White Death by Clive Cussler, Animal Farm by George Orwell, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, and I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.

Eric and Della have BOTH read nothing this month.

Make sure to catch up on all our monthly recaps: Monthly Recap 1, Monthly Recap 2, Monthly Recap 3, Monthly Recap 4

Where We Stayed

Attila’s Getaway – This is a beautiful getaway a couple of kilometers beyond the town of Selçuk. It was a very pleasant place to stay, where we able to get a double and triple room. What made it even better was that we met a friend from Denver who was staying there for awhile. It was amazing luck! She contacted us when she saw that we were in Turkey and we had already planned to head to her same location in just a few days. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her and Attila and their dogs around the campfire, roasting smores. Unfortunately, the stay ended a little bit unpleasantly. We had booked our rooms ahead via email through the Getaway’s website. But when it came time to pay, we were charged more than we were expecting and more than it clearly stated on the website. It was frustrating for us to experience this disagreement at the end of a nice stay. We are pleased to see that the rates on the website have since been changed to reflect what you will get charged when you stay there.

: Attila’s Getaway

: Making up some Smores

: Playing with a cute puppy!

What We Did

Ephesus – One of the main draws of the town of Selçuk is its proximity to the ancient city of Ephesus. According to Lonely Planet, it is the most complete classical metropolis in Europe. It started around the tenth century BC and was once part of the Ionian League. It also served as the Roman capital of Asia Minor. Its Temple of Artemis was the biggest on earth and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Unfortunately, all that is left of that Temple is one solitary, lonely, rebuilt column.

That solitary column out there in the distance is all that remains of one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

There is a decent amount of the rest of the city left though. We got to the ruins by walking – there is a nice path from Attila’s to the upper entrance to the site. From the entrance, we waked down the marble-paved sacred way, stopping to examine ruins of different structures, such as temples, fountains, public baths and even a public lavatory. The most impressive piece of architecture is the restored facade of the Library of Celsus. There is also a large theater and agora near what used to be the harbor. (It has since been filled with silt; one of the reasons the city declined).

: The columns of the State (Upper) Agora

: Old terracotta piping from the city

: Looking down the Sacred Way into the heart of the ancient city

: Eric matching Hercules’s style

: The Temple of Hadrian

: The public latrines

: The Great Theater

: The facade of the Library of Celcus

: Library of Celsus Jelfie

: Library of Celsus

For a separate admission fee, we chose to visit the recently excavated terrace houses. These well-preserved ruins gave us a glimpse of what the rich citizens lived like during the Roman era. Modern catwalks allowed us visitors to observe the fancy rooms of multiple dwellings, with nice marble, mosaics and frescoes as decoration. Another benefit of visiting the terrace houses is that most tour groups seem to bypass them, so you can enjoy moments of quiet contemplation rather than jostling for pictures. They are definitely worth the extra cost!

: Looking into a living area of one of the houses with nice wall and floor decorations

: Closeup of a floor mural

: Looking into one of the houses from above

: Looking down at more floor murals

: Floor murals and nice marblework

Basilica of St. John and Ayasuluk Fortress – The Basilica, built during the reign of Emperor Justinian, was inspired by a local connection to St. John who they say visited Ephesus two different times (the second time he was accompanied by the Virgin Mary). He supposedly wrote his gospel on the hill that basilica ruins are on. There is a tomb which housed St. John’s relics in this spot. (As an aside, some also say Virgin Mary spent the last years of her life near Ephesus. There is a ruined house nearby that is purported to be where she lived, though we did not make it there to visit). You continue through the ruins of the Basilica to head up to Ayasuluk Fortress. The fortress dates from the Byzantine and then Ottoman times. It afforded some nice views of the countryside!

: Exploring the basilica with our friend from Denver

: One of the remaining columns

: What’s left of the basilica

: The baptistery

: The tomb of St. John (?)

: The fortress on the hill above

: Jelfie in the basilicia

: Inside the fortress

: The old mosque inside the fortress

: Atop the fortress as the sun begins to set

: Enjoying the remains of the day

Visit Şirince – Şirince is a small town mountain village that used to be populated by Greeks. We were excited because it supposedly would look a little like Berat and Gjirokaster in Albania. Unfortunately, were weren’t able to tell for sure because we visited in the evening after dark. However, it was a great time to sample some of the local wines for which the town is known for. Because we were there off-season, the town was extremely quiet at night. But, as we strolled some of the cobbled streets, we ran into a couple of men sitting on a bench and drinking a bottle of wine. They started a conversation and allowed us to share their wine. Our new friend, Osman, later took us to his favorite wine tasting bar. We enjoyed the free tasting of many unique fruit wines such as blackberry, apple, strawberry, blueberry and more, and then each got a glass. It was a very pleasant evening…

: Wandering the empty streets of Sirinje

: Chatting with our new friend Osman. The picture of Artemis shows what the famous statue of the godess in the temple in Selcuk looked like

: Our wine taster tray

: Enjoying a glass of wine with our friend from Denver!

That is, until we left. We all piled back into the car (slightly crowded because our friend from Denver had joined us), and headed back down the steep mountain road. We were all surprised when a woman leapt out in front of the car. We were concerned that she needed help or a ride back down to Selçuk. We opened the window and she immediately just asked where we were from. At this point, after observing her move and smelling her breath, we knew that she was quite drunk. We answered that we were from the USA and she immediately starting screaming obscenities at us and telling us, as Americans, to get the f**k out of Turkey. She hurled her half-eaten bag of Cheetos (???) at us and started pounding on the closed windows. After a short moment of confusion we accelerated away from her. Strangely, she continued to scream at us and even chased after the car for about 150 m. Needless to say, this event disturbed us all greatly. It is the first time in our travels that we have experienced such hostility and we are unsure about her anger. She was clearly drunk but we did feel quite bad about the whole thing. We also ended up cleaning Cheetos out of the car for days…