Wonders of the world

We woke up in Kuşadası and the weather was, again, stunning.

Kuşadası, fondly known as Ada by its inhabitants, is named for the island we could see from our hotel, which I noticed immediately because of its badass castle. The hotel also offered a view out across the Aegean and the constant in and out of cruise ships.

The island and, through the haze, Samos

Our first stop was to be the House of the Virgin Mary.

"Today is the feast of the assumption of the Virgin Mary," Serina said, when we were on the bus.

"What's that?"

"In the Catholic church, it's the day that Mary was taken up into heaven."

"Does Ahmet know that?"

Ahmet was our tour guide, and he did not. We stopped to get some water and other supplies and he called ahead to a colleague and found out that the road to the House was full of pilgrims, completely cut off.  "So we will go to Ephesus first."

"What do you know about Ephesus?" Serina asked on the bus. "Teach me."

I had, through the visits to Troy and Pergamon, acquired something of a reputation as an insufferable know-it-all. But it was nice that someone would embrace this and ask what I knew.

"Literally nothing," I said. "Except that the Temple of Artemis used to be there."

"What's that?"

"A temple? Dedicated to Artemis."

"What happened to it?"

"Earthquakes. And the Romans."

Always the Romans

Ephesus, as it turned out, was also a little busy. Every tour group which had planned to go to the House had rerouted and converged on the ancient city. Ahmet did his best to stay calm, but he was stunned.

The heat and the crowds made the site uncomfortable, and we pushed through our tour. After a brief wander through the city's prestigious Hercules Gates and along the market street of the agora, we saw the public latrines.

Because everyone loves latrines

"They did not flush, the water was always running," Ahmet said.

"Where are the women's toilets?" somebody asked.

"We don't know. Let's move on to see the library and the brothel."

The library of Celsus

The library reminded me of the Market Gate of Miletus from the Pergamon Museum, but more impressive; the statues and many of the inscriptions could be seen. Ahmet told us that there was a time when this contained 12,000 scrolls. It also served as the tomb of Celsus, the governor who paid for it to be built.

Statues on the library

After the difficulty in getting into and around Ephesus, we were due for a break. We did not get one.

"This is the brothel, or the love house," Ahmet said with a grin. "We are standing above the second agora, the harbour market," there was no water in sight. The brothel, he told us, was advertised by a sign in the agora; a broken heart and a foot with a long middle toe would point potential customers in the right direction.

"I wanted to take you down the Marble Road but I have just noticed that it has been closed so... we might just have to carry on to the amphitheater."

Tough crowd

The amphitheater was... it was huge.

Really very big.

"Will we get to see the Temple of Artemis?" I asked as we passed the baths.

"It is stones in a field and a statue," Ahmet said. "We saw most of it in the Hagia Sophia."

Ah the Romans. Never let anything go to waste.