Ancient Roman City of Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus is the largest Roman City that I have seen that has been excavated.  The archaeologists have only uncovered 1/10th of the city.
The people had beautiful homes with every modern facility of ancient times - heating, running water, ceramic tiled floors, internal toilets and bathrooms.
Damn the barbarians!  They ruined a great civilisation and put us in the dark ages!

Running Water

Decorated Walls

Wall decorations taken from Ephesus

Tiled floor in a Roman home

Decorated Walls in a private home

Izmir and Antayla

Kaminski Resort, Antayla

This is the view from our bedroom, taken using the panoramic feature of Windows Photo Gallery.  We always thought that the hotels in Beijing were the best that we had ever stayed in, but this place is spectacular. Turkey has many 6 and 7 Star Hotels, and with 31 Million tourists a year, no wonder.  This is overlooking the Mediterranean.

Ancient City of Sardis

Sardis Synagogue

We went an saw many Roman ruins and have had more education about the history of Turkey and the many civilisations that have conquered this place.

Sardis, partially restored

Istanbul

View from Hotel Room in Istanbul

 We arrived in Istanbul after a very comfortable stay in Abu Dhabi, compliments of Etihad Airlines.
The next day was May Day and the entire city area where we were staying was shut down.  There were thousands of protesters marching in the street.  We managed to get out and go for a 2 hour walk to see it all first hand.  We then had problems getting back into our hotel.  For some strange reason, they decided to congregate in front of the hotel before moving on to the square.

Protest in square on Mayday

 The next day after sight seeing, I decided to go down town to do some shopping.  I confronted more protesters, this time protesting about the football.  Apparently they were accused of fixing the games.  that was enough for them to take to the streets.  Again, thousand of them, dozens of riot police with their riot shields and tear gas to boot!!  Really, don't they have a  life?

Sultan's Palace - outside the Harem!

 Istanbul is a very interesting city. 17 million people.  Much more of a European city than we expected.
We toured the Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, the Sultan's palace and many other sights in the city.

Sultan's Palace

Hagia Sophia in the background

It is much colder than we expected.  We had to go out and buy jackets.  Apparently it is because of the cold water flowing from the Black Sea that keeps the temperature down.

Outside Harem

Cruising on the Bosphorus