Selcuk

Backseat bogans on the dolmus to Sirince

We moved the short distance from Kusadasi to Selcuk because A is great friends with Harry, who runs the ANZ Guesthouse in Selcuk. It’s like staying with family there. Mehmet who we met last time is also still there, but instead of he and his brother Ali having the carpet shop and another shop next door with other souvenirs, they’ve transformed the second shop into a restaurant, and have plans to close the carpet shop entirely to expand.

The view from the balcony at Artemis restaurant

While we were in Selcuk we did a few short trips out of town, like catching the local dolmus around hair-raising bends on hills to Sirince, a small village about 20 mins away. The village was interesting, but had an influx of other tourists that day, plus a local wedding, so the streets were clogged. The markets were nice, and they had a few things we hadn’t seen elsewhere.

I made a new friend…

We had lunch at the Artemis Restaurant, which we wholeheartedly wouldn’t recommend. The view is lovely, but service was glacially slow, and they then said they could not give us change when we wanted to pay! We did make friends with a few local kitties though.

The queue at the Virgin Mary’s House

Our other main activity in Selcuk was visiting the Virgin Mary’s House and of course, the big ticket item, Ephesus. Mary’s house was much busier than it had been last time I was in the area, and the queue to go inside was huge! They had run out of tapers to buy and light, but refilled just in time for us to participate in lighting a taper for loved ones.

The wall of notes to the Virgin Mary

Visiting Ephesus for the second time certainly didn’t dim its glory! There were a few places I hadn’t seen previously, like the public latrine building, and they have built a new exhibit of the interiors of some of the people’s houses.

Ephesus

The library and the amphitheatre are still big drawcards though! Not just for us, it seems, but the feline occupants of the ruins, who seem to manage to get enough food from the tourists and the workers restoring the site. There were a few who were looking a bit thirsty though, as it was quite warm!

Kitties enjoying the shade

Kitties

What a poser! Inside the Library

J and I panted and stomped our way up to the top of the seats at the Amphitheatre to enjoy the view. They’ve blocked off the very top ones, so we got as far as we could.

On the top seats of the Amphitheatre

Shopping is a non-negotiable aspect of any town for us, I think! We did a couple of excursions into Selcuk’s shopping areas, and were happy to find the local cats were very much in evidence to help us decide on our purchases. Music and jewellery seemed to be the hot items of the day, with A and N finding more zultanite to add to their collections.

Shopping is such hard work for cats…

Cats can sleep anywhere.