Half a Day in Ephesus - Go Back in Time!

In the middle of having a relaxing break on the Turkish Aegean Coast, I tore myself away from my cocktail for a half day excursion to the ancient city of Ephesus.

Arriving early, my tour guide (and I do recommend one) led me to the first pile of ancient rubble. He explained that for centuries, many empires including Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman had ruled Ephesus.

Looking around my eyes darted from ancient column to column. It was amazing that there was so much to see, I wanted to touch everything (without looking weird), I ran my fingers down the grooves on the pillars. It is mind blowing to think that at the height of its time, around the 1st century BC, there was more than 250,00 people living there.

Following my guide down marbled streets; I could easily block out the other hoards of tourists or dress them in Roman clothes in my head at least, and take myself back in time.

We turned a corner and the street got wider, all of a sudden I stopped, mouth open wide.  A long street on a downward path, lined with proud columns and intricate arches and at the end of it stood the mighty Roman Library of Celsus.

By this point I nearly passed out from sheer excitement.

I saw public toilets (ancient not modern), Hadrian’s Temple, a crumbling brothel and some beautiful mosaics. After that followed the Odeon which is where the Romans staged their 'bloody games' like feeding Christians to the lions and of course the gladiators.

This is where my journey ended.

My only regret was that I didn’t do the full day as there’s so much more to see.

If you are lucky enough to go, wear lots of sunscreen as there’s not much shade. Take a bottle of water and wear sensible shoes as there’s a lot of walking.

The most exciting thing is that only about 10% of Ephesus has been uncovered. I can’t wait to see what other mysteries unfold in this magical place!

Travel tip shared by Sjackz
http://girl-v-mountain.blogspot.co.uk/