School and Selçuk

Today, after a rather lackluster breakfast, I visited the Turkish Language Center, a Turkish school in İzmir, to get a feel for what it's like and if it's a place I would want to study.

See how sad? (Probably not, since I haven't posted any pictures
of our other breakfasts, but trust me: this one was sad.)

The woman at the front desk was not the same person I had emailed, as she only spoke German, but fortunately, I speak German, too!

They did, however, give us this nice clock tower

souvenir on our way out. But where are we supposed

to put it?!

So she gave me a tour of the facilities and we chatted about when would be the best time to start (she recommended summer). She said the classes are usually small, between 3 and 8 students, which would be quite ideal! I then had tea and talked with some of the current students, who were there for briefer periods than I would want to be, and sat in on about 20 minutes of a beginner's class. Overall, it was a positive experience! I still plan to visit schools in Antalya, Istanbul, and Ankara, but the TLC seems like a good, reasonably-priced option.

what up, Selçuk castle? (taken out car window)

After leaving the school, Marcos and I headed down the road to Selçuk, gateway to Ephesus. Our hotel is a cute boutique with lovely views and a canopied bed located away from most of the hubbub of the city (alright, town––it's about 30,000 inhabitants) but still within walking distance of sights.

Palm trees!

In fact, we are less than a block away from the İsa Bey Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in Turkey, a block and a half away from the Basilica of Saint John, completed in 565 and home to the supposed grave of John the Apostle, and a few blocks from the lone remaining column of the Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

All photos of Saint John's Basilica, I think? It's hard to tell where one ruin ends and the next begins...

İsa Bey Mosque, from the hotel's terrace (you cannot see it
from our balcony, but hey: we have a balcony!)

Crazysauce, right? Selçuk itself is very, very cute, tropical and laidback and while the streets are narrow, there is enough room for 2 cars to pass each other, and the houses are much less closely packed than in, say, Ayvalık.

Part of the afore-mentioned terrace: mosque
in background, grapes in foreground, hello
photo op

We meandered down to a kebap place that had received good reviews; it was tasty, though a bit spendy ($12 for the both of us including kebap, grape leaves, and beverages, which...okay, not actually all that expensive, but we're working on a budget, people), and then I wanted to visit a baklava place that had received good reviews.

Our appetizer, yaprak dolma (though
they were called something else on the menu),
with yogurt and tomato dips; I failed to photograph
the kebap both here and at dinner, whoops

After wandering for a good long while and failing to find it, we stumbled upon another baklava store and I bought 2 pieces there, which totaled 4 TL: the most expensive baklava we've yet encountered! It was good, but not 4x as good as the stuff we had yesterday. Guess that just comes with the tourist town territory...

A rather baffling statue of Atatürk (I think?)

Once we got back, the hotel management came in and fixed our bathroom light (it wasn't working) and then offered to give us free tea on the terrace to make up for disturbing us. It was hot––the wind seems to have abandoned us, or we the wind, and it was 90+––but the view was beautiful, and the tea was good, and we got some ideas for places to go from one of the owners.

The view from the terrace: vaguely tropical, much less cramped

I went down to our room to rest, though was ultimately unable to sleep, while Marcos went out and took footage of İsa Bey and the Basilica.

Storks! They hang out around Selçuk from April to September

This evening we decided to wander once again, and after we took photos of some carpet sellers at their request, we solicited advice for where to eat. The place they recommended turned out to be right up the street from where we'd had lunch (as we discovered after getting lost a few times), and as we'd walked by it earlier I'd noticed they have humus and had remarked that I wanted to try some.

At the Garden Restaurant

So we had humus, and tavuk şiş (chicken kebab), and split a beer and a glass of wine. Including tip, it ended up being 38 TL (approx. $19)––another expensive meal, so we'll be eating cheap tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, we're going to Meryemana in the morning, where the Virgin Mary supposedly lived the last years of her life, before going to Ephesus (Efes). Then I'll probably come back and sleep, and Marcos will either rest with me or visit one of the numerous other sites around town. Should be a fun, albeit hot and tiring, day.

How I feel about hand-washing clothing (my dresses) and
paying TL 20 per load to have the pension do it (for everything else)

There's also the weekly market, so we plan to go there (or at least, Marcos will definitely go, and I may join, depending on energy level) and get supplies for dinner. Mmm, food!