Not enough sleep, too many ruins. My mom and dad went out in the morning to get groceries. Camille, Rob and I joined them when they went, literally across the street, to St. Jean’s, the “burial place” of St. John (not, as I mistakenly thought John the Baptist, but the other John). I cannot even fathom having such a historic place in my front yard. Christian or not, this church is just amazing. While we may question the existence of “God” and his “son” Jesus, it is almost impossible to question the significance of the holy sites that we have visited while here in Turkey.
We then headed into town, where we bought a couple of birthday presents for Chloe. Suze and Chloe went down to the shops near the mosque while we were out. At home, we all rested and relaxed. At 4pm, we headed down to the main street for our ride to Ephesus. Chloe and my mom looked again at carpets, but nothing really inspired me. We got a ride out to the upper gate at Ephesus and then walked through the site back towards the villa. The remains were quite amazing, but it was hot, way too hot. And I was tired, just too tired. As we wandered through the amazing ruins and then down the road to where we visited the Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World), I got more and more dehydrated and more and more tired. By the time we got home (I carried Chloe on my back for some of the way), I was so thirsty, so hot and so tired, all I could do was drink a gallon of water, take a shower and collapse into bed.
