This morning we had a on extra hour before we hit the road, so we walked around Selcuk, had some coffee and tea in the hotel courtyard then boarded the bus at 9:30 for the Carpetium where they manufacture Turkish carpets. We watched women weaving the carpets with silk, wool, and cotten yarn. It was really amazing to see them work so quickly. One woman was weaving the last supper as a custom ordered rug out of silk, and it will take her 9 months to complete. Only women do the weaving. There are about 250 women, working in their own villages, no work for this cooperative supported by the government, What was also cool was seeing the cocoon of the silk worm and how they remove the silk. Turkish silk is white vs. Chinese silk is yellow. It takes the worm 2-3 days to make the cocoon, then they freeze the cocoon to kill the animal. To remove the silk, the cocoons are placed in warm water. A woman then stirs them with a large wooden whisk and the strands separate. She attaches them to this spindle-like contraption which is rotated using a foot pedal; the cocoon unravels onto a spool. One cocoon, when unraveled is usually a mile longer and stronger then steel. The die that’s used is from all natural products like ….walnut, mulberry, etc.

Next we all went into a room where the men put on a demonstration rolling out about 25 different rugs for us to see. They were beautiful. Silk rugs are so soft. We tried to learn the difference between wool, angora silk, cotton, but honestly there was so much info, it wasn’t easy to remember. I have a new appreciation for the work put into the making of rugs.

Of the 4 couples on our tour, 3 bought rugs. And yes, I was one of them. Happy birthday Jacqui. The buying bought will be a runner for my hallway. It was made in eastern Turkey in the Mount Ararat region (where Noah’s ark landed). I love it. It will arrive home in 8 weeks.

Next was on to Ephesus. Another hot day, and not a lot of shade. Ephesus was a Greek, and later a Roman city that had up to 250,000 people living there in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. The amazing sites in the city were:

• Temple of Hadrian
• Library of Celsus
• Theatre which was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage.

Archeologists found 5 different cities of Ephesus. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes to supply different areas of the city, including 4 major aqueducts. In the “Beverly hills” section of the city, they had a sewer system. The homes didn’t have kitchens – they were more like an apartment in the city.

The library was the most impressive site (see photo). It looks 2 stories high, but was only one story. Some consider it one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. There were two layers of walls to control the humidity. There were over 12,000 books, and it was the third largest library (Alexandria and Pergamon were the other two).

We had lunch in the city of Selcuk at another restaurant Sezgin recommended and quite good. Kebabs today. Since its Saturday, and market day, it was fun to walk through the local market and watch people buying weekly produce and spices.

Then we went to a leather manufacturing company, Kircilar. This was a little weird because we were escorted into a room with a long runway and chairs on either side. We had our own fashion show. Women and men came out modeling leather jackets, many of which were reversible. They all had a number so if we liked it, we could,write the number down and check out the cost later. After the show, we went to the showroom to see the jackets. This company provides jackets to the high-end fashion designers like Valentino and Burberry. They were exquisite, so soft, and beautiful, but expensive. No one bought any, but had fun trying things on.

We then went to a Greek village to taste sine and shop. The houses were white stone and it was quaint, had a few bed and breakfasts (pension). We of course found a few trinkets. On our way back to the hotel we say more aqueducts, a Turkish bath.

After dinner we went to bed early because we have to leave at 4:45 to catch a 6:45 plane in Izmir to Cappadocia. Night.