Melons, melons and more melons

On a street right next to the produce market are the melon sellers. I've never seen so many melons in one place before. It's pretty and fascinating.

Happy Thanksgiving

 Come to the table for a Thanksgiving dinner. It's so good to be home for the holidays.

 Bring out the festive china and linens.

 Have a good night's rest before the big day.

 The kitchen will be a hive of activity.

 After Thanksgiving it is time to bring home the Christmas tree. This is how I've done it for years.

 My room is a shrine to Cappadocia.

 ....and other dreams.

 What shall I read tonight?

New china that looked like fresco painting.... What can I say, I'm into Byzantine church frescoes.
For all this I'm truly thankful and for much more.

More Anatolians

We are not in Europe anymore. This is Asia Minor, in the New Testament and Anatolia in the Ottoman days. The people are Anatolian. You wouldn't see this in Istanbul, being a European city. The people in Anatolia are much more interesting and their culture much more pronounced. Initially I had only planned to go to Istanbul but after seeing pictures of Cappadocia, I had to venture further into Anatolia and added Ephesus and Cappadocia into the itinerary and I'm glad I did. Most people would include the Western coast also. I live near the Pacific Ocean and so beaches are not my thing.

Market day in Selcuk

Markets are always a fun place no matter where in the world they are. Market day in Selcuk was no different. It was Saturday and our last few hours. We had a train to catch at noon for the airport at Izmir then a flight, 90 minutes long, from Izmir to Kayseri in Cappadocia. We walked to the market from our pansiyon. It was interesting, it looked like any market anywhere in the world, the only difference are the people. These are Turks but you could substitute them for Chinese and it would be a market in China, somewhere. The living is so easy, one is really tempted to stay. Our market here in my neighborhood is very pretty and pleasant but I have to rush through my shopping because I have work to do even on my day off from work. I have my writing to tend to and my research for my blog and for the book I'm currently writing. At home I do nothing but work. So I reserve my relaxing while I'm abroad. I reserve eating out while I'm abroad also. Even when I'm taking a trip I'm working, I'm taking pictures and collecting stories to write about. When will this insanity stop, I don't know.

Ephesus museum

The museum is in Selcuk and is small but it packs a big punch because of this lady. These are not the ones of St Paul's day, those have been destroyed but they are second century copies. There are 2 of them, one with the tall head dress, supposedly, she's the real deal, the other has a shorter head gear. Both features lots of oval shaped ornaments about them, some say they are eggs, others say they are breasts. It just shows that men have always been enamored about a woman's breasts. Artemis, the fertility goddess has lots of breasts. What fertility god, its just a nice way of saying she's the god of sex. Men are still fascinated by a woman's breasts.
Acts 19:28 'Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!' There was a riot in Ephesus, St Paul spent over 2 years there and made many converts to Christianity. These new Christians stopped buying the little models of Artemis made by the silversmiths.The silversmiths incited the people to riot. The people had already seized Paul's traveling companions and Paul wanted to appeal to the mob by appearing in the theater, which theater? The big one we visited? Maybe. The crowds spent two hours just chanting and shouting, 'Great is Artemis of the Ephesians'. When the uproar ended, Paul sent for the disciples and after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia.... Acts 20:1. 
Sir William Ramsay, an archaeologist spent considerable time in Turkey, excavating biblical sites and wrote about 'the reliability of the New Testament.'