Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene

Turkey Trot - Overview
Turkey Trot - First Class
Turkey Trot - Are We There Yet?
Turkey Trot - Ephesus
Turkey Trot - Mary's House and Basilica of St. John
Turkey Trot - Swissotel Efes
Turkey Trot - Taking the Bus and Priene
Turkey Trot - Putting on the Ritz
Turkey Trot - The Blue Mosque
Turkey Trot - Topkapi Palace
Turkey Trot - Hagia Sophia
Turkey Trot - Carpets and Grand Bazaar
Turkey Trot - Dolmabahçe Palace and Taksim Square
Turkey Trot - Bosphorus Cruise
Turkey Trot - Turning Blu
Turkey Trot - Getting This Turkey Home

After a day to recharge we made plans to meet up with M in Kuşadası (koo-SHAH-duh-see).  Rather than have him drive over to pick us up and then drive back, we realized the bus made perfect sense.  Just across the street from the hotel was the Pammukale bus office where we bought tickets.  We then boarded a shuttle that took us over to the main bus station and from there we caught the motor coach to Kusadasi.

It was actually a nice way to travel.  The ride is about an hour and the bus had individual entertainment screens with games and movies in Turkish.  We were constantly offered bottled water and cookies.  It sure beat driving ourselves!

It was approaching lunchtime as we arrived, so on our way out to the ruins of Priene we stopped at a roadside café.  There were a number of these all lined up next to each other.  Not being in a major city, the English wasn't quite as good but fortunately M was able to translate for us.  Kebabs were the order of the day, something we saw and ate frequently on this trip.

Kebabs for everybody

Then we made it to Priene.  It was an ancient Greek city of Ionia and was built overlooking the Aegean.  Today, just as happened with Ephesus, it is no longer a coastal city due to harbors filling with silt and due to earthquakes.  It's believed it once had 4000-5000 residents, so not a major city but it was known for its Hellenistic art and architecture.

How the coastline changed over centuries

Priene "coastline" today

We climbed a small hill through the city gates to find the agora not far from the entrance.

Priene City Gate

Agora

The theater is in rather good repair, considering its age and lack of tourist money.  We speculated on who the special seats might be reserved for.

Theater Stage Area

Theater Seating

It also had a church that was a three-aisled basilica called the Bishop's Church. It was built of stone re-used from older buildings and dates to the 5th-6th century AD.  It was abandoned around 1300 AD.

Bishop's Chair?

Bishop's Church with the friendly dog who followed us around

Perhaps the most famous thing in Priene is its Temple of Athena.  Construction began in the 4th century BC but not completed until the reign of the Emperor Augustus (27 BC - AD 14).  The statue of the goddess was based on the one in the Parthenon in Athens.  The building featured Ionic columns, which now lie in pieces around the area though some have been reconstructed.  There were 11 columns on each side of the building and six columns on each end.

Column pieces. Note the hole in the center used
to help keep the columns erect.

Reconstructed Columns

Looks like an elephant's toes but they represent eggs
which are symbols of fertility, which Athena represents

Graffiti or meaningful carving? My ancient Greek's not so good.

The nice thing about these ruins as compared to Ephesus was that we could climb on them and touch the carvings made thousands of years ago.  It's hard to believe anything we construct today will last as long as the things we see here.

After leaving Priene, M drove us around Kuşadası and we stopped for ice cream at a shop in a new outdoor mall where M was friends with the proprietor.

Then it was time for us to catch the bus back to Izmir.  Fortunately we arrived at the bus station just in time to catch the bus so we didn't have to wait very long.  The real fun began when we got to the bus station in Izmir and had to find where to catch the shuttle bus back to the hotel.  If we'd followed the directions exactly as they'd been given to us we'd have had no problems but we got a little confused and ended up wandering for about 15-20 minutes before we found the correct spot - only to arrive just as the shuttle was leaving.  There was nothing left to do but wait 30 minutes for the next one. It was a harmless learning experience and we got a tour of the station so it was all good.