16 September, 2014 TUESDAY
Submitted by Teri Foster teri981@verizon.net



TURKEY 101
GROUP JOURNAL,
PRIENNE, MILETUS, KUSADASI
 DRIVE THROUGH THE MEANDER VALLEY, LUNCH AT DIDYMA, VISIT THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO, VISIT MILETUS, DINNER AND OVERNIGHT AT
 OTEL LA VISTA IN KUSADASI

      Click here                 
for Day  12 EPHESUS KUSADASI
    melitour home page    
turkey 101 itinerary  
photo gallery
THE SONG


Miletus - THEATER

 

Leaving Pamukkale we drove through villages and heard Meli tell us old folktales about roosters and bottles on roofs.  We were made aware of why statutes of roosters were placed here and there around Pamukkale.  According to legend, competition erupted in a village about whose rooster crowed the longest.  As a result the community now has little sleep due to the long-crowing fowl.  Regarding bottles seen atop some roofs, we found out they were placed there by the families of girls who had reached dating age.  When one married, the bottle was broken!

We meandered through Meander Valley.  The word meander came from the winding river that flows there.  Many travertine quarries were seen shining red-gold in the sun.  Stone for the necropolis we had seen yesterday was somehow brought from these quarries.  We stopped at a fruit stand along the way and Meli bought us local figs to try, even though all she could find were the “donkey food” variety.  Shortly after that we had a WC stop that afforded great shopping for the usual crafts and clothes made with Turkish cotton.

Stopping for lunch is always a treat and the buffet lunch gave lots of variety.  The garbanzo dish was a favorite.  From the restaurant we walked a short way past goats and children playing flutes to find the sacred oracle center, Didyma, where the Temple of Apollo was built in the 8th c. BC.  Female oracles were kept inside the temple for their entire lives.  The temple from the Hellenistic period was the biggest still intact during the visit of Alexander the Great who asked the oracles about his goals and trip.  Entering the temple ruins, Meli made the place come alive in her wonderful story-telling style.  The immensity of the temple’s columns was jaw dropping and approximately 100 columns were used in this 3rd largest temple of the time.

A short drive from Didyma was Miletus, a coastal city built over 2,000 years ago and one of St. Paul’s stops on his third missionary journey. The amphitheater was built in the Hellenistic period to seat 5,000 but was remodeled by the Romans to seat at least 15,000.  Meli told us the story of St. Paul preaching here that "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  We sat in the shade of the huge theater entrance and looked out at the sea coast, now much farther away due to silting of the Meander River over the centuries.

We arrived in Kusadasi at our beautiful Lavista Otel on the Aegean Sea in time for dinner.  Views of Greece were possible from the infinity pool, as well as the restaurant where we dined on fresh local fish.


         DIDYMA                                                                                   MILETUS                        DIDYMA

  
 



 

 Recipe FOR THE DAY

koftelipatlican - eggplant with meat balls
Ingredients : 4 Long lean eggplant, 1 pound of ground meat - no fat veal, 1 onion, 1 cup bread crums,1 head of garlic, Sun flower oil to fry the eggplants , Red or green pepper for decoration, 5 tomatoes, Salt, Black pepper, 1 tea spoon  paprika,  2 tea spoon cumin, 1 cup of Parsley, 1 table spoon pepper/tomato paste, 1 cup of water ,toothpick

  • *Strip the eggplant leaving  black and a white stripes

  • Slice thin strips 

  • Leave them in salted water for 20 minutes while you are preparing the other ingredients

  • Heat the sun flower oil in a frying pan

  • Drain and dry the eggplants

  • Fry the eggplants until they are golden color. Do not over fry them.  they need to be flexible to make baskets

  • After the fried eggplants cool, put two trips in a cross form

  • place the meat balls in the middle

  • Wrap the eggplants in a bundle around the meatball put a sliced tomato and secure it with a toothpick add a slice of green pepper on top

  • Mix finely chopped onions, garlic, bread crumbs, chopped parsley Salt, Black pepper, paprika, cumin and meat. 

  • Mix them real well

  •  Add t table spoon of water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

  • Roll them into small meat balls Put a table spoon of sunflower oil in a frying pan and brown the meat balls. they do not need to be completely cooked since you are going to bake them

  • Peel the tomatoes, cut them in a food processor, add a spoonful pepper/tomato paste, add chopped garlic, cumin, a pinch of salt

  •  add one spoon of water, place them in a baking dish, Add the tomato sauce, Bake it until the tomato sauce thickens apprx 20 minutes

  •  Serve it  warm with white rice

 

Click here                       
for Day  12 EPHESUS KUSADASI     
melitour home page           
turkey 101 itinerary