Bergama

The bus to Bergama was even more comfortable than our trip to Canakkale; the fairly new bus was immaculately clean and the man in charge of the journey was determined to keep it that way. Enter the Parker family who managed to drop crumbs on the seats, spill juice on the floor and sneeze bread everywhere making for a less-than-pleased man. Seldom has a dustpan been wielded so assertively.

We were happy not to be ejected from the bus early; although we were rather unceremoniously dumped on the roadside across from the Bergama bus terminal, which like many Turkish bus stations is outside of the city centre. Fortunately the helpful forecourt attendants at the petrol station called us a taxi and we were soon at our hotel.

Bergama has three ancient sites, so is definitely on the tourist trail, but is not as established as the other spots we have stopped in Turkey, so has a much more local feel. [Adrian: think Woodville, or Slough]

There is an acropolis at the top of a steep hill behind the town. It would have been incredible in its day and still is, particularly the 10,000-seat theatre, which is tall and narrow dropping straight down the hill to the stage. It was outside of the city walls to preserve space on the hill top and unusually tall as the hillside didn't allow for it to be more rounded. Theatre-goers with vertigo would have had a miserable evening! No time would be a good time to be a slave, but those during Roman/Greek periods working in construction would have had an extremely difficult job.

We all enjoyed our visit, including Eleanor and Leo who walked a long way. They are getting into the idea of exploring (clambering over rocks) and like to take us on a 'tour'.

The Red Basilica is a brick building that was originally a temple to some Egyptian gods. It was so big that rather than turning it into a church, the Christians just built a church inside its walls. It was one of St John the Devine's seven churches of the Apocalypse; the throne of the devil. There is a hole in the podium that would have allowed the priest to hide and appear the be speaking through a 10 metre tall cult statue. That is pretty cool! The walls now look to be on the verge of collapse, so visitors can only wander around the outside and imagine what it was once like in tact and with about 36 huge stone statues In the courtyard.

The third site is the Asklepion, an ancient health centre that was at its peak in the mid-to-late 200's AD. Yet another fascinating ruin. The work done here during this time contributed to our knowledge of circulatory and nervous systems.

We have decided to have a break from ruins at Selcuk, our next stop, apart from Ephasus of course. And maybe one or two little ones if we can fit them in...