Next stop Kusadasi, Turkey, the port for those going to visit Ephesus. This is the ruins of one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire, and among the top archaeological sites anywhere. At its peak in the first and second centuries AD, Ephesus was one of the grandest cities of the ancient world (along with Alexandria, Antioch and Rome itself). At the time more than 250,000 people lived there. The city grew as a seaport and the worship center of the goddess Artemis.By 500 BC it was a bustling cultural capital on the Mediterranean.

The physical location of ancient Ephesus mover over time. The Meander River tended to shift its path, and the valley’s sandy soil constantly moved.When the sea silted up in the fourth century BC, the Ephesians relocated their city farther up the valley where the ruins now sit. It reached its peak under Emperor Augustus, who made it the Roman capital of Asia in 27 AD.

Ephesus’ prominence attracted some of the earliest followers of Christ. St. John came about 50 AD when he wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians. It lost its position when raiding barbarians looted the city in AD 263.

The excavated area of Ephesus basically represents the city center. Beginning at the upper gate, the tour passes through the government center, a shopping area, and a theater and nightlife district. The Curates Road connects the upper gate to the Library of Celsus.

Tour

Dinner at the Library

Those of us on Windstar (about 140) were privileged to enjoy an evening outside dinner with chamber music in front of the well-lit Library. The library, with 12000 volumes, was the third-largest library of the ancient world (behind Alexandria, Egypt and Pergamon).

Back to Windstar

Our first stop on the cruise was the beautiful island of Mykonos. This is a “perfect” Greek Island, with a seafront village behind a sandy harbor, blinding white stucco, bright blue trim and purple bougainvillea. And on a ridge a series of five windmills overlooking an area with tightly connected buildings and narrow streets called “little Venice”. A photographer’s delight! Mykonos is in fact an expensive playground for world travelers.

Old Town Harbor

Little Venice

Up Island

Other Images

Monemvasia is a gigantic rock that juts up from the blue-green depth a few hundred yard offshore, a literal time warp to the medieval Peloponnese. Its little town hides on the seaward side of the rock, a romantic walled town. Remains of a larger town are scattered along the peak of the rock. The site dates back to the 13th century.

One arrives by tender to the town of Geyfra, and access the old town via a narrow causeway (Monemvasia means “sing;e entry”). The upper town may date to the sixth century AD by refugees fleeing Slavic raids.The settlement gradually spread down the hill, and formed a center for trade and military importance.

We recently returned from a brief trip to Athens followed by a week-long cruise on the Windstar through the Greek Islands, Ephesus and the Peloponnese. I will be posting reviews on this blog over the next few weeks covering the whole trip. Our trip started in the ancient city of Athens, where we got a small taste of its history. The ancient Greeks, who reached their Golden Age in Athens in the fifth century BC, have had a huge impact on western culture, science, literature and philosophy. These innovative thinkers lived in a small village at the base of the Acropolis.

Acropolis

According to some the Acropolis, a limestone “mesa”, is the most important ancient site in the Western world. Occupied on and off since about 1500 BC, the complex of lavishly decorated temples dedicated to Athena was constructed in the 450-400 BC period. It was and is dominated by the Parthenon, the most famous temple on earth.

Acropolis Museum

This relatively new (2009) museum is like a temple dedicated to the Acropolis. It is situated at the foot of Athen’s famous ancient hill. It contains many statues, reliefs and five of the six original Caryatids (lady-columns) that once held up the roof of the Erechtheion temple. The highlight is a life size creation of the frieze that once would around the Parthenon. The top floor mimics the Parthenon and views the actual directly.

National Archaeological Museum

This museum is the single best place on earth to see ancient Greek artifacts. Collections date from 7000 BC to AD500. Begin with the stylized figurines from the Cycladic Islands (2800-2300 BC), on to the golden artifacts of the Mycenaeans (1600-1100 BC), to the stiff stoic kouros statues of the Archaic age. The art begins to loosen up as one proceeds, and contains an incredible number of statues, ceramics, paintings and so on.

This is a must visit while in Athens.

Windstar leaving Piraeus

There is a wide variety of wildlife in the park. Most notable are the bison, se and also singly. There are wolves and bears, not so easy to spot. And elk, birds, small mammals and so on. Here are a few – mostly bison!

Yellowstone National Park is a gem, is huge and contains a wonderful array of terrains, landscape beauty and geothermal activity.

We love the area around Jackson Hole, including Grand Teton National Park and, of course, Yellowstone. Here are a few images taken in August in Grand Teton, wildlife and scenic.

Our OD in Virginia hangs up a multitude of hummingbird feeders every year. So I sit literally for hours and take lots of images. Only a few are worth showing.

While in Virginia recently, we spent an hour at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. This place has a special area for butterflies, open for several months in the late spring and summer. Great fun for the family!

A few pics:

And this:

On our recent trip to Breckenridge and Yellowstone, we stopped to tour an unusual wildlife rescue center in Divide, CO. The Colorado Wold and Wildlife Rescue Center was established more than 20 years ago, and today is located on 35 rolling acres just west of the small town of Divide. Visitors and encouraged, and a number of different exposures to the wildlife are offered from feeding tours to personal interaction with foxes, singing dogs and wolves.

The center has a number of foxes, several coyotes, two unusual singing dogs and twenty wolves. Their mission is to educate the public through tours and programs about the importance of wolves, coyotes and foxes to our ecosystem. Also to educate the public about the importance of conservation and preservation of our wildlife.

At one time there were about 200,000 gray wolves in existence in the lower 48 states. By the 1930’s deliberate eradication activities successfully reduced this number to almost zero. The Endangered Species Act was applied to wolves in 1995, but removed in 2008. In many states wolf hunting is legal. So the risks for the wolf population remains high. I encourage everyone to watch a short film on YouTube entitled “Wolves of Yellowstone” which clearly illustrates the role of the wolf in impacting overall wildlife there.

Foxes

We were able to visit up close with two foxes named Rhett and Scarlett. Here are a few shots of our connection with these beautiful little creatures.

And the Singing Dogs Coco and Pono:

And some of the wolves: