Today we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! Four wonderful years and we hope for many more to come. We started our day by going to the famous site of Ephesus, admiring its stunning ampitheatre, library and many other reconstructed finds. It is truly gigantic (we easily spent two hours looking around) and we were impressed by the variety of things to see from all corners of ancient life, although we preferred Pergamum for its quieter nature. In Efes, you really have to fight for your spot among the bus and cruise ship tours, which flood the site from the moment the gates open.

From Ephesus we jumped on our bikes and headed into the hills to the scenic village of Sirence, where fruit wines are a specialty. Well, of course we had to sample the wares and we enjoyed a bottle of raspberry wine with a lovely meal. If you are in the area, we can recommend the Artemis Winery. It offers great views with your glass of wine and you can eat in the garden where chickens and roosters mull around your feet. The views across the valley are beautiful.

Tonight we plan to enjoy another meal at a hole-in-the-wall local spot we tracked down yesterday evening and then tomorrow we head away from the touristy coast and inland through cotton fields, past lakes and more archaeological sites. We expect to be in the ‘middle of nowhere’ for a good week at least before finally poking our heads up again in the big city of Anatalya. It should be a nice antidote to the busier tourist hotspots.