Saint Jean's final resting place

When we went on the bus to Tire (Tee-Ray) I mentioned to Peter that I had severe doubts about the wisdom of the trip - it was longer than we expected and it was beginnng to feel like the rest of my life - but he assured me that no only would we have a good time, but that he would remind me of this many times in the future.

And so it was when we thought about visiting the ruins of St John's Basilica, just up the hill from the hotel, he just said, "Remember Tire"!

And so we went, past the Aqueduct and up the hill. We wanted to see the castle, but we were told it has been closed for five years, and so we paid our 5 lira went into St Jean's / John's.

We were surprised at how big the site was, but according to the drawings it had been quite grand in its day. Just like the Ephesus ruins, it was interesting walking around trying to imagine what it was like to be there.

There are arches and pillars and walls and floors, a huge variety. Among the ruins I found a little friend:

It isn't only Istanbul which is overrun with cats! This kitten was very affectionate, rubbing up against my legs and purring loudly - the Istanbul cats are generally more aloof while constantly on the alert in the hope of an extra feed.

It followed me around for a while, apparently convinced that I would eventually feed it - of maybe it just loved me. I went into the area of what is obviously a baptistry. One of the local farmers found me there, assured me it was in fact a Turkish bath, and tried to sell me some "ancient coins".

The kitten decided to check it out, and even though it was iced over managed to find a tiny corner to lap a drink.

From the top of the hill we had a comanding view of the Isa Bey Mosque, and the Temple of Artemis, but we couldn't quite see the Ephesus ruins.

On the other side of the hill we could look out right over the town of Selcuk. Yes, Peter was right, it was worth visiting.