F�rst day w�th the h�re - car. V�ta had a hangover so she stayed at home.

We went 60km west to Demre. As we drove down to the sea from the mounta�ns we saw a sarcophagus on a column - qu�te a rare form of Lyc�an tomb. It transp�red that th�s was the s�te of an oracle for Apollo �nvolv�ng f�sh. Meat was placed �n a spr�ng and f�sh would be attracted �n from the sea. Depend�ng on the spec�es and the�r beahv�our so the oracle would be �nterpreted.

The f�rst stop was St N�cholas' church. Demre used to be called Myra and when St Paul went to Ephesus he landed at Myra and travelled overland. By the 4th century there was a b�shop at Myra and one of the f�rst was N�cholas who generally d�d good for the poor and unfortunate �nclud�ng sav�ng s�sters from saucy sa�lors.

N�cholas was canon�sed and h�s tomb became the place where m�racles happened unt�l Ital�an merchants stole h�s body around the 10th century. In the church today there �s a space to symbol�se where h�s coff�n lay - and dur�ng our v�s�t we found a dog asleep there.

The church of St N�cholas �s now a post-modern phenomenon. The church was restored by a Czar around 1860 and w�th the rev�val of Chr�st�an�ty �n the 1990s �t �s a place of p�lgr�mmage for Russ�ans. Indeed there was a small serv�ce under way wh�le we were there. Amongst the Russ�an v�s�tors are lots of New Russ�an teenagers and 20s - who dress very aggress�vely - hotpants and reds and p�nks, lots of make-up.

So a v�s�t �s a b�t l�ke go�ng to Jane Austen's house - the v�s�tors are qu�te as �nterest�ng as the place �tself. Th�s �s not say that the place �s w�thout �nterest. It �s a large M�ddle Byzant�ne church - but you can't really tell how much of �t �s fake. It makes a good compar�son w�th that church �n Northamptonsh�re wh�ch �s the largest Romanesque bu�ld�ng from the same per�od north of the Alps.

A part�cularly clear po�nt of compar�son �s the apse ambulatory wh�ch feature �n both bu�ld�ngs. Wh�le the pr�est were perform�ng the ceremony, p�lgr�ms would pass underneath them �n a sem�-c�rcular passage runn�ng round the edge of the apse. The Russ�ans st�ll do th�s �n Myra and I couldnt help gett�ng a v�d of them emerg�ng one after the other.

From there we went up to the anc�ent c�ty of Myra �tself wh�ch has three outstand�ng features - the Lyc�an rock tombs, the theatre and the carved rel�efs of theatr�cal masks. The theatre �s large and st�ll has a lot of the �nternal passages �n place so you can walk up an �nternal sta�rcase and emerge two th�rds of the way up - just as the or�g�nal aud�ence would have done. There are some qu�te good port�ons of Skena too. I need to f�nd out more about the masks wh�ch are very express�ve �ndeed - they look more l�ke how we �mag�ne Greek theatre than Roman. But th�s �s def�n�tely a Roman theatre as �t had to be rebu�lt �n 140AD after the earthquake wh�ch also destroyed the church up the valley �n Arykanda. Anyway I took a lot of d�g�tal photos of these masks wh�ch I th�nk I w�ll be able to put to good use.