We docked in Kusadasi early and our tour began at 7:10am. Today we visit Ephesus, the ruins of the Roman provincial capital, the house of the Virgin Mary and then the Basilica of St. John. There were only 22 of us on the bus and we had a great guide. The best part of being on a small ship (600 passengers) is no large crowds. We started at Mary's house which the Vatican has recognized as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. Ephesus was next and it was as impressive as the acropolis that we saw yesterday. This was a working city with shops, government offices, a 25,000 seat theater, a large library, common baths and a couple of the brothels. At the peak there were 250,000 souls residing in Ephesus. We then stopped at the Basilica of St. John which has the tomb of St. John the Apostle. In addition to writing the book of Revelations, John was also responsible for Mary during her time in Ephesus. It is believed he lived to be over one hundred.
Our last stop was a Turkish rug dealer, where we learned everything we ever wanted to know about Turkish rugs and we ended up buying a small rug to hang on the wall. We don't know if we got a good price but we bargained very hard. Traditional to shops of this kind, in this part of the world after the rug weaving demonstration you are served refreshments. Either chai, apple tea, Turkish coffee or local wine and a freshly baked soft roll filled with cheese. Delicious .....
Tomorrow is a sea day and we will get to sleep in which will be nice. We have late dinner seating at 8:15pm and the show at 10:15pm, so we are not getting to sleep very early and the getting up for the tours before dawn has taken some effort. We have thought about switching to early seating, but we are very happy with our table mates.
So far the service, in both the dinning room and our cabin has been very good. The food is ok, but nothing outstanding. Dinner take about 1 3/4 hours, but it seems the right pace.
The ship makes it easy now, you can order any wine by the bottle and have a glass or two and they keep it for you until the next night. The wine by the glass menu isn't inspiring.
It was cold this AM, but now it has warmed up to the high 60's. Evelyn went back to do more shopping ashore and I'm by the pool updating the blog and having a beer. Evelyn has returned and is having a snack. I had the pizza for lunch and it was very good. Well it's time to watch the crew cast off and sail out of the harbor of Kusadasi. More later...
Sent from my iPad
Hal
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