DAY 15 EUROPE TRIP
EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE - Kusadasi, Ephesus
Awesome Ephesus and beautiful Kusadasi!
We arrived at the beautiful port city Kusadasi in Asia Minor at 9.00am.
Another beautiful day in a beautiful part of the world.
Kusadasi means Bird Island and is a clean, lovely resort town that has grown from a small fishing village.
On top of the hill there is a statue of Ataturk the founder of the Republic of Turkey.
Going to Ephesus was a highlight of the trip so far and is considered to be the showcase of Aegean archaeology.
We had an interesting drive to our first stop as we learnt some language shortcuts eg
Thank you – very quickly say “two sugars and cream “
Please – “a vet”
No – “higher”
Too much – “choke”
They were very easy to remember.
Along the way we heard of weaving villages being set up that are state subsidised. Even today girls from the age of twelve start preparing their dowry by making the necessary textiles. Arranged marriages is still the norm here particularly in the villages.
After driving past a water park, beaches and resorts and the small town of Selcuk we visited the House of the Virgin Mary where the Blessed Virgin is reputed to have spent the last years of her life.
A chapel has been built over the ruins of a house that has been dated to the 1st century AD. It is a beautiful and restful place, except for the number of tourists here. A large baptismal pool dated from that period is a short distance form the chapel. We lit some candles after walking though the chapel. Outside is the so called Fountain of our Lady. It consists of three spring water outlets from the holy foundations. Each fountain represents something different – health, wealth and love. Just past these was a wishing wall where people wrote their wishes and tied them to others already there.
From here we drove to the ancient city of Ephesus. It is located on a small hill. We entered through the top entry/exit point so on a hot day we only had to cope with walking down hill. We passed through Magnesia Gate to get to the administrative section of the ancient city.
Then we passed through what are truly spectacular excavations to see the little theatre, the Fountain of Trajan, Temple of Hadrian,
impressive library of Celcius, (the photo was among those that I accidentally deleted), the great theatre with a seating capacity of 24,000 where St Paul preached
the large market place
and the men’s public toilets. (Also accidentally deleted)
We walked along the Arcadian Way- a ceremonial road built during the Hellenistic period where once Mark Anthony and Cleopatra rode. It was amazing that we could walk along the marble road today. We walked along marble and over uneven cobblestone surfaces
There were floor tiles still intact. (Again photo missing in a mis-action.) Near what used to be Harbour Road there was a short re-enactment put on to provide a glimpse of life during the period.
The harbour used to come up to just beyond these pillars. Today this area where the harbour was consists of flat fields. The harbour is quite a distance away – 20km.
On our return we went to a carpet demonstration where we were shown how they take the thread of the silk cocoons and described what to look for in a carpet.
We were also shown the dyed silk threads. How I wish they were part of my thread stash!
We had another demonstration of the double knot used in making the carpets.
The carpets were lovely. Once again I proved that I had champagne taste but not a champagne budget to match. We all really enjoyed our tour to Ephesus and the carpet outlet. We had a great guide and it was an interesting ruin to visit. We returned to Kusadasi and after a quick lunch we walked around Kusadasi itself. We visited the bazaar – smaller than in Istanbul but principally very similar. The traders are very, very pushy.
Eventually we made our way back to the ship. After dinner we went to a fabulous show – a performance by an internationally acclaimed pianist Tian Jiang. It was a truly inspiring performance.
After the show we relaxed on the deck watching the town lights until it was time for the ship to sail out of port as a new day dawned.
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