What an incredible day! Let me start off by giving a lot of credit to Levent, our guide for the day. We learned early on that the organized ship tours were not for us, and so for some time have done research on our own and arranged our own guides, when one is needed, for the various cities that we visit. We have never been let down by our guides, but as with everything in life, some are better than others. Levent was one of, if not the best guide that we have ever had. Our tour was booked through Ekol Travel; however it appears that Ekol pulls from an independent travel guide pool and so I don’t believe that he works for them exclusively. That having been said, I am sure that one could request him through Ekol Travel. Anyway, more on Levent later…but back to the beginning…
Today was one of our longer days in port, arriving in Kuşadasi at around 7:00a and not leaving until 7:00 that evening. The alarm clock rudely woke us up at 5:45 to get the whole thing started. We had arranged with mom and Lyn to meet them by their elevators at 7:30 to make our way off the ship and to meet our guide. Mom and Lyn were right where they were supposed to be as I ran down the stairs after hurrying through my breakfast up in the Lido…definantly not how I like to start the day…but that’s the way it goes. Immediately after getting off the ship, we were found by Levent and he gave us a brief overview of our itinerary for the day and then took us to our spacious eight passenger van…plenty of room for the four of us, Levent and our driver. Our first stop was the supposed House of Virgin Mary. I say “supposed”’ since there is no hard evidence to support it; however there is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the house is in fact the final resting place of Mary. Most of the house has been reconstructed to appear as it would have around 58 A.D., with the only actual remains of the house being the lower two feet or so. This was an incredibly peaceful area and well worth the visit. After leaving the House of Mary, we headed to Ephesus and this is where we spent the majority of our day. Levent took time to point out all of the various parts of the ancient city and gave an excellent explanation of what we were seeing as well as putting it in the context of the greater city itself and the time period in which it would have been built, who would have been there, the social status of those that would have been in various parts, etc. In summary, Levent was not just pointing out various structures, but rather recreating a scene such that the ancient city of Ephesus came to life. We walked down main street, stopped in the shopping mall and visited the proposed shop of the silversmith that spoke out against the new Christian religion being preached by the apostle John. We stopped in the city’s hospital and pharmacy across the street and walked through the terraced houses of the wealthy. After spending time in the Library of Celsus, we passed through the agora or market place and then finally on to the theatre. Not to oversell the point, but this was an amazing tour through this ancient city made so much more enjoyable by the easy explanations, thoroughly accommodating and enjoyable presence of Levent. As a side note, most all of these ancient sights that we have seen throughout the cruise require walking along either rocky or uneven walkways, because, well…their ancient…therefore, myself, Lyn or Melauna have always tried to be by mom’s side to offer a steady arm through these areas. Enevitably, there were moments when one of us was not right there by mom’s side to help and in those rare instances, Levent always was, and always gave a loving pat on her hand as one of us approached, handing her off to resume our role. Tour guide aside, he really is a great human being and a joy to be around.
After leaving the heart of Ephesus city, we drove up the hill to the Church of St. John which allows a commanding view of the valley below in which Ephesus is nestled. Oddly enough, or maybe not, there was a call to prayer from the mosque adjacent to the Church of St. John while we were wandering around what remained of the once great Christian church. Even more interesting, as we drove back down the hill to the Temple of Artemis, we were able to see in a single frame a pagan temple, a Christian church and a Muslim mosque representing 3,000 years of various religious domination in that area. Unfortuantly all that remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, is a single column. The rest having been used as a quarry to build many other structures, including the Church of St. John and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
After leaving Ephesus city, Levent gave us several choices for lunch and we chose an authentic Turkish meal at one of the four Nomadic co-ops of the area. We had an absolutely wonderful meal outside under a large tent and enjoyed grilled peppers with yogurt, olives, green beans in a pepper mix and grilled chicken. Levent and I had a local red wine that was really nice. After lunch we were given a fascinating demonstration of carpet making which is the primary source of revenue for the co-op and watched as one of the local girls worked on a cotton rug, even letting Melauna have a go at it. They showed us the process of spinning silk from the cocoon to create a single thread and how that is then dyed using the local materials available such as saffron, tobacco, etc. Afterward, we entered the den of money takers….we were shown rug after rug after rug…all very beautiful…two more so than the rest. There must be something in that Turkish tea that makes a person want to drop all that money on a rug. But how many opportunities does one have to buy a beautiful handcrafted Turkish rug from a nomadic community in...well...Turkey? It is certainly a one-of-a-kind piece of Ephesus that we will cherish forever as will mom with the one she bought. All in all, it was a very pleasurable experience and it wasn’t as bad as I am making it out. This was not a high pressure sales job at all and everyone involved was very nice and their work was beautiful. This was an unexpected side trip to our plan for the day, but one that I am certainly glad that we had the opportunity to experience.
After finishing up at the co-op, we made our way back to Kuşadasi and had to say our goodbyes and give our thanks to Levent for showing us his amazing city. I really hope that one day we will be able to meet again.
Today was one of our longer days in port, arriving in Kuşadasi at around 7:00a and not leaving until 7:00 that evening. The alarm clock rudely woke us up at 5:45 to get the whole thing started. We had arranged with mom and Lyn to meet them by their elevators at 7:30 to make our way off the ship and to meet our guide. Mom and Lyn were right where they were supposed to be as I ran down the stairs after hurrying through my breakfast up in the Lido…definantly not how I like to start the day…but that’s the way it goes. Immediately after getting off the ship, we were found by Levent and he gave us a brief overview of our itinerary for the day and then took us to our spacious eight passenger van…plenty of room for the four of us, Levent and our driver. Our first stop was the supposed House of Virgin Mary. I say “supposed”’ since there is no hard evidence to support it; however there is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the house is in fact the final resting place of Mary. Most of the house has been reconstructed to appear as it would have around 58 A.D., with the only actual remains of the house being the lower two feet or so. This was an incredibly peaceful area and well worth the visit. After leaving the House of Mary, we headed to Ephesus and this is where we spent the majority of our day. Levent took time to point out all of the various parts of the ancient city and gave an excellent explanation of what we were seeing as well as putting it in the context of the greater city itself and the time period in which it would have been built, who would have been there, the social status of those that would have been in various parts, etc. In summary, Levent was not just pointing out various structures, but rather recreating a scene such that the ancient city of Ephesus came to life. We walked down main street, stopped in the shopping mall and visited the proposed shop of the silversmith that spoke out against the new Christian religion being preached by the apostle John. We stopped in the city’s hospital and pharmacy across the street and walked through the terraced houses of the wealthy. After spending time in the Library of Celsus, we passed through the agora or market place and then finally on to the theatre. Not to oversell the point, but this was an amazing tour through this ancient city made so much more enjoyable by the easy explanations, thoroughly accommodating and enjoyable presence of Levent. As a side note, most all of these ancient sights that we have seen throughout the cruise require walking along either rocky or uneven walkways, because, well…their ancient…therefore, myself, Lyn or Melauna have always tried to be by mom’s side to offer a steady arm through these areas. Enevitably, there were moments when one of us was not right there by mom’s side to help and in those rare instances, Levent always was, and always gave a loving pat on her hand as one of us approached, handing her off to resume our role. Tour guide aside, he really is a great human being and a joy to be around.
After leaving the heart of Ephesus city, we drove up the hill to the Church of St. John which allows a commanding view of the valley below in which Ephesus is nestled. Oddly enough, or maybe not, there was a call to prayer from the mosque adjacent to the Church of St. John while we were wandering around what remained of the once great Christian church. Even more interesting, as we drove back down the hill to the Temple of Artemis, we were able to see in a single frame a pagan temple, a Christian church and a Muslim mosque representing 3,000 years of various religious domination in that area. Unfortuantly all that remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, is a single column. The rest having been used as a quarry to build many other structures, including the Church of St. John and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
After leaving Ephesus city, Levent gave us several choices for lunch and we chose an authentic Turkish meal at one of the four Nomadic co-ops of the area. We had an absolutely wonderful meal outside under a large tent and enjoyed grilled peppers with yogurt, olives, green beans in a pepper mix and grilled chicken. Levent and I had a local red wine that was really nice. After lunch we were given a fascinating demonstration of carpet making which is the primary source of revenue for the co-op and watched as one of the local girls worked on a cotton rug, even letting Melauna have a go at it. They showed us the process of spinning silk from the cocoon to create a single thread and how that is then dyed using the local materials available such as saffron, tobacco, etc. Afterward, we entered the den of money takers….we were shown rug after rug after rug…all very beautiful…two more so than the rest. There must be something in that Turkish tea that makes a person want to drop all that money on a rug. But how many opportunities does one have to buy a beautiful handcrafted Turkish rug from a nomadic community in...well...Turkey? It is certainly a one-of-a-kind piece of Ephesus that we will cherish forever as will mom with the one she bought. All in all, it was a very pleasurable experience and it wasn’t as bad as I am making it out. This was not a high pressure sales job at all and everyone involved was very nice and their work was beautiful. This was an unexpected side trip to our plan for the day, but one that I am certainly glad that we had the opportunity to experience.
After finishing up at the co-op, we made our way back to Kuşadasi and had to say our goodbyes and give our thanks to Levent for showing us his amazing city. I really hope that one day we will be able to meet again.
We still had a scant few minutes left before needing to be back on the ship so I accompanied Melauna to the little “Grand Bazaar” there near the port while mom and Lyn headed back on board. We weren’t long but did manage to find Melauna a pair of Blue Eye earrings that she had been looking for before heading back ourselves. Since we had a late back-on-board time, we missed our 5:45 seating for dinner and opted for the Any Time You Wish seating on the lower level of the Manhattan. The dinner was excellent as usual, the wait staff excellent as well; however the attendant that we checked in with at the front of the dining room seemed a little put out at our dining preference, and went as far as to remind us that we would be expected to resume our regularly scheduled dining time tomorrow…whatever jackass. After that little reprimand, all went well though and ended another outstanding day. Wiped out from the day, once again, we skipped any of the evening festivities and called it an early evening.
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