Today we are in Turkey, and we were told we would be sharing the dock with another Ship.... grr more crowds... you can imagine our surprise when our other boat was the Wind Spirit which really is just a huge yacht.
We had a very easy disembarkation, and we found our Guide Yelda very easily. We used www.privatetoursinturkey.com as we had used them in Istanbul last time.... she was a wonderful and knowledgeable guide.
Once we were in our very flashy and comfortable bus we were on our way to Ephesus. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city which later became a major Roman provincial capital. This is was major sea port but alas the ocean has disappeared over the years.
Ephesus is very hot to visit with limited shade, but it was a magnificent experience to visit this wonderfully preserved city... there are actually four cities like this in the area and only 10% of this city has been excavated.
We saw examples of ancient mod cons, underfloor heating, piped water systems, drainage systems, remains of beautiful frescos that decorated walls and intricate mosaics that decorate the floors . We actually saw the biggest jigsaw puzzle ever. Tables full of pieces some is painstakingly trying to fit back together.
Other highlights were the reconstructed library facade and the Grand Theatre that hosted many a famous stars until one day the sound vibration from the concert caused the collapse of a section of seating.
Even saw what could be the first milestone ever.
We learnt about the meaning of many of the symbols we have nowadays, like how outside the front of their shops traders would display a wheel that looks like a sliced pizza and how the religious fish symbol came into being.....
Then there is how the pharmaceutical snake's symbol came about.
There was a hospital that claimed to have a perfect record of cure rates. Doctors would examine patients before they were allowed to be admitted, if they seemed curable, they were accepted if they were a lost cause they were sent packing.
One day a doctor felt sorry for a very sick patient and admitted him. After his mistake was realized and the patient deteriorated, he was thrown out of the hospital. Unable to travel the patient stayed out the front of the hospital. The hospital staff felt sorry for him and would bring food but never brought him back into the hospital.
One day as the patient slept, two snakes slithered up to the man and drank milk from the bowl next to him. When he awoke, he drank the rest of the milk from the bowl and suddenly the man started to improve. A doctor had witnessed the snakes and realized the healing properties of Venom. This is how anti-venom was developed and if you notice the pharmaceutical symbol is 2 snakes interwoven, leading to a bowl of milk.
After leaving Ephesus we went to sacred sight at Mereymana. Here is believed to be the final home of the Virgin Mary, brought here by John the Evangelist after Jesus asked him to care for his mother before he died. This site was found after a German nun wrote a book about the virgin mary and described her life from visions she had had. This nun had never been to Turkey but was able to describe the area, house and surrounds precisely. Here we were able to walk through her home, light a candle and drink the water from a local spring that is known for its healing properties. There is also a wall where people write wishes to Mary on paper and stick them to the wall and hope that she will answer their prayers.
Starting to feel a little hungry now so, Yelda took us to a little local restaurant mainly frequented by locals. Food here had a greek influence with servings of stuffed capsicums, vine leaves, cheese rolled and fried in Pitta bread and that was just the entree. We also salad and meat cooked in different ways.
On our way home we did a drive by of Artemis’s temple one the ancient wonders of the world.... all of one column that remains LOL
We were then dropped off back at Kusadasi to wander around the Bazaar just next to the port.... Hey this bargaining is fun..... did I get a good price for my Genuine fake handbag ......I don’t know but it makes a good story.
One other thing I forgot... now that I was in the bargaining mood we decided to buy Garry a "Paul Smith" shirt.... we walked into a shop found his size and asked the price... 20 euros..... Garry says “no too much 12” The guy just laughed at him and turned away.... ok no bargain no buy so we walked out. We were met by another man at the door who asked what are you after... we told him and agreed on 15 Euro... he ran into the shop ran out and quickly stuffed the top into Garry’s bag. He took the euro then asked for a tip.... 2 -3 Euro..... I patted him on the back and said “be good to your mother” turned around and walked away... Garry was still concerned about the manner he stuffed the top into our bag. He now thought that maybe he ran into the shop stole the shirt and gave it to us. We decided to hightail it back to the ship before anything else happened.....we didn’t want to go to jail ..we have seen Midnight Express!!!
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