September 22, 2024

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

Weather clear, 70’s and low 80’s

 

 

We were up early, breakfasted (the usual) and stopped by the Guest service desk to drop off our dinner cruise on the Bosporus tour. (We leave for Cappadocia at 3 AM the next morning, so reasoned we’d be better off with an early night.) We got on the pier and noticed the Kusadasi sign on the hill so had to take a selfie.

 

 

We met our tour bus just outside the port terminal.  It was well organized as there were 3 cruise ships in port. The way out was really easy – much like entering Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.  We did our sound check of our Quiet Vox headsets and off we went on the narrow winding (scary) streets out of town.

 

It seemed our bus driver was another frustrated Formula One driver – but – we made it safely to the House where the Blessed Virgin Mary lived her final days with the Apostle John a ways outside of Ephesus. The Christians lived outside the city because of the periodic persecutions that the Romans turned on and off. This house was very high on a hill and accessed by a very narrow road.

 

Once there we were the second group to arrive and so there were no lines. By the time we left, there were 15 busses and long lines to enter the pilgrimage site. 

 

 

The house itself had three rooms and was quite sturdy and nice situated in a pine forest.  There were opportunities to purchase candles in the rooms and a nice altar with a bronze statue of Mary displayed, We were not allowed to take pictures there. So, we lit 4 candles for our special intentions and said prayers.

 

 

There was a nice gift shop there and there were many icons locally made that sold like hotcakes – very beautiful.  As I said, this is a Pilgrimage site endorsed by the Vatican, and it was a very special holy place; you could feel the electricity.  We didn’t have much free time there and were hustled back on the bus for the short drive down the hill to Ephesus.  

 

The tours have Ephesus figured out.  The site itself stretches from the (onetime) harbor up to the small amphitheater.  It would be quite a hike up hill, but they designed a down hill trek. That seems easy – but – much of the downhill was on original marble (read: go slow, watch for uneven places and DON’T SLIP). Things got interesting at the Pillar of Hercules , so we took a selfie.

 

 

Nevertheless, this site is quite spectacular.  It has not been excavated very much, but what has, and what has been restored is breathtaking.  Paul thought it would be one of those places shown with a wide angle lens to make it look big – but maybe the opposite was true.  There were arches, baths, shops, mosaic floors, meaningful carvings (of Medusa and Nike etc.), cisterns, and grand buildings. They started uncovering the site along the line from the minor theater to the major theater and are now expanding outward. They dig every season.  We walked the meridian.

 

  

 

 

The star of the show is the Library of Celsus.  Many years ago it was discovered on the ground, and over the years scholars and engineers patched and erected the façade and today we all have an amazing treat. 70% is original and 30% is restoration.  This is like so many monuments we have seen that are larger in life than in pictures.

 

 

Perhaps you can see the relative size by comparing the people milling around it. It is massive. Our guide Tosh (spelled Tosc’) filled us in on the meaning of the 4 statues placed on the first floor. They were the muses of knowledge.

 

                    Tosc the guide

 

After some free time at the Library, we moved into the Agora – yes, the same place where Saint Paul preached the Good News of Jesus Christ. And the same place where the silversmiths rioted against the new religion.

 

 

Then out of the Archeological site and into marketing – Turkish style. The shop keepers are pushy.  The tour company has their favorites and steers tourists to them. They like to haggle. Then the most aggravating thing was that the pier where the cruise ships park is connected to a warren of shops that one must make one’s way through (and it’s not point a to point b). It’s like running the gauntlet of persistent people without a clear path to your goal. The two closest analogies are Caesar’s Palace Casino in Las Vegas (where it’s easy to enter, but difficult to find a way out) and the Egyptian pyramid vendors who pile wares on you unbidden and expect money – they are like flies. Not the best experience.  I would have expected Viking to warn us or have people placed in the warren to advise the best way out.  But I suppose that the tour company sets the rules and Ephesus is worth the price.

 

   

Map of the shopping area                            View of the shopping area from the ship

 

 

Shirley’s take—First, this morning’s smoothie was tropical—mango, passion fruit, and coconut.  Quite tasty. This morning’s tour was awesome in so many ways!!!  Shopping- at Epheusus I bought earrings and pendant of zultanite, a beautiful semiprecious stone that changes colors with different light. Beautiful! Returned to the ship for lunch.  Soup of the day was roasted yellow pepper and tomato—excellent!!

 

No sunset picture today – but that’s OK, the sun still set.

But the moon was nice:

 

Oh – and10,634 steps Anna 