Kusadasi and Ephesus Turkey

Friday, April 23, 2010

The food at this hotel is wonderful, and breakfast was no exception. After our leisurely meal, we were met by our guide for our tour of Ephesus. We were first taken to see the Virgin Mary’s house, in a very quite, serene setting at the top of a hill. Getting there was a long and winding road, to a nose bleed altitude. It’s clear Mary didn’t just trot over to the grocery store for groceries.

It is believed that St. John the Evangelist brought Mary here so she could have some peace at the end of her life. It doesn’t get more peaceful or isolated than this place. This isn’t necessarily historical fact, but enough people believe it to make it a place of pilgrimage. One thing we’ve learned in Turkey is that historical provenance is often in the eye of the beholder, i.e., Moses’ red sea parting staff, and Noah’s cooking pot. But it’s fun anyway.

Next, we slalomed down hill to Ephesus. When I was here last, it was pouring rain so we were not able to appreciate all that this place represents. This time, the weather was as good as it gets -- warm and sunny, but not too hot, as it must be in the summertime. As you walk through this wondrous place, you can easily envision the men in togas and sandaled feet congregating in the meeting halls and public toilets, and the chariots rolling down the wide, marble covered streets.

We were able to explore the excavations at the terraced houses, another part of the area that was unavailable the last time we were here. This was truly amazing. They have uncovered seven homes that are each about 900 square meters, each with a courtyard in the middle, surrounded by several rooms, and the whole complex is under a custom made plastic and aluminum shed.

The floors are covered in intricate mosaics and the walls in beautiful, incredibly preserved mosaics or frescos. Many of the rooms were filled with stacks and stacks of boxes which were filled with the tiny pieces of marble and tiles that the workers are piecing together to restore this place. It is considered the biggest jigsaw puzzle in the world.

We of course stopped and had our pictures taken at the iconic sight of Ephesus, the Library. The façade is beautifully preserved, but alas, the books disappeared to no one knows where.

When we left Ephesus, we were taken to a quaint little Greek village (in Turkey, yes) for our lunch. Turkey and Greece have had numerous exchanges of citizens over the centuries. We walked the steep, winding, cobbled streets, running the gauntlet of shops until we finally came to the restaurant the guide had chosen for us. We watched them preparing the stuffed pancakes that would become our lunch. Ya, ya, we know, Turkish, pancakes, in a Greek village -- It doesn’t have to make sense, it just is. The pancakes were like giant tortillas, hand made before our very eyes, and were tasty and very affordable.. A full lunch with drinks for about $5. Best deal in Turkey.

We made our way back through the winding walkways and the shops and found our way back to the bus. Shopping in group has slowed somewhat, because everyone seems to have bought all the souvenirs they’re going to, and the shopping stalls are all starting to look alike. Mo did fall for a tablecloth and parted with some hard earned turk lira.

Next stop was St. John’s Basilica, where St John’s (the evangelist, not the headless one, who purportedly took care of Jesus‘ mom) tomb is situated right in the center of the ruins of the cross shaped church.

As we were leaving and making our way single filed through the turnstiles, Steve took a fall and injured his shoulder. We took him directly to an emergency center, where we learned he had suffered a severe break. Mary Anne spent the remainder of the day on the phone with Medjet arranging for them to be transported home as soon as possible so the operation to repair the shoulder could be done in LA. We’re sorry to see them leave, they will miss our Three Continents cruise.

When we returned to our hotel, Shelli, Joanne and I went for a swim in the pool and the Aegean Sea, and Joanne treated herself to a massage. Augie went off into Kusadasi to find a geo cache. We all met for another fabulous dinner at 7:30. Tomorrow morning we have a 4 am wake up call for our flight back to Istanbul.