Kusadasi, Turkey

Nov. 17
We are in Turkey today...and no, not the Thanksgiving kind! The ship arrived this morning at 6:30 a.m. and we started our tour of Kusadasi and Ephesus at 8:30. Wow..am I tired. A lot of walking today, over very uneven terrain for the most part.

Our tour started out at Basilica of St. John. It was built by the Emperor Justinian over the tomb of St. John the Apostle. The Basilica is now in ruins of course, and St. John's bones were moved to Italy centuries ago. It was interesting to see however.

From there we went to the House of the Virgin Mary. Apparently the Vatican has recognized this small house in the Solmissos Mountains as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. However, who knows for sure??? Even the tour guide kept saying "we have been told" this is the final resting place as a small shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary was found when the ruins of the house was first discovered.

Next was Ephesus. We toured the 3rd city of Ephesus. The first two were destroyed 200 BC. This one dates back to 150 AD (a new place compared to most we have seen.) The Magnesia Gate entrance led us down hill on a marble paved road to the ruins of the Roman Provincial capital. Very uneven terrain, but something to see at least once. Continuing down the road we pasted the Odeum, Celsus Library, Temple of Hadrian, Fountain of Trajan and the Great Theater, which had seating at one time for 25,000 people and is where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians. Of course this is all ruins, some being reconstructed. These Ephesians were truly ingenious people for their time.

When we left Ephesus, of course there were the vendors all along the side of the road hawking their wares. One sign read "Genuine Fake Watches" for sale...we got a laugh out of that! I felt like I was back in Saudi....the way some of the buildings were built, the smells, the people, and of course, prayer being called from the local minaret.

Tomorrow is Rhodes. Our luck with good weather is still holding.................