Kusadasi

(Please check the addendum to the Santorini entry)

It was a bit cooler in Kusadasi today - only around 23-25 degrees!

We joined a tour organised by another Cruise Critic member, only 14 of us, so that we could get into the Terrace Houses at Ephesus, the ancient city inland from Kusadasi. We have had different people from the group organising tours, and others join them, sometimes the same people, sometimes others from CC to meet.

We headed out at about 8 am, and went straight to the House of the Virgin Mary, which was already crowded. This is where it is believed Mary, the mother of Jesus, spent her last years, and lived in this house. It is now a shrine of importance to both Christians and Moslems.

From there we headed to the ancient ruins of Ephesus. This is inland a few kilometres, but in ancient times it was on the shore of the Mediterranean. Silting from rivers is causing the coastline to still extend further out by 3 metres per year, even now. Well, the place was very crowded, but we spent about two and a half hours there. And we loved it - our tour guide was excellent, very informative without overwhelming us. The streets are amazing, with a plumbing and drainage system. Highlights were the Library of Celsus, which once contained 15,000 books, the Terrace Houses (the 'luxurious' appartments of the well-off Roman citizens, with frescoes and mozaics still in place, and with limited entry to small groups only), the huge stadium which could seat 24,000 people, and the public latrines :-). At the latter, the water would run past your feet (excess from the public baths) and when you had finished doing your thing, you would use a stick and sponge to dip into the water running by, to clean yourself up. You wouldn't want to be sitting downstream from the others at the latrine....

After leaving this amazing excavation we were taken to visit the Moslem temple of Isabey, and we were allowed to go in. This was interesting too, and we heard a bit about that religion.

Next, it was back to the ship for a 1.30 pm lunch from the buffet (as is our breakfast, most days), and then back out to the local bazaar/market for a couple of hours. This is a very clean, tidy, smart, modern area, with lots of small shops selling jewellery, leather goods (bags and jackets), shoes, and tourist souvenirs. I bought two new pairs of sandals (there were four that I liked, but they didn't have my sizes - so, Michelle, you can imagine I was in 7th Heaven to actually find some comfortable sandals that suited me). Actually, I may have failed to mention earlier that I had left a bag of my shoes (good work shoes, and my two pairs of sandals) in the hotel in Rome, and the dratted cleaner had supposedly thrown them out - GONE. So, these were welcome replacements. David was pleased to get some new polo shirts.

When we got back to the ship, we sat out by one of the pools, and I had my first swim - the water was a bit cool, but it was good to sooth my aching legs and swollen feet from all the walking and standing. David has just given me a foot massage too - gee, I wish Sally was here too! While we sat by the pool, David had a couple of beers, and I drank diet Coke. We talked with a lovely Canadian couple (he is a retired school principal - he retired at 55 years, and their pension is good enough for him not to need to work, his wife, Michelle, works as a nurse).

Anyway, we're just about to head to dinner again, and catch up on the day's events with our other table friends. I pre-order my gluten free meal the night before, and they look after me very well. Last night I tried artichokes for the first time, and veal seems to be on the menu a lot - something I have never found at home. Last night (for Michelle's interest) I had a coffee creme brulee for dessert!