Merhaba to you, Turkey {Adriatic: Day 8}

Welcome to Kuçadasi, Turkey!  (Sam, I know right now you're thinking Kusadasi, Kusadasi, Kusa-Kusa-Kusadasi, since I chanted that about every time we talked about the port. Otherwise, I kept forgetting how to say it!  It's pronounce Koó-suh-dah-see, by the way.) When we got off the ship, we were greeted with a nice terminal and shopping area. Turkey is one of the world's richest countries (per the Kropki Tour guide), and it feels like it. Clean modern buildings, new vehicles, "luxury minibus" taxis. It felt rich, though a much less Persian aesthetic than we were expecting. No emperors or Aladdin-esque buildings. Bummer.  :)

pulling into the port of Kusadasi

Walking through the shops, we saw a sign for round trip tours to Ephesus and the house of St. Mary for $25 a person (ship tours $129 pp), so we decided to go. We had our reservations about doing another ancient ruins-esque day, but everything I read (the night before. Ha!) said Ephesus was the must-see site for the port of Kusadasi. So, Ephesus it was. 

Our tiny tour guide Sevin with Kropki Tours had been an engineer until he retired, upon which he decided to teach people about the landmarks and history of the region through tourism. He shared that Kusadasi has around 90,000 residents, and the region (state) of Aydin has around 200,000-- much like the Roanoke and then compared that to the 15 million who live in the region housing Istanbul. Whoa. 

Small Sevin and Big Sam

We pulled in to Ephesus, and on our first view thought, "Uh-oh. More old, indistinguishable rocks." 

But, then we walked in through the gates to see the partially knocked down upper "gymnasium," where the council members of the city met. And these are the little tidbits that actually made Ephesus really interesting. For one, Ephesus is very well preserved given the age, but also, there are some pretty detailed accounts of the city, so as we were stopping before each structure, we got some context as to how he building was used and what it meant in the daily life of an Ephesian. Our guide certainly wasn't the best at speaking English, but he did do a nice job of drawing the connections of ancient history while making it relatable to every day life. 

Upper "Gymnasium"

View down Curetes Street

In front of the ancient hospital

We saw the upper gymnasium, town fountain and state-owned shops, the medical hospital, and town gates before making our way down the Main Street. 

For every detail that we thought seemed so primitive, there would be something else that we thought, "wow, maybe we haven't really progressed that much in two thousand years." Life is life. 

The ancient bathrooms

Making the turn on Curetes street made the biggest impression. One of the only two story buildings was the library, the hub of the town's education system. And right across from it, the brothel. Poor zoning restrictions, Ephesians. You could view down into the private marketplace, where vendors would sell their goods. An ancient brick and mortar Etsy. 

Looking over the private marketplace

But, the real wow came when we got to see, as Sevin described it, "this, the most more important place, the tee-ter," also know as the theater. To see what both Greeks and Romans accomplished with the theater is simply unbelievable. At one point, it would hold 24,000 people and is still the largest theater in Turkey. Can you fathom?

The last part of the Ephesus tour was down the Harbor street. There are still pillars lining the sides that would have had roofs over them in ancient time to provide shade for pedestrians. There were originally four taller pillars, one for each of the Gospel writers, though only one remains intact. 

Harbor Street

View of the theater from Harbor Street

We decided to skip the tour of the house of St. Mary, mostly because it would be another 12 euro for about fifteen minutes of walking through somewhere that we weren't that interested in. Turns out most of our tour mates felt the same way, as only four of the fourteen went in. 

Before heading back to the port, we went through a leather factory and were treated to quite the runway show. This particular company makes outerwear for buyers like Gucci and Armani, so obviously we fit right in. We were invited to shop in the factory store, which was at a "steep discount from retail." However, after we saw a $74,000 price tag on a jacket, we decided not to even make direct eye contact with any of the pieces. Just in case. "So sorry we messed that up!  Let us just mortgage our home to pay you back."

Our last stop on the tour was the view the basilica of St. John and the oldest mosque in Turkey. 

After we returned to Kusadasi, we had about an hour left before we needed to be back on the Jade, so we walked through the shops and picked out some cute Turkish jewelry to take back to our little princesses. If we ever go back, we would be completely content to stay in the Kusadasi area. There were plenty of areas to stroll and a beautiful public beach nearby. Just out of curiosity, we have been pulling up hotel prices for where we are visiting, and there were some beautiful, newer hotels for $35 and $40 a night. So cheap!  If only it weren't $1500 to fly there.

Since tomorrow is our other "at sea" day, tonight is Norwegians White Hot party, where they ask every one to wear white and they have a big party with ice sculptures, black lights, and lots of dancing.  Before heading out for it, I made Sam go to we went to the ship's The Beatles concert show.  We had a blast listening to all the cover songs and watching everyone dance.  It's the most excited we've ever seen a cruise ship show!  I'm sure everyone is going to need plenty of rest by the pool tomorrow. 

Click here for the rest of our Adriatic Adventure.