We heard the rain pelting down during the night and in the morning it was still raining quite heavily when we berthed in Kusadasi. The weather so far had been great and we were disappointed that the forecast was not good as it was, for our special outdoor concert tonight.
Seabourn Odyssey in port
Some nearby neighbours - Norwegian Spirit with Norwegian Jade behind
The site was amazing, more exciting than Olympia and the Athens Acropolis. Archeologists have been working here for 150 years and they estimate they have uncovered 10% of what is there. This site is only 2,000 years old, apparently there are 1,000s of older sites all over Turkey but there aren't the resources to excavate them and they are not as accessible as Ephesus.
The library
There is evidence of sewerage, heating and hot water systems in houses. And the public toilets were very interesting to see. There are piles of columns and pieces of stonework all waiting to be put into place when there is time. It's like hundreds of huge jigsaw puzzles. Even though there are archeologists working here the site needs further preservation with people allowed to wander unsupervised all over the place.
Sewerage and water pipes
Public toilet seats
Excavation of terraced houses, now under cover to protect from the elements
Archeology students from Vienna University are the only ones tasked for the digging and restoration
Looking down from the top of the terraced houses excavation, library (far left behind flowering tree), market area (centre, large open area) and the street for prostitutes area (right, beside walkway - known as Marble Street)
Marble Street
The "jig-saw" pieces, all lined up and numbered, waiting for the missing pieces
A marble wall, succesfully re-assembled and restored
The clouds disappeared and the sun came out just enough to make walking the site very pleasant.
Back in Kusadasi at the end of our tour we were taken on a visit to a carpet shop. These visits are a government requirement to support the local industry. They aim to sell carpets but also educate tourists as they claim inferior carpets are being exported from China and sold as Turkish carpets. The Turkish government pays the cost of delivering any purchases to the home of the purchaser anywhere in the world and any taxes associated with the purchase. I had worked out the size rug I would want if I saw something I liked but despite a search the night before I couldn't find the paper I had written it on. That is until I sat down in the display room and opened my purse containing Turkish lira. And there it was.
We watched a demo of how the rugs are made and what to look for and the owner showed us lots of beautiful rugs both traditional and tribal. We were served fresh pastries, warm apple tea ( quite nice), coffee or Raki (Greg found it too strong). When the presentation was over and the door was opened in came the salesmen. They were actually very nice, enthusiastic but not too pushy - although there were a lot of them. When I indicated I was interested I was whisked away to another room to look at more samples. In the end we bought a tribal rug with blues, oranges and browns for the lounge room. It will go with the lounge but probably not the black and cream feature chair. That may have to be recovered. We were very excited and didn't think to take a photo. It comes with all kinds of info and guarantees including one from Seabourn and Greg had to sign the back of it so when it arrives we can verify that it is the one we selected.
If that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we had to get ready for a special complimentary orchestral concert back on site at Ephesus. Expecting it be cold I rugged up and took an extra jacket just in case but the weather was very mild. We were bused back to the archeological site then had to walk about 300m inside to the Harbour Road at the foot of the amphitheatre, where tables and covered chairs had been set up in front of the amphitheatre. It was just on sunset and as the sun went down it just looked magical. There were drinks and nibbles. A few cats and dogs, obviously music lovers wandered around the tables and the site.
The road they had set up on used to run from the harbour (now well inland) to the town. This was the road that Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, St John, St Paul, Hadrian and other other Roman emperors, walked or rode. How humbling is that! We have stood and walked in their footsteps!
Back at the ship there was more fun. Almost the whole crew had assembled along the wharf in two rows to welcome us back with music, dancing and cheering and of course more drinks! It really was a day to remember.
Antonio, with the megaphone, remembered and announced everyone's name as they returned to the ship
Our two cabin attendants, centre right (hugging)
ADDENDUM : And the penny finally dropped .... we didn't even take a proper pic at the time, so this will have to do
The night of the concert, held on Harbour Road which led from the Great Theatre (amphitheatre) to what was then the harbour (now land). In the centre background is the top of a large pointed hill which was on the very edge of the city just inside the wall.
During the course of our daytime tour, our guide mentioned several famous people who had been associated with Ephesus over the ages, including Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Julius Caeser, Hadrian, St John, St Paul ... no penny drop there .... St Paul was imprisoned on that hill i.in the background ... no penny drop yet ... where he wrote his letters .. no penny drop yet. I think anyone can see where this is going now ...
Then, about an hour later, we started to put 2 and 2 together ... St Paul .... wrote letters ... Ephesus ... residents probably known as Ephesians ... St Paul, letters to, Ephesians .... Ding!! The light went on.