Just having to think about the places I went and the things I encountered today is exhausting! So, I guess here’s goes nothin’.
When I woke up this morning, I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do in Turkey, just wasn’t exactly sure how to accomplish it. At 7:15, I was out the door, ready to go and on my way. When I reached the end of the terminal there was a Turkey Visitor’s Kiosk there, so I inquired about the possibility of Ephesus being within walking distance of the port. The little Turkish woman told me that there wasn’t but that the group of people (there were 6 of them) standing next to her were going to do a tour of Ephesus and The House of the Virgin Mary with a private guide for 35 Euros plus admission into the locations. Life is short, so I said sure! Our tour guide arrived – small girl, named Zeynep, probably about 21 or 22 with big brown eyes, red hair and freckles, which I definitely didn’t expect (when asked about where she got her characteristics, she said “milk man, I guess”) – and gathered us all into the Van.
While we waited for another family to join us, we all introduced ourselves and talked about where we were from, etc. There were two couples traveling from Oklahoma in celebration of one of the gentlemen’s 80th birthday, Grant. The other couple, Todd and Valerie, were from California and then there was a husband and wife and their 2 kids from Venezuela (this is a picture of their 3 month old daughter – holy guacamole…beautiful!)
Along the way, Zeynep was talking about Turkish Culture – politics (democracy), religion (primarily Muslim…did not know that), jobs (70% in tourism, remainder in farming and agriculture) and Kusadasi (“Kusa” meaning bird and “dasi” meaning island). Ironically, Kusadasi is a peninsula, not an island, but Pidgeon Island is located right there as well – so, who knows!?!
Our first stop was at the House of the Virgin Mary. The story behind this was absolutely fascinating - how the Catholics believe one story and the Greek Orthodox believe another about whether or not the Virgin Mary died in this house. We drove up to the house and the energy was incredible. Such a quiet and spiritual atmosphere - it’s hard not to take a deep breath and say an extra prayer or two for the day. After paying the entrance fee (I believe it was $10 American dollars) I read the ticket and it says that the entrance was free, but the money from the tickets is to pay for electricity etc. Well, I did the math and the day prior there were 10,000 visitors to the House! Either that’s one helluvan electricity bill or someone’s getting PAID! Haha.
We ventured up to the house and walked in. It was very small and quaint, but was not set up like a traditional home. It was more as an sanctuary/alter as you walked through. Zeynep did tell us that there was originally one bedroom to the right and the rest was the living area. While we were in the house, it was quite comical – everyone is quiet and reflective and this woman comes in sweeping around us. I couldn’t help but laugh – something straight out of a comic strip. As we exited the house, there were candles and I grabbed one and lit it before placing it in the sand. I said a prayer along with the rest of my tour group and sure enough the sweeping lady was right behind us putting out candles just as fast as we lit them. She was in a hurry for sure!
As you walk away from the house and down this ramp, you end up at what I refer to as the prayer wall, where you can write on tissue or anything you have and tie it to this long wall of prayers. It’s pretty incredible and moving when you see all this napkins/tissues/papers ties to this wall and you can only imagine what heartfelt things prior visitors must have written on them. I wrote on one and put it up before heading to the “spring” as they referred to it.
Truly, the “spring” was multiple faucets in these small alcoves next to the prayer wall. This spring was said to be holy water and Zeynep said that many people came there to drink if they wanted to have a baby. It was funny, because when she was explaining this, the entire van looked at me as if to say “Don’t drink the water!” I filled up my bottle with that water to save for later.
On to Ephesus! There is no possible way for me to put into words what it is like to see Ephesus. What an engineering feat it must have been to build something that massive and that incredible, as well as productive. Walking through this amazing city and seeing how structured it was with Government houses a massive library and stadium, the walkways and the huge pieces of marble that they used to build it all just left me speechless.
We walked through the city in its entirety looking at the mosaics in front of the houses of the rich and the columns and buildings, I sat on the same toilets as the government men did. These toilets are fascinating by the way – there was running water in front of them so that they could scoop with their hands to wash themselves (but they always scooped with the left hand because they shook with their right) and then a large pool of running water in the bathroom as well so that they could discuss official business without being overheard!
While there, Zeynep told us that it was said that if we touched these two specific pillars at the same time, it was good luck. So, of course, I went back through and touched them joking with the group that it was going to bring me a good husband. Keep reading…
I think the part that shocked me the most about Ephesus was the fact that what we were seeing was only 10% of the city that they had recovered so far. That’s it! Just the idea that there is so much underground and yet to be discovered is just amazing. My favorite lesson of the day was about Nike, the Goddess of Victory. I’m sure my brother, Christian, knows all about this but forgot to share. Anyways, it is said that this is where Nike got their name and the “swoosh” came from the dress that she was always wearing. We left there – I had bought a book about the city because I love books and I think it will be a great way, when looking at my pictures and organizing, to look back and piece together everything that we saw.
We all met at the camel (see photo) and headed back to the market. Zeynep took us to a Turkish rug dealer where they did a presentation showing us a huge variety of silk and cotton fabric rugs along with the all natural and vegetable dyes and different patterns. So tempting to buy one – but the cheapest was about $700.00 and right now that just isn’t an option, unfortunately! There was a woman there that was making them and it’s fascinating to see the time and energy that goes into making just a small and simple rug. While we were watching the demonstration, another gentleman that owned a tea store brought us in some traditional Turkish Apple Tea. WOW! I can’t wait to go back and buy tons of that to take home for the family. It was so delicious- and I didn’t think I would even like thinking it would taste like apple cider – but I definitely loved it!
On the way back to the ship, I was walking with one of the couples and we were just chatting until a gentleman walked up to me and said “oh honey, will you please marry me?” Wow – those pillars really do work ;) I responded with “If only I had met you 20 minutes earlier and we would have had time to get to know each other before I leave! (It was literally all aboard time right then!) But hey – touch the pillars and you get an instant marriage proposal – that’s pretty powerful!
While sailing out of Kusadasi – the view was incredible – blue waters and mountains. I think Turkey is on the list of favorite places visited so far! After taking pictures of the sail away, I grabbed my book to lay out for a few hours of sunshine before we got to the next port of Patmos, Greece.
Of all that I had read about Patmos, there really was not much to the island. We tendered in (the tendering on this ship was the most efficient I’d ever seen it!) and I knew there was a monastery, but wasn’t sure as to where it was, so I simply wandered around on my own checking out some shops and walking through some of the neighborhoods there. I ended up buying a Christmas ornament there with a painting of a Grecian town on it and then sat under a tree and relaxed a bit before catching a tender back.
Tonight was the first of two nights where we had fixed seating in the dining room – the other nights were considered “open seating” where you could come at anytime and sit with whatever table had openings. Turns out, that Valerie and Todd from my tour earlier were at my table, which was fun. They were a great couple to talk to and joke about the food on the ship with. The food at dinner was awful – but so awful that it was funny. As an appetizer, I had ordered fried meatballs (they are on every Greek menu, by the way) and the plate showed up with two meatballs that had been baked to a rubbery consistency with a pool of marinara sauce underneath followed by a Greek salad with iceberg lettuce and Spinach pie (which is like a quiche) but it came as Spanakopita with a curry sauce (this was a curry that I wasn’t fond of –had a funny spice in it). Dessert was good though – Baklava and two other traditional greek desserts that I can’t remember the names of.
After dinner, I went to the show – that night was “Greek Night” and the entertainment department did a very cheesy rendition of the Greek dances that we are all a bit familiar with. My book was so good and I was nearing the end, so I headed to bed to finish it! (I’m finishing up Emily Giffin’s Heart of the Matter).
High: Just an incredible day and experience in Turkey.
Low: Pure exhaustion at the end of the day! (Can that count as a low – I don’t have anything else!)
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