Friday, May 11 - Kusadasi, Ephesus Turkey

Silly us. We were both convinced we'd been to Ephesus before, but when we got there we recognized nothing! It was a great tour. Kusadasi is a nice town and the countryside is interesting. Ephesus is just amazing! We had been advised to visit the Terrace Houses, which are the most recently excavated area. Wow! So worth the more expensive tickets! Intact mosaics and wall art 2000 years old - meticulously uncovered walls and floors and some reassembly of pieces on site. All was very visible from walkways and stairs - some glass to allow viewing without damaging the original surfaces. The amphitheatre is magnificent. A member or guide on another tour took the stage and sang, proving the amazing acoustics. The library took longer to reassemble (17years) than to build in the first place (7 yrs), but well worth the effort as it is really a magnificent, imposing structure. Back in Kusadasi we enjoyed a visit to a carpet store where we saw a carpet under construction. [ Yes, we did buy a carpet ] We wandered through the bazaar on the way back to the ship. It was the last night on board and we exchanged contact information with our table mates, then we all went to the show in the cabaret followed by a drink in the lounge. We were so very fortunate to meet such an interesting and fun group of people. Bags had to be out before dinner, so there was a frenzy of sorting and packing, especially [since we'll be 3 nights in Athens.
Photos 11 May