Friday and Saturday, the 8th and 9th of April, we were in the port of
Kusadasi in the western part of Turkey on the Aegean Sea. For the first
day we did very little other than a stroll of the seaside portion of
Kusadasi.
On the second day we took a tour sponsored by the American Express
Mariner Club. We motored from the port to Ephesus for a quick look at
this 2,000 year old city a portion of it excavated. We opted not to take
a longer tour to Ephesus as we spent time there twice before on cruises.
From Ephesus we drove a short distance to the small town of Selcuk, the
site of the ruins of the ancient Temple of Artemis. Very little of the
temple still stands although a couple of columns are still there. On the
top of one column is a nest of storks. In fact we noticed quite a few
(maybe a half dozen) nests perched on top of columns and unused chimneys.
Also in Selcuk we visited the Basilica of St. John the Apostle. Based on
an item in the New Testament, locals note that St. John was there and
legend has it that he is buried here. The tomb in the Basilica is
clearly noted but the tomb site is of fairly recent origin.
From Selcuk we drove to the town of Sirince for a wine tasting and then
lunch. All in all a nice day. When the bus returned to the ship we were
dropped at a large carpet shop near to the ship. We and quite a few
others opted not to visit the shop and hoofed it to the ship. Shopping
is not for us.
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