Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ephesus, Turkey

Evidently it is now winter in Nice. The winters here are pretty mild but it rains alllll the time. Today is our 4th day of rain this week. That's 4 out of 5. The good news is that the mountains are going to have plenty of snow after this! 

In honor of our rainy day today, I thought I would share the next port from our cruise- Kusadasi,also known as the ancient city of Ephesus. It was also the rainiest port. We had arranged for a private tour guide and, once again, we were the first people off the boat. In the pouring rain. All four of us were soaked by the time we reached the tour van. Ugh. My excitement was beginning to dwindle. Fortunately the day was still fantastic. We saw the purported house of the Virgin Mary, the ruins of the ancient city(in the time of Saint Paul), the basilica where the remains of Saint John the gospel writer were entombed, and had an amazing traditional Turkish lunch. 

Like I said in the previous post- research what you want to see and plan accordingly. Don't just go where the cruise offers. 

The history that we saw in each of these places was beyond words. When you see homes from the first century, a library that held 150,000 scrolls (SCROLLS! not books, scrolls. wow.), and an amphitheater where Paul spoke to the Ephesians, it can kind of blow your mind. 

After our historic sites, we went to lunch at Turkish farm. It is a pet project of a wealthy man who loves to keep local traditions alive. If he hears of something that is a local tradition or local food- anything- it will be researched and then introduced on the farm. They hire locals, teach them the processes to make whatever the new idea is and in that way, preserve the history of the region. An very good use of wealth don't you think? And, they are pretty good cooks too. I think I have heard my mom, dad, and John all say at some point since we came home that they would love to have a lunch like that again. 

 Inside the city. This area was reserved for the senators and aristocrats.

Nike. Just do it. Can you find the symbol??
 
Front of the library. At that time, it was the 3rd largest library in the world. 
The amphitheater where Paul spoke to the Ephesians. 
 
 This was at the farm. They make their own silk thread for rugs. 
 
 Rugs like this. Amazing! And they let us walk all over them!
 
It's Thursday! Have a wonderful day! And, if you would want to see more pictures, here are the links again. I'm off to bake. I think I'll make some muffins.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my that amphitheatre is breathtaking in a picture alone just knowing what it is! I can't imagine what it would be like to see it. Incredible!

Have you seen the website smittenkitchen.com? I think you'd like it. I've been using a lot of her recipes, and doing not too badly if I do say so myself! :) I made peach muffins that were supposed to be cupcakes but I made them too big. But that was all that was wrong with them! They still tasted good! :)

Stacey said...

Pretty awesome. It is almost too much to take in.

I have used smitten kitchen a couple of times actually. I really like it. She has some really great recipes.

Very proud of you for cooking! :-)