Thursday, August 2, 2012

Cruising the Mediterranean - Part 5 Ephesus

I'm back and I've missed my little blog so much!  We moved to our new apartment and there was a 12 day delay in getting our internet connected.  Very frustrating! First World problems and all that, but I'm back.   

We are loving our new neighborhood and London is buzzing with the Olympics.  I can't wait to share more but before that I need to finish up a few more posts from our cruise.


Today, I'm recapping our visit to Turkey.  It was our favorite stop.  

This is TE stepping off the ship onto the soil of country number 100!!  He can now officially join the Travelers' Century Club!!  He's such a numbers guy.  

After a long, hot day in Athens the day before, we were a little concerned about another one.  But, decided to just make the best of it.  And this turned out to be the highlight of the trip.  

At the Port of Kusadasi, we got off of the ship early to meet our tour guide.  For Turkey, we pre-booked online with Ekol Travel, again using recommendations from CruiseCritic.com.  It was just the two of us for this tour with a guide and a driver.  

I highly recommend this tour company.  Our tour guide was friendly and so knowledgable.  We had a large air-conditioned van just for us.   

Our first stop was the Ancient City of Ephesus.  It was about a 45 minute drive from the port.  We were in a race to beat the heat and the crowds.  Turkey is just beautiful, green and lush.  We passed olive, peach and lemon orchards while our guide told us about this beautiful country. 


We arrived at the site of Ephesus just after it opened.  There is a small market outside the entrance.  Our guide quickly led us through the gates before the large crowds filled the streets.   


Ephesus is just spectacular and we definitely felt like we were stepping back in time about 3,000 years.   


 The site is massive but less than 20% of the city has been uncovered.  Excavation has been going on for over 150 years.  



This was once one of the largest and most important cities of the ancient world with a population of half a million people during its peak.  



We walked along marble streets where Alexander the Great and the apostle Paul once walked.  The access is amazing.  I was so excited to get some pictures with no tourist in them.  Within about 30 minutes the site was teeming with people.  


The Library of Celsus is one of the features of the site.  It was built in 125 AD and once held over 12,000 scrolls. 



These are marble toilets seats at one of the Baths.  They had slaves warm up the seats for them. 


The city also had a complete plumbing system.  You can still see the clay pipes that led clean water and waste throughout the city. 


We also paid an extra fee to visit the Terrace Houses which are located at the site.  For some reason, not many others were taking this tour, but I say don't miss it.  It was fascinating.  


Six "houses of the rich" have been excavated in the terraced hillside and are covered with a protective roof.  There is a metal walkway built up and through the houses with plexiglass flooring so you can see the interiors which are full of mosaics and frescoes.  


Some of the homes were built as early as the first century BC and they are so well preserved.  It's like a massive, decorative jigsaw puzzle.  


Turkish rugs are famous the world over and these must have been the inspiration.  There were many fully intact mosaics in the flooring and all of the rooms were painted and decorated.  It must have just been beautiful during it's heyday. 




 It's amazing to think of what they still might uncover someday as the excavation continues. 


One of the first excavations of the area was led by the British Museum and later Germany and Austria became involved.  There were many times in both Athens and Ephesus that we were told that to see the original you would need to visit the British Museum. 


Our guide was a young lady who grew up in Kusadasi.  She went to college for four years to be a tour guide and she was very passionate about the ruins at Ephesus.  We had some very interesting discussions about international archeology, politics and religion. She was terrific.



At one time, the city's harbor came right up to the end of this road where you can see the last column.  The harbor was eventually silted up and the ocean is now 6km away.  This is what led to the decline of the city and it was eventually completely abandoned during the 15th Century. 





Opposite the old harbor is the Great Theater which could seat 25,000 people.  The Apostle Paul preached here during his exile in Ephesus.  It was once used for gladiator battles and is still used today.  But for much less violent shows like Elton John.  


We spent a few hours exploring the ruins and then took a quick ride over to see what remains of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  The Temple of Artemis once stood on this site.  There were 127 columns 60 ft. in height.  The lone column with storks nesting on the top is made up of fragments and is all that is left.  The Temple was built to honor Artemis, the goddess of fertility.  

In the background of this picture you can also see three buildings.  The one to the right is the Basilica of St. John.  It was built in the 6th century over the believed burial site of John the Baptist.  To the left it is the Isa Bey Mosque built in the 14th Century.  The structure at the top is the Ayasuluk Castle built in the 7th Century.   Pagan, early Christian, Islamic and an Ottoman Citadel all upon this one hillside.  It's a fascinating view.  


Ephesus and Turkey is absolutely worth the trip.  I definitely "connected" with these ruins.  I was walking along the marble road and definitely had a moment.  It's a spectacular place and another time when I desperately wished for a time machine to see it in all its glory.  

Tomorrow I'll post about the rest of our day in Turkey.  Thanks for reading!  By the way, if you've found my blog through the forums on Cruise Critic then a huge WELCOME!  I hope my review has helped you plan your cruise.  You are going to have a wonderful time!   I'd love to hear what you think about this itinerary.  Feel free to stick around and leave comments.  

xoxo
Selena 

This is not a sponsored post.  All photos are ours.   


26 comments:

  1. I don't know, elton is pretty wild. Nice review, thanks for sharing on CC.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Woo hoo! I loved Ephesus when we visited and it was just lovely reading about your visit there and your experiences! I love that you saw all of the indoor places - we didn't see any of those and only saw outdoors. We think they might have been renovated at that time or something, so this was a real pleasure to see. Very good that you arrived first thing in the morning, we arrived at lunch time and it was brutal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved Ephesus too! Turkey was one of our favourite countries to visit on our backpacking trip back in 1997....long ago. I have so many of the same photo's as you of Ephesus. We loved it so much that we decided to buy our own little Turkish carpet too! Thanks for bringing back some good memories of Turkey. Great photo's!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're so awesome! I do not think I've truly read
    through a single thing like this before.
    So nice to find someone with unique thoughts on this topic.
    Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This site is something that is required on the web, someone with a bit of originality!


    Feel free to visit my homepage; http://socialcomputing.trojanifsc.net/spring2013/wiki/JosephrxMilnerso

    ReplyDelete
  9. I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it up!

    I'll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back down the road. Cheers

    Here is my web-site :: increase vertical jump

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you are going for finest contents like me, only pay
    a visit this site every day since it provides feature contents, thanks

    My site - workouts to improve vertical leap

    ReplyDelete
  11. A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment. I believe that you should publish more
    on this issue, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people do not speak
    about such issues. To the next! All the best!
    !

    Feel free to visit my blog :: workouts to improve vertical leap

    ReplyDelete
  12. I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here.

    The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish.
    nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the
    following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again as exactly the
    same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this increase.


    Also visit my site upper chest exercises

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hmm it looks like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I'll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I'm thoroughly enjoying your blog.

    I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I'm still new to everything. Do you have any tips for rookie blog writers? I'd definitely appreciate it.


    my blog post :: rc airplanes

    ReplyDelete
  14. I rarely create remarks, however after browsing a ton of responses here "Cruising the Mediterranean - Part 5 Ephesus".
    I do have a couple of questions for you if you tend not to
    mind. Could it be simply me or does it look like a few
    of these remarks look like they are left by brain dead visitors?
    :-P And, if you are posting at other online social sites, I would like to keep up with you.
    Would you list of all of your social community pages
    like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?


    Feel free to surf to my homepage; charleston il hotels

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up
    and let you know a few of the images aren't loading properly. I'm not sure why but
    I think its a linking issue. I've tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same outcome.

    Also visit my homepage workouts to improve vertical

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is
    an extremely well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info.

    Thanks for the post. I will certainly return.

    My web blog; exercises for vertical

    ReplyDelete
  17. I read this piece of writing completely on the topic of the comparison of latest
    and preceding technologies, it's amazing article.

    My web site exercises for vertical jump

    ReplyDelete
  18. Fabulous, what a website it is! This weblog provides useful information to us,
    keep it up.

    My web page; workouts to increase vertical

    ReplyDelete
  19. Awesome site you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics discussed here?
    I'd really like to be a part of group where I can get feed-back from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Appreciate it!

    my web page ... hilton grand vacation club south beach

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am sure this post has touched all the internet people, its really really
    nice paragraph on building up new blog.

    Also visit my homepage ... exercises to jump higher

    ReplyDelete
  21. Αmazing! Ӏts in fact amаzing articlе, I have got much clear ideа concerning from thіs pаragгaph.



    Feel frеe to visіt my blog online reputation management companies

    ReplyDelete
  22. When some one searches for his vital thing, thus
    he/she desires to be available that in detail, thus that thing
    is maintained over here.

    Feel free to surf to my blog ... Eric Gray Buffalo NY

    ReplyDelete
  23. With numerous electronics, the cost is what holds the consumer back
    again. Following that, the Kindle Hearth Utility is shown again and there will be several options
    at your disposal. Do you have an iphone issue and need solutions.


    Also visit my page - http://wallpaperbing.com/profile/krridgley, ,

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'm amazed at the depth and high quality of content material you've put on your site. Very interesting article. Content has been written in very nice manner. I enjoy reading this kind of stuff. Thanks for sharing


    Clipping Path

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I love to hear from you!