Turkey

Kusadasi May 26, 2013 Kusadasi Turkey (pronounced Kush-a-DA-si) is the port city for a visit to Ephesus. We had pre-arranged a tour to the ruins, but we were a bit surprised when Shar & I were the only ones on the tour! We had the micro-bus and tour guide all to ourselves. It meant we could move faster or stay longer at spots as we wished. The ruins are about 30 miles from town. In ancient times, Ephesus was a sea port but for a variety of reasons (mostly earthquakes) it is now miles inland. Enough earthquakes and the city was finally abandoned and earth covered it for 1,000 years until the mid 1800's when they started uncovering it. It is a neat place to visit with very nice ruins and good preservations. The floor mosaics were amazing to see after 2,000 years. The tour starts at the top of the city, the "city hall", parliment, etc, then goes through the cultural part of the city, thru the market area and the big ampitheater. Between the parts that were buried & preserved or reconstructed, this is great example of an ancient city. And the ties to the New Testament make it all the more interesting. Following the ruins, we stopped by a Turkish rug "manufacturing plant". Everything is hand make. They showed us the silk cocoons, how to start pulling the threads off, make silk thread, then how they tie the carpets (rug) by hand. (combination of weaving and knots) Some pretty amazing artistry. Back in Kusadasi, we walked through the marketplace. And found a BAKERY! I love trying foreign baked goods. Not near as sweet as baked goods in the US. Put Kusadasi on your list of great places to visit.