Today we arrive in Ephesus. This is our third visit here this year- May and twice this month due to the back to back cruise we are on.
After hearing all the passengers and cruise tour folk talk about the Terrace Houses we booked a half day private tour with Curio Travel to take us to the Terrace Houses, St. John's Cathedral ruins and lunch.
We were greeted at the pier by our from Curio
Nursen (agent) & Nerhinde ( guide and led to our air conditioned mini van. We started out by driving to the Terrace Houses in the Kusadasi excavations to beat the cruise tour buses. We went in the back way passing all the tourist goods stalls and cafes and went slowly up to the terrace houses. Our guide spent at least an hour showing us the 7 houses and explaining when and how they were found and about life when the houses were occupied.
As you can see from the photos above some houses had beautiful mosaic floors. Some had wall frescos and running fountains.
We stopped for tea and cookies at the cafe, bought some souvenirs and then got in the van to go to the ruins of St. John's Cathedral. Some of the walls and pillars are still standing.
There is a underground passage to where St. John's crypt was but it was closed when we visited.
Our guide took us to a nearby kabab house where we enjoyed traditional Turkish food for lunch and a special dessert. Everything was delicious and reasonably priced.!
We were then driven to the center of town by the pier and left off for more sightseeing and shopping. Our guide and driver were super!!
We purchased some Turkish Delight, candy bars and souvenirs and then boarded the ship.
The weather was very comfortable -not humid- and we really enjoyed our last visit here this year.
Now we sail to the Bosphorus Strait past Istanbul and into the Black Sea for Yalta in the Ukraine.
This will take us almost two days of sailing.
After hearing all the passengers and cruise tour folk talk about the Terrace Houses we booked a half day private tour with Curio Travel to take us to the Terrace Houses, St. John's Cathedral ruins and lunch.
We were greeted at the pier by our from Curio
Nursen (agent) & Nerhinde ( guide and led to our air conditioned mini van. We started out by driving to the Terrace Houses in the Kusadasi excavations to beat the cruise tour buses. We went in the back way passing all the tourist goods stalls and cafes and went slowly up to the terrace houses. Our guide spent at least an hour showing us the 7 houses and explaining when and how they were found and about life when the houses were occupied.
As you can see from the photos above some houses had beautiful mosaic floors. Some had wall frescos and running fountains.
The houses were well preserved and some were reconstructed and others were found standing. Evidently an earthquake caused the earth to slide and cover them.
We saw some sights we had seen on previous visits including the public toilets which are now roped off so you can't sit on them. Luckily we had photos taken on our previous visit!
We stopped for tea and cookies at the cafe, bought some souvenirs and then got in the van to go to the ruins of St. John's Cathedral. Some of the walls and pillars are still standing.
There is a underground passage to where St. John's crypt was but it was closed when we visited.
Nehrinde explained that his crypt was robbed and his bones taken to different locations as relics ie Vatican, Topkapi Palace etc.
We had to pay an admission charge to enter the ruins (just like we did at other standing and ruined churches during our visit in Turkey). The non functioning churches which were converted to museums provide a steady stream of income to the Turkish treasury.Our guide took us to a nearby kabab house where we enjoyed traditional Turkish food for lunch and a special dessert. Everything was delicious and reasonably priced.!
We were then driven to the center of town by the pier and left off for more sightseeing and shopping. Our guide and driver were super!!
We purchased some Turkish Delight, candy bars and souvenirs and then boarded the ship.
I got off later to go to the Internet store to use the wifi - crew uses this place too.
$2.00 for 30 mins. I bought time for two devices and backed up the ipad but no luck on the iPhone.
Later I asked the computer mgr. in the iLounge why it did not work and he said the phone must be connected to power and wifi- won't work with just wifi (even though the iPad had no problem!
The weather was very comfortable -not humid- and we really enjoyed our last visit here this year.
Now we sail to the Bosphorus Strait past Istanbul and into the Black Sea for Yalta in the Ukraine.
This will take us almost two days of sailing.
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