Wednesday, Aug 30, 2000
Woke up in Kusadasi. We got up slowly and had a mediocre breakfast
in the Horizon Court buffet. We went ashore to Kusadasi, but were
disappointed by the touristy nature and all the hassling we received
from the store owners. We had a nice walk around town, though. We
went back aboard for lunch in the Horizon Court buffet, but it ended
up very crowded and pushy (only half was serving lunch). Jill vowed
never to eat there again.
The Grand Princess parked at
Kusadasi
We then joined the crowds for the tour buses and got on our bus.
First stop was the house of Virgin Mary. I t was inspiring to hear
the history of the area on the way from the coast to the top of the
hill. The actual house/shrine was a very quick and unexciting walk
through. We ended up waiting on the tour bus while three clueless
women finished buying tourist junk and potato chips.
The Virgin Mary's house
Next stop was Ephesus, an ancient Roman city. Most of it had
fallen and was destroyed by earthquakes, but some of it remains or
was reconstructed (such as the library and theater). The city had
originally been abandoned as the bay filled up with silt and the
coast moved to far away for it to remain useful as a port.
Upper Ephesus with a small
theater.
The main street of Ephesus
Mosaic floors in one of the
shops
A Roman bath, complete with running
water (but no privacy)
The library of Ephesus. One of the
largest libraries of the time.
The lady with the flag is all
powerful
The street running from the theater
to the port
In front of the theater. Seats
50000!
Ephesus was neat and educational but it was a long tour and the
guide talked a lot. It was also extremely crowded, as there were two
cruise ships in town, and almost everyone was at Ephesus. The sun was
hot but the temp was still only about 90.
After Ephesus it was St. John's Basilica. The picture models of
what it looked like were good. Again, it was a good history lesson,
but we could've have gone without standing around with a tour group.
Part of St. John's Basilica. It is
being rebuilt with donations from a couple in Ohio.
Jill catnapped on the bus back to Kusadasi, and then we walked
around the town in search of a liquor store and spent our last
millions on three bottles of Turkish wine and two bottles of Italian
Santa Christina red wine. We even looked around at a carpet shop, but
the prices were outrageous and the vendors too pushy.
Back on board, we went to the pool but it was crowded. We found a
quiet pool in the stern, but it was cold. We read by the pool awhile
and watched the sail away from Kusadasi.
Dinner was another casual night. Jill had the crab and corn soup
(but not much crab) and veal chop. Keith had the same soup and then
the venison steak (great!). We had mascerated strawberries and
chocolate bread pudding for dessert (yum).
We went to watch the London pub night show after dinner, but it
was basically a pub song sing-a-long and we didn't know any of the
songs, so we left after 30 minutes and crashed early (midnight).
After leaving Kusadasi, we could start feeling the sea movement on
the ship. Our clothes rocked gently in the closet. It was actually
relaxing and added to the "cruise" feel. |
