Mmmm, Turkey

I am sitting on our room’s balcony, looking at Turkey. It looks a lot like northern California or Santa Barbara or Italy without the cliffs. Rolling brown hills dotted with green shrubs, white buildings with terracotta roofs, some palm trees here and there. We spent the day here, on the southwestern coast of Turkey. The port town is Kusadasi (we learned it is correctly pronounced as koosh-ah-dah-sheh) but the reason we are here is an ancient town about 30 minutes away. A place called Ephesus.

Ephesus is notable because it was a huge port city in ancient times. Lots of notable people passed through, including Antony and Cleopatra and some biblical folks such as Mary and two of Jesus’s apostles, John and Paul. As we learned in Patmos, John lived in Ephesus both before and after he was exiled to Patmos. He and Mary hung out together since John promised Jesus he would look after his mom after Jesus died. About 20 years after Jesus was killed, Paul came here to try to turn the deeply pagan town into a Christian one. He had measured success. About 50 years later, John died in Ephesus (we visited his tomb and accompanying basilica today as well).

Dedicated Woodhaven Ramblings readers might recall I visited Ephesus with my mom about five years ago. It was amazing to me today how much has changed in such a short time. Both Kusadasi and Ephesus are more tourist-ready. Ephesus has more signs, a self-directed audio tour, a museum store, a bigger souvenir area outside the ruins, and more of the ancient town has been excavated (reportedly 80% of it still remains undiscovered). Kusadasi has landscaping and stores with walls and doors and lots more hotels and taxis.

Although I didn’t have any experiences on the scale of yesterday’s mindblower in Patmos, I did get a bit of a rush when I stood in the orchestra pit in Ephesus’s Great Theater and imagined what Paul might have felt and observed when he stood in the same place to preach Christianity to the curious. Instead of perhaps 100 tourists wearing Tevas and capri pants and audio headsets, Paul might have gazed out onto a crowd of 25,000 Greeks wearing togas and sandals that looked a lot like…Tevas.

Us in front of the Great Theater in Ephesus

Our tour concluded with a Turkish carpet demonstration/sales pitch in Kusadasi. We agreed to attend mostly for the free pastries and beverages. The rugs were beautiful, and the demonstration was quite a well-rehearsed production with sweaty men rolling out rug after rug while the suit-wearing owner described how many knots per millimeter and cotton vs. silk percentages and region where the design originated. We resisted the $2000-$4000 to bring home a replacement carpet for our entry way. It was a deal breaker when they said you shouldn’t vacuum the rugs with a beater brush. Plus, I can only imagine my anxiety every time a kitten with an upset tummy padded over the rug.

We found a café in a plaza and had a very tasty lunch. We have no idea what we actually ate since we mostly pointed to stuff in a case. There was some bow tie pasta with crumbled meat, some meat balls in a yellow cream sauce, and some meat chunks in a red sauce. Since Turkey is Muslim, we’re pretty sure we were not eating pork. And probably not cow. It was very likely lamb or goat, or both. Whatever it was, we were both very pleased…and full.

Lunch in Kusadasi.  Mmmm!

We then wandered through the Grand Bazaar to look for some souvenirs. I had a few specific things in mind, including some jewelry for myself. We were warned that the shopkeepers could be a bit pushy but that that was part of the fun. Umm, no. No fun. Really annoying actually. We thankfully found one store where the shopkeeper looked like she would rather be napping and we bought a collection of goodies for people back home. As for my earrings, I will keep looking, hopefully in a port where I won’t have so much help and won’t be expected to bargain so much.

Oh, one last fun tidbit from our tour guide. After speaking quite highly about Turkey’s wine, beer, and Raki (basically licorice-flavored White Lightening), our guide noted that Turkey’s enthusiastic consumption of alcohol might seem in conflict with Islam’s Koran which clearly states that not one drop of alcohol should be ingested. Well, Ataturk – Turkey’s greatest political hero who gained their independence – loved his Raki. So, with a clever reinterpretation of their Holy Book (you know, that NEVER happens), Muslims in Turkey first dip a finger in their adult beverage to rid it of its One Evil Drop and then enjoy the rest with guilt-free adherence to their religious tenets.

Tomorrow is another At Sea day as we head southwesterly towards Country #4, a new and slightly anxiety-laden territory for both of us. Oh, boy!