European Cruise Day 5: Kusadasi and Ephesus, Turkey
Disclaimer: These are all unedited and uncensored. They are raw emotion, intellect and information. I hope you enjoy my experiences.
*Miranda and Alyssa are my sisters and Thomas is my soon to be brother in law.*
After a quick breakfast, I purchased some stamps for my dad and myself to send a few postcards back to the states. We bought Italian stamps and put them on Greek postcards. They won’t go out until Naples but it’s still cool. I sent one to Britt and Tavis. Just so they know I’m thinking of them. I think I’ll send one to Matt and maybe Frank too. On the tour to see the virgin mary’s house. They gave us a ceramic pot for some holy water. That’s intense! Izzete is our guide! He’s funny.
It’s very hilly in Turkey. There are three languages in the county: Turkish, Arabic and Kurdish. There is a ton of religious history here. John was exiled to a Greek island right off the coast where he wrote the book of revelations. Turkey is self sufficient, not needing to import. The soil is very fertile. They only export oil. They now import F16s from US because they are part of NATO. He made a point to say he are allies. And war is bad. Most of Turks are Muslim, but Turkey is a secular country.
There is a beautiful fog along all the hills throughout the landscape. We’re passing by the river meander. We use that word now. Meandering. On the right we see a small castle that watched over the Aegean Sea. They would release blue smoke in times of peace and red smoke if there was an alarm to be made.
Turkey is the biggest silk exporter in the world. It comes from silk worms from mulberry trees. They feed on the leaves of the tree. As we summit the mountain where the house of virgin mary is, I realize that again they have taken very good care of the foliage in the area. They paint all the bottom of the trees white to protect against insect infestation. We passed by a stone beautification pool. As we approach the house of Mary, there is a notice about the shrine in almost every language about the evidence of whether she was here at her death or not. It’s so interesting. At least 12 languages. A nun that may have had a vow of silence was standing in front of the house as we walked in we had to be silent. Some people were loitering around the statue of Mary within the house. We walked through and out to a really nce display of prayer candles. I lit and added one praying for peace and love. That’s what it’s about for me. Yet I am still learning. Always learning. My mom was very moved, putting her hands on the wall to feel the energy. we gathered our holy water from the spring and are now back on the bus. Miranda just walked on and said that one of the guards felt her up! They were taking a picture and he squeezes her butt! She walks on saying, “I just officially got felt up by a guard of the house of Virgin Mary.” She’s so eloquent.
Ephesus, or Efes as is the local term, we begin at the top where things are not that attractive, but as we walk down a steep marble road we begin approaching some magnificent sculptures and ruins. This place is fucking crowded though! Take a look at the picture. We made it to the most elegant place in the Efes. The library is in incredible shape for dating back more than a thousand years. The statues are almost intact and the script is completely legible. What a place. Thomas said it may trump the Acropolis. I might just agree. As we walked back down we got to see the theatre which was huge and very dramatic. We walked through the tunnel where the actors would pass back and forth to backstage. Then there was a silly show of a sword fight that was just like the renaissance festival. But cleopatra was queen. I filmed that. As we walked through a short square I bought a coin with Socrates on it for Tav’s coin collection. Now we’re back on the bus and off to lunch!
We roll into the 2nd largest water park in europe for lunch! Lucky kids to live near here! Buffet style! Bomb diggity. This food is right on. There are tons of choices and we’re all trying everything. Rice stuff wrapped in grape leaves. Amazing feta cheese that melts in your mouth. Kabobs. All kinds of chilled noodle stuff. Fresh tomatoes. Great Turkish coffee. And delectable desserts. Baklava, tarts, creme brûlée. So much to choose from. It’ll be nap time after this! I fell asleep in the bus for a few minutes. I needed that.
Now we’re in a Turkish carpet store where they offered either apple tea, coffee, beer, or lion’s milk - ozzo. I got the ozzo! Gotta try it! I’m impressed with how much theyre teaching us about the carpet. The lion’s milk is the most intense good n plenty I’ve ever had! Turkish carpets are made of one or a combo of wool cotton and silk. There are a few men rolling carpets out constantly on top of one another to show all the different types of designs and knots. They’ve got a good operation going. The salesman is amazing.
After getting out from his grips, Miranda and I split off from the family to walk the streets of Turkey. We were hit on and hustled and it was a regular good time. We then came back to the ship and I played a bit of guitar showing Miranda my new songs which we both enjoyed. Then we decided to watch a little TV and a super cute movie came on, called swapped or switched or something like that. Miranda decided to start a wrestling match which I almost won…. Now off to dinner.
It was American night at the restaurant so we got some home cooking. Well not really. But I got onion soup, a calzone and some key lime pie. Yum! Now off to an ice skating show! I don’t know the theme but the tix said “ice under the big top”. That was very fun. It was a multinational show with a lot of different talents, all on ice. I really enjoyed it. Afterward we watched the end of the sunset and I came inside to relax because I’m so tired. I played guitar for a bit, kinda came up with a cool finger picking part, which I suck at but I’m getting better. Now I’m watching a Julia Roberts movie. I don’t know what it is at all. The patio door is open and I can hear the ocean pass by and I wonder what’s underneath this very moment. What kind of fish are in the sea? Are there whales in this part of the world? Wherever there are whales, I’m going there with Britt. We gotta go there together. I wanna go everywhere with her. I think we can do something real, something amazing. And I want to call her every morning and every night just to say good morning and good night. I miss you.
