We arrived at the port in Kusadasi. The ships stopped coming here for the past 2 years as the insurance was too expensive due to the unrest. They are just coming back now and the economy is slowly recovering but they believe it will take 2 years.

First stop was 30 minutes drive from Kusadasi where we visited the house where Jesus' mother is said to have lived the last years of her life. The site, called the Virgin Mary's House, has been officially declared a Catholic shrine and was visited by Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Benedictine XVI in 2006. It was very moving and such a peaceful place. You couldn't take pictures inside  and they said the water was blessed here, so we had to have some. (We're both feeling younger already!)

Then on to Ancient Ephesus, we saw the Great Theatre, which dates back to the Hellenistic period. In the 1st century AD, the theatre was reconstructed and expanded by the Romans to a seating capacity of 25,000. Ancient historians believed the Amazons founded Ephesus, but now believed to have been the Hittite of Apasa. (Whoever that was?) We also saw the baths, columns, shops, houses, chapels and the Celsius Library. The highlight was the toilets where 50 men would sit in a communal toilet for hours at a time. The seats were marble so they would send in slaves to warm the up in the colder months, wow! The marble Panathinaiko Stadiumpaved streets were incredible and very slippery. They were intuitive in those days and directed the water through terracotta pipes throughout the entire city. They have only exposed 20% of the city and the rest is still underground, believed to be covered by earthquake.

Then onto lunch where we enjoyed a traditional Turkish lunch set in a garden under the trees. Mark was wrapped with a cold beer after a hot morning. The food was good and we had 8 people on our minibus. We met some nice people and our conversation were very enlightening including discussions regarding the troubles of the middle east,  Turkey and the humanitarian crisis that going on. We then had a demonstration on how they spin silk, dye it and then make tapestry's. We also witnessed the making of Turkish rugs and we have gained an appreciation of them after we saw how labour intensive it was. Even though after the hard sell we didn't buy one.

After lunch on to the Basilica of St. John still in Ephesus. It was constructed by Justinian I in the 6th Century. It stands over the believed burial site of John the Apostle. From this site we could see the one pylon remaining of one of the 7 wonders of the world " Temple of Artemis".

The shops here are lined with diamonds, bags, leather and clothes stores and the owners are a little bit pushy. This is understandable after a few years with limited tourism. All  in all a wonderful day and so much history, nice to have experienced this.