April 20, 2015
Since my last post we have visited Turkey, Greece, Italy and
Spain. Now we have two sea days as we sail to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel, so I
have time to catch up.
First Turkey. We arrived at Kusadasi on April 9. Most of our
fellow passengers were traveling to Ephesus but, since we had already visited
there twice, we opted for an excursion to a small Turkish village. This was a
small tour – only eight passengers plus a ship’s representative and our guide –
so we drove up the winding mountain road in a small van instead of a big bus. Our
group included two couples from the US, one from Canada and one from Australia.
The Turkish countryside is lush and beautiful. On the way to
our destination, Sirince, we stopped in a small town where the one remaining
column from the Temple of Artemis still stands and we met a friendly street cat.
We also saw the castle and monument to St. John.
Remaining column
from the Temple of Artemis and local greeter
In Sirince we had Turkish coffee and learned that the trick
is to request any sweetener beforehand so you don’t have to stir the coffee
after it is served and can avoid “chewing” the grounds. This is something we
had not been warned about the first time we had Turkish coffee on our first
visit in 1998. This time the coffee was delicious and the fortune teller who “read”
the grounds foresaw both of us coming into money this year.
The village is full of stalls and shops where local (and
maybe not so local) handicrafts and jewelry were for sale. One shop had a big
sign over the door that boasted it had made the jewels for the movie Troy and
advised that we should look for the photo of Brad Pitt over the cash register.
A jewelry shop in Sirince
Street scene from Sirince
The highlight of the day was lunch in a private home,
complete with local wine. It was delicious. The home was also an art gallery
where the son of the woman who had prepared our lunch does felt art. His craft
earned an article in the NY Times. The dining room walls were covered in this
lovely work.
Our hostess standing in the doorway with our ship rep and
our guide.
That evening every passenger of the ship was treated to
dinner and a concert at Ephesus. This was part of the celebration of “Mariners’
Week” and was hosted by the CEO of Holland America Group and the new President
of Holland America Line.
As awe-inspiring as Ephesus is during the day, to be there
at night with the ruins lit up defies description. The concert by the Aegean
Chamber Orchestra was held in the Roman Amphitheater. The acoustics are such
that no amplification was necessary for us to hear every string section.
The
library at Ephesus at night.
Waiting for the
concert at Ephesus with friend Cindy
 |
| Concert at Ephesus |
The only problem was worrying about the many elderly guests
maneuvering safely around the 3,000 year-old structure. As a matter of fact,
after the concert as we were about to leave our seats, a man came tumbling down
the stone steps right next to us and landed about four steps below.
Unbelievably he got up and walked out under his own power.
All in all it was a day to remember and Turkey remains one
of our favorite countries. That evening we set sail for Greece.
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