2022-07-27: Kusadasi/Ephesus

It was an early morning for us this morning. We woke up at 6:00am. The ship was pulling into the port of Kusadasi while we got showered and dressed. We headed up the Windjammer for a quick bite to eat before heading to the Royal Theatre to check in for the shore excursion we had booked for today. Today we were going for a tour of Ephesus and then to a water park for the afternoon.

Shortly after 7:15am we were escorted off the ship for our tour. We were surprised to discover there were only 18 people on our tour. We were expecting a larger group, but certainly weren’t going to complain about the smaller group size. We met our guide for the day and boarded a small bus. Before long, we were on our way to Ephesus. Ephesus is an ancient Greek and Roman city that was founded in the 10th century BC. It was an important port city on the Aegean Sea where goods were traded. Ephesus was abandoned in the 15th century AD after silt built up in the harbor causing the sea to recede. The city was no longer connected to the ocean so lost it’s importance as a trading port. Today, the sea is over 5 miles away from the city. Excavations of the ancient city have been going on for over 150 years and they believe they have only uncovered about 15% of the city. Important historical figures such as Cleopatra and Roman Caesars walked on the same pathways we walked on today. It is pretty amazing to think about. We spent about an hour and a half exploring the city. There was also a short play to entertain us near the exit. We were a little rushed to get back to the bus unfortunately so didn’t have a chance to look through any of the shops at the end of the tour. Michael was quite disappointed by that.

We boarded the bus and were off to our next stop which was Adaland Aqua Park. It is the biggest water park in Europe supposedly. We thought it would be fun for the kids. We had about 3 hours to splash around at the water park. They had multiple pools, water slides, and rafting rides. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. At 2:30, we met our guide at the entrance to the park and were ushered back onto the bus.

Of course, we couldn’t do a tour in Kusadasi without being taken to a carpet store. They gave us a short demonstration on how they make the carpets. It is quite interesting to see how they do it. A single carpet can take it’s creator up to a year to complete. Then they show you a bunch of the carpets they have to sell in the hopes that you’ll buy one. The carpets really are beautiful, but they are also expensive. A nice small rug will only set you back about $3000. We didn’t bother asking about the big ones. The carpets range in materials from various grades of wool to silk. They laid out a bunch on the floor and asked anyone interested to walk barefoot on them so you can see how they feel. Michael was very interested in this part. I think he walked on every single carpet they rolled out, which was quite a few. After viewing the demonstration and admiring the designs, we left the shop. That was the end of the organized tour.

We had about an hour until we had to be back on the ship so we went searching for some souvenir shops for Michael. We were down the street from the cruise port and there was a bazaar on the other side of the street. We wandered into the bazaar and were inundated by the vendors trying to sell their wares. It is definitely a different culture in Turkey. You can’t walk past a shop without the owner harassing you to come look inside. “Just a quick peak. I’ll give you a great deal.” We laughed at the signs advertising “genuine fake watches”. We found a couple of souvenir shops and both Michael and Patrick found something they liked. It turns out Michael is an expert at bartering where Patrick is not. Michael got his souvenir knocked down to half the original price. Patrick payed full price for his souvenir. Both boys walked away happy though.

We made our way to the port and into the security line. The line was quite long. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line like that to get back through security and to the ship. It took us the better part of half an hour to get through security. We managed to get back on the ship with about 15 minutes to spare. We headed up to the pool deck to return our towels that we borrowed for the water park and grabbed an ice cream cone before retiring to our room for a while.

At 6:00pm we headed to the main dining room for dinner. Dinner was quite enjoyable this evening. They had a warm cookie with ice cream for dessert which we all ordered. Actually, Patrick originally ordered a crème brulee and then changed his order. Our waiter brought him both and Patrick was quite happy to eat both of them. After dinner we poked through the shops for a bit and explored the art gallery. They were displaying Romero Britto art tonight which Amanda really likes.

At 9:30 we went to Two70 with the kids. They were offering the Two70 Experience show again. Amanda and I watched it at the start of the cruise but the kids missed it. It was worth seeing so we went again with the kids this time. It’s a behind the scenes look at the Two70 venue including the robotic display screens. The kids thought it was really cool. Once the show was over, we returned to the cabin and called it a night. It’ll be another early morning and busy day in Athens tomorrow.