Day 5 Ephesus Turkey

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A Day in Ephesus, to walk where Paul walked and talked about in the Bible. This is the day we will cherish forever. This day is picture intensive.

This day our tour will be with a private tour group arranged by a fellow Cruise Critic member on our Roll Call. We are to meet at 7 a.m. at the Promenade. Grumbling did take place to think we had to get up like going to work to meet for this tour! On the flip side and even then, knowing how important it is to get out early to avoid the congestion at Mary's House was important! We do have time to have some extra coffee at the Promenade Café and some breakfast sweets. We have our great water bottles, some rain ponchos and such in case of rain. There are only 12 of us and this will be a nice tour group. We head out once the ship clears with the powers that be and we are off!

The dock terminal has shopping right there that we go through. We meet the tour guide and we are off through the country side to Mary's House. We are just about the first group to arrive which is certainly in our favor given the location and the size of the area which will quickly be filled with many tour groups.

This location for Mary's House was discovered when it was totally crumbled. A person wrote a story about a revelation that this was Mary's House. The Pope and Catholic Church took up the idea. The house was said to have been in the form of a cross. Only half the house has been rebuilt. There is a place outside for services. There is also a place outside to light candles and get "holy" water coming out of the wall as you descend form the house.

From here load up and head to the Bible time Ephesus. There are no words to describe the feeling of walking into the ruins and knowing this is actually where Paul and others in Bible times walked then wrote about. To think on this brought emotions that are difficult to put into words. This day will be remembered forever. I would suggest you read up online about the ruins. I will say it was interesting to find they pipes they ran through the baths which had hot air sent through them to warm the bath areas. Also of interest, the slaves sat on the toilets to warm them for their masters. The Library is one of the largest in history, even today. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. The port used to come up to this location, however, today is about 6 miles away. This is the 3rd location of Ephesus. We are amazed at the detail in the architecture. It is absolutely amazing how people in Bible times build such phenomenal buildings which have lasted many centuries.

We did tour the Terrace Houses which are in the process of being excavated. These are amazing works of art. The marble is engraved with designs which surpass what we have today. There were archeologists working as we toured. There are glass walk ways so you can see what is being saved. There were several families living here, wealthier as the lower class lived away from the town. There are no windows but the light goes into the rooms from the central living area.

We are overcome with gratitude being able to be in Ephesus. We are very grateful for a tour that allowed us plenty of time to see it a length. There is no way to get it all in a day but we did a lot! Now we are off to the rug factory.

There is information out on line saying the Turkey government is making tour go to the rug factories. Try as you might, you do end up at a rug factory. Actually this was not a bad stop and tour. There was no real pressure to sell you anything. We were offered wine or juice for refreshments during the presentation. One couple from our group did buy a rug. After the presentation and sales pitch, we did receive a free lunch. It was so good, fresh and plenty of Turkey delights. I would do the rug factory again if just for the great free lunch!

We are now off to a shopping area. Everyone gets off the bus. We walk several blocks and it begins to sprinkle. We head to find the bus driver and he lets us back on the bus. We kick back and have a nice nap. We were fortunate to decide to do this as the others return wet! By now we are all tired and ready to return to the ship. This was a very successful day, long but wonderful day. I want to return!

We return to the ship and enjoy another beautiful evening!

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