Ephesus

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Today we tour the ancient city of Ephesus in the 100 degree heat. We landed on the island 7 AM but first another sumptious breakfast. We loaded our camelbac backpacks with as much cold water as they would hold. Everyone is amazed how well we can travel since we always have water with us. All our fellow travelers are constantly draining water at 50 cents to 1 euro per bottle, while we travel a full day and still have ice water from the ship in our pack. Makes travel in this heat much easier. We boarded our bus for the half hour drive to the ancient site. Our tour guide for the day was Can, pronounced John, a twenty year veteran as a tour guide. He wanted to be an archeologist, so he went to the best schools and was chosen as a student to help with the dig at Ephesus. He lasted 3 weeks and decided this was not for him! Now he guides tourists through the site he once dug. Ephesus is amazing. Only 20% of the site has been excavated, but the site that is visible is huge. There are temples, baths, running sewers, indoor plumbing for hot and cold water as well as toilets. It is amazing the technology they had 2500 years ago. There was one strange statue of the king with his foot on a round globe symbolizing his power of the earth. A round Globe! These folks knew the earth was round long before Columbus! Amazing. Ephesus has a huge Library, but all the works were destroyed when the city suffered a huge fire. Some of the most advanced technology of its day was lost forever. There were shopping malls and farmers markets. The women would go to the farmers market to buy their goods, while the husbands were in the library studying. Our guide pointed out a strange tunnel just inside the entrance of the library. Can told us this tunnel led to the local Brothel! So the women would come back from shopping, hot, happy and tired, while the men returned from the library hot, tired and happy! Reading can be strenuous. Within Ephesus was also large stage able to hold 6000. The acoustics were such that a whisper from the stage could be heard all the way to the top row. It was amazing in design, again technology way ahead of its time. After Ephesus, we had lunch in a local restaurant, part of the tour.We dined on local specialties, including appetizers, salad and meat followed by melon and fruit. Delicious as all the food has been. From here we went to Turkman rugs, a weaving school sponsored by the Turkish government. The goal of the school is to provide training to local women to keep the art of rug weaving alive. The school has 3900 local communites, with an average of 30 women from each, enrolled in the school. The government provides lessons in making silk, from silk worms, to weaving the rug. Once the student graduates, the government provides a loom and all dyes and equipment needed to make a rug. The rugs are then sold to stores for shipment worldwide. They also sell rugs at the school, of course. Thirty percent of each rug sale goes directly to the weaver, helping keep the art alive and providing a good income for many women. A great idea. Soon we were back on the ship in time for a little rest, dinner and a show on Movie Magic, songs of the movies. Another busy day.

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