Skipping Christmas - Day 5

Izmir

The boat docked in Izmir, Turkey for the day. The main attraction here is not actually Izmir (which is a pretty large city on the coast) but rather the ancient Greek ruins of Ephesus. The ruins are not conveniently located (public transportation will not get you there) so we opted to sign up for a boat "excursion". For every port stop there are a wide variety of excursions one can sign up for, ranging from basic transportation to all day private tours. The one we signed up for had a couple stops, the first one being to the 'House of the Virgin Mary'.

If you would like all the hazy details feel free to click here. The short version is, based on some bible interpretation and the visions of a blind nun, this is now the reconstructed house of where Mary lived.

Here I am waiting in line, extremely skeptical and already wishing I was back on the boat.

 Eric looks a little happier because we are halfway over with this tourist sham.

Can't forget the scenic holy cistern that was converted to a baptismal pool!

Holy Water. We were even given little jars so we could bring some holy water back with us...

 The whole time I was here this is all I could think about (click here).

Next stop was much much better... Ephesus!!!

Don't let my pictures fool you- it was extremely busy.

Ye olde outhouse.

The great library!

Lots of ruins and kitties as you can see. We did not have enough time at the site. The ruins were really extensive and very cool. We got to see most of it but we still felt rushed.

After Ephesus we were taken to a very nice hotel where we had a buffet lunch. I did not get any pictures because we only had 45 minutes and I was distracted by the free internet.

After lunch it was time to buy a Turkish carpet! Amazingly enough it was better than the House of the Virgin Mary. They did a nice demonstration on how they weave the carpets and get silk from silk worms.

After the carpets it was time to get back to the boat. We bundled up a bit and did some reading out on the deck. Note the plate of cookies in between the chairs...

We finished off the day by having a nice dinner and testing out the hot tub. 

Time to rest up for tomorrow- Istanbul!