Day 4- Kusadasi/Ephesus

Day 4- Kusadasi/Ephesus
Today we woke up early and went to breakfast at the Windjammer café. We then headed out to our first stop on the cruise, Kusadasi. This was a beautiful port in Turkey. It had gorgeous beaches and beautiful mountain ranges that reminded us a lot of home. Sean even said if you were to blind fold him and drop him somewhere in Kusadasi he would think he was somewhere in Southern California. Once we got ashore, we immediately took a taxi to the town of Ephesus. Our taxi driver's name was Boris. We bargained with him and got a good deal for a tour of the town of Ephesus. Ephesus is an ancient town that houses the ruins of the basilica of St. John and many Greek ruins. It is rumored that the book of Ephesians comes from this town. Our first stop on the tour was the temple of Artemis. These ruins were over two thousand years old and are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. After visiting this site we went to St. John's Basilica. Here we walked around the ruins of what was once a cornerstone of Christianity. While there, Boris introduced us to his brother who owns the local hotel which is across the street from the basilica. He also owns a ceramic and rug shop and we spent some time shopping. Our third stop on the tour was to Greek ruins of the city of Ephesus. We toured the ancient ruins of the amphitheater where gladiators fought in front of large crowds, similar to the colosseum in Rome. We then walked the ancient road to the Library of Celsus where, after an Earthquake brought the building to ruins, a fountain was erected using one of the only walls standing in the rubble. We continued our walk up the road and saw the terrace houses and another small amphitheater where political meetings and musical shows occurred. When we reached the top of the hill we met back up with Boris, our taxi cab driver/ tour guide. He then took us to one of the amazing beaches of Kusadasi. We spent an hour there swimming in the gentle waves of the Aegean Sea. We then headed back to our ship to finish our day with spa treatments. Lyndsey and Mom both pampered themselves with manicures and pedicures, while David and Sean indulged in full body massages at the insistence of Lyndsey and Mom. Sean took another trip ashore after his massage and toured the city of Kusadasi. While there he was challenged to an arm wrestling contest with one of the locals. Of course, he won. After this mom decided to stay in her room and order room service for dinner, after which she turned in early. Sean, David, and Lyndsey went to the dinning room for a steak dinner. After dinner Lyndsey and David headed back to their room while Sean hit the hot tub one more time before bed.