Saturday we woke
after a very comfortable sleep in our suite. Rather an early start, we were
dockside right at 7:15 a.m., on our bus by 7:30. This all sounds really early but it worked
nicely as we beat the crowds & the heat.
Met by our Guide Gulsulm (Rose), really had a strong Turkish accent but
she was very engaging and quite informative. We drove up to the third site for
the city of Ephesus. Ephesus III to be
exact, founded in the 2nd century B.C. was a sprawling port city,
and by the 1st century B.C. there were over 250,000 people living
there (a third of them slaves!).Four hundred years later, by the 3rd
century, the Meander River had silted the port into a swamp and the glory days
of Ephesus were over. Nature destroyed the
city in one way but by burying all the abandoned structures, they were
preserved and protected until the mid 19th century. Slow and extensive excavations have been
going on ever since. The scope of the
place has to been seen to be believed and only 20% has been uncovered so far. Marble roads, temples, brothels, public baths,
massive library, an amphitheatre that could hold 25,000 people (where St Paul
preached in the early Christian church); where the Blessed Virgin Mary was
supposed to have left this Earth, next to the tomb of St John (the writer of
the Gospel & Revelations (more about that later) … the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven
Wonders of the World. Our Guide Rose kept taking us to ‘Kodak moments’ O.M.G.
now-a-days. One has to be there to
understand the magnificence of the site.
Back into Kusadasi –
we were given a tour of a Turkish carpet warehouse. Saw how silk is ‘harvested’ then how those
fabulous Turkish carpets are made. Takes
months, and sometimes, years of work to hand tie (double knots) these works of
art. Did a bit of shopping for a special
memory of Turkey.
Back onto the Olympia,
set sail for Patmos. We had a nice
lunch, caught some sun, then played some games, learned how to make folded
towel animals. Ready for another
excursion. Boarded a tender which took
us into the port of Patmos. Met by our
Guide Nicolos. A truly religious
Christian man, who took us to the Cave of the Apocalypse. This is the place that the apostle St John
(who ‘wrote’ the fourth Gospel) dictated the Book of Revelations and where the
Greek Orthodox Church has constructed a shrine.
What an moving experience to go into that grotto. Then Nicolos took us up to the monastery dedicated
to St John. Monks still practise the
Greek Orthodox faith in this holy place.
You should see the view.
Back on board,
another lovely meal in the Seven Seas Restaurant, up to our suite. Packed up and prepared for an early dis-embarkment
at Santorini the next day. A very full
day.
More to follow …
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