Turkey

We have come to realize that we can no longer keep up with the detailed descriptions that we’ve mostly provided since our December departure. As we pull in to dock in Istanbul on 4/20/2023, we are two days behind in updating our blog, and hardly remember where we were yesterday, much less the day before. Over the next 19 days we will be in 12 ports. So, enjoy our brief descriptions and lots of photos as we bring this trip to a close.

Day 1 – 4/19/2023 – Kusadasi
After a visit to the island of Rhodes (see next chapter on Greece), we docked in Kusadasi for the day, primarily to visit the ancient city of Ephesus. Kusadasi means bird island. Among other things grown in this part of Turkey are Mulberry trees, which host white silkworms. The silk is one of the products used in the creation of their world-famous rugs. Ephesus, home of the Ephesians, as in “St.

Paul’s Letter to ….”, was an ancient port city located on the Meander River. When it silted up, the city moved. And then it silted up again and continues to do so even today. With 8,000 years of history under its belt, only 20% of Ephesus has been excavated, but what an amazing ancient city. Imagine Marc Anthony & Cleopatra disembarking at the wharf and riding in a chariot up the main avenue to the commercial district, or the theatre, or to the library. Not sure if they used the public toilets, or if MA knew about the secret tunnel from the brothel to the library. We saw a beautiful carving of the goddess Nike, and the “doctor is in” carving, as well as a “packaged” goods sign (carving of jar). A recycled piece left over from gladiator days showed that he won eight of his fights. The Library of Celsus was really the pinnacle, once storing thousands of parchment scrolls. And we were awed by the keystone holding the arch in place for thousands of years. Cats and dogs are everywhere and are fed by

everyone, belonging to no one in particular. Back in town, we watched a carpet weaving demonstration – they use the double knot method – and sat through a hard-sell carpet talk with our Turkish coffee and raki before gracefully and firmly declining. Our walk around town and out to the little fort took us by a statue of Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, and through a gauntlet of relentless vendors. But the views were beautiful, the water is crystal clear, and the cat sleeping in the birdhouse was worth running the gauntlet, both coming and going. What we never understood was how we were supposed to even consider buying anything, because the warning was to not make eye contact or speak to any of the vendors and don’t go into a store unless you intended to make a purchase. No purchases made in Turkey. Hmmmm.

Day 2/3 – April 20-21, 2023 - Istanbul,
Our trip up the coast of Turkey through the Aegean Sea, up the Dardanelles and then Sea of Marmara was an amazing day. After docking on the Europe New Town side of Istanbul (not Constantinople!) in the early evening, we were treated to a Bosporus Dinner Cruise with traditional food, lots of wine, and some belly

dancing. Our arrival was coordinated (not!) to coincide with the last day of Ramadan and the huge celebration of Eid al-Fitr. One of our crew described it as “Muslim Christmas”, but think it is more like July 4th in Washington, DC, New Year’s Eve in New York City, Day of the Dead in Mexico City, and Christmas family time all rolled into one. The next day we took a bus tour around the Europe Old Town, getting lots of history and perspective from our guide. We saw many people making their way to the Muslim cemeteries to pay respects to their deceased family members; saw all the iterations of the mostly still

standing old city walls; visited inside the Rustem Pasha Mosque; and lastly took a 2-hour boat ride up and back down the Bosporus Strait, seeing both the Asia and Europe sides with the hordes of people out celebrating. The weather was cold but sunny and our guides did a great job of telling us about everything we saw. But wait. There’s more. After regrouping, we went out on our own, into the hordes, and walked across the Galata Bridge, into the Old Town, and wandered around – got into the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, aka Blue Mosque, just before closing; heard dueling prayer calls between the Blue & Hagia Sofia Mosques at 5 pm; saw the Egyptian obelisk (originally erected at the Karnak Temple in Egypt 1450 BC, then taken down and sent by Constantine the Great, and finally erected by Theodosius I in 390 AD); saw the beautiful tulips everywhere (which are native to Turkey and were later exported to the Netherlands); got caught in a massive thunderstorm (with no rain gear handy); and then walked the 2+ miles back to the ship, yet again with our hordes of Muslim friends. Lots of

waving as we departed the port at 10 pm and headed back down the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul was a fascinating city. We’d like to see it, but not during Ramadan/Eid al-Fitr.