We arrived early in the harbor at Kusadasi, which is pronounced Kooshadasi, but by the time

 we were ready to go on our excursion, several larger ships had joined us in the harbor.

 At the final count, there were 6 cruise ships in port, which means thousands of tourists. 

The Royal Caribbean and Princess ships carry 3,000 each, we had 1,250, and there was a 

Windstar ship and a Silverseas ship, both with smaller passenger lists. Kusadasi is not 

the largest port in Turkey but it is the only port for easy access to the site at Ephesus, 

about 30 minutes away by bus. We had chosen a 5 ½ hour excursion called Discover Ephesus 

with an Expert. 

Ephesus dates back to the 3rd century BC and is a very large site with 

finds from several different eras – Greek, Venetian, Roman, etc. Our guide, Burak, took us

 to the museum which contains many of the finds from the site and we met our guide, Ghengis

 (like Ghengis Khan but pronounced Jengis) who turned out to be a charming 69 year old 

Turkish archaeologist who had spent 42 years working on the excavation at Ephesus. How 

often do you get a guide who says “I found this in 1965 or 1971” or whatever? We spent

 30-45 minutes at the museum and then got back on the bus to go 15 minutes to the site.

 There were only 20 of us in the group plus Burak and Ghengis, so we were able to move 

around the large bus loads form our own ship and the others. 

Ghengis just said “ I got

 special permission to....walk on this track so we could avoid the crowds or go out the

 back door of something to see areas which he believes should be excavated by generations 

to follow. While we were on the rough track, one of the group saw something on the ground

 and it turned out to be a coin from the 4th century BC. We were allowed to touch it, but 

not keep it, as advised by Ghengis. The site contains 2 amphitheaters, one that seats

 25,000 people and where several concerts have been held in recent years with major musical 

stars. There is also a library where they have uncovered a two-storey facade with major artworks.

 One of the most fascinating finds is the terrace houses, a residential area with large 

homes build into the hillside. The Turkish and Austrian governments have been working in

 joint efforts to uncover and reconstruct these homes. Some of the floors are covered in

 mosaics and the walls are decorated in vivid paintings. In the large rooms, there are

 tables set up with all the pieces of marble found and they are reconstructing the marble

 walls by fitting these pieces together. It is the world's largest jigsaw puzzle and is a 

lifetime work for some of these people. 

The Austrian government has paid for large supports

 and roofs made of special fabrics which completely protect these terrace houses and the 

workers from the elements. They have only uncovered a few homes, but Ghengis showed us 

where he believes there are more units still under the earth. You can see the bulges and 

some stones in lines which support his theory. In 2 hours we were barely able to see a

 portion of this site and identify the different styles of architecture. Ghengis has taken

 Burak under his wing and often calls him in the off season to go and walk the ruins and 

learn from him, so Burak is very knowledgeable in his own right. 

After the site visit, we went for a lunch at a restaurant in the town of Selcuk, which 

included Turkish appetizers and lamb kebabs with bulghur, followed by a honey and poppy seed 

cake, with wine or whatever you wanted to drink. 

On the way back to Kusadasi, Burak discussed various Turkish crafts and especially the

 making of Persian rugs. He took those who were interested to a demonstration of the art

 of tying the knots to make the various rugs and an explanation of the various combinations

 of cotton, wool and silk threads and the differences in feel of the rugs. They put down 

25-30 rugs for us to see the patterns and feel the differences and then encouraged any who 

wanted to learn more to stay around and see more of the inventory. During the demonstration 

they provided Turkish coffee, Turkish raki, Turkish wine and a popular drink, apple tea,

 which is like iced tea and apple juice combined.

 After we had spent as long as we wanted 

at the store, which is vetted and 100% guaranteed by Oceania Cruises as a real example of 

the art and not a cheap vendor, we wound our way through the shopping area at the dock and

 headed up to the ship for the “pool party”, another opportunity for free drinks and  

dancing with DJ Jimmy the Greek. The 80 year olds were just as active as the 25 year olds,

 and the kids joined in for “YMCA.”

Only one more day and two islands to go.