Update from Ephesus

Sorry that I keep appending the old emails... I haven't figured out how to easily delete them on my iPad :) Our journey today brought us to Ephesus in Turkey.  After docking we met Mete our guide for the day, and Hussein, our driver. We'd arranged for a private tour since there are 6 of us and it was well worth the money.  It's about a 20 minute drive to the site, and on the way we learned about Turkish history and the development of the modern Turkish state.  I will admit that without properly caffeinating, I missed some of the detail.  I was also distracted by the sight of some kind of themed water park off to the side of the road called Adaland.  Ada means island but it was on a hill so I don't quite get it...  What is interesting about Ephesus is that as you approach it, you have to imagine you were in a boat as it was a coastal town.  Today the coast is actually about 6 miles away.  The neighboring river silted in, and eventually the harbor did too.  The site is nestled between two hills and can be approached from either  the top or the bottom.  We started at the top and worked our way down. The first thing we noticed was the abundance of feral cats all basking in the sun on the ruins or asking for handouts.  The next thing we noticed was how big the site was.  A number of the ruins have been reconstructed after parts were uncovered to give visitors a sense of how the site looked and it's size.  Unfortunately over time many of the valuable finds in the site made their way to British, German and Austrian museums thanks to a permissive Sultan and some industrious adventurers.  What was most impressive though is that they excavated a portion of the marble road, and replaced the columns that would line the road, so you could get a true sense of what it was like to wander through the grand streets of the ancient city.  We also entered two of the odeons there, one which could seat 1,500 and another which could seat 25,000.  The public baths and toilets were interesting, and were all co-ed until roman times when they were told that was not acceptable behavior!   There are also a series of excavated terrace houses that have been enclosed to protect the walls and mosaics.  Wandering through these was amazing. We saw painted walls with their original designs along with intricate tile floors and marble covered columns.  There were students inside while we were there painstakingly removing layers of dust from the walls.  We left wondering just how much of the town still remains buried under several feet of soil, and what other treasures are just waiting to be found. After a quick stop to the Temple of Artemis we stopped in a Turkish country home to see how people typically live and enjoy some fresh made snacks.  It was a great way to end our short visit with conversation and delicious fare in the outdoor courtyard of this home surrounded by flowers and several dogs, chickens and even a few turkeys. All too soon we had to return to our ship to head towards Istanbul.  Because it was still early we found beach chairs on the back deck of the ship to enjoy some sun as we pulled out of port.  Right as we left we heard the call to prayer begin to ring out throughout the harbor. It was practically on cue. I was soon asleep 'reading' in my chair when I heard people shouting and laughing as they were splashed by a large wave of water  coming out of the pool.  Keep in mind that the water level is about 2 feet below the lip of the pool so it was quite a jolt to cause that.  I just assumed that we'd hit a big swell as I quickly gathered my things off of the ground to get out of the way of the water now sloshing all over the deck as another wave spilled out of the pool.  It wasn't until Mark asked what was up with the ship that I noticed the port side was a good 30 degrees higher than the starboard side.  I'm no nautical expert, but that didn't seem right unless we were on a catamaran.  We sailed like that for a few minutes and it started to correct. However when Mark and I went back to our cabin we did still have to walk uphill to get in which was a little unnerving!  Good thing I paid attention during the lifejacket demonstration.  We'll have to ask Guiseppe about it tomorrow to get the scoop. Well it's time to get some sleep to prepare for Istanbul.  Linda