Ephesus, walking in the footsteps of Paul

I must apologize for not keeping my blog current, as I have  been a little under the weather for the past couple of days.  As I write this I am setting  in the ocean bar with the busy port of Istanbul out the window, and what a sight it is.   I have never been witness to so many large and small  watercraft in such a limited area, but more about that later .Barbara has gone ashore again today to search out the spice market.

The port of entry into Turkey for visiting Ephesus is Kusadsai, and can b e pronounced a couple of different ways, and was developed by some forward thinking government officials years ago when they realized that this was the best way to bring economic development to this area.  It is a jewel of a terminal and is first class facility.

We chose to do two shore excursions here, as the  attraction for us was a half hour away and could only be conveniently reached by taking a shore excursion bus. 
We  were fortunate  that a couple in our Cruise Critic group made all the arrangements.

Mediterranean folks seems to  have an affinity for taking care of tray cats and dogs, and the Turks are no exception.  I took this next photo of one of the “caretakers” and soon after I decided to remove my backpack and take out a snack bar – well what a change came over my  new friend as it immediately warmed up and  started caressing my pack as if it  knew from experience there was food inside.

As we followed our very competent , and entertaining guide we  were presented with so  many photo opportunities it was hard to pick a few to share, here is  Nike, Winged Goddess of Victory – and her feline friend enjoying the sun:

and these time worn marble steps,  and you ask yourself  “Did Paul make that climb?”

or was he invited to dine with the upper crust that lived in the terrace houses and did he use their private bathroom after dinner, note the clay  tile pipes  used for running water;

probably not, but he could have stood where we are standing and marveled at the beautiful exterior of the  Celsus Library;

To stand there and try to imagine what this treasure looked like in Paul’s time is  overwhelming.

After visiting a Carpet Salesroom and enduring their sales pitch we were just as amazed at the time and skill that went into putting these marvels together.  some that we saw took 6 women 18 months to make with up to 360 knots per square  inch.  Knotting the treads is what  makes the luscious pile of these works of art.

Finally, our guide wanted us  to go back to the “New Ephesus”  to see the location of the  ancient site of the Temple of Artimus, and I noticed a stork’s nest at the  top of the lone column and was lucky to get this pose, of a mother readjusting her nest;

Next: New Ephesus and a visit to a mountain  village