Ephesus and another Grand Bazaar
Trip Start
Apr 22, 2011
1
10
15
Trip End
May 07, 2011
Pamukkale to Kusadasi, Turkey
Monday, May 2, 2011
Pamukkale to Kusadasi
Today was an early wake up call. We left at 7:30am and headed to Kusadasi. We stopped for a tour of Ephesus, which is the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient Ephesus was a great trading center occupied first by the Anatolians, then Ionions, then the Romans. This was one of my favorite stops on the trip. Excavation is still undergoing, but what has been uncovered so far is remarkably intact. The facade to the ancient library is especially intriguing.
We stopped for lunch in Selcuk and ate at a small locally owned restaurant. I had the same as yesterday, a spinach and feta Gozleme.
After lunch we visited a Turkish carpet factory. This was the second such visit of my trip so it was basically the same demonstration as before. I considered buying a carpet this time, but eventually decided against it.
We arrived at our hotel in Kusadasi around 4pm then several of us took some taxis into town to visit the Grand Bazaar. This bazaar was not as large as the one in Istanbul, but there were no cruise ships in that day so it was pretty empty and we were able to make some good bargains with the merchants. I wanted to spend the rest of my Turkish lira since I would only be using euros the rest of the trip so I bought a few pieces of jewelry, which seems to be a theme on every trip I go on.
A few of us stopped at an outdoor cafe for one last cup of apple tea before heading back to the hotel.
Dinner was at 7:30 and it was a buffet, not bad. We were to meet at 9:30 to go out for a night on the town in Kusadasi. I had every intention of going, but I had been battling a minor cold for the last few days and when I got back to my room I was not feeling great at all. So I opted out and took some cold medicine and went to bed early.
