Turkey has a population of over 65 ½ million people, (made up of Turks, Armenians, Kurds and Jews). The Capital City is Ankara. This is an Islamic Republic. It is almost 800, 000 square miles with a lot of high Mountain, beautiful Valleys, exciting Cities and the Mediterranean on the western side. Most of the country is in Asia, (the Middle East) and some of it is in Europe.
There are many Ports and I would like to tell you about a special one. KURASADI, TURKEY, ASIA:
I have been to Kursadi twice. Both times I arrived by Ship and the Ship was not allowed to land so we had to be taken ashore in small boats. Both times it was raining when we arrived. The first time it was a small Village with one long muddy Street.
The second time it had become Town with Streets of Shops and Cafes. Cruise Ships use this Port to show you the ancient City called EPHESUS. The Archeologists keep uncovering more of it every year. It took our Coach to drive to Ephesus.
The first time I couldn’t see a thing because it was raining so hard. The second time I saw that our Coach was following the a path through the Mountains until we reached the Cayster River. En route our Guide told us that, ’’This City built by the Carians. Alexander the Great conquer and then the Romans captured it from the Slonicans. The Goths destroyed the City, (about 260 A.D.), and it was never rebuilt.’’ When we arrived we began walking through the ruins. My glasses were covered with mud and it was so cold that I got back on the Coach with a lot of other people and waited for the rest of the Group to return.
The second time I went to see Ephesus it was a sunny day and I couldn’t wait to see everything. *The following is taken from the notes I took and kept in my Memory Book: The AGORA was a Theater that is done in Roman Style, (a Theater in the round). We saw a Water Clock, a Sundial and some ruined Statues.
HARBOR STREET is a long Street that begins at the Theater and ends at the Roman Baths. It has Columns on both sides and the road was so small I would call it a one lane road today. We visited the ruins of 3 Baths. They were the ones built by Alexander the Great, (Scholastika Baths), the Varius Baths and the HARBOR Baths
. It was interesting to see the different ways that they were designed. We went through the area where we saw quite a few Brothels. I wonder why Ancient People loved to draw on the walls to show what they were doing! When Epehus was first built they believed in a lot of gods.
They built a few Temples to honor them, (Domition and Hadrain are the 2 that I wrote down that we saw). We walked through the ruins of the Churches of St. John and the Virgin Mary and saw the old Mosque. We ended at the Aqueduct of Poll. It looks exactly like the ones I’ve seen in Israel. There were a lot of other things to see but we only had an hour and a half stop here. When we arrived back in Kursadi we were given time to shop. The first time I only bought a brass Turkish Coffee Set.
Both times I was here I bought some wonderful Turkish Delight, (the oldest candy in the World).
The second time I was amazed to see all of the designed leather Stores. In a way the French had ’’invaded’’ the Town. I bought my Husband and my self each a leather jacket that was designed for Bretagne, (they cost $50.00 CAD each). The leather was so thin and soft that my jacket was made of small pleats, (and went down to my hips). At another Store I bought soft leather bags for both our Mothers, (each cost $10.00 CAD).
The first time I couldn’t wait to get back on the Ship. The second time we saw a small Café near the Docks. Six of us decided to have some Turkish Coffee. I was smoking a Rothman’s Cigarette and when the Waiter saw my box he offered to give us our coffee for free if I would give him my half filled cigarette box. I knew that we would be going through a Duty Free Store before we got on the small Boat to take us back to the Ship. So I agreed. He was so happy he gave me a box of Turkish Cigarettes, (my Husband use to smoke and loved to taste Cigarettes from places we traveled to so I gave him the Cigarettes when I got home.
Unless you are planning on visiting Ephesus, (or your Ship stops here), there isn’t to much to see or do here except to buy cloths. You can get the same things in Istanbul.
©LL2002