September 13 – Izmir, Turkey

Uh oh! It’s Friday the 13th!! Good thing nothing scary happened today. I woke up to my alarm at 6:15am, got dressed and went up to Lido for my usual breakfast. When I got to the omelet line, it was way too long for my limited patience, so I went in search of an alternative and found the breakfast burrito bar just as it was opening at 7am! I am very happy to have found it because this was the first of many mornings when I ate here.

There was another beautiful sunrise this morning as I ate.

Like yesterday, we booked a private tour with 11 people from our Cruise Critic roll call. We met the group at 7:45 in the lobby and exited the ship together by 8am. As we got off the ship, they handed us a paper from customs which we had to return when we got back to the ship that afternoon. Everyone was unsure of how things would work because Turkey is not part of the European Union like most of our other ports were, but it turned out that we did NOT need our passports to get on or off the ship. However, the form did ask for our passport numbers, so it was a good thing we had them in our purses! We actually opted to always carry our passports hidden in a secure pocket of our bags when we were off the ship, just in case we ever did not get back in time (which luckily never happened and we never needed our passports during the cruise). 

Anyway, back to the tour… We met our tour guide Bill in the cruise terminal. Bill spoke English well and was very informative and funny, although he had a tough act to follow as Kali was so great yesterday in Athens. We were unsure if we would even be able to dock in Turkey because of the crisis and the travel alerts for the Eastern side of the country, but I was glad we went because I never felt unsafe in the touristy areas of the West coast. 

We drove 1 hour on the highway in our large air conditioned van through the countryside to Ephesus. Bill talked a lot about the history of Turkey and the current political and religious situations. We passed the ruins of Ephesus a little after 9am and noticed hardly anyone was there. I kind of wished we just stopped there because it would have been nice to see it when it wasn’t crowded and hot outside yet, but Bill said our first stop would be the House of the Virgin Mary. 

Several big tour buses were already there when we arrived, so there was a 30 minute wait to enter the house. The ladies went to use the restroom while the men waited in line… they had possibly the best restroom sign I’ve ever seen. Notice her facial expression…

We spent some more time waiting in line, and then finally got to walk through the house. It was small and quaint, but no photos were allowed inside so I only got to take photos on the grounds.

After we walked through the house, we had 15 minutes to shop at the little stores on the grounds.

We met up with Bill at 10am and got back in the van to head back to Ephesus.

By the time we got back to Ancient Ephesus, it was much more crowded. Bill did a good job of finding a tree where we could stand in the shade while he explained the history, but most of the time we were just out in the 90+ degree direct sunlight. 

We spent about an hour and a half walking around, taking photos, and avoiding the heat in the sun.

Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory… notice the ‘swoosh’?

As the morning went on, it got more and more crowded and hot (notice the people carrying umbrellas for shade?)

The Terrace Houses were inside a tent/building to keep the moisture out, so it was shaded in there but still quite warm. Luckily, even though the forecast said the high temperature would be 95 degrees, it was not humid so it felt more comfortable than Athens yesterday (which was 95 degrees with high humidity!) The Terrace Houses charged an admission fee above that of the entrance to Ancient Ephesus, but it was included in the cost of our tour so it was nice to see Bill paying for all of these tickets and we didn’t have to take out our wallets. Here are photos from the Terrace Houses…

When we exited the Terrace Houses, we spent some more time walking through Ephesus to see the Celsius Library, the marble streets, and the large amphitheater.

Looking back towards the amphitheater:

Sarcophagus:

After we exited Ephesus, Bill gave us 15 minutes to shop. He told us the stores outside the exit gate were cheaper than those immediately inside the gate, so I took his advice and went out to the stores. I loved the lamps but was afraid of how to transport them back home, so I decided not to buy one. 

I saw signs for “genuine fake watches” in several stores in Turkey and I thought it was pretty funny… but no, I did not go into those stores!

I ended up buying a purse and a trivet, and I was able to bargain them down to 8 Euros for the two so I was happy with that (I think it was originally 6 Euros for each item).

Next, we went for lunch. In planning this trip, I read many reviews complaining of terrible experiences at pushy carpet stores who forced you to buy rugs after you ate their lunch. I did not want that to happen to us and ruin our day, so I was hesitant about making a lunch stop. Luckily, we had a fantastic experience! Bill took us to a school where students learn to make rugs. It was in the countryside with pretty views, and they were waiting for us to arrive. 

They set up tables outside under the shade of a canopy, and served very good food for lunch. Appetizers included an eggplant dish, 2 types of salads, a yogurt mint dip (which reminded me of Greek tzatiki sauce), and bread. That was served family style, then they brought out individual plates with our entree of grilled marinated chicken breasts, rice, french fries, fried cheese, and tomato. We could buy a can of soda for 2 Euros, or wine and beer for 4 Euros, but the food was included in our tour price.

After we ate, we spent half an hour learning how they make the rugs, starting with getting silk from the cocoons:

Next, they showed us how they dye the yarn to the correct colors:

Finally, they showed us how they use a loom and a pattern grid sheet to tie a double knot and create the rug.

Next, they took us into a room and laid many different finished rugs on the floor for us to see the different patterns and levels of quality, ranging from 100 to 1200 knots per square inch! They encouraged us to touch the rugs and to walk on them. They said we could buy them if we wanted to, but I never felt pressure to buy anything, and we were free to exit whenever we wished.

Here are a few more photos from the grounds of the carpet school…

Next, we made a quick stop at the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and with views of a fort built by the Crusaders.

After that, we made the hour-long drive back to Izmir to get back on the ship. We hit a little bit of traffic on the way back, but arrived at the pier at 3:30, with a 4pm all aboard time. I did a little shopping at the pier and bought a small hand-painted bowel and a magnet for 6 Euros (of note, it was cheaper here than at the shops outside of Ephesus!)

When we were standing in line to get back on the ship, there was a crew member on line behind us and we overheard on her walkie talkie that 361 guests had not yet returned from their Carnival shore excursions at 3:45pm, but the ship waited for them because we ended up leaving port late, a little after 5pm.

I knew I wanted to ride the water slide at least once on this cruise, so I decided to do it now since I still had 2 hours before dinner, and I was hot and sweaty from touring in 95 degree heat and I wanted to cool off. I climbed all the way up to the top of the water slides and was shocked that not 1 other passenger was there! I rode down the “Twister” yellow slide. It was fun, but I didn’t think it went fast enough. After that, I got showered and ready for dinner.

Pear and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad

Steamed Muscles

Prime Rib

Dessert Menu

Variations of strawberries

which went very well alongside the Variations of Chocolate!

After dinner, we went to the show Epic Rock. It is similar to Rock of Ages, with an 80’s rock theme, and I LOVED it! They incorporated very cool visual effects with the video screens behind the actors, and I love 80’s music so it was a lot of fun to watch.

After that, we went to the adult comedy show. We arrived 15 minutes before it was scheduled to start and the lounge was packed!! We ended up sitting on the windowsill because all the other seats were taken. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it was better than standing the whole time. The comedian was okay, but not great. He had a few funny jokes, but I missed a few of them because he mumbled with a British accent, so I just didn’t understand what he was saying.

After that, we went to the piano bar. At first, there were no seats, but people left eventually and we took their seats. Seth was very funny as the piano bar singer, but I wished he would play more upbeat songs and fewer ballads. 

When we got back to the cabin, we saw a flyer telling us to change our clocks back 1 hour to get back to the Italy time zone. 

Up next: our second and final sea day