Kusadasi, Turkey

One of the most interesting things about cruising is that you sleep in the same bed every night, but the view out your front window each morning is totally different.

When we met our guide Julia for today's outing, we discovered that yesterday was Turkey's big national holiday celebrating 91 years as a country. The man responsible, Ataturk, was featured on posters everywhere about town. We also discovered that we had arrived at "The Cradle of Civilization". So much for Athens' claim.

I guess the main reason Turkey hasn't gained entry into the European union, is that only 3% of the country is actually in Europe. Today, we were in Asia. As we had visited the amazing archaeological site of Ephesus on our last visit, we gave that a pass today and opted to tour the countryside a bit on a panoramic journey. It was pretty much obligatory that Tony and Jackie visit Ephesus however and I think they liked it as much as we did. On our way to our first stop of the day we passed by Ephesus and had a peek at one of the theatres on site.

I'll have to research this further for the absolute truth, but apparently we visited the home where Virgin Mary spent her remaining days after being spirited out of an unsafe Jerusalem by Apostle John. Of course, when we asked where she was buried, the answer was that she ascended straight to heaven. OK! More mythology!

Next, we visited a mountain village outfitted to support the tourist industry, Sirince.

They seem to have an overpopulation of cats just about everywhere we go in Europe. But apparently they don't have a problem with mice or snakes.

We continued out panoramic tour with a drive through Selchuk with its impressive fortress, ancient church and Turkish baths.

Before we knew it, we had returned to Kusadasi, which at this date in October is at the end of its Cruise season. They did however get one more kick at relieving the tourists of their money with a carpet demonstration. I have to confess, I think they succeeded. Holy carpets!

As we left Kusadasi this evening, it crossed my mind that this port was a lot prettier than we remembered from 2009. I guess the Cruise industry has been good to Kusadasi.

Most evenings and actually any time we have the time to dine here, we are in the Grand Dining Room. We haven't commented on cuisine lately, but that would be because every night it is phenomenal. For example, for me tonight it was frog legs vol-au-vent, cucumber salad with radicchio, rack of lamb and strawberry brandy snaps for dessert. Heaven!