Today is Good Friday and we are in the port of Kusadasi Turkey.  Kuşadası, located on Turkey’s Aegean coast, is a vibrant resort town renowned for its stunning beaches, rich history, and lively atmosphere. Whether you’re arriving via cruise ship or planning an extended stay, Kuşadası offers a diverse array of experiences. Just a short drive from Kuşadası lies the ancient city of Ephesus, one of the most well-preserved Greco-Roman archaeological sites in the world. Highlights include the Library of Celsus, the Great Theatre, and the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  

Suzanna and were here in 2007 and did the whole Ephesus excursion.  Here are some pictures from 17 years ago. We had a great time on one our first cruises. Our tour stopped at a Turkey rug factory here in town at the end of the tour. Nana bought two rugs which are in our entryway and Dining Room in our house in Georgia. The transaction was taking a long time and we were holding up the bus and it was close to the all aboard time. Our guide said she arranged for a taxi to take us back the port. By the time we finished everything we were 20 minutes past our final boarding time. As we walked through all the shops which you have to get to our ships. They were all closed and we saw nobody. We started walking faster and the running. We could not see our ship with all the shops. As we exited the shops we saw our ship still there with one person standing on the pier. We were running faster now. They waved for us to slow down. We stepped on the ship and 2 minutes later it left the pier. Our first and probably last close call as we now are a lot more careful on getting back to the ship. 

Today, Nana really wanted to find a church in town. There were none to be found. Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim today (over 99%), and Kuşadası reflects that. The Christian population is tiny — mostly foreign residents or seasonal visitors — so the need for local churches is minimal. Kuşadası and the nearby region (especially Ephesus) were once central to early Christianity. But after centuries of conquest, especially after the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923, most of the local Christian (especially Greek Orthodox and Armenian) communities left or were relocated. Churches here exist — Just Quietly. While Turkey guarantees religious freedom in its constitution, building new churches can be legally and bureaucratically difficult. So smaller congregations tend to meet in rented spaces, houses, or multi-use buildings, not prominent church buildings.

We arrived into port when it was dark and we had a wonderful view of the castle all lit up.  

We had some big cruise ships parked next to us all day and it was very busy with tourists for Kusadasi.  We found a local dancing group and Nana had to dance with them.  

We got off the ship fairly early as Nana was looking for some churches but we did not find anything.  We did find a lot of taxi drivers that wanted to take us places (probably 30 approached us as we walked around the town).  The port entrance is a long series of shops as I discussed above and these vendors were very aggressive, standing outside their stores and trying to get our attention and to get us to come look at the store.  This really bothers Papa but Nana takes it all in stride.

We then headed off the pigeon island where Turkey has restored a castle on it.  A lot ships in the harbors around here and we even found a pirate ship.

Tomorrow we arrive into the port for Athens Greece.