Merhaba loved ones! Today was a busy day of sightseeing around the area of Ephesus. We began the day by departing from our hotel in Izmir and drove to the city of Selcuk. We first saw the ruins of the Isa Bey Mosque built in 1375. There a jolly shopkeeper who wrote each of our names in Arabic! From there we explored the ruins of St. John’s Basilica (which actually wasn’t a basilica according to our awesome Turkish tour guide and trip leader, Tosun). This is the place where John the Baptist or the Apostle John was buried. There was even a Russian Orthodox ceremony happening amidst the ancient columns and arches. After leaving this site we made our way to the ancient city of Ephesus, the place to where Paul wrote Ephesians. Along the way we stopped at a rustic ranch-style restaurant nestled among orchards who served us homemade Turkish food buffet-style. This food was amazing, some of the best I have ever tasted! At Ephesus, we explored the archeological site of the terrace houses, the archeological museum, and the ancient Roman theater (which was huge!). Hot and tired we took our bus to our hotel in the beautiful Kusadasi (Kush-ah-dash-uh), a city located on the Aegean Sea. Our hotel has beautiful views of the bay and also a pool! We immediately took advantage of the pool and are looking forward to a relaxing day in Kusadasi tomorrow.
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