You just have to love a day that starts at 10am, the extra hour or so of sleep helps to get rid of the "wearies" very well. First stop, the Virgin Mary's house, as a non religious type it was a bit ho-hum, for the pious types I am sure its a highlight. The little chapel is interesting for its religious focus. The kids loved the holy water coming out of the wall...thru taps of course. Our guide had warned us not to drink it as their had been more than one case of an unholy case of belly trouble emanating from the water ! The wall with hundreds of pieces of paper stuck in it by the devout was a good photo op. We bought a bottle of holy water for one of our very catholic friends who was overjoyed ! Next stop was a visit to a leather factory, I was expecting this and was steeled for the hard sell ! It turned out to be a much more fun experience. We were treated to drinks and then a private fashion parade of some very spiffy leather gear wrapped around some very attractive young turkish people, accompanied by music and lights. They then grabbed the three kids took them back stage and put them in the show, the looks on their faces was priceless. We ended up buying some jackets and a handbag and after some negotiation/haggling we ended up with what I felt was a very fair price (when we got back I did a little comparison shopping and the prices for the jackets with the favourable exchange rates were 40% cheaper than comparable jackets locally.) Next stop was an early lunch in Sirince at the Artemis Hotel, excellent kofte and ridiculously expensive drinks !! Sirince is a very pretty little village and I was surprised when no one came out to try and sell us something !! Back to Selcuk and a brief stop at the Church of St Jean, the view from here gives a chance to get an overview of where Ephesus 1 started and the subsequent moves of the city due to the silting up of the harbour.

By the way the Church of St Jean is a pretty much ruined ruin and at the gate we found the most persistant group of touts. Our guide eventually told them to bugger off ! On to Ephesus mark 3, we started at the top and stocked up on bottled water and grabbed our hats, even though its spring time today is hot !! It is extremely difficult to convey how impressed we were with Ephesus, I am not even sure if the photos can express the feeling that the place gives you. This was a city of up to 250,000 people, a thriving centre of commerce and learning. Our guide ,Erdan, had been a bit ho-hum until this point, is obviously in love with the place, we stopped every ten metres and he gave us another interesting fact. We took the usual photos that everyone takes including one with all of us sitting on the ancient public toilets !! The library was stunning ! We had a total of 4 cameras between us and on each camera there was at least 4 photos of the library's facade ! The theatre was huge and we tested the acoustics me singing (badly) and the kids reciting limericks, god knows what the other tourists thought. As we walked on Erdan instructed us not to turn around until he gave the nod, when he did we turned and the panoramic view of the theatre was a treat ! At this point Erdan complained bitterly about the singer "Sting" who had done a concert there that was so loud it damaged some of the marble ! It was quite late when we finished and the photo fingers were all sore.

We rested and recuperated with an Efes overlooking the port of Kusadasi, as the sun set the curve of lights appeared. Tonight the kids took themselves off to dinner at the Kismet and lisa and I walked 100metres north to a fish restaurant overlooking the ocean. We wandered in and selected our own prawns and fish which were then prepared as we requested, grilled with garlic for the prawns and in a white wine stew for the sea bream...delicious. a bottle and a half of Kavaklidere white and we stumbled home, the kids were still up, they had a great time playing grown ups, Andrew had to sign for the meal !!! Sounds like they were well looked after, same maitre de as last night. We have all decided we love Kusadasi(and we have only just scratched the surface, this is one place I will note down for a return visit.....one day . I can recommend the Kismet, the wall of photos of the celeb's who have stayed there is pretty impressive and the rooms are larger than most and each room has two bathrooms.

Hi Marko,
I've looked forward to each addition of your Turkish delight report. It brought back many good memories. We visited many of the same places, but one we missed was Kusadasi. One of my favorite places was the beach at Patera. A very small unremarkable village, but what a beach, perfect sand and water, and the beach went on for miles. Probably nothing special coming from where you live, but from Washington state it was beautiful. Our water here is about 50 degrees, year round.
I would love to go back and revisit our favorite places and see the ones we missed, but there's so many other countries out there we haven't seen.

Our next trip is China in Sept. Yours too, I believe. We'll have to compare notes.

Thanks Granny, Looks like it will be Easter next year in China for us ! The kids miss out on the easter bilby once again.

Marko, did you see the mosaique add of the brothel? Did your guide tell about the underground passage from the library to the brothel?

Ah, I have sat on those same toilet seats, pretending that I am an ancient academic leaving my daily droppings in company, and companied by intelligent discussion.

Hey Marko

Ýf you need any aparment in KUSADASÝ I can sell my second one to you. (Keep in you mind)

FROM TURKEY ANKARA (I will be in Kusadasi soon only a week more)

Sinan AKdeniz

You've got some very lucky kids.