Friday, Sept 28

Kusadasi, Turkey is the name of the port, but the main attraction here is the ruins at Ephesus. We had a full day tour in about 30c heat walking through Greek, Roman and Byzantine ruins. We were told that John had fulfilled his promise to Christ by bringing Mary here to live. She is apparently buried in the hills up from Ephesus. Of course there are shrines and stuff for her, but we didn’t want to see that. There is also a Church of John the Baptist where he is apparently buried. We didn’t see it, but we saw the arena where the riots occurred when Paul was preaching there and the jail area where he was held. The ruins there are extensive and it was great to be able to explore there. Then we went to Myletis, where Paul met with the church elders before going to Jerusalem. We read the corresponding scriptures and it was great. Our next stop was Didyma, which is a temple for Apollo. Oracles were given there. Our last stop was at a Turkish carpet show room. Beautiful stuff and apparently great prices, but still more than we were willing to spend.
Tonight is Turkish night: food, music and dancing. Should be fun.