Year 5, Day 170 “Living the Dream”. Friday, 10/17/2025 – Day 11 of 30 day trip to Rome, Italy with a Mediterranean cruise and a transatlantic cruise back to Bayonne, NJ. Day 6 of 10 night Greece, Turkey, and Italy cruise on Odyssey of the Seas – Ephesus(Kusadasi), Turkey 7:30am – 4:30. Kusadasi is located on the Western coast of Turkey on the Aegean Sea.
Our tour this morning is a little later. We are meeting in the theater on deck 4 at 8:15am. Our excursion today is “Explore Kusadasi on Foot”. Again we purchased this excursion a long time ago for $57.98 for the both of us. It is a 2 1/2 hour excursion.
We are the only cruise ship in Port today. Our guide told us normally there are three cruise ships in port. The water is so clear here, but the guide says he would not swim in this water. He feels there is sewage in the water. We did see a swimmer crossing the bay.
Islam is the dominant religion here, with the Turkish government estimating over 90% of the population is Muslim. We met up with our guide and walked up to Kusadasi Castle along with some stray dogs and cats.
They walked along side of our group and would lay down to be petted. These dogs and cats followed us on our whole trip to the castle and back. Although the little white one would take off and chase the cars, buses, and motorcycles. They are taken care of by the municipality and are tagged. Everyone feeds these animals leftovers every night. The town has no rats due to the number of dogs and cats running around town. Many bowls of food are left around for the stray dogs and cats. This has now brought the wild boars into town.
We left the cruise port and walked to the right. Up on the hilltop overlooking the water stands the Atatürk Monument. This is an enormous statue of the national hero.
Local fisherman are throwing their rods into baited lines into the water alongside the walkway. The castle is located on Güvercinada (Pigeon island). Pigeon island is a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway.
The castle was built in the Byzantine times to protect against enemies. The views from the castle are breathtaking.
There is a small but impressive little museum inside.
Strolling around the outside of the castle there are many different trees and flowers. The walk around the grounds was very stress free and quiet.
Every excursion on this trip so far has been very rushed. This tour guide is very slow and low key. He is very thorough in the museum and explained everything. We even learned that some olives are not good to eat, but are used for olive oil baths.
The breezes this morning are lovely. What a relaxing tour. After the castle. We leisurely strolled back past the cruise port. We wandered through a little restaurant area. There, we viewed the local catches of the day. We also walked the little merchant streets.
Here we saw a lot of blue doors. It is believed that scorpions are sensitive to the color blue. They associate it with fire, causing them to stay away. Many name brand products sold here are of high quality materials and craftsmanship. However, they are actually a knockoff. The merchants were selling beautiful leather coats. Turkey has over 1,000 large-scale leather processing plants. We passed many barber shops. Nose and ear waxing is included as part of a full grooming experience in one of these shops. The barber will apply wax-coated applicators or swabs to the nasal passages. Then the barber will quickly pull them out to remove hair.
We viewed a small mosque from the outside. Both men and women are required to wear clothing that covers their shoulders and knees. Women should also cover their heads with a scarf. If your clothing doesn’t meet these standards, wraps and scarves are provided at the entrance. Shoes are left outside.
We ended this tour in a carpet shop. The carpets were all handmade and beautiful. Here’s a video of the sales man.
The prices were for little square ones a little larger than a placemat for $390.00 to larger ones for over $5,000. They were having a 30 percent off sale.
Here I tried a little glass of Raki. Raki tastes exactly like black licorice. Typically cold water is added to a glass of it and it will turn into a milky cloud colored appearance.
Then it was back to the ship where we spent time in the Crown Lounge.
We now eat a larger lunch. In the evening, we have a small snack in the Crown Lounge. Tonight we are heading through the Dardanelles Strait. The Dardanelles is a strait. It is a narrow body of water that connects the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara in Turkey. It serves as a natural boundary between Europe and Asia. It separates the Gallipoli peninsula in Eastern Europe from Anatolia in Asia. Yes, Turkey is in Asia and Europe. The country west of the Bosphorus Strait is part of Europe. The east, called Anatolia, is on the continent of Asia. Today in Kusadasi we are in Asia. Turkey shares land borders with eight countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Azerbaijan. This is way out if my comfort zone!!!!!
Tomorrow is Istanbul
Our transatlantic trip home is fast approaching and we are preparing.
Cruise Compass Day 6 of 10 – Odyssey of the Seas Ephesus(Kusadasi), Turkey – 7:30am to 4:30 pm
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4o5yM9I Wood 3 in 1 Chess Backgammon Table: Look at this great table. Can’t wait to set it up in our balcony area. This board game table includes a backgammon board and a chessboard. Chess pieces are included.
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