Kusadasi, Turkey

Kusadasi is situated on the west coast of Turkey and is reputed to be one of the most attractive cities of the Aegean Sea. Kusadasi is known for its numerous powdery sandy beaches with warm and clear water. We were docked very near the middle of town.

You can tell the port is constructed to make it easy for tourists to visit the city and to spend money on the wonderful variety of rugs, jewelry, and other treasures in shops nearby. Both the Kemps and the Stitts bought rugs to remember Kusadasi.

High-rise apartments are closely packed to the top of the hill. There is a statue on the top of the hill that must be some sort of Turkish government monument

since it is surrounded by flags. The traffic was zooming around the sea wall from the first moment we looked outside. This is a very active and bustling city whose main income comes from tourists.

Several smaller cruise ships were in port right beside us. One, the Easy Cruise Life had a political statement painted

on its side. There has been controversy for years about the marble sculpture slabs that were from the Parthenon part of the Acropolis complex in Athens. These marbles are in

the British Museum and many locals believe they belong back in Greece. Lord Elgin was the British Ambassador

to the Ottoman Empire in Turkey in the very early 1800’s. He was concerned about how the antiquities were being treated and asked and received permission to copy and also move any of the marbles that he chose. He chose to take many of them back to England. This was very controversial at that time and obviously the controversy continues to this day. Just thought it was interesting that the cruise ship was making it’s own statement ……. “reunite the Parthenon marbles.”

Ephesus is the Aegean’s best preserved ancient city. The busy port was a crossroad for traders in the era of the

emerging Western world. Doesn’t take much imagination to envision life in this 2000-year-old city even though much of it is still buried

There was a 28 seat public toilet, a beautiful library, and a large Romanamphitheater. The foundation of another of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Diana, is in Ephesus. No one is certain how large an area will be uncovered before the Ephesus dig will be complete. It is clearly a work in progress.

Just 20 miles from Kusadasi is a town now called “Sirince.” Meaning “pretty.” The town was first called “Cirkince” meaning “ugly place” in an effort to trick foreign invaders. Foreign invasion was common place and this ruse seemed to work for a while. The town is now very popular with tourists from around the world.