Izmir, Turkey - October 4

After an hour bus ride through the Turkish countryside we walked through Ancient Ephesus. The ruins were amazing. Ephesus had people living in the area as far back as 6000BC. It was a port at one time and the ruins we saw were from the city founded by a general of Alexander the Great in 300BC. There was a population of 200,000 people with mosaic sidewalks for the nobles, running water, public baths and a large library and hillside amphitheater. When the river silted up and the people got malaria they finally moved away and abandoned the city. Marc Anthony and Cleopatra had liaisons there many times and the Apostle Paul was imprisoned there for two years. That is where he wrote the letters that are in the Bible. My Dad did an amazing job of walking through the ruins. There were some stairs but it was mostly uneven stones and ground to walk on. He used his cane and my sister held his arm the whole time while she assigned me to run around and take the photos. We were back on board the ship for lunch and an afternoon of rest.

The tall building is the library.

The hillside amphitheater.