Kusadasi & Ephesus, Turkey

Ahhhh... just give me a moment...

I was so pleased by these two places.  Kusadasi was one of the cleanest and calmest beach cities I had ever been to (which says a lot coming from a girl who has never lived more than 30 minutes away from an ocean).  During a rug weaving presentation I enjoyed complimentary Turkish beer and warm apple tea (and although I question the genuineness of this apple tea tradition, I can't deny the fact that I enjoyed its utter deliciousness).  We also took a little jaunt through a fun fish market near the port.  I think anyone looking for slow-paced and clean-air leisure would enjoy this place.

Then, we went to Ephesus.

Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, what?!?!  I think you should know that every travel blog session I have includes at least 15 seconds spent on me sighing gaaaaahhhhh (which roughly translates to: "oh my, I am feeling overwhelmed at how incredibly lucky I am to have traveled to this place and am feeling very nostalgic") in my desk chair.  Indeed, this happens a lot but it's happening especially hard right now.

Ephesus was about a 10 mile drive from the port of Kusadasi and man, oh man, what a drive it was.  It was as if I had closed my eyes, opened them and was transported back to the central coast of California; we drove on ocean view highways that wound through heavily forested mountain areas and we descended into verdant, marshy farmlands peppered with cotton stalks and fruit trees.  All of this accompanied by cool, temperate ocean air and the familiar smell of eucalyptus trees made me feel as if I was back home in Santa Barbara on the 101 fwy.  It was such a special experience... and this was just the drive!  Save the fact that I visited the ancient Biblical city of Ephesus, St. John's Basilica and the house of the Virgin Mary.  No big deal.

Gaaaaahhhhhh.

Iconic building face of the library in Ephesus against the mountains

There were a ton of stray cats roaming the ruins of Ephesus.
The weather was perfect and the tourists kept dishing out snacks so who could blame 'em?

And one of my awesome cousins offering a little bit of comic relief to ease our bodily pain- steep hills covered
in marble and stone are not easy to walk on!  An abundance of scraped knees, swollen ankles and wobbly thighs.

This was a symbol that I learned about at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.  It was supposedly a secret mark put on buildings
to indicate that it was a safe place for Christians to meet.  It was such an extraordinary experience
to search for and find one of these while roaming the ruins of Ephesus.