We sauntered off the ship at 0900 and met our guide at the gate. Today we have a Seabourn ship and a Louis ship in port as well. There are something like 1000 cruise ship visits a year here. I can see why.
First we drove to the small village of Sirince, up in the mountains. After the third settlement at Esphesus was destroyed and the Greeks moved in, this was where the major settlement was. That was in the 5th century AD. And...they began growing grapes. After enjoying the view of the valley we walked the small streets of town, passing through the market. People were opening their shops and getting ready for tourists, an important part of their economy. After climbing a narrow, steep and rocky path through part of the village we came to the Church of St. John. De-consecrated and empty except for sparrows and dust, the walls and roof remain intact. Following that we walked down the narrow streets of the stalls selling oranges, olives, olive oil, hand made clothing, some commercial made clothing, brass, ceramics, spices and so on. Girls and women sat weaving floral head bands. Every olive seller had their own home-made style and insisted we sample.
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| Sirince |
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| olives! |
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| olives, olive oil |
We went down the mountain to Turkman carpet village where we were served lunch outdoors then treated to a visit to the weaving room where girls are learning to weave rugs in their local patterns. This school will keep the tradition going. Pay is $500 per month while they learn and later they can produce rugs on their own. One of our goals while in Turkey was to purchase a rug and here we found what we like.
That was enough for one day so back to the ship and ready for sail-away. We watched departure from our veranda.
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| Kusadasi from our deck |
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