Tues Aug 13, 2024
Hi All! The beauty of cruising… we woke up in another country today! We are in Turkey, specifically docked in the town of Kusadasi. It is the gateway port to Ephesus, the UNESCO World Heritage ruins. I have never been to Turkey before (YAY, another pin in the world map!) but world traveler Kathy has been here but it was years ago. Since we’ll be back here again this fall (I know, I know!) we decided to do a local tour that includes some local food.
Our tour took us to this restaurant out in the suburbs that was on a huge olive grove. It was actually in the middle of nowhere but our guide said people come from all around to eat there. And I see why! The food was sooo good and presented so nicely. I really thought this was just going to be a light lunch but it ended up being like an eight course meal and we were stuffed at the end. I don’t even know half the things we ate but the main dish was this beef that just melted in your mouth. So yummy!
We only had a group of seven of us so it was nice to get to know everyone. Our tour guide had lived in Turkey all his life and was a wealth of knowledge of their culture. He also owned a restaurant and had an olive grove and exported olive oil to the US. There was also a mosque near us and we heard the Noon “call to prayer” for the local Muslim faith. Kind of eerie sounding when you’re not expecting it!
One of the coolest things was that we ate underneath this huge olive tree that was over 3,000 years old! That’s right 3,000 years! And it wasn’t too hot since we were in the shade and there was a nice breeze. I think we were also at a higher elevation since down at the port it was 97 degrees!
I’m not sure if we’re doing dinner tonight or not. Will send another update tonight. Really sad this is the last night of the cruise! Hope everyone’s having a great Tuesday!
The Wandering Italian 