Sunday, October 6

Sunrise found us in the port of of Patmos awaiting the tenders that would take us from our ship to the shore for our visit to the Grotto of the Revelation and the monastery of St. John the Theologian. We left the ship shortly after 7:00 a.m. and were underway for our next destination by about 10:00 a.m. During that short interval we managed to visit the cave that is the traditional site in which John received his strange visions (according to later tradition, John's exile to Patmos was not solitary because he was assisted in the recording of the apocalypse by a disciple who acted as scribe), the monastery further up the mountainous slope, and a small but fascinating museum at the monastery. The monastery's museum held many interesting items ranging from ancient manuscripts from its library, to finely embroidered vestments, to a unique icon of Jesus painted by El Greco.

The ship sailed on to Ephesus while we enjoyed a relaxing lunch on board. The Olympia Countess was a nice Aegean cruise ship, but we all soon learned that there was a marked difference in the cuisine between what was available on the rear deck's buffet and in the ship's main dining room.

Our local guide in Kusadasi was a young woman whose Turkish name shortened nicely to the Anglicized "Phyllis." A clear part of her training was to encourage both knowledge of her homeland, and repeat and extended visits. The bus took us to the upper part of the ancient city of Ephesus (actually, the "third" Ephesus as we learned during our visit), and from there we walked through the ruins to the Harbor Street and the lower end of the city.

It is hard to know which sights to emphasize. They ranged from the low, most common parts of the culture (e.g., the public latrines and an "advertisement" scrawled into the marble pavement promoting a "certain woman's" services) to the most glorious architectural achievements. Ephesus was the site of the Temple of Artemis (Latin, "Diana"), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Unfortunately little other than its foundations survives. What the city is now most known for is the facade to its exquisite library with its four beautiful statues representing the virtues.

Our afternoon in Turkey was capped off with a visit to a shop to see how Turkish carpets are made by hand. We all enjoyed the "apple tea" we were served as refreshments, but none so much as to be persuaded to buy any of the carpets that we saw (one of which was priced at almost $20,000). We had a bit of time to wander (and haggle) our way through the Turkish bazaar -- a word made all the more appropriate by the many vendors hawking (as they themselves said) "genuine fake watches." One can only wonder whether the authorities have cracked down on the claims, or whether the limitations of their English have revealed more than they wished. Of course, their English still far, far exceeded our Turkish.

This page will be the final posting from our journey. It is actually being posted upon our return to Athens on Monday. Our experiences on our "free day" will be so many and varied that they will have to be shared individually. But just to whet your appetite: many of us have combined shopping in the modern Plaka marketplace with visits to the ancient Athenian agora -- and probably not a few naps. We awake at 3:00 a.m. Athens' time on Tuesday, October 8 (8:00 p.m. Monday on the American east coast) to get ready for our 4:00 a.m. departure for the airport and 7:00 a.m. flight. We have had a wonderful time, but are also eager to return home. See you soon!

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