Arrived bright and early to the port of Izmir Turkey. We went on the ship tour because we knew nothing about this port. First part of the tour was a trip to a carpet weaving center/sales pitch. The center was supported by the Turkish government to encourage young Turkish women to learn the dying trade of carpet weaving. The rigs were beautiful and the sales pitch was fierce.
We traveled by bus and saw artichoke cherry wheat pomegranate and olive crops. The olive tree is so important that it is transplanted if in a new road bed rather than destroyed.
The highlight if the tour was Ephesus. The library runs are pictured below if it will allow me to post it. Ian found a friend on the tour and stuck to the guide like glue. We saw the library the public forum the theater the toilets the underground clay water pipes. We saw medusas head and the kings foot on the moon.
Mark found the "beat" and learned to haggle in the shops afterwards. Overall Turkey is impressive both from a archeological and current day perspective. My impression is that it is on cleaner edgier, busier and pushier than Greece. We enjoyed the stop
We traveled by bus and saw artichoke cherry wheat pomegranate and olive crops. The olive tree is so important that it is transplanted if in a new road bed rather than destroyed.
The highlight if the tour was Ephesus. The library runs are pictured below if it will allow me to post it. Ian found a friend on the tour and stuck to the guide like glue. We saw the library the public forum the theater the toilets the underground clay water pipes. We saw medusas head and the kings foot on the moon.
Mark found the "beat" and learned to haggle in the shops afterwards. Overall Turkey is impressive both from a archeological and current day perspective. My impression is that it is on cleaner edgier, busier and pushier than Greece. We enjoyed the stop
So jealous! I'd love to go to Turkey. That rug is beautiful. I hope you bought it!
ReplyDeleteWhat we saw of Turkey is so much more developed than I anticipated. Compared to Greece it is a world apart. That rug was way out of our price range, think 5 to 8 thousand US. The tour we were a part of took us to a government sponsored training facility to attempt to teach young girls in the country the fading art of hand weaving rugs. It was a huge sales pitch on the way to Ephesus but interesting none the less.
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