Port # 5 - Kusadasi, Turkey

Our day in Kusadasi was spent touring Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary and shopping in the old town. Really the shopping came down to me picking out the things I wanted and then sending Kenny in to haggle. Kusadasi was one of the more aggressive towns we've been to as far as shopkeepers hassling you every time you slowed to less than a trot. A little annoying, but for someone like Kenny who loves to haggle over prices, it was pretty fun and we got some good deals.

Here's what wiki has to say on Ephesus because even though it was pretty amazing, I'm still not really sure what we were looking at:

Ephesus was an Ionian Greek city in ancient Anatolia, founded by colonists from Athens in the 10th century BC. Beginning in the Roman Republic, Ephesus was the capital of proconsular Asia, which covered the western part of Asia Minor. The site is large. Only an estimated 15% excavated, the ruins that are visible give some idea of the city's original splendour, and the names associated with the ruins are evocative of its former life. The theatre dominates the view down Harbour Street which leads to the long silted-up harbour.

Hope this helps you because I'm still not really sure what Ephesus is.

After Ephesus, we were on to the House of the Virgin Mary. Again from wiki:

The House of the Virgin Mary is a Christian and Muslim shrine located on Mt. Koressos in the vicinity of Ephesus, Turkey.
It is believed by many Christians and Muslims that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John, after what Christians believe to be the crucifixion of Jesus and Muslims believe the rise of Jesus to heaven, and lived there until her Assumption into Heaven according to Catholics and Dormition according to the Orthodox.

Three popes have visited the site and it has become an official Catholic pilgrimage site. You can see in my picture of the prayer/wish wall my Mom is writing her prayer down. Too bad it's on a piece of toilet paper, I'm thinking it won't get very high priority.