Kusadasi/Ephesus, Turkey - July 27

iskender getting close...

Who would have ever described laundry as heavenly, but today’s clean load of laundry was just that! This is the first late morning we’ve had for a while, so it is very welcome. While each day we are out touring is fun and interesting, it isn’t restful or relaxing – a ‘down day’ is pretty nice. The ship’s laundry rooms can be places where brawls have been known to break out, but on days when most passengers are off the boat there the machines are wide open.

not a bad view to wake up to??

We spend lazy few hours wandering the town of Kusadasi while most on the boat choose to visit the archeological site of Ephesus. We were able to run the gauntlet of ‘yes, please’ calling merchants as they beckoned us into their shops or restaurants. The funniest of all being those calling Chris in for a shave. Of course shaving isn’t his favourite thing to do, on vacation he usually has a bit of a scruff on. Well…to these eagle-eyed barbers he was easy picking. A good hand-full of these barbers tried to get him into their shops for a shave. He was having none of it as you can well imagine. I wish he had as today will be a light blog day.

heaven - leave me here...

The very first time I was in Turkey, maybe 5 years ago, the best meal I had was İskender kebap. This is thinly cut, grilled lamb basted with hot tomato sauce over pieces of pita bread slathered with melted sheep butter and yogurt. Each time we’ve been to Turkey since, it is a pilgrimage to find it. I think it is actually Turkish ‘fast-food’ rather than haute-cuisine’, but so what? I LOVE IT! It usually comes with some kind of youghurt sauce only adds to the heavenliness of it. Salad of tomato/lettuce/cucumber also may come.

I recognize I’ve dedicated a lot of this entry to my İskender kebap, but seriously…it is the BEST meal I’ve had since being on vacation – and I’ve had some good food. If you are every lucky enough to be in Turkey and I say ‘lucky’ for a reason…give İskender kebap a serious thought. This was accompanied by Effes beer and hot chillies added by the proprietor.

The Kusadasi port is very tourist friendly and after checking out a few shops, duty free and the local Starbucks only a price comparison (more or less exactly the same price we  pay at home) we are back on board. After a brief hello to our favourite security guy ‘Mr. Ashley’ who somehow committed our names to memory so he mentions us by name each time we enter and leave the ship (of course this has spoken to us) we make a brief stop at the pool bar and are settled in on our balcony. We are on the balcony for about 1 and a half seconds before I realize I’ll melt here - it is a sweltery day…no breeze and a bunch of humidity. I’m not sad to have to take a nap inside the cabin in my comfy bed, so there it is for the next couple of hours. 

I was about to turn the lights out while Chris was still at the casino when he burst through the door and threw these chips at me. While not all winnings, more than half is. He's definitely a better gambler than I am!