Well, the day started out bad. We had breakfast in the cabin and then headed down to get on our coach to the ruins at Ephesus in Turkey. We had to have our cards scanned to get off the ship. Lyn’s failed, with an error that her card had been reprinted and the one she presented was not valid. When I explained that it was my card that had been reprinted not hers, we were told to go to guest services and get a new one. A discussion, becoming more heated ensued, finally an officer got involved! He went to get a new one while we waited and the embarkation time for our coach passed. Finally Lyn’s pass arrived and it failed. The discussion continued to rise in temperature. Finally they made a manual entry and allowed her through. When they scanned my card, as expected, it failed this time they immediately made a manual entry and let me off. Getting back on board Lyn’s card worked fine, go figure. Mine failed and was confiscated. A trip to guest services got me a new one which now appears to work.
I am just going to publish some pictures of the ruins at Ephesus and as usual Google is your friend if you want more details. The old city is still in the process of being “discovered” as most has been buried. It was completed around 2BC, and today they think only about 10% has been uncovered. Marble has been used in abundance for walls, pathways and columns
We made a quick stop at a statue of the Virgin Mary who is supposed to have spent her last years in the city, then off to the ruins proper.
Slightly off topic, a pomegranate and pomegranate tree, of which there a plenty around.
At the end of the tour we headed back to the ship where I had planned a surprise for Lyn. As you may remember from previous blogs, her best friend at school married a Turkish guy, and they moved to Turkey. We spent a vacation with them many moons ago, and also met up with them in New Orleans a few years back. When Lyn learned that we were stopping in Turkey she said wouldn’t it be great if we could meet up with Francis and Vedat. I did some checking with them about a year ago, and they thought it a great idea. I immediately told Lyn that they would love to meet us but it was too far for them to drive! End of conversation. Well I continued to make arrangements, and as we stepped off the coach they were there to meet us. I am not sure whether Lyn was madder at me for the deception or gladder to meet them. We spent the rest of the day with them and drove around the area. I think I finally may have gained a couple of Brownie points!