Today we had a scenic drive through the colourful town of Kusadasi, along the coast, and to the side gate of Ephesus, supposedly. It was really just a little alley of tourist stalls selling everything from scarves to children's clothes to jewellery.

We viewed the ruins of Agora in Ephesus from a distance and drove past the breathtaking panoramic sight of the Great Theatre, where St Paul the Apostle preached. We continued on
to the Statue of Virgin Mary on the upper hill of the ancient city of Ephesus. This is the site where the Blessed Virgin is reputed to have spent the last years of her life and was made famous by the travels of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. A stop was made at the Temple of Artemis, one of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, before visiting the Archaeological Museum of Ephesus.
Here we saw the nine exhibits tracing the religious and chronological history of the ancient city.

On our return drive to Kusadasi, we were take to a local Turkish Ethnic Handicrafts Centre for refreshments and snacks. It was just a cup of tea. The doors of the handicraft centre were then closed and the locals talked about how they wove their rugs, including weaving styles, handiwork and symbols. They seemed offended when we didn't want to buy one of their rugs. We left and wandered around the town, purchasing souvenirs and sending postcards. A local man then took us to his uncle's rug store where we did end up buying a rug. It was very nice, but we felt they expected more from us (like another 2 rugs at least, and much more expensive than the little one we bought).

We felt like the locals saw us as the fatted cows delivered to them on a plate by Cunard.

The aroma of the town as we were leaving at dinner time was incredibly exotically fragrant.