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We were woken up at 6:30AM by the docking thrusters again. But we rested and snoozed on after looking out the window to see what Ephesus looked like.
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| The view from the room window when we docked. |
I went for breakfast at 9AM and Renée followed 15 mins later. I tried the Aqua Spa Café but it was just a poor subset of food in the Oceanview Café. After cereal fruit and tea I went to the latter for toast. Then at 10:15 we went ashore.
First we looked at the Grand Bazaar and looped back along the Orient Bazaar. It was all carpets, leather, jewellery and stuff so I was bored. I also didn't like the forceful nature of the merchants and we both soon wanted out of the Bazaars. But not before Renée bought another handbag! A nice red 'Juicy' one. I got a fridge magnet at least. Then we walked for a way up Barbaros H. / Kahramanlar Cadessi trying and failing to find the Turkish baths before doubling back to the port entrance round the old walls.
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| My first time in Turkey. A nice looking terminal up ahead. | Looking back at the Equinox as we left it behind. | The Grand Bazaar. | A fort near the bazaars. | The Orient Bazaar. | |
Renée wanted to return to the ship and I wanted to walk a bit more. So I left Renée to return to ship at 11AM and planned to meet up at the Mast Grill at 12:30PM if we didn't find each other sooner. I then walked to Pigeon Island alone. I had a good look around before deciding it was too hot and humid. In places it also smelt of sewage too which was rather unpleasant. So I returned to the ship after having a good look around the island.
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| Walking along Guvercinada Avenue, along the water's edge to Pigeon Island. | A nice view back to the ships. The Equinox is by far the biggest ship, in the background. | Pigeon Island and its causeway. | Looking back to downtown Kusadasi from the causeway. |
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| 360 degree panorama from the middle of the causeway. Pigeon Island in the centre is approximately Northwest. | Entering the grounds of the fort on Pigeon Island. | Looking Southwest across the bay to the beach and Yilanci Burnu. |
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| The fort in the centre of Pigeon Island. | A closeup of olives growing on one of many olive trees. | Another view back to the ships from the Northeast side of Pigeon Island. | The grounds of the fort are quite pictoresque. | |
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| Looking back across the causeway from the Southeast side of the island as I head back towards the ship. |
On the way back there was a police altercation outside the port! Policemen arguing with and pushing a man around. I thought best to keep on moving and stay well out the way. I boarded the ship at 11:45AM. I did not enjoy this stop. I planned to stay on the ship for the rest of the day. After going to the room and changing to swimwear I found Renée by the pool just before 12PM. We swam for a bit before having burgers from the Mast Grill at 12:30. Then after more swimming and resting we checked out the Aqua Spa Café lunch food. It wasn't very impressive though. We did find Joseph, Arlett and Joy there. I'll stick to Oceanview. I got us Pistachio ice cream some time before 2PM. Then Joy came and said hello. We briefly went up to Deck 14 where their loungers were. Renée stayed up there while I went to change and get binoculars. We missed each other though and when I returned to the pool Renée had gone down to the room. After briefly using the binoculars I returned to the room and updated my diary while Renée changed.
At 3:40PM we went to the Oceanview Café for tea. Then back to the room for a rest. We went via Silhouette to check the evening menu. A possible pasta dish for supper. At 5PM I went up to the Deck 15 Fwd to take a panorama of Ephesus / Kusadasi while the Immams called people to prayer at 5:15PM and Turkish Dancing progressed on the Pool Deck.
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| Ephesus panorama. |
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| A statue on a nearby hill. | Looking down at the fort and towards the mosque where the turkish baths were meant to be near. | A passing helicopter. | Turkish dancing on the pool deck. | |
Then we went to Oceanview to cool down (still hot and humid outside) and eat Sushi at 5:30PM.
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| Sushi in the Oceanview Café. | |
Then after changing to evening wear Renée and I went up to Deck 15 Fwd to watch the ship leave Ephesus.
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| Leaving the pier. | Views of different buildings in Kusadasi. | A Turkish tug boat. | |
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| Another panorama of Ephesus as we retreat back to sea. The pier now looking empty where in the morning it was a street between two skyscrapers. | A view to Pigeon Island and Yilanci Burnu beyond it, and the beach in between. |
Then we went down to Deck 3 to get Rhodes information and to go to Silhouette for supper at 6:30PM. I chose Penne Primavera without cheese this time. I couldn't resist more bread though. Meanwhile we noted the sea outside looking rougher than we'd seen before as the wind picked up. The Penne when it came was very salty so wasn't quite so good. Renée had the same and we both left half of it. I chose a healthier exotic fruit sorbet for dessert which was nice. After supper soon after 8PM we returned to the room where the sun could be seen hanging low. So we went up to Deck 15 Fwd to see the sunset. Then after relaxing in Solstice Deck 16 for a period while chatting to a South African staff supervisor, we couldn't resist more Sushi at Oceanview (enough to make up the full meal we didn't quite have). We took the sushi outside to eat at the back of Deck 14.
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| A turkish bazaar on Deck 5. | Sunset. The sun disappears into a bank of haze. | Greek islands in the twilight. | |
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| Eating sushi at the back of the ship. The second slow shot without the flash reveals the sea behind us with the ship's wake prominent. | |
By now it was after 9PM. We went up to the Lawn Club and chilled out as it got dark. But soon moved on when smokers lit up nearby. We decided to head down to the Equinox Theater for the evening variety show. We got there at 9:20PM with 10 minutes to spare. We could see Jane & Family across the room but they didn't spot us. However like last time the show wasn't to our taste and we left after 20 minutes. We headed up to the room to retire for the night.
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