Ephesus & Foodie Trip

After your cruise docked to Kusadasi port, on your meeting time, your guide will be waiting you in the arrival guest terminal with a sign that your booking name indicated. After he/she welcomes you and after getting on your private van, your unforgetable day in Turkey stop starts.

Turks love eating so if you are in Turkey “do what the Turks do!”.First of all you are going to start your unforgatble day with having an experience of a real traditional Turkish breakfast.

Kirazli Village will be your first stop. Kirazli village is a still unspoiled typical Turkish village where you may experience a life of Turkish farmers.

The name Kirazli comes from the Word “kiraz” which means “cherry” so “kirazli village” gives the meaning of a village with cherries. Because of pretty much cherry trees grown in this village that name given. Hidden from the crowds behind olive groves, cherry blossoms and vineyards; Kirazli Village is one of the few non-touristy places left. There are approximately 350 families living at the village,  earning their lives from farming and animal breeding. Being the first example at the country, the organic farming is supported by the government.  The main products of the village are cherry, olive, fig, grape, walnut and wine. On Sundays, Kirazli hosts Turkey’s first certified organic product market.

There is one mosque, one primary school, one health clinic, a butcher, a bakery, and three mini markets at the village.

After being informed by your guide about the village life, in one of the local restaurants you will have your breakfast served.

Turks usually prefer a rich breakfast. And since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they know how to extend and add variety to it. Covering a not so small amount of land, we can see some local differences in for instance the type of the cheese, olives or even the bread.

A typical Turkish breakfast consists of cheese (beyaz peynir, kaşar etc.), butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey, and kaymak. For the ones who like to spice it up,  Sucuk (dried sausage made of ground beef with garlic and a variety of spices like red pepper, cumin and sumac; cooked on a pan mostly with eggs ), pastırma, börek, simit, poğaça and soups are eaten as a morning meal in Turkey. A common Turkish speciality for breakfast is called menemen, which is prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, onion, olive oil and eggs. Invariably, Turkish tea is served at breakfast. Turkish families can drink endless Turkish tea at breakfasts… But actually the word for breakfast in Turkish is “kahvaltı”. It can be translated as “kahve-altı” being “under-coffee(before coffee)”, meaning you eat the food before drinking coffee. So a nice long Turkish breakfast should of course end with a cup of well-made Turkish coffee!

After being full-filled with the brekfast, you are going to be ready for a journey to the antiquity… Your next stop will be visiting the ancient city of Ephesus.

First of all you follow the way to Selcuk town which is 15 miles from the town of Kusadasi where The Ancient City of Ephesus which is the best preserved ancient city in Anatolia so far discovered and the other important historical sites such as; The House of Virgin Mary, The Basilica of St.John, The Temple Of Artemis and The Grotto of the Seven Sleepers exixts.

The ancient city of Ephesus was founded by the the Amazons, the great female warriors in history. The name of the city is thought to have been derived from “Apasas” (name of a queen of Amazons) which sounds very similar to “Ephesus”.The name of the city “Apasas”was a city for the “Kingdom of Arzawa (belongs to the Hittites civilization from the 2nd millenium BC.)” which means “queen bee” or “city of the Mother Goddess”.

Ephesus was inhabited from the end of the Bronze Age, but the location was changed owing to the silting up process of the river Cayster and because of various rulers. Carians and Lelegians were the city’s earliest inhabitants(7000 BC.), Ionian migrations began around 1200 BCE and Ephesus is chiefly known as an Ionian Greek city. Altough there had been a lot of civilizations passed through the region of Ephesus even with its different settlement areas(4 times changing the location of their city), the city that we visit today with all the ruins as being the best preserved ancient city in Anatolia so far discovered is the 3rd location of Ephesus as a Greko-Roman city dating back to the 3rd C BC.

Starting from the upper gate of the city you are going to be following the impressive marble streets of Ephesus with the explanations of your guide who makes you feel like having a journey back to the antiquity and especially to the Roman times as like taking a time machine back into those days…

First of all you start with the administrative part of the city where you see the ruins of The State Agora, Roman Baths, Basilica, Buleterion(Odeon),Prytaneion buildings. After ending the Administrative part of the city you reach to the Domitian Square where you see the ruins of Temple of Domitian, Pollio Fauntain, Memmius Monumet, relief of Nike(Victoria) and then the ordinary life of Ephesus starts where the massive buildings keeps welcoming you as well.

One of the most well known main Street in the city “The Street of Curettes” where you face the jewel of Ephesus which is “The famous Library of Celsus”  comes with a panaromic unbelievable view.

This amazing view is going to be a “Wow” for you. Then you start walking on the Street of Curettes on a collonaded marble street as following the ruins of Gate of Hercules, ruins of the shops which were located behind the columns, The Trajan Fountain, The Scholastika Bath Complex, The Teracce Houses(the residentials of the wealthy families who lived in the city- Has an extra enterance fee), The Temple of Hadrian, Latrines(public toilets of the Romans),Brothel, famous Library of Celsus.

The Library of Celsus will be the ending of the first main Street and then the second main Street for the city comes as the Marble Street. The Street extends from the Library of Celsus till the famous big Grand Theater of Ephesus which is known as one of the largest example with its seating capacity in Anatolia so far discovered. On the way to the big grand Theater, you are going to get shocked seeing the first advertising in Ephesus on a marble peace on the floor showing the direction of… (?) Wait to learn from your guide about the funny story of it…

The impressive Commercial Agora(Market Place) which used to be the heart of the city as being the trade center of the Asia Minor for the Ephesians comes with an impressive view from a teracce on the Marble Street.

The last highlight comes as the big grand Theater of Ephesus with the capasity of 25.000 people which firstly was built as a Greek theater then later coverted into a Roman style. The Theater of Ephesus was the place where St. Paul the Apostale preached to the Ephesians.

You are going to feel the amazing acoustics inside the theater and you are going to be able to imagine that once there used to be the gladiator fights and wild animal fights were being held in the spot where you are standing today.

After the Theater one last main Street comes as the Harbour Streeet(the Arcadiane).The end of this Street was the location of the ancient port of Ephesus which is today about 7 km away from the city itself. Here is another shock for you that after imagining Ephesus was used to be port city and that much silted up by the River Cayster in thousands of years…

Following the way through the Harbour streert, some more ruins will be pointed out by your guide as the Theater Gymnasion, some examples of the Sarcophagi (tombs),Church of Mary and the Harbour Baths…

As ending your tour with impressive informations and wonderful pictures that you had inside the ancient city, you are not going to being taken to the upper gate back again to exit; you are going to exit the ancient city togather with your guide from the lower gate and meet with your private van in the parking area.

After exploring the ancient city of Ephesus you might be starving! So the next stop will be the restaurant where you see all the real traditional Turkish food settled on a buffet which is going to be your heaven with the food. How we Turks cook at home will be the same experince and delicious taste for you to try at this restaurant.

A typical meal starts with soup (especially in wintertime), followed by a dish made of vegetables or legumes boiled in a pot (typically with meat or minced meat), often with or before rice or bulgur pilav accompanied by a salad or cacik (diluted cold yogurt dish with garlic, salt, and cucumber slices). In summertime many people prefer to eat a cold dish of vegetables cooked with olive oil instead of the soup, either before or after the main course, which can also be a chicken, meat or fish plate.

You sould make yourselves try all the varieties of the meals on the buffet as much as possible..Good news “ You may have return trips !”

After having our lunch, you are going to be taken back to Kusadasi where the port is, and ending our services as saying goodbye to our guests with unforgetable memories and with the wishes to welcome them back again…