Izmir and Ephesus, Turkey

We were very excited to go to Turkey. We have several neighbors who are Turkish, and lots of restaurants here in Germany are Turkish. My parents also had been there and really liked it, so we were very much looking forward to it. With all of that said, I had not booked any type of tour and did not know how to use the public transportation, but hoped there would be options when we pulled into port. Of course there were, and we decided to hire a Taksi (that is how it is spelled there) for the day. Great idea, even though the driver spoke NO English at all. First on the agenda was to find an ATM that gave Euro instead Turkish Money - we ended up in a secure gate that appeared to be the residence of the Turkish Space Program - no joke! We then headed to Ephesus, which is where it is said that the Virgin Mary lived after the resurrection of Jesus. She was brought to Ephesus by Apostle John. There is water there that you can drink that is said to be holy water with healing powers. They also have a prayer wall in which to attach your prayers. The House of the Virgin Mary is also sacred to Muslims (interesting being that Turkey is mostly Muslim), because they believe she was the mother of the Prophet Jesus (not the son of God). It was a beautiful spot at the top of a mountain. We then drove past the Ancient City of Ephesus, and back to the city of Izmir where we went to the Bazaar, which was quite fun. Negotiating purchases, and trying to avoid high pressure sales was quite entertaining! The area we were in was quite beautiful and scenic. One of the most interesting things, was seeing all of the Mosque's in each village (in Germany there is a church in each village that stands out).