Ephesus: 6/27/14

Today we ported in Kusadasi, a port mainly visited for tourists interested in seeing the ancient city of Ephesus.  Ephesus is just outside of Izmir, Turkey, and was known for the Temple of Artemis.  It is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.  Ephesus is one of the 7 cities/churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation, and obviously the book of Ephesians has the connection too, because Paul lived there. We had another private tour for the day. The first stop was the house of the Virgin Mary. Catholics visit the house based on the belief that Mary was taken here by Saint John and lived there until her assumption, and they still hold mass outside the church for Christians in the area.  It was the highlight of the day for us. Outside the house was a candle lighting area, and a wish wall where you can tie your wishes on.  Here are some pics from the house of the Virgin Mary:

After this we drove to the ancient city.  The biblical aspects of Ephesus are pretty cool, however there are only so many rocks/ruins you can look at before being completely bored... Or at least for Kyle and I.  It was also extremely hot outside which made staying attentive quite difficult.  The coolest things you see in Ephesus are the library and the music theater.  Here are a couple pictures from the ancient city of Ephesus:

We returned to the boat around 12:30 am, because we were leaving the port early that afternoon.  This left time to enjoy some activities on the boat the rest of the day.  There was more karaoke, and then a big highlight, an adults only group game show type deal.  We had a group of 18 people and our team ended up winning the competition.  It is basically where they ask for something and you have to have someone run out from your team doing or bringing what they ask for on the stage.  Things like a man member wearing a bra around his head (so a female would need to take hers off and give it to a guy on the team), a girl wearing guys pants (Kyle of course was quick to take his off), a guy & girl demonstrating their favorite sex position (Kyle and I were chosen to do this one since we are married), 2 girls kissing, someone doing the worm, etc.  It ended with one where it was not about being the quickest but the most well put together and it was dressing a male member up as a female.  It was hysterical!  For winning we got a bottle of champagne.  I'll add pictures from my phone later.