The main reason we dislike visiting popular tourist sites is the crowds. It is uncomfortable to squeeze through amongst the people and challenging to take photos when everyone is crowded around for the best possible shots.
No offense intended to other tourists. This is just us. We’ve enjoyed the freedom of doing exactly what we want to do over the past almost 11 years. Being in crowds is not one of them. However, over the years, we’ve visited many venues which wouldn’t have been safe for us to visit on our own, depending on the country and circumstances.
When our ship was docked in Turkey, we received the following letter from the ship’s captain warning all passengers of demonstrations in various cities in Turkey occurring at the time of our arrival. Here is the letter from this post:
Under these circumstances, we had no choice but to book the tour through the cruise line, resulting in traveling on a bus with 40 to 60 passengers. As it turned out, the bus stopped running in the middle of the desert, and we had to wait until someone came with another bus. Weird. We remember it well.
We also recall how after the tour of Ephesus, the bus took us to a leather factory/store; on the way back to the city, where we were unloaded and entered the building, herded like cattle, to a showroom where we had no choice but to watch a runway fashion show.
Good grief! We were all upset about being “forced” to attend the fashion show and then, afterward, herded, once again, through the actual store where the items we’d seen on the runway were on racks for sale. None of us purchased a thing. Besides, the pricing was no bargain.
We certainly appreciate and understand the need for vendors to make a living selling their wares. But, to include such an event where we were a captive audience was asking too much, especially after we paid dearly for the tour. After that, we asked the cruise line staff if any such events were included. Knowing ahead of time would allow passengers to decide if they want to participate in touring a venue on their own.
Undoubtedly, we were glad we had an opportunity to see Ephesus with many good photos, some of which are shown here today. For the balance of the photos, please click the ten-year-ago post here. This will be the last post about Ephesus.
Tomorrow, we’ll return with a new and highly relevant story with photos of a major change in Tom’s life that ultimately impacts me. Please check back to read that story.
As for tonight, we are going to dinner at the Mallory Country Club for dinner with cruise friends Nancy and Bill, whom we haven’t seen since our last cruise in April 2022. We went to dinner with them on the night before we tested positive for Omicron (and continued to suffer for months from the illness) on the second to last night on the cruise. We’re curious to ask them if they got Covid from us after sitting with us across the table that night.
We will also take photos tonight of our friends and the food. I feel bad that we didn’t take photos of Tracy and Nancy this past week when we met them for dinner at City Fire in Brownwood Paddock Square on Wednesday evening.
Tonight, we’ll drive the golf cart to meet them at their home, 23 minutes from here, and then follow them to the nearby country club for dinner. This way, we can return to our house to watch game five of the Stanley Cup (hockey) playoffs, which starts at 8:00 pm. Our team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights (three wins), plays the Florida Panthers (one win).
Once a team wins four games, the championship is over. and they receive the enormous silver trophy.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, June 13, 2013:
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