Saturday 3 October

We drove to Selcuk to visit more religious sites: the home of the Virgin Mary, St Johns Basilica and the Isa Bey Mosque. The home of the Virgin Mary was a tiny two-room building but no photos were allowed. Outside there was a wall where people tied rags and lit candles as a memorial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting these important sites, we wandered through a little village which was very much for the tourists with lots of laneways filled with shops to buy memorabilia, craft items and fruit wines. There was also the opportunity for wine tasting  if you wanted. Another stop at a leather coat factory meant that many of the group were able to spend up big on a leather coat which were beautifully made and came in many designs including reversible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night was spent in a hotel in the coastal town of Kusadasi. It was opposite the esplanade and the sea which was occupied with large cruise ships. Up on the hill at night a large statue of Ataturk with opening arms could be seen lit up. It was a busy place with lots of people wandering up and down the Esplanade in the evening. We had dinner by ourselves in a Turkish restaurant (there were many other restaurants with international food styles such as Mexican, steak houses and so on but we were still keen on Turkish food.