Shopping in Turkey

Our "Ephesus Deluxe Tour" included lunch at a place that doubled as a carpet sales pitch.  We enjoyed our lunch which included several cold salad type dishes and some kebab meats with rice--and Efes beer, the local brew.

Then we were given an informative lesson on the art of the Turkish rug.
From the silk worm cocoons

The kids were each given a souvenir silk worm cocoon to take home--they're now oddly scattered around the house.

To the making of the carpets by hand

To the stunning examples.

We managed not to buy any of these rugs.   Not only that, but we also managed to not ask how much one would cost.

From here we went on to a ceramic shop where we were schooled in their ceramic art as well.

From the man who precisely shapes the clay into a lid for the jar he just made

To the people who decorate and paint the individual pieces by hand.

We managed to come away with 3 plates that look lovely on my tiered plate rack.

This picture has been oddly distorted--like it's on wide screen or something.  Really, the plates are a normal circlel!

The guide offered to take us to a textile shop where we could get some more knowledge on the art of clothing, but Ted called uncle on the shopping trips.

Instead, on our way back to the boat we made one more quick stop where we could see the site of the Temple of Artemis--one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World.  One column remains.  Also in view was the Basilica of St. John, some sort of medieval structure and a modern community and one other time period's structure (which I cannot recall--maybe a mosque?).  Kind of neat

From there it was back to the ship

A great day in Turkey