Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ephesus, Rhodes, Gythion and 1 day in Rome

As I write this we are
already in London and soon on our way to Africa. The second half of our cruise went far too
quickly as we enjoyed my parents and all the luxuries the ship had to offer (my
parents even brought us suits and dresses from home so we weren't quite the slobs we’ve been as
of late.)

The highlight of this time educationally
though was our stop in Kusadasi, Turkey from which we visited Ephesus, the best
preserved (or rather reconstructed) ancient Roman city. They have only uncovered 10% of the city as
of this time (they are still digging) but it is remarkably clear walking
through what it must have been like in the early centuries BC. Many homes had running water and heated
floors. My favorite part was the public
toilets – no privacy!

Look how crowded it is - they are all tourists

The Greek ports were less
educational but very nice days out. I
was a sucker for all the cats.

This little girl was making a killing - she stopped every couple of minutes

to stuff the money from the cup into her pocket.

OK, I might have been feeding them.

Always happy when we find these.

All in all the cruise was a really nice break from our trip. We surely gained back a bit of the weight we'd lost, and we all agreed the time went by really fast. Still though we were ready to get off the boat by the time we landed in Rome. There we had just one day to cram in all the sites before catching a plane to London. Our guide was great though (hired by Dad - thanks Dad!) and so we got to see an awful lot. It was Sunday though so we missed the Sistine Chapel. Wilder and Peyton thought one day in Italy was a complete rip off, but I told them they'd be back one day.

The Colosseum

The Forum

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

The last time I was in Rome it was summer and hot. It was beautiful in November with much fewer tourists. Now though - we hear London calling!