Next up, on our honeymoon is Kusadasi, Turkey.
Previous stops: Venice & Athens
Boasting over 300 sunny days a year, we weren’t surprised to be greeted by a beautiful bright blue sky and a warm morning that quickly rose to 30 degrees Celsius.
Kusadasi lies on the West coast of Turkey and has a population of just 50,000; however the population is much greater during the summer when tourists arrive. The Taxi driver we spoke with said that he makes enough money in the summer (working as a Taxi driver) to take the rest of the year off work! He said they have a very relaxed lifestyle, with ample traveling, and lots of family time. Eric and I thought it was such a stark contrast to the typical North American lifestyle which is often based around working and material things, with little family time and travel opportunities.
We strolled around the market and the locals not only spoke English well, but they were very friendly (and very persistent!). I bought a couple unique looking tanks tops and Eric a couple t-shirts.
Well, I thought they were unique until I saw the same ones at every clothing stand along the way!
After browsing the market, we took a taxi to Ephesus, which is a city with quite a ‘rocky’ history filled with culture and architecture. Ephesus is famous for the Temple of Artemis- one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Word. Sadly, it was destroyed in 401 AD. Later on in 614 AD, much of the town was also destroyed by an Earthquake.
Similar to Athens, we saw a lot of strays which were the most friendly of all the strays we came across along our travels. The cats wanted lots of rubs and attention much like domestic cats. We couldn’t get over how tame they were, but I guess they are used to lots of tourists being around. We wanted to take them all home…I’m sure Sketchie would have loved them. ;)
For the rest of our pictures, see the album below!
Gorgeous travel pics! I just came across your blog for the first time and I love it. Such inspiration!
I’ve never even heard of that place!
I really love your new header by the way. Not that your pic wasn’t beautiful! – but the change in color from the blue is nice.
i was at the same port last year and it was my faaavorite place. it may be my favorite place in the world. we had a personal guide and asked him to emphasize the preaching of paul and it was so neat to be walking in the same t=places that paul preached and built churches. the markets were so amazing and the food was DELICIOUS! i love that you’re posting this, it’s making me relive my own trip :)
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
LOVE all the photos. Isn’t it cool meeting animals all around the world!
Angela the photos are stunning! My sister and parents have traveled EXTENSIVELY around the world. Safaris in Africa, the middle east, Europe, you name it…and they have both raved about Turkey.
I would love to go one day!
I’m roasting S&V Chickpeas as I write this; now I can dream of trips to Greece and Turkey as I munch away on them!!
I would love to travel to the Mediterranean countries some day to see all the ancient ruins! Greece and Italy have always been at the top of my list, but Turkey sounds wonderful too. It would be so nice to experience a place that has a slower pace of life instead of everything being so go-go-go all the time!
My sister was actually BORN in Turkey! :D
What beautiful photos! I especially like the ones of the cats :)
Agree with @runwithbritt!
Turkey looks fantastic! So interesting and filled with a melting pot of cultures!
I can’t get over the size of the handsome kitty lying on the broken column…he looks ENORMOUS!!! Turkey is on my travel-to list…but now i want to go there right now…
I noticed that too. What a large cat!
Wow! What an awesome trip!
I visited Turkey once years ago but don’t remember any strays…. that’s probably a good thing though. Like you, I am the type to want to take them all home with me… Poor kittens, I can’t believe they don’t have good homes =(
Beautiful photos. I miss seeing your picture as your blog header.
Veggies are nice, but seeing you when I logged on made me want to eat
better so I can glow just like you!
Kusadasi looks gorgerous, what an amazing honeymoon! Love all the cats.
Hi!
I am from Istanbul, actually! And my grandmother has a summer house in Kusadasi. So cool that you went there and enjoyed yourself so much!
Big fan of your blog!
Esen
Thanks Esen!
amazing photos! You actually have a couple of American readers who live in Turkey (myself being one!). Thanks for sharing it’s beauty!
Oh cool! :)
Beautiful photos!
What fab pics! I went to Ephasus when I was 17, and it was so interesting, but Turkey was having a heat wave, so it was over 40 degrees in the shade. Very hot!