Turkish delight...

Quote of the day: “I can’t seem to get this key card to work. I’ve tried it 35 times, but it just won’t open the door. I just don’t understand it.” A slightly confused fellow passenger.

Today we docked in Kusadasi, Turkey, which is a tourist town feeding the amazing ruins in Ephesus (as in Paul’s letters to the Ephesians). Again, we’d done the major tour thing last time round, so we had a leisurely breakfast, then a wander to the fort on Pigeon Island (pictured). We were there fairly early, so it was a lovely peaceful spot.

After that we headed for the bizarre, which claims to be second in size only to the Grand Bizarre in Istanbul (which apparently will be closed when we visit tomorrow). The store people were pushy but friendly. They love to engage you in conversation in the hope of getting you into their shop, where hopefully you will buy their jewelry or carpets or tourist junk…

JB surprised me by checking out several places, and eventually made a purchase – a cotton top. She even coped with the bargaining, probably because by then she had got into the swing of things, having disappointed a number of shop workers by exiting without purchasing. I picked up a gift for WS, but I may yet keep it myself!

Another stunning day on the Aegean. The weather continues to be just perfect…