Magic: Spellbound and Türkiye
On our Sea Day we continued with our exploration of the Sun Princess. If you have ever cruised with Princess, you know that they offer art auctions onboard. This time they had many copies of pieces by Peter Max. Max became a counter-cultural icon in the 60’s and 70’s with his very colorful psychedelic imagery. I remember him for artwork depicting the Beatles and for a while his art was everywhere. In the mid 70’s however, his work began to be associated with drug use and his star fell. It was fun to see some of the reproductions of his work as we wandered around the ship.
We had been lucky to score reservations to one of the newest additions to a Princess ship: Spellbound by Magic Castle. This is billed as an immersive, magic-themed speakeasy exclusive to the Sun Princess and the Star Princess. We entered through a hidden door off the casino into a Victorian-style venue of secret rooms filled with magical artifacts and roving performers. A magic show is part of the fun, and we were all admonished that pictures or videos of the show were forbidden. Once inside the door, we were allowed to wander around as the performers did tricks for us, read fortunes, and served us each 2 handcrafted theatrical cocktails. Bob’s first cocktail was the 1963, consisting of Bacardi spiced rum, Campari, Kahlua, Lime, Pineapple, Almond and Ginger and he was ok with it. I got the coolest one which was the Artemis: Grey Goose La Poire, Pamplemousse Liqueur, Lychee, Almond, Passion Fruit, Lemon, and Elderflower Tonic served in an Artemis golden goblet. Artemis, you may recall, was one of the three major virgin goddesses along with Athena and Hestia, and was the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals and the moon. Very heavy burden. The cocktail was pretty good, but the goblet was fire. (Bob wanted me to stick it in my purse, but alas, Artemis was too big.)
The magic show was amusing although neither of us can recall the name of the magician, but his skills were apparent. After the show, we met a judge and his wife and chatted about the legal system. Spellbound set us back a few bucks but was a fun way to spend the evening.
The next day was Kusadasi, Türkiye. We had to have a special shore pass to enter Türkiye, and we were required to show those to several armed guards upon arrival and departure. Kusadasi is the entry point to Ephesus, which is a major site of archeological excavation. This place has Indiana Jones written all over it. We had almost decided to remain on the ship this date because the excursions through Princess were a bit high, but at the last minute I booked an excursion through Viator. We have used this company before, most recently in San Juan where we were escorted through numerous restaurants with a group of hungry tourists. It had been a good tour, and very inexpensive. This was was a total of $78 USD for both of us and promised a 4 hour skip the lines tour of the archaeological digs and other delights. Remember that number.
We found our guide waiting when we disembarked and good thing. Getting off the ship in Kusadasi means you move quickly into the Grand Bazaar and the Souvenir Bazaar which are vast and contain every trinket and food delight the world has known. Our guide was named Alican, and he guided us efficiently through the throngs of people to our waiting van complete with AC, plenty of water, and our driver Onushk. I am pretty sure Onushk spoke little to no English but he had a great smile and was a skilled wheel man. As always, I was glad we didn’t have to navigate the narrow streets.
The Ephesus Archaeological Site is very large and definitely puts you in mind of an ancient Greco-Roman City. It was built in the 10th century BC, was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. Clearly its history is vast, and I could never do the telling any justice. It did become an important center for Christianity from the 50’s AD. Several of the apostles of Christ made an appearance, and Mary, Mother of Jesus, lived close by until her death. More on that later.
Alican was well versed in stories and guided us expertly through the ruins, which are still being actively excavated. The roads through the dig are mainly of egg white concrete which was brought to the site by the many slaves who were required to build it. The stones are irregularly laid and can be very slippery, and this is made clear to you as the telephone number for emergency services is posted every few hundred yards. The Theatre of Ephesus is a magnificent open air marble structure that is estimated to seat up to 25,000 spectators and is the largest theater in ancient Asia Minor. Elton John did a concert there in 2007. We were quite impressed by the outdoor toileting in which everyone enjoys being only a few inches away from another person doing their business.
After listening to Alican regale us with all the history, he guided us into a newer building with AC to see a multi media show explaining more about Ephesus. We were happy for this because once again it was more than 100 degrees with absolutely no shade. As we entered the building, we were offered earphones in a variety of languages to listen to the show. Mine were in Italian, with no way to change. I tried to explain my need for English earphones as they were herding us into the show, but they didn’t understand me and gave me a new pair also in Italian. I chalked it up to my ongoing education in other languages and listened in. Fortunately, the show was pretty self explanatory and went through the history of all the Turkish gods, men, and women who contributed to the site. I decided they had taken a page out of a Disney preshow, as it was well done, and at the end, emptied us into a room where we could buy any number of gifts to bring home.
Alican then took us for some refreshments at a Turkish store. Our impression is that the stores in Türkiye keep a very large and eclectic inventory since you never know what visitors want. But my interest was the candy department. I have always been fascinated by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis, which is one of the seven Chronicles of Narnia Series. Edmund, the third eldest of the four Pevensie children, is known to be somewhat of a troublemaker, and is lured by the White Witch by the promise of power and an unlimited supply of Turkish Delight. I have always wondered how any sweet could be so good as to cause someone to abandon their family and their values. Take my word for it—it’s tasty but not that tasty. Nevertheless, we bought a bunch of several varieties to bring home.
Our next stop was the House of the Virgin Mary. Legend has it that Mary spent her final years here. There is some dispute as to whether this is true, but no less than three popes consecrated the site, the most recent being Pope John Paul II in 2004. Many Christians make this a site for pilgrimage and today was no different. Although the line to walk through the restored dwelling, which was restored in the 1950’s was long, it did move quickly and many people lit candles and prayed as they moved through.
Then on to the Temple of Artemis, whose cocktail I had enjoyed just last evening. Once this was a magnificent sanctuary and considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple was destroyed by a guy named Herostratus to achieve fame for destroying something (as one does) and although it was rebuilt, it was again destroyed later by the Goths. Today, one lonely spire stands in a peaceful green field where it is enjoyed by grazing horses.
Alican told us the last stop of the day would be the rug factory. Now I was on to this one. I had read several articles warning tourists to steer clear of the rug shops in Türkiye. This is because they are known to be very capable and aggressive salespeople, and getting out of there without a rug can be a rare experience. I told Alican we were not in the market for a rug so we didn’t need to make this stop. But he was very convincing that this was not a stop to sell Turkish rugs! Oh no! This was an opportunity to see how such beautiful works of art are made by local women who would have no trade or ability to care for their families unless they were trained in this ancient art.
And we fell for that.
The first step in our downfall was to show us how the rugs are made. An older woman with appropriately gnarled fingers sat at a loom deftly threading strand after strand onto a beautiful blue rug in the making. I was given a chance to add a few strands and fortunately didn’t screw it up too badly. Next we were shown how lowly silk worm pods are made into silk strands to be used in the rugs. Looked sort of tortuous for the worms. Finally, we were shepherded into the room for the kill. Beautiful rugs, each more amazing than the next were rolled out on the floor in the cavernous space. A lovely young man, who either spoke no English or just wisely stayed quiet carried literally dozens of rugs unveiling them for our pleasure. We were given Turkish coffee and tea to stay hydrated as our host (whose name I didn’t catch) encouraged us to take off our shoes and feel the quality of rugs with our feet. Which one (or ones) did we want?
At this point, Bob and I differ on who was the weak link here. And that should tell you it was both of us. Our claims of rug buying poverty fell on deaf ears, as each shake of our head offered a bit lower price. And then the owner came in. This is the guy who can make the hard deal. Back and forth we went, losing our resolve at every moment. And we are now the owners of two gorgeous Turkish rugs for less than half the price. But they are works of art, right? Our children will want them in the will, right? We were so overwhelmed at that point that we only took a picture of the smaller blue one. The larger has three pomegranate trees, important in Turkish lore because the pomegranate looks like it is one thing, but when you open it you see the whole family of man. We should get both in eight weeks. I’ll keep you posted.
While we completed the paperwork for getting our beautiful rugs of art, we were ushered into another room. This one sparkly with jewels. And a lovely young lady who designs those jewels. Surely miss wanted a ring? A pair of earrings? A necklace? All three? The stones were of tanzanite, a rare blue-violet gemstone found only in northern Tanzania, near Mount Kilimanjaro, making it a thousand times rarer than a diamond. We were weak. More Turkish coffee and teas were offered. Perhaps a Turkish snack. I can’t recall. Isn’t my new ring beautiful? It’s the Turkish Eye, known to ward off all evil (with the exception of Turkish rug and jewelry salespeople). I sure hope it works.
As we paid up and headed back to the ship, I asked Alican if he got a cut of all the things we had bought today. He did admit to 1%. I suspect it was more. And that explains how cheap he and Onuskh were to rent for the day. At any rate, we suffered from very little buyers' remorse. We hadn’t really expected much out of Türkiye on this cruise. And it turned out to be one of the most entertaining (albeit expensive) days of our trip.
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