More ancient ruins!!

After flying into Izmir, we visited the old sight of Pergamon. It was pouring down rain and so we were all soaking wet. Our group buddied up and had one umbrella between two people. Quite the sight. We even had to climb down the steep steps of the acropolis. In Pergamon we also saw the Asclepion and Archaeological museum. We stayed in Kusadasi for the last two nights. It was a gorgeous seaside town and home to many cruise ship ports. Fortunately, there were no cruise ships when we were there so it was not packed.

My favorite day was our trip to Ephesus. This city is one of the most stable and present ancient cities I have seen. There were lots of interesting pieces and I got to capture them all on my camera which was part of the fun. There was the medicine symbol in marble that caught my interest. Also a great picture of Medussa, which reminded me of Starbucks. The library there was two stories and it was beautiful. The theater there is still used for concerts and many well known artists perform there! After the ancient sight we also stopped at the Temple of Artemis which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. From this stop we could see the Temple (Pagan), St. John Basilica (Christian), and a Mosque. St. John's Basilica was also an interesting stop. It was up on a hill and really windy. But they had the tomb of Saint John which was pretty incredible. For our final night in Turkey, we all went out to a 'karaoke bar" it was very interesting but really fun because our professors came with us!

Early the next morning we headed back to Greece. But first, of course, we had to fit in one more ancient ruin visit to the Agora of Smyrna. I really enjoyed my trip and it was really eye opening to be in such a drastically different country. I cannot wait to see you all soon. I am heading to London tomorrow to meet my parents and Daniel!! Opa!