EPHESUS, TURKEY: A SPLENDOR OF ANTIQUITY

BY: JANET STEINBERG 

"So much of Ephesus remains that, no one in one lifetime with the volumes of knowledge could absorb it."   S. Turkoglu - E. Atalay      

On our recent Crystal Serenity cruise, Kusadasi was the port of choice as its gateway to the ancient archaeological site of Ephesus. Kusadasi, (pronounced koo-SHAHD-ah-sea) a lovely town on the Aegean Sea, is a 25-minute drive through the Asia Minor countryside to the fabled remains of the ancient city of Ephesus.

KUSADASI, GATEWAY TO THE ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF EPHESUS

    

ISTANBUL, TURKEY: WHERE EAST MEETS WEST

BY: JANET STEINBERG

Who would have dreamed it?  Certainly, I could not have!

As a young girl, bored to death in a geography class that spoke of sultans, straits, and seven continents, I could never have dreamed where I would be six decades later. 

THERE I WAS...IN ISTANBUL

But there I was…sitting in a genuine Ottoman Sultan’s palace on the continent of Europe, overlooking a panoramic view of the majestic Bosphorus Strait, and gazing at the coastline of the continent of Asia, an almost veritable stone’s throw away.  Yes, moments after checking into the incredible Ciragan Palace Kempinski that is exactly what I was doing.