Day 6 - Friday, June 16, 2023 - Kadasi Port - Ephesus, Turkey - Part 3

Day 6 - Friday, June 16, 2023 - Kadasi Port - Ephesus, Turkey - Part 3

After visiting the pottery shop, our guide took us to a lovely outside lunch prepared just for our family in a beautiful garden area with peacocks.  The food was amazing & it was fun for the kids to try new foods (like eggplant mousaka).  I love Turkish/Mediterranean food.  It’s one of my favorites.  We had chicken souvlaki on skewers, meatballs, the best tzatziki I’ve ever had in my life (with fresh mint), fries, & more.  The kids loved playing with the dogs & peacocks as we ate.  It was SO nice. 

Then after lunch we walked to a rug factory where we learned how Turkey farms silk worms to produce silk for rugs.  The kids got to touch the silk worm cocoons, watch the silk get spun into thread, & then watch some Turkish women weave the wool & silk into their beautifully patterned rugs. 

We got a tour of their warehouse where they showed us all the many beautiful patterns that are created by these women & they taught us how long it takes them to make them.  It was a really fun experience.  The kids were fascinated with everything & loved feeling the different rugs. 

After rugs, our final stop was to get some famous Turkish “Magic Ice Cream.”  I’ve seen this on facebook ads, but was SO excited to do it in person.  Trek had NEVER heard of this, so of course we made him go first.  It was absolutely HILARIOUS.  All of us got a turn having our ice cream twist & turn, hit us on our heads, & mess up our faces.  It was the highlight of the day for the boys.  They got a kick out of it.  On our way back to the ship we shopped at the open marketplace, then said goodbye to our amazing tour guide Kerem.

We made our way back to the boat so we’d be back in time for dinner at 5:30.  Lorien took the kids to the main dining room, while Trek & I had our special date night at Chops Grille (that I won the first day we were on the ship).  It was the most amazing dinner ever.  We had 4 courses & they were all incredible. For my appetizer I had black pepper bacon (HUGE THICK SLICE) with a sweet spicy sauce, a fried goat cheese salad that was the most delicious salad I’ve ever had, a beautiful sirloin steak for our main course, & chocolate lava cake for dessert.  Everything was flavorful & absolutely amazing. 

After that I was SO full I needed to run it all off so I went to the gym & ran a few miles, watched the boys climb the ship’s rock climbing wall, then we met the kids on the pool deck to watch Puss in Boots The Last Wish on the big screen before bed.  While I ran, Trek took his drone for some great arial shots of Turkey. It was a FULL, but absolutely amazing day. I will forever love Turkey.