Walking in Famous Footsteps: The Ancient City of Ephesus

Our second stop in Turkey was Ephesus and on our way to the city we stopped by the last home of Mother Mary. St. John reportedly brought Mary to this small house atop a lovely tree-covered hill to safely spend her final days. The setting is very serene and nearby the house there is holy water and a nice wall for leaving prayers. This modern statue greets you on the way up the hill.

Ephesus is an ancient Greco-Roman city that was once an important port city. With such a long history, the streets of this city have been graced by many a famous footstep - including (supposedly) those of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Augustus Caesar, St. Paul, and St. John.

Here we are, learning our history, in front of the Celsus Library.

Celsus Library again, artistic style.

This is the theater where Saint Paul gave his last sermon before being executed. This massive theater can seat 25,000!

Obligatory photo of us using ancient Roman toilets.

Then we learned how to make a Turkish carpet. What a piece of cake - it's just knots . . . and more knots . . . and more knots . . . and endless, endless knots. Those things take forever - sometimes years! The patience of those women (apparently Turkish carpets are only made by women and prisoners . . .) is astounding.

And did we forget to mention that this is where we stayed? Our hotel was literally on the Aegean Sea. We ate huge, amazing buffet dinners as we drank wine and watched the sun set over the sea. And then Alisa did interpretive dance to traditional Turkish music and . . . butta bing butta boom, got proposed to (ring and all) 2 days later. Awkward . . . but Mother Bright was so happy to be present at her daughter's first - albeit shortlived - engagement.