We got to sleep in a little later this morning because we weren't positive that we were going to get of the ship at Kusadasi, Turkey. Due to a State Department Warning about US citizens traveling into Turkey we were a little hesitant about getting off the ship. After discussing it we decided to venture out and see a few sights in Kusadasi. We got off the ship around 11:15am. We found stores and shopping opportunities everywhere we turned. We found out quickly that the stores owners and employees would stand or sit outside of their store. As we walked by their store the owners would aggressively try to get you to come in. What we also learned quickly is that all prices were negotiable and negotiating the final price was part of the buying ritual. The price listed on the items were usually shown in Euros but because of the conversion rate we found it to be much cheaper using the Turkish Lira. We learned to walk into a store and if we saw something that we were interested in we would ask the owner for his best price. Once that was given to us it was at that point that the bargaining and negotiating process would begin. Veronica used this strategy when she found 2 silk scarves that she wanted. One was hand embroidered with a price of 800 Lira and the second one was priced at 400 Lira but she negotiated the price down to 400 Lira for both. After shopping and taking in some of the sights in Kusadasi we returned to our ship. The ship departed Kusadasi at 5:00pm local time.
After having another great meal at Cagneys, a steakhouse style restaurant on board the ship, we went to see a musical production show in the Stardust Theater. Unfortunately we had a hard time enjoying the show. We had chosen the 1st two seats in the row which meant that we were seated next to the stairs/aisle. For the first 30 after the show started we had people meandering in and wanting us to get up to allow them to get a seat further inside our row.
In all we were asked to get up 6 different times. And to top it off we had one couple ask us to get up and allow them to get seats further in the row and less than 10 minutes later the same couple asked us to get up so that they could leave because the music was too loud. Very inconsiderate people. The parts of the show that we were able to watch in peace and quiet were really good. It is just a shame that we could not enjoy the whole show due to certain people thinking that they were special and entitled to come into the show whenever they wanted to.
With that being said here are some of the photos that I took of our adventures into Kusadasi today:
Photos of the port, the general area around the port and one of the indoor shopping malls called the Scala Nuova
The area surrounding the city and port
The port of Kusadasi was very busy with all kinds of ships going in and out
Shopping opportunities were everywhere
We noticed this outside one of the watch stores in Kusadasi. Took this photo using our iphone while walking in a crowd of fellow shoppers.
A nice public fountain
Assorted boats in the marina along with fishermen
The Turkish flag stands tall and proud over the city of Kusadasi.
Tomorrow is a day at sea. We will have to figure out something to keep ourselves occupied
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