Kusadasi

The primary attraction in Kusadasi is a trip to Ephesus. We saw Ephesus on our trip to Turkey the year before, so we chose to walk over to Pigeon Island also known as Güvercinada, to see birds and the old fort.

We could see Pigeon Island from our ship as we docked early in the morning.

We walked past it, as there was better light from this angle. The fortress on the island was originally constructed by the Ottomans and then refurbished in the early 1800s.

Pigeon Island is on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

We only saw a few birds.

We did see cats, as this is Turkey.

Then we walked through the old town shopping area.

Notice the awning in the background of the statue. They are prepared for any cruise ship passenger to come by.

We bought some turkish delight and some turkish ice cream, also called dondurma. If you’ve seen videos of an ice cream vendor playing with their customer, it’s most likely dondurma, as it’s a little sticky and chewy from the orchid flour and resin in it. It was a little cooler day, so there were not many places selling it.

Walking through the shopping area in the cruise port we see truth-in-advertising.