I am going to purposely omit any description of Rhodes. We spent the day there walking through the Old City, a medieval era walled castle built by the knights who came to Rhodes during the Crusade. Most of the Old City is taken up by shops and restaurants lining narrow, maze-like streets. A small section has been set aside for touring the fortification and perusing lots and lots of Ancient Greek idols, pottery, jewelry, stonework and statuary. There was no interpretaton at all of the Crusade and the knights whom we presume made all this retailing and tourism possible. It was all very interesting but, candidly, I was a little distracted because later in the day we would be taking a short ferry from Rhodes and entering Turkey at Marmaris. 

The difference between Greece and Turkey is stark when you arrive in Marmaris. Greece is an ancient place of olive trees and ruins- a bit sleepy (they call it relaxed) and lethargic. For the most part the landscape where we have been is sparse; it is arid with rains in April and October (so I have been told). Marmaris, Turkey, on the other hand, was comparatively lush. We immediately saw forests of pine trees which spoke to me of youth, renewal and vibrancy. There was also an orderliness to the port activity in Turkey that was missing in Greece. Turks work like there is nobility in it; they seem to take great pride in it. This is a quality that the world could use more of. 

As I said, Marmaris was an attractive seaside city, but, unfortunately, we had committed to being near Ephesus when we stopped for the night. The problem was that there is no direct bus from Marmaris to Ephesus, or Selcuk, the city most close to it; there is no train serving our destination and the taxi service wanted 200 euros to go there from the ferry port. That is a ripoff in any language, and I was determined to find a way. 

Bus service in Turkey is convenient, on-time, clean and cheap - very much like a feeder airline system without the security hassles. we boarded a bus for Aydin which costs eight Euros apiece. I would like to tell you how far we went and in what direction. We were riding purely on the advice of bus employees who were very business- like and seemed quite intent on getting us onto a bus going somewhere as quickly as possible. What I think I was told ( and still believe) is that our bus was going to a town where we could get a bus going to Selcuk (Ephesus). 

As I mentioned, the bus was very much like a plane. There were three employees aboard - a driver, a steward and what must have been a manager. He did nothing but stand around at the intermediate stops Looking brooding and concerned. The steward, a young man in black pants, pressed white shirt and red bow tie, was a whirling dervish of activity. First, he came through offering cups of water and then he served ice cream! It was good ice cream! I was looking forward to wine and olives, but Leslie had other ideas. She wanted to take a taxi from Aydin. It was getting very late and we did not have a hotel room to stay in.

With the help of Jack, a young Turkish man we met on the bus who was anxious to practice his English , and by the grace of God, we got a taxi in Aydin that took us all the way to Selcuk and Hotel Jimmys. Best of all, the whole trip only cost 66 euros. And I got ice cream.