Ħaġar Qim (Malta!)

If waking up in Turkey was surreal, it was nothing to waking up in Malta. 

It gave a little bit of Venice, with some fantastical Disney vibes thrown in. 

Valletta is the capital of Malta, and is completely walled. The fortifications began in 1566 by the Knights of St John after the Great Siege. While the Knights, historically, have been involved in military-esque operations (ie the Crusades), they now concern themselves with humanitarian aid, globally, and are now known as the Knights of Malta. (This was an exercise in using your own words after reading Wikipedia. lol)

Our ship has what they call an "infinite veranda".  Instead of having an outdoor space, that space is incorporated into your room, and the windows are floor to ceiling and lower halfway down. Many mornings when we wake up we are already docked, but this morning we were still making our way into port, so we put the window down to take in the sights and the morning air. This is our mirror INSIDE our stateroom. It's a bit humid!! 😜

For today's adventure, we headed to Ħaġar Qim, a megalithic temple. I say "megalithic" with a bit of confidence, but the past is basically a BLUR right now. We both desperately need a timeline, and thankfully didn't bring enough sticky notes to make one. It was built between 3600 and 3200 BC. For reference, the first phase of Stonehenge was started in 3100 BC. I don't know why, but that grounds it a little bit for me. 

Excavation started in the 1800s, though the top parts of some of the stones were visible before then. Turning the photo to black and white shows the difference in the weathering of the limestone. 

A tent was put up in the early 2000s to provide protective covering, which is what you can see in the background of some of the photos. 

Like a lot of ancient temples, there is a spot where the sun shines through on the solstice. We've seen this on our travels in Mexico and Belize, and know it exists in several ancient cultures throughout the world. On the one hand, it makes perfect sense, because people would have wanted to understand the world around them. On the other, what a precise measurement to be made with ancient tools (both carving and time!). 

This was the hottest day of our trip - nearing 100 by the time we left Ħaġar Qim. At this point, we're used to sweaty pictures! I feel sticky just remembering!

Extreme cuteness, and extreme focus!

Then we headed to the Limestone Heritage in Siġġiewi. It is an old limestone quarry that has been turned into a park/garden space that I'm sure hosts beautiful events, but also has a citrus grove! We were there for limoncello.

We had a demonstration of how to make it, and then got to sample some of what they make there. It's incredibly simple to make, but I've never tasted it quite so fresh as this! This went down way easier than the ouzo! ;) Louise swears she's going to make some; we'll keep you posted! 

As I said, this was the hottest day, and even though there was time for a little exploring afterwards, we headed back to the ship to change clothes and be cool! Leaving Malta after lunch was just as magical as coming in. One minute you are cruising by walls and fortresses, and the next it's open water. 

After Malta, we had a much needed Sea Day! Sea Days are when you sleep in, make actual dinner plans, get a massage, and generally recoup. Up next is Barcelona!

Ancient Ephesus

Here's the thing. This trip was all about going to the Acropolis. We initially investigated Athens as the destination, and tossed around spending the week there. But...it's a foreign city, where neither of us speak the language, and know nothing about the city itself. We love cruising because it's a safe way for the two of us to travel. Celebrity takes us to amazing places, vets the local excursions, and deposits us back in our room by night. It's safe, low stress, and we've been to amazing places this way!

But like I said, Athens was "the thing".  Sure, we chose the excursions, and we researched the places before doing so, but none of it was bucket list. The travel was the bucket list. And so when we woke up in TURKEY the other day, it really was a pinch me sort of thing. 

Kuşadasi has sort of a Kirkland vibe from the water, doesn't it? Kirkland in the 80s? We watched the sun rise, and watched the city wake up. 

Then we were off to Ephesus. Yes, the same Ephesus from the Bible, where Apostle Paul came, and where Apostle John lived and wrote. It's also the same Ephesus from the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The same Ephesus where Marc Antony and Cleopatra walked. There is literally too much history here to comprehend (or explain!). So much life has been lived here since it was created in the 10th century BC.  I'll do my best!

In the upper gate the first thing you come across are the baths. They were created around 104 AD. Built out of marble, there were three baths: cold water, warm water, and hot water. I think that's trendy again at spas nowadays! The baths would have been about 120ft long, and decorated with mosaics. 

Next up is State Agora. I admit I was on the struggle bus understanding what this place was. But "agoraphobia" which is the fear of open areas, is stemmed from this root word. An agora is an open place where people gathered. The upper agora in Ephesus was a place where people gathered for political or social reasons, exchanging information and so on. 

The first "theater" is Odeon.  Built in the 2nd century AD, it had a capacity of 1500, and also featured a wooden roof. 

At the Acropolis I genuinely got separated from the group because I was going slowly up the hill. In Ephesus it was a different story. It was crowded, our guide was keeping a peppy pace, and I just thought "wait a minute!!!". I'm never going to be here again, and I wanted to see everything. So I took a left when everyone went straight and zoomed around having my own adventure. Yeah - I zoomed. The marble is old and worn, making it slippery, there are stairs everywhere, and yet, I zoomed. You may be tired of hearing all the things I can do with these new knees, but I'm not tired (yet) of talking about it. 😁 I haven't felt this free in...years. 

I saw a bunch of stuff. And because I was solo, I'm not real sure what it all was! Sometimes you don't need to know all the things to be able to appreciate it. 💗

Nike

Like I said, the marble is worn, it's original, and though they have put some traction strips in places, it's difficult to manage. But my feet walking where John's feet were? Cleopatra? And tons of other Greeks, and Romans,  traders and slaves, politicians and philosophers, pagan worshipers and early Christians? They all walked on these same stones. 

And Louise too! 💕 I eventually zoomed around and caught up with the tour and my bestie. 

We walked down Curetes Street, past the Hercules Gate and the Fountain of Trajan.

And then we were at the pièce de résistance: the Library of Celsus. 

Isn't it absolutely beautiful? It was built in the 2nd century AD and housed around 12,000 scrolls. Four female statutes stood out front symbolizing fate, knowledge, virtue and wisdom. It is considered the third largest library of the ancient world, Alexandria holding the top spot. 

This niche, and others like it, housed the scrolls. 

And like the rest of this trip, I climbed up the steep steps and became completely overwhelmed by the titanium (or whatever it is!) that allowed me to experience this ancient moment. One of us has pretty much sobbed their way through Europe while the other has caught all the moments. And yes, I've flashed these babies after every set of stairs. And tourists across the continent have pictures of to prove it! ;)

Back in the day, the square in front of the library might have been filled with poets and orators.

One more! I really just want to look at the pictures of the library F O R  E V E R. I was loathe to climb down and join the group. 

At the other end of Ephesus is a second theater, the Grand Theater. It has a seating capacity of 25,000!!! Not a typo - they believe that 200,000 people lived in ancient Ephesus! The hills that roll on either side of the ruins on both sides of Curetes Street are believed to have ruins just below the surface of where people worked and lived during this time. 

There are also pieces all over, like in Delos, that they have yet to piece back together. 

On the way back to the ship we learned about Turkish rug weaving (amazing!), and sampled Turkish apple  tea. One of us also drank ouzo (and lived to tell about it!). 😃

And thus ends one of the most perfect travel days ever. We didn't know that we would ever be here, and we still can't believe that we were.  The world is big, and waiting for you to see it!

💕