By Bob Van Leer

(KUSADASI, TURKEY, Wednesday, April 19, 2000) - Our plans for this evening were to be at a dinner in Istanbul, Turkey, called the "Ottoman Sultan's Festival", but because of the change in ports due to the medical emergency of a passenger, we are in Kusadasi instead.

   This is a tourist stop in its own right, the gateway to Ephesus, one of the best preserved of the old Roman cities. It is located in western Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea and in the Roman ear had a population of 250,000 and was the capital of five hundred towns in Anatolia, now part of Turkey.

   The country of turkey is slightly larger than Texas with a population (1999) of 65.5 million people. It is a Muslim nation with a secular government. It dates to 1923 after the collapse of the old Ottoman Empire following World War I.

   Turkey's per capita gross national product is $3200, not a wealthy country, but not poor either. Part of Turkey, the smaller part, is in Europe with the rest in Asia Minor. The strait, including the Dardenelles and the Bosporus, that runs east-west through Turkey from the Black sea to the Mediterranean separates Europe from Asia.

   We tour the ancient city of Ephesus which includes an incredible collection of ruins spanning the end of the pagan period of Rome and the beginning of the Christian era. Here are the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

   Sts. Paul and John spent years here and a church is built over the tomb of St. John. This is the city where the Virgin Mary is reputed to have died and the ruins of the Church of St. Mary are visible. The Third Council of Christianity was held here in 431 A.D. Attended by more than 200 bishops.

   At midnight we left the Kusadasi harbor for Pireus, Greece.