Turkey!

 Our third stop on the cruise was to Ephesus, Turkey.  I remember when we booked the cruise thinking that it would be a cool place to go, but that we might not like it as much as the other stops.  I couldn't have been more wrong!  Out of all of the places we stopped on our cruise, we both agreed that Turkey was our favorite.

This picture was taken right next to the port, we were shocked at how beautiful Turkey was.

 We're excited to go exploring!

 First order of business, scooter!  Every cruise we've been one we've rented a scooter and loved it.  It's the perfect was to be out on your own, and still get to see a lot of the sights.  This was by far the best scooter experience we've ever had.  Sean is a barterer, (I seriously hate/refuse to do that...I get really nervous and also feel really bad.  Clearly I was not cut out for sales.)  so of course he finagled the price 10 Euros lower than what we were supposed to pay=cha ching!  The guy renting us the scooter was really nice, and didn't even require us to fill up the tank before we brought it back (that never happens).  Double cha-ching!

 We are ALWAYS styling in our helmets!

 Some of the gorgeous views on our scooter excursion...

 After finding our sweet ride, the first order of business was...finding a beach!!!

 It was called Ladies' Beach, how appropriate. :)

The always photogenic Sean. SOMEONE may not have taken my advice to go tanning before our two week trip in the sun...and someone may have gotten fried...

 Turkish Doritos?!  Oh yeah!

My happy place.

 Next, we ventured down the boardwalk and found the best little ocean-side restaurant.

 This was some of the best seafood we've ever had! 

 I can still taste it now...

 Loving life a little too much...

Panoramic of our lunch view.

 Turkish hand wipes anyone?

Finishing off the meal with a delicious strawberry daiquiri.

 Some pictures of the boardwalk...

 Our cute little restaurant, SomeWhereElse.

 The views didn't suck...

Goodbye Ladies' Beach!  I hope we'll meet again someday.

Time to hit the road again!  We had to do some more exploring...

I don't claim to be an international expert, but I had no idea there were so many Muslims in Turkey.  I know, I'm an idiot.  While we were laying out on the beach, we heard the call from their churches for "Salah" or their 5 prayers a day.  It was really cool to hear the chants and watch everyone go into the masques.  I loved seeing all of the different religion practices on our trip, it was really interesting.  This is just one of the many masques we passed on our drive around Ephesus.  

 We headed up to the top of the highest hill that we could find, and the views were breathtaking.  I had always heard that Turkey was beautiful, but I honestly had no idea that I was going to like it this much.  You can actually see our cruise ship in the very back of the picture.

 Taking it all in...

 Seriously, how did we get so lucky?

 Smooches!

I'm terrible at those types of pictures were you're supposed to pretend like you're underneath the objects.  Clearly.  

 By far, Ephesus was our favorite stop on the cruise.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I don't know if I was able to capture enough of Turkey to get a real feel for it, but I did my best!  We loved it.  The people were so nice, everything was super cheap, the beaches and hills were beautiful, and we were on vacation.  What's not to love?  If you ever get a chance to go to Ephesus, Turkey take it!  I already want to go back!