With back-to-back overnight buses (let’s chalk it up to a failed experiment), we started the day in Kusadasi, stopping at the House of the Virgin Mary, which has its own version of the Western Wall note phenomenon,the Basilica of St. John, and the one remaining (reconstructed) column of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Temple of Artemis. (What happened to the rest of the Temple, you ask? Oh, stolen and housed at the British Museum in London). The highlight was the ruins at Ephesus; from the mosaics at the terrace houses to the two-story library, the ruins are incredibly well preserved and expansive. Move over, Pompeii, the ruins at Ephesus take the crown for most impressive.