Ephesus, Turkey - A Step Back in Time

Wow! This day was a real highlight of our trip. Our ship was now in Kusadasi (rhymes with odyssey). We had a driver and a tour guide for today that met us at our ship at 8 am. Our guide spoke fluent English. We started by driving to the Virgin Mary's house which is on a hill a few miles outside of Ephesus. This is where Jesus told John to take his mother after his death so she could live out her life here.

Some believe the water here is holy and has healing powers. I filled a small bottle to take home.

There is also a prayer wall full of prayers written on paper.

After leaving this peaceful place we headed to Ephesus which used to be on the coast but is now inland about 5 miles. We saw fig, pomegranate, peach and orange trees and wheat fields.

Over time earthquakes have destroyed the buildings but we can tell where the buildings were and how they lived.

The men's potties were made of marble so they would send their slaves to warm them up.

The library was at the end of the street.

Street sign.

The theater where Paul spoke. We were fortunate to have a retired pastor with us who read to us from the book of Acts. It is awesome to think we were in the same theater referred to in the bible!

We saw the terrace homes which are being restored. The well-to-do lived here and reminded me very much of a modern condo. They had indoor baths and there were many steps to climb. In one we could see the large dining room which had a fountain. The purpose of the fountain was to drown out the voices so the spies could not hear them talk.

 We could see frescoes painted on the walls and mosaic tiles in the floors.  It is like putting together many puzzles to restore these houses.

After touring Ephesus we went to see the tomb where St. John is buried.

A small mosque across the street from the tomb which reminds us we are in a muslim country.

We saw so much today! I tried to absorb all the history but it is still hard for me to believe I walked in the footsteps of people like Paul and John.

Tomorrow it is on to Athens, Greece.

Highlights of Istanbul, Turkey

We took a shuttle from our ship to downtown Istanbul. (It was $10 roundtrip). This is a large city with many people. We headed for the Blue Mosque which was most impressive.

 Although there was a long line it moved quickly. Ladies knees and arms must be covered before entering. There was a woman handing out shawls at the door if needed. Everyone also had to take off their shoes.

The inside of the mosque with its many blue tiles.


From there we walked to Hagia Sophia which was the largest church in the world for 1000 years. It then was a mosque and is now a museum.

Harem skirts for sale.

 Nearby was the Topkapi Palace which used to be the home of the sultans.

We entered through the cannon gate.

The Ottomans while constructing this palace left great gardens in the middle and built palace buildings around them.

Anyone know what he was guarding? He was taking his job very seriously as one in our group tried to get closer to take a picture and this guy approaches him
with his machine gun.

We had a lunch of chicken crepes at an outdoor restaurant. While there we heard the call to prayer over the loud speakers from the mosques. They stop and pray 5 times a day.

We walked through part of the Grand Bazaar but one can easily get lost here. There are about 3500 shops with 18 gates to enter or depart through. It was very crowded and hot. They were selling carpets, jewelry and scarves as well as many other items. One of the popular items were the woven bookmarks as they were easy to pack.

A day here is not enough and I feel we only scratched the surface. But we are in for a real treat tomorrow!

Mykonos, A Diamond in a Sapphire Sea

Mykonos, Greece is an island about the size of Alabama. It's white buildings contrast with the dazzling blue of the sky and sea.

To protect themselves from pirate invasions the town and harbor was built compactly. The winding maze of streets was designed to confuse invaders and it also serves to break the effect of the winds coming in from the Aegean.

Few of the windmills still exist.


Petros, the pelican is their mascot.

Everywhere I looked seemed like a picture postcard.

Our ship was here from 9am-2pm. A little longer would have been nice but we walked around and shopped and really enjoyed our time here. Tomorrow we will
have a very full day in Istanbul,Turkey.

Sunny, Beautiful Naples, Italy

Mama Mia! What a great day we had here! As soon as we got off our ship at 8 am we met our driver, Ciro, who drove us through Naples to Pompeii. There we met our tour guide, Suzi.  Pompeii was destroyed and buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. It killed 2000 people but also managed to freeze an entire society at one instant of time under 23 feet of ashes. The discovery and excavation of Pompeii began in 1748. Some buildings have been carefully restored and you can see frescoes on many walls. Tons of ash and cinders destroyed any roof or canopy.

The roads in Pompeii are lined with sidewalks a foot or more above the street level. Stepping stones are placed to allow pedestrians to cross in wet weather but spaces were still left to allow wheels and horses to get by easily. We could still see deep ruts where chariot wheels have worn away the pavement.

They even had fast food restaurants! There were 27 in Pompeii. This is the counter and serving window of one. Business owners often lived behind the store or above on an upper floor.

The people of Pompeii lived rather well. The community bath was an important place and much visiting and business was conducted here. You can see the frescoes on the wall.

We also saw the brothel (complete with a picture menu). Here is one of the beds, made of rock.

Suzi talking to us in the theater.

We could see Mount Vesuvius in the background.

After our 2 hour tour Ciro drove us down the Amalfi coast. WOW! Pictures only give a hint of how beautiful it was.

There were many hairpin curves. I was really glad someone else was doing the driving. There was too much to see to try to drive at the same time.

We stopped along the way to eat pizza where it started. And of course I had to have gelato. Amaretto today - yum!

This was a very full but very enjoyable day. This is the pretty sunset from my balcony. We really enjoyed our balcony on this cruise. It was always so pretty watching us go in and out of port each day.

Tomorrow we get to rest and enjoy our ship and then it is off to Greece. Arrivederci!

Rome Italy in a Day

Giovanni drove us to Rome and around Rome. What a great tour guide he was (and good looking too). The ride from the port was a little over an hour. This was Republic Day in Italy which is similar to our 4th of July. Large crowds were everywhere and because of a parade Giovanni had to change his course. We saw so many sights I don't think I can remember them all. He took us to where Julius Caesar had been killed. Just think how many years ago that was! The ruins were right downtown and not marked. We also went to the Pantheon and then met up with Marco who walked us through the Vatican (we saw where the pope addresses the people in above picture) and Sistine Chapel. Michaelangelo was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with scenes from the creation of the world as well as prophets and biblical heroes. The work took 3 years to complete. Twenty years later he was again commissioned (I don't think he could tell the pope no) to add another fresco on a wall behind the alter called the Last Judgment. Michaelangelo's own face appears in the skin of St. Bartholomew. Very impressive!

Giovanni took us to an Italian restaurant for lunch where he seemed to know the owner. We started with a selection of about 5 different antipasto (appetizers) and then we had 2 pastas - a meat filled tortellini and the most delicious lasagna I have ever eaten. The pasta and cheese were so creamy it just melted in your mouth.I will always remember Rome for that lasagne.

At the Trevi Fountain I threw in a coin because as the legend goes "if you throw in a coin you will come back to Rome". We ended our 8 hr. tour with a visit to the Colosseum where the gladiators fought and early Christians were thrown to the lions. We could see below the arena floor where the animals had been kept.

By having a driver meet us at the ship and drive us around I feel we saw so much more than if we had tried to see it all on our own since we didn't know our way around. And because there were only 8 of us it was so much easier then being on a bus with 50 others and it cost less than the ship's tour too. We had a good overview of Rome although it would be nice to have more time here.

I tried my best to sample as much gelato in Italy as I could and our ship also had gelato for sale. Gelato is very similar to ice cream but creamier. Today I had 3 scoops - strawberry, eggnog and limoncello. All were delicious! I believe eating the local food is part of the experience.

Next time I will write about our trip to Pompeii and down the Amalfi coast. Stay tuned!

The Region of Tuscany

We disembarked our ship at 8 am and met Luis who drove us to Florence. Luis spoke some English but not alot, which was alright since he was our driver and not our tour guide. As he was driving us to the city we discovered he did know two words in English very well - "Stupid driver!" Along the way we saw alot of terra cotta houses and olive trees.

We met our tour guide, Isabella, who took us on a 2 hour walking tour of Florence. She spoke excellent English and was very pleasant. Florence is known as the Renaissance City and everywhere we turned there was a famous statue or beautiful building. We saw the Cathedral or Duomo which is covered in multi colored marble. Outside the Duomo is the Bell Tower and the Baptistery which was decorated with white and green marble.

Although we did not go inside the Uffizi Gallery it is one of the world's most famous museums where you can find works of nearly every Renaissance master.  The Academia is nearby where you can find Michelangelo's David. The original is inside and there is a replica outside.  Not far is the Ponte Vecchio a 14th century bridge. Long ago goldsmiths and silversmiths built their shops on the bridge. We also went into a 14th century church where the walls are lined with many tombs including Galileo, Michelango and Rossini.

After our tour we stopped for some gelato and met our driver to take us to Pisa. There are three main buildings here, the Cathedral, Baptistry and the Bell Tower which is the famous Leaning Tower. Galileo was a native of Pisa and used the Cathedral to study the movement of the pendulum and the Leaning Tower to work out his laws of gravity and acceleration. It is now leaning 14 ft. to one side due to the settling of the subsoil. It was fun to watch the many people trying to get a picture of themselves holding up the tower by holding the camera just right.

 Luis then drove us the 20 minutes to our ship where we embarked just in time for dinner.
Tomorrow is a very full day of sightseeing in Rome!

Can you find the cat in this picture?