Greece & Turkey

Our Cruise to Greece and Turkey!

(Pictures tend to be small - click on a picture see a larger version of the picture).

I have to take a minute to tell how good Colt is at his job.  

He does an excellent job as an insurance agent.  He cares about his clients and is there for them from the tragic to the annoying events of life, and everything in between.

He has become a manager in the company, helping hire and train new agents.  He is a caring trainer that really cares about his agents and their careers.

He made the company trip this year on both a personal production and a manager level.

Each in and of itself is quite the accomplishment...both is absolutely amazing!

So we went for free on an amazing trip that just happened to be on the week of our 8th anniversary.

Thanks Colt for the Trip of a Lifetime!

One of his agents sent this to Colt:

Colt's picture at the Home Office in Texas as AGA of the Year.

I love beaches.  I love water.  I love the colors in the water and how it changes...bright brilliant blues, subdued greens, greys right before a storm....Big choppy waves, calm lapping waves.

Ahhh....the beach is one of my favorite places.

This was an interesting beach:  The island was made from a volcano - the beaches were polished black rock. 

As the waves went back to sea, the rocks would clatter as the waves tossed them around. 

Dinners were very European.

We are used to dinners where we sit down, eat, and are done.

Meals there are experiences in and of themselves to be savored and enjoyed as a social event.  

Dinners would typically last two hours or more.

It was common to have our salad arrive after an hour, followed leisurely by several courses.

These pictures are out of order...

We arrived in Athens, Greece.  The next day got to tour Athens and then hopped on a cruise ship to travel to different Greek and Turkish Islands, ending in Istanbul Turkey for the flight home.  They were apologetic that they couldn't get us a direct flight home and that we would have to have an overnight layover....in Paris.  We graciously accepted the inconvenience :)  

Greek Castle

Amphitheatre in Ephesus (Turkey)

Apostle John went to Ephesus to preach the Gospel.  

We walked around the theater as a young man climbed onto the stage and started singing.  Everyone walking around the theater found seats and enjoyed an impromptu concert.

Library at Ephesus.

The neatest place that we visited and I left the camera on the bus!  

The apostle John came to Ephesus to preach the gospel.

It is said he also brought Mary, the mother of Jesus there.

This was a very impressive place.  It was quite advanced for it's day complete with running water.

Library at Ephesus.

I love the colors in the water!

This reminded me so much of my mission.

A very Mediterranean coastal city.

White walls and red roofs.

We are standing on a tall castle wall here.  This castle had many different layers of difference.

If the enemy breaks through the lower wall, they would fall back inside the next layer, and then the next.

We spotted fish while strolling along, and decided we HAD to see if we could catch fish out of the Aegean Sea!

I tried my hand at fishing and came up with.....I'm not sure what.  

I think it is either a Squid or a Jelly Fish.

We found a fishing shop and had just enough of our last Euro change to buy Big Ugglies (the Greek version of night crawlers with legs) line and hooks.

Fishing in the Aegean Sea!

Colt's Trophy!

After watching the locals, Colt decided to try fishing the Greek Way!

They hold onto the center handle of their fishing line spool and throw it in, winding it back up on the spool.  

Success!

I love Colt's face here!

We decided the Gold Man wasn't having a good day.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Athens, Greece.

These Soldiers are posted here everyday, with different dress for Holidays and Sundays.

Here they are in their Sunday whites.

Downtown Athens:  A Syrian demonstration.

Athens just had riots in the streets the week before we went on vacation.  There were soldiers with automatic weapons along the streets with shields.  

Their parks reminded me of Croatia.

Very natural landscaping - dirt, with trees, natural grasses and flowers.

The view from the roof of our hotel - Athens with the Acropolis on the hill.

The Acropolis.

There are no straight lines in this structure.

They all slant - the floors are higher in the middle than the edges, sloping to let water run out.

But it has the appearance of being completely flat.  The corner pillars are fatter that the middle ones so that at a distance they all appear to be the same diameter.  

The columns are not vertical.  They have a slight lean to them - so that if you continue that line of each, they will meet a couple of miles above the Acropolis.  

The Erechtheum (Near the Acropolis)

The tour guide told us that the statues on the left are not originals.  One is in a museum in Greece, but the remaining 5 were taken by the occupying British back to England for museums there.  That would have been so sad for the Greek people to have their history, their political and religious site shipped off.  

This was a neat island - a steep cliff with a village at the top.  They had a switchback path all the way up the cliff.  Colt and I walked up it while everyone else took the donkeys or cable car.  I say walk because I'm sure that Colt could have ran the entire way up and beat everyone to the top, but he slowed down his pace to walk with me :)

We did run back down to catch the ferry back to the boat - fun memories.

I loved their streets and had to take pictures of them regularly.

Fish Market.

Cruises are a really neat way to see the world!  All your luggage is tucked away in your room, with all meals and transportation taken care of.  You have the days free to explore and get back on in the evenings to travel to the next destination. 

We rented ATVs for the day and explored the island.  

This small island had 365 churches.  

European bread and chocolate is the very best!

Europeans have Gelato shops.

Ohhh!  The flavors are so great!  

I need to find how I can make this here.

This was a fun dinner.  We were on the island for the day that was made from a volcano with lava rock beaches.  That night on the ship we chose to cook our own dinners on hot lava rocks.  We had steak, shrimp and shish-ka-bobs.  It was a meal to remember.  With an open bar, the waiters were a bit surprised that we would order soda pop and Virgin Pina Coladas.  

In the game room on the ship, we found a fun new game:  Shut the Box.

A favorite of sailors and fisherman for centuries.  Roll the dice and lay down any combinations of tiles that match your roll.  Keep rolling:  When you can't match the tiles to your roll your turn is over.  If the tiles add up to six or less, roll only one die.  Low score wins the game.  You determine the score by reading left to right.  Lay down all the tiles and you've Shut the Box!

This would be a fun game for kids adding up the combinations on the dice and laying down whatever tiles add up to that number.  

Baptismal font

A few of the Greek deities

Turkish Rugs.

We had a tour of how they make Turkish rugs.  

We saw the silk worms and the process of how they heat them in water, and brush them to start the tiny thread from each cacoon - they then gather silk from hundreds of worms to make thread.  

These have amazingly intricate designs - all Handmade by weaving one piece of thread at a time on the loom!

It takes the ladies 2 1/2 years sewing 8 hours a day to make a bathroom-rug sized piece.

VIDEO:  Woman making a rug

VIDEO:  Rug Weaving

We visited a castle that had quite the history. 

It had been sieged multiple times over the centuries.  

It was quite the fortress with multiple layers of defense.  

VIDEO:  Inside Castle

Ancient Cannon Balls

Large cannon balls.

On our return trip home, the airport was noisy and crowded.  We heard that if you go upstairs it was calm and pleasant - which it was, but you had to buy something to be able to sit at the tables.  We ordered a lemonade and a water and received a $10 bill for our drinks. Wow!

I kept the water bottle and it makes a cute vase that sits on the kitchen window sill with roses in it as a fabulous memory.

One part of the city of Istanbul is in Europe and the other is in Asia. 

The European side didn't have any playgrounds, the landscaping was minimal and had natural grass, dirt and trees.

Once we passed to the Asian side, I was SO impressed - miles and miles of parks and trees and playground equipment.  Grass and flowers in the intricate designs above were sprawling on either side of the road.

It was SO gorgeous.

We made it to downtown Paris around sunset.

The Eiffel Tower sparkles on the hour!

We saw it at 10 and again at midnight.

I wanted to see the Notre Dame.  We wanted to split the cab ride back to our hotel with another couple, so we needed to meet back up at the Eiffel Tower in 2 hours.  Colt was a good sport with me, in our two hours to see Paris, we ran (literally) for an hour to get to the Notre Dame, looked at it briefly and then jogged an hour back.   We got to see quite a bit of the city on foot!