Travis W. Inman's Blog, page 5

Mediterranean Madness Part XIV Back to Barcelona

This is just plain sad...DISEMBARCATION AT BARCELONA We arrived at Barcelona sometime during the night. On day 9 or 10 they had passed out an exit form (that was to be turned back in to guest services) and we were allowed to choose our time-slot for disembarking. We had no planes to catch, or reason to hurry, so we chose the last time slot, making our departure at 8:30 that morning. Sarah's parents chose to enjoy the late checkout, which meant they could stay on the ship until that afternoon. I don't know more about that particular option, but they were happy with it. Me, personally, I was ready to get off the ship and start exploring Barcelona again, and the 8:30 time-slot worked splendidly for that. Our check out occurred with minimal difficulty, and we were off the ship in less than 20 minutes, with our bags, and standing in the taxi line. (There was no Custom's declaration that I could identify.) The line for a cab was fairly long, but it moved quickly. We took our taxi straight from the terminal to Hotel Regina, and I think it cost about 25 Euros, more or less. The hotel was expecting us, and made the check in process painless. They didn't have our room ready at 9:30, but promised it would be ready within an hour. So, we left our bags with the front desk and walked a few blocks to a café that was already open for breakfast.


Barcelona doesn't really get an early start on the day. In fact, the Starbucks, which was located next to our hotel, didn't even open its doors until 7:30, and even then, I was the only person moving on the entire street. So, we found that café and ordered more of that power-punch coffee and a few pastries, and waited (buzzed) an hour. When we returned to the hotel, our room was ready and we were able to explore again.Our main plan was to tour the Sagrada Familia, so we stepped onto the street and hailed a cab. The doorman at the hotel would have done that for us, but the cab rides are cheaper if you grab one off the street, as the driver starts the fare from the moment he receives the call. From our hotel to the cathedral was only a few miles, and the fare was not expensive. Upon arrival at the cathedral, Sarah immediately began to say, "oh, no." She said it several times. It seems that she forgot to go online and purchase our tickets to enter, and we were now doomed to stand in line with the general population. Ugh. Quite a negative turn to our day. So, we got in line, which wrapped from the front entrance, around the corner, and around the next corner. And there was no joy in Mudville. We talked about skipping the cathedral, but so many people insisted that we had to work that into our vacation, that we shrugged and committed to waiting. And while we were waiting in a line that took about an hour and a half, we realized that we also forgot our camera! Fortunately, we had our iPhones, which saved our bacon. For when we finally got into the Sagrada Familia, it was one of the most incredible places we've ever visited.
The line was long, and it seemed as though is wasn't moving. But it was worth the wait!

You might remember from the first of the review when I mentioned how disconcerting the architecture designed by Antoni Gaudi was? Well, the closer you stand to the cathedral, the more schizophrenic his work becomes. Half of the building appears to take on the shape of molten wax, while the other part seems be the constructed in Mine Craft. And how he manages to blend such contrasting themes is mind boggling.  Not only that, the outside of the structure is NOTHING like the inside. There is no comparison.
These photos are just two examples of how extreme the outside of the cathedral is, and these shots are fairly close together.

First, let me tell you that there are restrooms available, but the line is a bit long. The restrooms are clean, though. They can be found on the outside of the cathedral, and at the entrance to the museum.
You will have several choices for various tours. Visitors can access the Nave, Crypt, Museum, Shop, and the Passion and Nativity towers. We purchased tickets to tour both the cathedral and the museum, and to ride the elevator to the top of the Passion Tower. I highly encourage you to ride the elevator to the top. That was an amazing experience.
I won't try to demonstrate the majesty of this church with photos...It just won't work. You actually have to see it to believe it. The second shot is looking up at the columns. See how they form a canopy?

And now—the cathedral interior. Gaudi used nature and Creation to reflect God's glory, and he does so masterfully. The first thing you notice as you enter the interior is the sense of peace that settles upon you, drawing you deeper into the room. The next sensation is that of awe. The Nave (sanctuary) itself is massive, and cavernous, and it suggests that it is an extension of eternity itself. The natural lighting and the columns work in concert to create the impression that you have stepped outdoors. The columns are designed to imitate trees, and the trees rise from the floor and became branches, which became a canopy, and the canopy is the ceiling, the top of which rises more than two hundred feet in the air. Your eyes immediately lift to the sky, and you stand in awe of the majesty that is the Sagrada Familia. Hundreds of people are walking and talking, but I immediately had the sensation that I was alone in the room, and that there was plenty of space for all of us.
See how massive the columns are? They rival the redwoods in California! One of the columns fell, and Seth jumped in to stick his finger in the dike.

We tried taking photos, but the building was so grandiose that our shots couldn't capture what we saw. Somewhere in the far corner, I could hear a choir softly singing a song which sounded like monks singing an ancient Latin hymn, and theirs was an angelic performance.
I began to take inventory of the room. On the farthest side, I could see a spiral staircase that looked as though it was the actual staircase to Heaven. The walls and ceiling were replete with magnificent stained glass that told the story of Christ, and documented the lives of many past saints.
I stood transfixed in my corner of the sanctuary, overwhelmed that human hands could have created such a masterpiece. I don't have a Catholic background, and I have only attended Catholic services that were funerals, so I've had limited exposure to cathedrals, but what I experienced in that Basilica fostered a yearning in me to worship God at that very moment. I know that God is not a building, and that the people are His true temple, but there was something Divine and inspiring in the Sagrada Familia, and my own wretched grasp of the English language leaves my desire to express those inspirations wanton.
Gaudi's desire was to honor God, and the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins, and what he designed was the greatest human achievement in that regard. Least I bore you with more of my efforts to describe the indescribable; I will continue our chronicle of the day. We toured the sanctuary for an hour, with our eyes continually uplifted. When our time came for us to explore the tower via elevator, I was somewhat intimidated by the simplicity of the elevator designated for our use. About ten people crammed into the tiny lift, and we were transported to the rafters and up into the tower itself. When we arrived at the top, the operator told us that we could return by the elevator or we could walk down the stairs to the bottom. Be advised, there are more than 400 steps from top to bottom.

A good example of the waist high railings

Not sure which tower we ascended. We stepped outside and quickly realized we were 250 feet high, which is about 25 stories off the ground. I'm not a big fan of heights. My stomach sank when I saw that there were no rails or safety precautions to prevent me from going over the edge and falling to the ground. Oh, it's a safe place; a waist-high wall guarded the path, but I felt very exposed. If one was so inclined, one could easily circumvent the path. The kids were eager to run to the edge and look over, and Sarah and I spent much of our time holding our breath! The pathway that traversed the spire was narrow, maybe 3 feet wide, and you have ample opportunity to gaze down upon Barcelona, which is sprawled out below you almost as far as you can see. Take note while you're standing in the spire that the mountain on the other side of the city, where Montjuic Castle stands, is the same height.I was satisfied with my time at the top rather quickly, even though the kids were buzzing about like they were born to be mountain goats. We wound our way back to the elevators and saw that another pathway led past them into a different chamber at the top. We followed some German tourists into that chamber and quickly realized that we were now on the staircase the descended into the Nave.
We had no intention of returning to the sanctuary via staircase, but by the time we realized where we were, we were locked in to the journey. Another group of tourists were behind us who fully intended on taking the staircase, and there was no way we could step aside and allow them to pass us, so we committed. In Pisa, we climbed the tower and successfully navigated those stairs, which was roughly 275 steps. This can't be that different, right?

See how narrow the steps? And see how we were pressed into another group of tourists? The spiral staircase went on and on... There are no hand rails or anything to hold on to.

Similar staircase as our exit from the tower.The bulk of the descent is a very narrow spiral staircase with very narrow steps, and no handrails whatsoever. I was too fat to fall into the stairwell and not get wedged in the open space, but a smaller person could conceivably fit into the hole, and could, conceivably fall many stories. (Worst case scenario.) Why am I telling you this? Because, if you're claustrophobic, or climacophobic (fear of falling down stairs) you won't want to take this journey. I suffer from neither of those two phobias. But, if you remember from the very first of our review, I told you about actually falling backwards into an open stairwell and breaking my ribs? Guess what came flooding back over me while descending the staircase? I have never, ever, never, ever had an anxiety attack in my life, and I chose that staircase to break new ground. My heart began racing, and my breaths were labored, and I hugged the outside edge of that staircase as if I was trying to squeeze between the spaces in the stones. My legs were starting to become Jell-O and I had to force myself to continue the journey.  I'm so glad I was wearing a pair of Depends. By this point in the cruise, I had used all of my pain meds and had no Valium left. (Insert frowny face here.) By the time we reached the sanctuary level, which was where I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I was dismayed to realize that I still had another five stories or so to go. Holy cow! I was never so glad to be back in a church. Fortunately, we were now done with our tour, which was a relief because I had exhausted all of my adrenalin and had no more to spend. But, before I leave the staircase to … uh…Heaven (out of respect for the church), I want to tell you to take a moment and enjoy the view of the Nave from your vantage point. The view is completely awesome, provided you're not struggling with an irrational fear.


This was right across the street. Yes, I know. McDonalds...

The menu, in case you were wondering. That is the cathedral. It's still under construction.
I had now reached the point of emotional fatigue, and the kids were hungry, so I decided I needed comfort food. A McDonald's was conveniently located across the street, so we went and tried European McRibs and quarter pounders with cheese. And if you know me personally, you will know that I openly detest McDonald's, but…I was in a fragile state. My McRib was actually quite tasty and much better that the version found in the states. Once we ate, we took a cab back to the hotel, where we rested for short time. We then went for a stroll on Las Ramblas, the famous avenue in the touristy part of town, and rounded up the last of the souvenirs we needed to pick up for folks back home. Today was our last full day in Europe, so we enjoyed a casual stroll through the shops and streets, and fully experienced the touristy part of Barcelona. Based on advice from Sheri, the Middle Age Drama Queen, we visited a gelato shop in Plaza Catalunya at the beginning of Las Ramblas called Fargii and ate the BEST gelato in Europe. HANDS DOWN, BAR NONE, the best. Period. Thanks Sheri! We owe you one for passing that along!

 
These sangria were awesome, but a tad small. The yellowish one is made with cava instead of red wine.

We ran into Micah and Christopher at Fargiis, who stopped to have some coffee. We then continued strolling the streets, and made our way to a massive indoor mall about a half mile or so away. The owner of that mall must be from Texas, 'cause it was impressive. We didn't stay long, and returned to the streets, where we watched some local con artists trying to sell knock off purses. They would set up shop for a few minutes, and when the cops discovered their location, they would bundle everything up and make a mad dash to another location. It was amusing to watch. It is also against the law to buy hot items off the street or knock offs. Don't try to get past US Customs with those items. Trust me on that. I've been arrested at the Port of Entry in Laredo, Texas once, but that is an entirely different story for another day.

Rossini. The food was good. Great, in fact. Girlfriends!

       
Plaza Reial, where we ate. We sat outside in the plaza.  Check out those steaks!

We met up with Sarah's family with the intention of having a final meal together. We set out in search of the perfect Spanish restaurant that served both Spanish fare and Catalonian cuisine. We found a plaza a few blocks off of Las Ramblas (this was Plaza Reial) and sort of close to the gothic district that had exceptional restaurant choices. Sarah and I joined Micah and Christopher and circled the square examining the various menus for our last supper. While we were doing this, Mike, Sarah's dad, got bored waiting, and went and sat down at the first Italian restaurant he could find. We have laughed about that several times, that our last meal in Barcelona was at an Italian joint which employed waiters from Hong Kong. With that meal, our time was exhausted, and we were forced to return to our hotel for the night.
Sarah spent many frantic hours the next morning trying to get all of our suitcases to not be over 50 pounds, which was a trick, because we had five bottles of wine from Santorini to fit into our luggage. Fortunately, Sarah thought to bring along a travel scale which we used to get our suitcases to the exact weight necessary. Without that device, we would have paid for extra heavy bags. While Sarah fussed with the bags, I went to Starbucks to get some coffee. That's when I discovered that it didn't open until 7:30, but the kid behind the counter saw me waiting outside and invited me in and let me order. I think he just wanted to practice his English.
They may seem happy, but they wanted to stay longer.

From there, Sarah had arranged for a car to the airport, where we began a rather daunting effort to find the right airline. We were supposed to fly out on KLM, an airline based in Amsterdam, and it took us a while to find the right line to stand in. We were told by the line attendant that our carry-on bags were too big and she forced us to check them as baggage, which didn't suit me at all. Getting through security in Barcelona was a snap. Literally. It was similar to the security at Disneyland. We budgeted an hour for security, and we were through in less than five minutes. So, we decided to kill some time by finding more authentic Spanish food to sample, but every place we found was closed—except for McDonald's. You guessed it. In totally, we spent three days in Barcelona, and ate at McDonald's twice and Italian food once. The next time I go to Italy, I'm going to look for Spanish tapas, and try to bring balance back into my life.

 

On my next post: Getting home and getting through customs..and my final thoughts on the trip.

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii 

Part XIII Sea Day

Part XIV Back to Barcelona

Part XV The Journey Home and Final Thoughts

Mediterranean Madness Part XIII - Last Sea Day

Seth's last chance to have sugar for breakfastSea Day 12
Our mood could be summed up in one phrase—our last day at sea. Although we were consoled with the fact that we still had one full day ahead of us in Barcelona, we were distraught that our long awaited Mediterranean cruise was coming to an end.
We began our day with breakfast in the dining room, and we were in no hurry to get up and get out. We had a very casual attitude about activities for the day. The kids spent most of their day in the arcade trying to use the free credits they had from the Crown and Anchor coupon booklet. There's my beautiful girls!
Thriller!Sarah and Caitlin did manage to attend the guest talent show, mostly out of idle curiosity to see the performance of Thriller, the project the guests had been working on throughout the cruise. They always seemed to practice in the Centrum, which helped contribute to the noise pollution. But, enough of my complaining about the noise. I can hardly hear it now. And, sitting in my office, I would give just about anything to be back on that ship, noise and all!I attended the last art auction on the offhand chance that I might win a painting in the final drawing. Throughout the cruise, the art staff would hand out tickets for various reasons, and then collected them on the final day, and drew one of them out of a hat. The winner won a painting of Santorini. Unfortunately, I bid on and purchased the same exact painting earlier in the cruise. I will have more to say about the art auction at the end of the review.
Sarah half-heartedly attempted to pack, but we knew we were going to do a major overhaul of our packing from our hotel in Barcelona, so this was a "stuff and go" method she employed today.

Unable to lift our spirits packing mostly dirty clothes, we decided to attend one final wine tasting and won yet another bottle of Champagne.  We were batting a thousand for the competition, but since they gave out four bottles the odds were very much in our favor. The Wine Steward served us a Malbec that was terrible, and after everyone complained about the taste he opened several more bottles and discovered that the entire inventory of that particular label was bad.
This dessert was gussied up                                               Evelyn and Livingston

Dinner was the usual round of goodbyes and photos, but the meal was nothing spectacular. Dining on Serenade was not my favorite memory, but it was better than the shows! Don't get me wrong, the food wasn't bad; it just didn't meet the standard I expected from my previous cruises.


After dinner, Sarah and I wandered the ship until everything was shut down, and then it was off to bed. The last sea day was almost as boring as my review of it!

Mediterranean Madness Part XII: Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii

The Amalfi Coast


Day 11 /Port 7Sadly, our trip was winding up faster than we cared to admit.  But we still had one stop left:  Salerno and the Amalfi Coast, and then Pompeii.  It would be a good day.
The morning started off quiet, peaceful.

We arrived on the pier and met our guide for the day, Juan Pietro, or John Peter.  I will reference him as JP for simplicity.  He was a polite, balding man with salt and pepper hair who was helpful and good humored.  On this tour Sarah's father, Mike, had his wheelchair/scooter, and JP was Johnny on the Spot in helping with the scooter, and was very conscious about parking in locations that would make wheelchair use easier.  He confirmed our plans for the day once we were in his van, and he agreed it was a good plan.  We were to tour the Amalfi Coast and spend an hour walking in Positano, and then on to Salerno, where we would have another hour to walk around, and he highly recommended a specific restaurant that they use frequently, and even bragged on the gelateria next door to the restaurant.  We had a guide scheduled for Pompeii at 2:30 for two hours, and then back to the ship by the highway.  Immediately, JP began contacting our Pompeii guide, Margherita, and advising her that we had a wheelchair so that she could make alternate plans for accessibility if necessary. 
This was a little village known for its anchovies.

JP asked a very important question before we drove from the port, and that was, "Does anyone get affected by car sickness?"  We had already given Caitie a pill for motion sickness, so we were golden.  I also took an Percocet to aid my discomfort from riding in a vehicle with ribs that were still very tender. In truth, I was probably a little high, but I wasn't in pain.  Let's roll!
What a beautiful morning and drive! Too  bad we were starting to get car sick...

7th century watch towerLet me preface this portion of my narrative with a qualifying statement.  I have driven the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle all the way to San Diego, and, in my humble opinion, it is one of the prettiest drives one can take along a shoreline.  That is, except for the Amalfi Coast.  We have never, ever, seen a coastline so spectacular.  Throw in the brilliance and charm of quaint Italian villages, and I would assert that you will not find a more pleasant drive in the world.  The mountains thrust from the sea, leaving sharp cliffs, and fiords that rise sharply from the rocky Mediterranean shore.  The hills and cliffs are lush with vineyards, olive orchards, lemon and orange groves, and carpets of beautiful morning glories and other flowers that are too wonderful to describe with the limits of my petty words and English limitations.  Sometimes English is too inadequate to be functional.  Watchtowers built during the 7th and 8th century are deliberately scattered along the cliff walls with the original intent of protecting the villages from the marauding Moors.  Most of the towers have been converted to homes or restaurants, and they have commanding views of the prettiest country I've ever seen.
We passed through so many villages and cliffs with virtually the same awesomeness. Sorry for the glare from the windows, there was no place to stop for photos.

Throughout the millennia, the villagers have carved terraces into the cliffs and hills and planted various crops unique to Southern Italy, and Italy in general, and have managed to make that coastline the most charming of all the Mediterranean.  JP told us he would stop if we asked him to, but to understand that the entire journey (about 45 minutes) was precarious, and a little dangerous to simply stop upon command.  He knew of a great pull out along the route that was safe and offered the best views of all, and it overlooked the incredible village of Positano.  He was right.  The road is a bit treacherous, but he was a safe driver and we never felt threatened by anything he did.  By the time we arrived at the pull out, Caitie was car sick, along with Seth, Grandma, Micah, and yours truly.  I think my problem was connected to the pain killers I took, which complicated my car sickness. I was shaky and sweaty, and felt like I was going through detox.  But, our walk in Positano cleared all of our minds and we were ready to drive again after the hour.    The lookout was exceptional, and you will appreciate what it offers.  A man selling fresh fruit had a stand where we stopped, and he was giving us samples of his fair.  His fruit was excellent and very affordable.
Positano from the lookout.


 The streets of Positano were clean and inviting. We really enjoyed exploring the area.

After a few minutes, we continued another five minutes into Positano, and JP told us to meet him at 11:45.  The eight of us scattered like quail when he turned us loose, and my family of four set out to walk to the beach, and then shop our way back to the road.  For a hilly, cliff built village, it was surprisingly scooter friendly, and Mike and GeorgeAnne were able to tour many shops.  We made it to the bottom without problem, unless you count being distracted by the incredible shops scattered and stacked along those narrow village streets a problem. 
 
Lemon products. The small sour candies are addictive!

One of many wine shops that ship to the US. The one I found was at the bottom of the steps past the church.

We sampled limoncello and wine, and strolled casually through the clothing stores, curios, and knickknacks.  One thing I intended to do on this last day in Italy was to find a wine shop that would ship a case of wine home to us in the US.  I looked in every shop that sold wine on the way down to the beach, but found their prices to be a bit exaggerated, or touristy, if you will.  Just beyond the church I followed the staircase and found a small supermarket that sold wine.  I checked the prices and discovered that he sold wines from the 8 euro range all the way up to 800 Euros.  He promised to ship to the US for only 60 Euros, which was expected.  Most shops will ship anywhere between 40 and 70, depending on how much you order.  Well, I ordered a case of 12.  I picked up three bottles of limoncello and the store owner selected nine bottles for me that he highly recommended.  All told, I spent 172 euro on 12 bottles, which averaged about 14 per bottle.  I could have spent less, but I was satisfied with the selection made.  The shipment was to be expected in 7 to 10 days.  He also offered a guarantee that if a bottle was broken he would replace it.  I think it was a good deal. These quaint streets were peaceful, and they wound on and on...

Here are a few random shots of the beach area...
 
Notice the rocky beach. A little hard to walk on with bare feet.

The kids enjoyed a few minutes of relaxation. The water was fairly warm, too.

By this time, our hour in Positano was exhausted so we continued along the coast for a few more miles to Sorrento, which is another fabulous town to visit.  It is certainly bigger than Positano, as it had a population of about 25,000 residents.  The city center was a bee hive of activity, and as hives go, it was buzzing.  The barbarians had arrived en mass, so eight more barbarians had little effect on the city. 
 
Sorrento was busy, but enjoyable.

JP gave us another hour to amble about, so our family group of four set off to wrap up whatever souvenir shopping remained.  We sampled more limoncello, and were firmly committed to the tart liqueur.   It was always served in large frozen shot glasses, and it was wonderful.  As I mentioned, limoncello is tart.  I really mean it.  It is tart and then sweet.  Actually, all at the same time probably, but your mind probably can't process such extremes simultaneously.  Brace yourself for that first taste, and then enjoy that involuntary muscle spasm that occurs at the back of your tongue, followed by that slow burn.  Ah, I would give anything to try it again for the very first time!  Sarah bought some shot glasses for our purchases of limoncello, and we were wrapped up with our shopping. 
 
The toy store where Seth found a rare Lego set. And another shop for sampling lemoncello.
 
I found a really nice wine shop.   The puppet show was interesting, but crowded. We moved on.

We spent our remaining time walking and snapping photos, and simply enjoying another marvelous Italian experience. We even stopped and watched a puppet show for a few minutes. Seth found a toy store, which was interesting to compare to a Toys R Us.  Sorrento is a definite "must return to" town.  We had a great time with the city, even though hoards of barbarians roamed the streets in tight gaggles that trickled rather than flowed.  Despite it all, we decided, along with MacAurther, "I will return." 
We enjoyed the restaurant and the food was spectacular.


Mike's pasta meal was fantastic.                           Cheers!

Our restaurant was just around the corner from our meeting location and they seemed to be expecting us, along with several other tour groups and a spattering of locals.  The restaurant was clean and charming, and went out of their way to accommodate us with our scooter needs.  Their menu offered just about anything you might be interested in, but we focused on their pizza.  Their prices were affordable, individual pizzas about 14 inches round, starting at 8 Euros.  By the time all eight of us ordered our Cokes and one bottle of wine, and two bottles of water, our grand total was 92 Euro.  Sadly, they had a Wi-Fi signal, but we could never get it to connect to our phones.  I guess the server was overloaded, or something. 
The restaurant was roomy enough for Mike to be comfortable. This is the wine JP selected for us.We left the restaurant and waddled into the gelateria next door.  As gelatos go, it was tasty and affordable but not exceptional.  I believe the small cones were 2 Euros each.  In the grand scheme, those gelatos were "okay."  We were pressed for time, so we hustled off to meet our guide in Pompeii.

Margherita was a great guide, and she went out of her way to accommodate our needs.

When we connected with Margherita at Pompeii, we found her to be a very competent and efficient guide, who was thoroughly knowledgeable and eloquent.  She had coal black hair and fit the image of a focused young Roman woman, which was tempered with her pretty smile.  She was extraordinarily compassionate with Mike about his scooter and went out of her way to make accommodations where he could experience as much of Pompeii as possible.  In doing so, she inadvertently cut our tour in half, but that was fine.  We were all experiencing culture fatigue by this point and were content with our more focused tour than the grand overview.  What we didn't see in volume she made up for in quality.  She was very careful to make sure we all understood her and that she explained everything thoroughly.  She was a charming and graceful woman, and we very much enjoyed her tour.
The city is well preserved. It was surreal, and almost like walking through EPCOT. Ancient city, nothing modern. 

Everyone was having a great day.

Pompeii is one of those places like Ephesus.  There is simply no way to properly describe it.  One must experience it.  Unlike Rome or Athens, it is much easier to immerse yourself into the ancient Roman culture when you can actually enter the city itself.  Much of Pompeii is preserved, with very limited reconstruction.  As is true with most ancient archeological sites, only about 1/3 of the city is properly excavated.  Who knows what future discoveries await us?  I strongly recommend you take time to visit Pompeii, and I pray you are blessed enough to have Margherita as your guide when you do. 
Mt. Vesuvius looms in the near distance. It's still an active volcano.

 

GeorgeAnne was enjoying the tour, but missing Mike.   JP slipped us a bottle of lemoncello when we said goodbye!

Once our time in Pompeii was complete, JP drove us back to the ship.  By taking the highway, he had us back by about 5 PM, which made the drive roughly 30 minutes.  Overall, our day with JP was a good day.  He was a great tour guide, and will do well with you as well. 

Thus concluded our final port day on our cruise.  Sadly, this trip had to come to an end.  I will offer these final thoughts about the Salerno port of call:  If you intend to tour the Almalfi Coast, and trust me, you DO want to tour the coastline, plan it for the morning.  If you wait too long in the day, you risk having the road be too congested with other traffic, and your guide may be forced to take you over the highway to get you back to the ship before it sails.  You don't want to be "those people!"  Also, don't try to tour the Amalfi coast in a tour bus.  They simply don't fit on the road and you will be freaked out every three or four minutes from the extremelytight curves.  It is a very, very curvy road.  Marilyn Monroe was the model they had in mind when they designed the turns. Apparently.
What a beautiful part of Italy!

Okay, if you ever want to see the quaintest of Italian living, and experience the charm of Italian art, food, crafts, and living, then Positano should be at the top of your list.  Florence was one of my favorite cities to visit.  Positano is my favorite village.

Cheers!

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day 

Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii

Mediterranean Madness Part XI: Sea Day

Master and Commander


At Sea/Day 10Well, the sea day started off with a bang for us, as both kids spent the night in Grandma's room. So, we eased into the day and casually made our way to the dining room for a very relaxing, satisfying breakfast.
The weather was picture perfect. The sea was glass and there was no wind to speak of, and the sun was a beacon of happiness.
The kids always seem to enjoy their grandparents.

After breakfast, Seth went to the kids club, and Caitie went shopping with Grandma, while we went to the solarium for some adult only time. As creepy as that sounds, it just means the solarium is reserved for adults only. It's a CHILD FREE ZONE! Yay! We were there for only a few minutes when Sarah's sister Micah and her husband, Christopher came in and began sunning on the quiet deck. I worked on my trip review and Sarah read. It was like having a day off. We even ate lunch there in the Park Café. It was okay. I still prefer the dining room. But today was about convenience. A very nice pool.             I set down writing this review long enough to stuff my face!

Brooks Aehron After lunch, Sarah took Seth swimming, so they visited the water slide. Caitie attended the encore show with Brooks Aehron, where there was standing room only, and, according to Caitie, it was a fantastic show. Afterwards, Caitie decided to challenge her old man to a rock climbing race. We geared up and took our marks. When the race began, I was up the wall and making good time. I paused to find Caitie, for I didn't want to smoke her in the race, and realized that she was about to ring the bell while I was analyzing the competition. It is fair to say that she won. To me, the only reason to climb the wall is so you can repel back to the deck. I kicked off from the wall and the anchor man controlled my descent in two short bursts. What a rocking good time! It was only when I got back to the bottom that I realized I shouldn't have attempted that climb.  My ribs were so not ready for me to scale a wall, and I immediately regretted my actions.  I took a few extra pain pills on day 5, and the next morning as well.  


In order to recuperate from the climb, Sarah and I attended another wine tasting and this time I identified the mystery wine and won a bottle of champagne.  The wine tasting cost 20.00 dollars a person, and we had a great time. And the samples were generous and tasty. The only problem I had was trying to hear the wine presentation, as the centrum was always soooooo LOUD! Ugh.
The wine tasting is highly recommended. Especially if you have a formal night planned!

Tonight was also our last formal night. We had a great dinner and decided to attend the show, but I don't even recall what show we watched. Apparently it didn't overly impress me. But not many of the shows did. I don’t really care, for my goal was to enjoy Europe, not the shows. They were inconsequential to me.
   
 
Everyone had a great day. And we snagged some pretty good shots of the evening.

I was in significant pain that evening as we stumbled around our tiny stateroom trying to accommodate both kids back into the program. But we climbed into bed knowing that tomorrow was our last port call. But what a day it was going to be!  



Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini 

Part XI Sea Day

Mediterranean Madness Part X: Santorini Serenade

And What a Day it Was!

Day 9/Port 6The ship pulled into the caldera of what was once the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history and anchored amongst the islands of the ancient volcano that made up the islands surrounding Santorini.  In mid October the sun was still behind the mountains and enough moonlight remained for us to see the villages of Fira (FEAR AH) and Oia (EE YA) lighting the crest of the cliffs, and the donkey path was clearly marked by lantern lights.  As the sun came up we sat on our balcony and watched the white-washed buildings in the village create the illusion of snow against the dark volcanic cliffs.  Caitie remarked, "It looks like LEGO snow!" and it did.  This was going to be a great day.  We so looked forward to Santorini, and even bothered to watch all of those over-the-top love story movies set on the island in anticipation of what we would see.  The Traveling Hood of some sister's pants and Mama Mia were the top of the list.  I have to admit, I was strangely entertained by Mama Mia.  Maybe because I am old enough to remember Abba.  I think its one of the few movies with Meryl Streep that I actually enjoyed.  But I digress... 
Early morning shots. We were excited to be in Santorini!

The easiest tour plans we made for the entire voyage were for our stop in Santorini.  We decided that was our day to skip a formal tour and simply enjoy the island.  We had our eyes on a few restaurants recommended on Cruise Critic, and we had a few places we wanted to visit, but overall, it was not going to be a regimented day.  So far, our biggest decision was whether or not to ride the donkeys up the hill from the port.  Sarah read every incident where a tourist fell from the donkeys and their lives were tragically altered from that point forward.  She was determined that wouldn't happen to us.  Not at all.  (Ahem, Maestro, cue the ominous music) And then it happened.  The best laid plans of mice and men....

Note that Seth is smiling and having a blast!
Note that Catie is smiling and having a blast!
(It's all fun and games until something goes wrong.)

Donkey Disasters and Mule MadnessCaitie wanted to ride the donkeys, and I thought it would be fun myself.  After all I'm a Texas cowboy and I've sat a saddle before.  Seth and Sarah wanted nothing to do with it and chose to ride the cable cars.  At a few minutes after 9, we were well ahead of the Barbarians, and neither line was devastatinglylong.  As we stepped off the tender, Sarah pointed and said, "There's the donkey guy."  I looked and saw him holding a sign and saw him turn with a group of people and start walking away.  I understood that Sarah was telling me to follow that man, so Caitie and I got in behind him and started walking.  I expected she would accompany us to the ride and then get on the cable cars.  I looked back and was surprised when I didn't see her but concluded that she sent us our direction and she and Seth went on their way.  The line for the donkeys was short and Caitie and I were on our way within a few minutes.  By the way, the donkeys turned out to be mules.  And most mules are the size of a small horse. 
 
Catie is in the the blue sweater. Note that she's getting farther and farther away from me. When we got to the place where the woman was dismounting, the attendant sent us farther down the street to a different place.

Riding the mules was exactly what I expected.  The mules were trained from so much repetition that one only has to sit on the animal and it would take you to the top until you got off of it, and then a handler will redirect it to the bottom.  There are no bits or bridles or whips, and you won't have need of any of those items, so save them for your honeymoon.  The mule knows what to do and will do it, even if reluctantly.  A small guide rope was wrapped around his nose and tied to the saddle, but that is as much of control as you will encounter or need.  Caitie climbed on her mule and I was immediately behind her.  She was all giggles and smiles and was having a grand time.  We clopped along to the first doglegged turn on the path and Caitie's mule stopped walking.  I yelled at her to kick it, but the mule stood motionless no matter what she tried.  I began trying to slow my mule in order to stay up with her, but those mules were impossible to redirect.  He knew what to do and knew how to do it.  I was only confusing him.  I wasn't terribly troubled about Caitie, for I knew the mule would do what he was supposed to do.  About this time, a gaggle of German riders clustered the path between me and Caitie and I lost sight of her.  When I got to the next curve, I could see that her mule had joined the German's in their ascent, so I quit worrying about her.  I regretted not being able to get her photo, but the trail was long and I was certain I could slow my mule enough for her to catch up. The path was roughly ten feet wide and there is a four foot tall retaining wall that lines the edge of the trail for the entire journey.  If any tourist ever fell off that path, then it was completely operator error.  The mules usually walked in a cluster of about ten or so at a time, and there was plenty of room for that to happen.  I felt safe for the entire journey.  Caitie managed to catch up to me within 20 feet or so, and I could see that she was having a blast, so I quit restraining my mule and let him have its head.  He was a fast walker and liked being in the lead.  The gaggle surrounding Caitie were causing quite a scene.  They were all terrified, and were screaming at their mules, which confused them greatly.  One of the sounds one woman was making was similar to a cowboy yelling "HAW!"  Their terrified screams were causing the mules to walk faster than normal, but everyone was perfectly safe.  I tried to allow that cluster to pass me by, but my mule would have none of it.  One Australian woman was practically sobbing to herself, "I will never to this again!" over and over.  I asked her what was the matter and she said that to a control freak, being on a mule that can't be controlled was too much!  I told her that it's just like a Disney ride, you just let it happen, but she said my words didn't comfort her in the least.  Oh well.
After the 15 minute ride, a photographer was standing in the street snapping shots of each rider, and by this time, Caitie and I were together and we were both laughing and having a grand time.  I asked her how she got her mule walking again and she said she started talking to it in Greek and it took off.  Ha!  That was the first time I knew that Caitie could speak Greek.  All this time we were focusing on her learning her math tables, and she was apparently learning Greek instead.  Go figure!  What she was doing was mimicking the yells of the workers who where herding the mules.  Whatever works, right?  The mules kept climbing the mountain and we kept riding.  Soon, there were shops around us and we kept climbing.  We were shopping via mule.  Not something you get to do every day.  After another minute or so, a man was helping the riders dismount and we jumped off our mules and tried to figure out where Sarah and Seth were.  We knew they had to have beaten us up the mountain and I fully expected to see them standing there when we were back on the ground.  At that moment, I realized that we didn't have a plan for where to meet.  We never discussed it.  I just assumed the mules and the cable cars ended their rides at the same place.
So, I thought about it a moment and concluded that since we didn't see Sarah, then there must be an exit where the mule riders go, and that must be where Sarah and Seth were waiting for us.  So, we started walking down the path, climbed the last few steps to the top, and glanced at the shops surrounding us.  At some point I realized there was no set exit.  So I had no idea where we were or where Sarah was.  I asked a few tourist if they knew where the cable car exit was, and a man told me about two blocks "that way," and pointed to the left.  Okay, since we didn't know where we were or where our exit was, we would just go to the cable cars and wait there.  Well, we walked two blocks "that way" and we found ourselves on the main highway that passed through town.  Hmmm.  Something was wrong.  I found a store vender and asked about the cable cars and looked sheepish and then pointed and said, "A leeetle bit that way."  Okay, another turn to the left.  So, we went a leeeetle bit that way and I asked a man riding a scooter if he could show us where the cable cars were.  He shook his head and pointed down the road we were walking along, and then pointed to the left.  Hmmm.  We walked a little farther, but I knew we were completely in the wrong part of the village.  We were now in a residential area, and no one, and I mean NO ONE spoke English.  I tried Spanish also.  Nothing.  And Caitie's Greek only seemed to work on mules.  So, I would walk up each person and say, "Cable car?"  And they would all shake their heads or simply point some random direction.  So, I changed my question to, "Does anyone habla cable cars?" but that didn't help either.  Every tourist we met on the road we asked, "Cable cars?" but no one could help us.  Eventually we ended up at an elementary school, and then we came out on the main road again and passed by several car rental places.  Finally, I found a street that looked to go back to the shops, so we walked that way hoping for a miracle.  I knew Sarah had to be beside herself with worry.  Things like that are horribly stressful to her and I knew she was just short of calling the Embassy and requesting a Seal team be activated to rescue us. Despite our angst, we paused for a photo.Caitie and I finally found a map with a "You Are Here" spot marked on it.  It was nice to know I was still on Santorini.  The cable cars were on the map, but I could find the mule path and tried to figure out where we went wrong.  Caitie suggested we go back to the mules, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, either.  I asked another tourist about the cable cars and in French she told me at the church.  Okay.  At the church in Santorini is like saying at the Baptist church in Texas.  They have one next to every Dairy Queen back home!  Every blue dome in Santorini is a church, and they are everywhere.  So, I found St. John's on the map and we started walking that way.  We circled the church a couple of times and at one point found a place on the path that overlooked the sea and we could see the cable cars immediately below us, and I could see that they passed into a tunnel under the mountain.  But where do they come out?  We shook our heads in frustration and decided that if we went behind the church, maybe we could figure it out.  ARGH!
Meanwhile, back in the jungle... 
Sarah and Seth tell this story from a slightly different view point.  Sarah saw the man with the donkey sign as soon as she stepped off the tender, and she said "There's the man with the donkeys." She said at that point Caitie and I disapperated into nothing and we were simply gone, having vanished into a vapor, or beamed onto the Enterprise.  She said it was as if the rapture happened and she missed it, along with everyone else on the planet--save Caitie and me. For all she knew, aliens were probing us at that very moment.  They turned around and we were gone!  As if we had never existed!  We're talking Twilight Zone stuff.  She said they walked down where the mules started and didn't see us, and then walked around to the cables cars and still couldn't find us.  Seth kept saying, "They wouldn't just go get on the mules without telling us."  His logical right brained thought process didn't understand what was happening.  Finally, Sarah concluded that we had gone to the mule ride and went to get on the cable cars.  By this time, the barbarian population had increased and they stood in line several minutes before their ascent.  It is probable that Caitie and I were already at the top before them.  When they excited the cable cars, Sarah immediately found several members of our family party who were waiting for their excursion to start and asked if we had come by.  Of course, we were probably down by the elementary school by then, so they were clueless.  Sarah decided that we must be waiting at the mule ride exit point, so she headed that way.
Meanwhile, Caitie and I were like Marcus Brody on Indiana Jones movie 3, where he was wandering through the streets of Cairo mumbling, "Does anyone speak English?"  We ended up again by the elementary school and by this time I knew that Sarah was officially in crisis mode.  Forty five minutes had passed and we were worse off than before we started.  Much worse.  Finally, we found a man in a lawn chair sitting behind a short fence with a sign that said, Tourist Information Center.  I asked him how to find the cable cars and in perfect English he explained that we had to walk all the way down this street, turn to the left, walk all the way to the end of that street, and then stop at the church, where the cars exited.  How many times had we circled that church without seeing an exit?  Well, we summoned our strength and pressed on.
You can see part of the donkey trail from the cable carsSarah and Seth were in a full blown high speed wobble.  They were having a horrible time figuring out where the riders dismounted from the mules.  She found the photographers in the street and saw that the riders were dismounting at that spot.  At this point you have to conclude that we were destined to fail.  Our mule gaggle didn't dismount for another four or five minutes PAST this point, so we had no hope of actually stumbling into each other.  Sarah and Seth kept circling those shops on the off chance that they would run into us.  After the fifth time she passed a small Greek vender, he stopped her and asked if she needed wine.  She declined a tempting offer and asked him about the mule ride.  Armed with the proper information she returned only to discover that we were no longer there, and decided to take one last gamble and walk to the cable car exit.  Apparently they had to take a path that scaled the cliff in a punishing climb to the top. 
Caitie and I arrived at the church for the hundredth time and frowned when we saw no cable car exit.  I was growing frustrated and wanted to pummel the next German barbarian who ignored me, and I had one in sight.  Finally, standing in front of the church, I realized there was one thing we had yet to try.  We hadn't walked THROUGH the church.  Would it be that simple?  We respectfully worked our way through the courtyard and into the doors of the sanctuary.  That's when I saw the path extended through a second gate and the path entered the tourist district.  BINGO!  We arrived at the cable car exit and ran into those same family members who excitedly said, "Have you found Sarah yet?  She was here 30 minutes ago looking for you!"  Well, I planted a flag right there and adamantly refused to move.  We would spend the rest of the day sitting at the only exit from the island.  Eventually they would return to this spot.  After another 10 minutes, an incredibly worked up and completely disheveled Sarah and Seth stumbled off of their cliff pathway and collapsed in a heap at our feet.  As I predicted, Sarah was distressed.  We took a few minutes to collect ourselves while recounting our tales and explanations.  In all, we only lost an hour, but it felt like half a day.  Let's now salvage what we could of the day.  We needed to find Tony's car rental place, and it just so happens that Caitie and I had passed it several times, and that was one place we knew how to find.
They had many choices at Tony's for rentals When we arrived at Tony's I was immediately comfortable with our rental selection.  I don't know if the man and woman working the store were Tony and his wife, but I suspect they were.  Immediately Tony's wife saw how exhausted we were and ushered us to our chairs and continually asked, "Are you okay?"  I think she was worried we would pass out in her lobby.  Our car rental was ready to go, and Tony sat down with a map and showed us step by step where to go and how to get there.  He told us that if we drove to Oia it would take us 20 minutes.  He told us that a trip to the winery would take 10 minutes.  He showed us the map and told us that if we went to each place we wanted to visit to put 5 liters of gas in the car when we returned.  If we went to less places, then put a little less gas.  He was very agreeable and he didn't get all wrapped up with the inspection.  He showed me every small scratch on the vehicle and said, "It's okay."  We agreed that the scratches were already there and then sent us on our way.  Before we leave with our rental, let me also mention that we spent 45 euro to rent the car for the day, and we also added 10 euro for full coverage insurance for the day.  You can't get a cab ride up to Oia and back and come out any cheaper.  And driving in Santorini is NOTHING like driving in Athens or the rest of Europe, for that matter.  Almost all of the cars on the road were other American tourists who rented cars, so the driving conditions were very familiar to us.  This was an excellent choice!
The air conditioning was nice!We took off and drove to Oia on a very pleasant drive along the coastal road that wound its way through the lava flows and ash deposits and arrived in Oia without any trouble.  We drove through town first and then circled back to see if we could find a place to park.  Having been to Athens and knowing how the Greeks drive and park, I was certain I could find a place.  We stopped behind another rental and parked.  At that time, a huge tour bus drove around the corner and frantically waved his hands telling us that we chose poorly.  We loaded up again and drove another block and found a parking lot where we paid 2 euros for 5 hours.  That was more than enough time.
 
We walked along those incredible streets of Oia with the white washed walls and the blue church domes, and were enthralled with the simplistic beauty and majestic complexity of the Santorini village life.  The island is simply charming.  And the views are breathtaking.  I think I can describe the joy you experience as you walk along those incredible streets.  Do you remember the day you got married?  No, seriously, think back to those days when you were still excited about your spouse and were eagerly anticipating that joyous day.  Can you remember the anticipation of that wonderful day when your spouse would complete your life and bring you true joy?  Well, that's what actually happens when you experience Santorini.  It's like being the focus of a symphony.  Or better, it's like being caught up in a symphony and simply experiencing it while it just happens around you.

Oia is a paradise. The weather was great and we had a fantastic day wandering the streets.

We stopped at a cafe in Oia named Skiza, where we had commanding views of the sea below and the white houses clinging to the cliff around us.  Our waitress was lovable and smiled warmly whenever we asked her to help us.  She showed us how to sign up with her free wi-fi, and made several suggestions about the menu.  I ordered the chicken pie, which was to die for, and Sarah ordered the Greek salad, which was rich with local produce and a crumbling feta cheese.  It was really tasty.  Caitie ordered a turkey and cheese sandwich on a baguette, and really liked it, but spent more time trying to beg bites of my pot pie than eating her sandwich.  Seth ordered the Margherita pizza and gobbled it up.  Sarah had a glass of dry red wine that came chilled which we weren't used to, but it was wonderful.  We also ordered a large bottled water, and the kids got Cokes, one of which was a tea with lemon.  All together we spent less than 40 euro and were enthusiastically satisfied.  We spent another hour walking the streets and picking up a few souvenirs.  I found a really nice piece of art that came with a certificate of authenticity.  
 
The stress seemed to be getting to Seth.
Holy Grecian Formula! This food was awesome!
Oia is a fantastic place to visit, and we marked it down as a place to return to -- without the kids, of course.  You could easily rent a hotel room that was built into a cave on the cliffside and spend a day walking the shops and enjoying the beauty that is characteristic of that wonderful island.  There are also beaches available; one with black sand, the other with red.  And one or two historical ruins were available to tour.  We didn't visit those places, but we did visit the winery.  We drove back to Fira and passed through town to the winery, which was situated with perhaps the best view of the island available.  All together, that drive took about 20 to 25 minutes. 

The winery was a great place to visit. The views were awesome and the wine superior. We bought several bottles to take home with us.

We spent an hour at the winery and chose the flight of six samples while the kids drank hot chocolate and ate some kind of bundt cake.  We liked most of the wines we sampled, but they gave us dessert wines in the flight, and I don't typically like sweet wines, even as an afterthought to a meal.  We enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and used the free wi-fi signal to FaceTimeour family back home.  Of course, we woke them up from an early morning sleep, but it was unavoidable.  We bought a few of the selections we enjoyed and then returned to Tony's to drop off our car.  Tony's wife was glad to see us and destroyed our credit card slip while we watched her.  The car rental was the easiest transaction we worked while on the entire cruise.
We ran into Christopher and Micah, who rented bikes for the day. They had a BLAST!
  A beautiful marina below town.We had an hour remaining before we returned to the ship, so we walked the shops and found the Greek vender who helped Sarah locate the mules.  We wanted to reward him with some business and, while the kids ate some tasty Greek soft serve ice cream, we allowed him to offer us some wine samples.  His prices were highly exaggerated, but we owed him one.  So, we ordered some wine and some rather tasty olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic stuffed olives, which he shipped to our home.  Again, we don't recommend this vender because his prices were very high, but he was very helpful.  If you do want to have some wine shipped home, there are vendors in Santorini that will take care of that for you.
I wanted to visit one of the many blue domed churches we saw. They are beautiful churches, indeed.

We ran into George Anne on our way down. The cable cars may be easier, but going up on the mules was super cool.

Not ready to leave just yet.We rode the cable cars back to the bottom.  The line to get on the cars was about five minutes long, and Seth was not charged, but Caitie, who is fifteen, was charged as an adult.  Upon exiting the cable cars, we found the line to ride the tenders back to the ship to be rather lengthy.  Sarah was not ready to return to the ship, so we walked along the dock and sat down in the cafe by the donkey rides and had one final drink before surrendering the island to the Greeks.  This cafe also had free wifi, and it was probably the best signal we had on the entire trip.
Then we got back in line for the tenders and after a fifteen minute wait, we were back on the ship and fully lamenting leaving Santorini.  Sarah and I had a few minutes before our 6 o'clock dining time, so we sat in the Schooner Bar and toasted the island and made a wish to return.  Some final thoughts about Santorini:  We don't feel regret for not hiring a tour.  We don't feel as though we missed out on anything.  Our relaxing (minus the rough and chaotic mishap) day was a pleasant change from the regimented tours, and by this point, our Culture Fatigue was advanced and we desperately needed a simple day of mindless amusement.  Seth also noted that next time he would ride the donkeys.  He thought the path was very narrow and dangerous, but it is a trail as wide as a single lane road, and the fence lined the path for the entire journey. After dinner we attended the second of the Centrum Aerial Shows.  We enjoyed the Jack and the Beanstalk show earlier in the cruise but this one was an alien/techno weird show that did not really impress any of us.  After the centrum show we decided to attend the main show since tomorrow is a sea day and we get to put our clocks back an hour tonight!  Tonight's show was Brooks Aehron a concert pianist.  It was a fantastic show, probably our favorite of the trip.  He turned out to be a very accomplished musician as well as a great entertainer.  The ship even gave him an encore performance the next afternoon (Caitie and Sarah's mom attended) and it was standing room only in the Tropical Theater!  Tomorrow is a much needed Sea Day, hope the great weather holds out!


What a fantastic day we had! We're going back. (Next time without the kids!)

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens 

Part X Santorini

Blood Lamb-A True Story

It was the oddest church I had ever visited; it was almost like a dream.  In the back of the church a lamb was kept in a small pen, and the pastor sat in the front of the sanctuary behind a large thick curtain.  But there was great love and compassion present in that room as the church people tried to help me.            I had been traveling across the countryside deep into ranch land; there were no buildings or homes anywhere in site.  I had been traveling down a small road in a great hurry when I missed a curve and drove off the road and into a creek bottom.  I was stuck.  Worse than that, it was a Sunday, and there was no traffic, no one came by to help.  I was in a terrible hurry, so I started walking.  In the distance I could see a church steeple barely peeking over the horizon.  Heck, a church is an excellent place to go if you need help so I started walking that direction.  I had never been much of a church person.  In truth, I was not worthy.  For I had done many things in my life that didn’t make sense, things that seemed all wrong, but I have no idea why.  There were times that I hurt people, but hey, I had been hurt on many occasions myself, so what’s the big deal?  As I neared the church, I could see many cars in the parking lot.  I looked back at where I had come and it was all behind me, but it was in front of me also.  People were looking for me, and they would find me very soon.  But inside that church…, inside that church was immediate help.  As I stepped inside, I saw many warm faces, and I was greeted with a firm handshake.  I was lead to the pastor behind the curtain when I told them I needed help.  He was a gentle man and his eyes were heavy with compassion as I explained that I was broken down and that I needed help.  He nodded in agreement and gave me a seat in the church.The group started singing songs I had never heard.  These people were singing with great earnestness, as if they were deeply committed to their song.  Didn't the pastor realize I was in a great hurry? There were people looking for me.  I needed to go, but I was captivated by the sincere performance of the church people.  Unfortunately, I simply didn’t have time for the service to end, so I arose from my chair and started to the door.  The pastor was watching me; he almost seemed to be crying.  Their song continued, “Take me to the higher place that I might not sin against you, Father.”  If only that were possible--not to sin.  What was I saying?  These were church people.  They probably never sinned.  They were different from me, for I had hurt people.  I had done things that were very wrong, I had even shed blood.  Suddenly, I realized how unworthy I was to be in this church.  These people acted as if God himself was going to walk into this room.  I would have loved to stay and meet God, but somehow I knew it was impossible.  There would be too much standing between us, too much of a gap, we would be incompatible.  Besides, there were people looking for me, I had to go.  Not only that, God wouldn’t have liked me had we met, for I had hurt people throughout my life.  Unfortunately, I had waited too long to leave, for I could see the people who were looking for me standing in the parking lot of the church.  They were walking to the door.  I was now trapped.  They didn’t stop and shake the hand of the greeter; they just made their way to my side and quickly grabbed my arms.  When I cried out, the pastor stopped the singing and came to my aid.  He asked, “What’s going on?”The taller man in a dark suit stepped between me and the pastor standing behind the curtain.  “This man belongs to me.  He has broken many laws and has been given the death penalty.  He has been running from us for a long time,his time for justice has come.”The pastor looked at me, “What have you done?”That was just it, what had I done?  Better than that, what hadn’t I done?  I had stolen, cheated, and lied.  I was an adulterer and a fornicator.  I aborted children before they were born.  I guess that made me a murderer.  I was a drunkard, and a wife beater. In fact, I was a drug addict and dealer.  I don’t suppose that there was anything left for me to exploit, or explore.  I had run the gamete for evil and wicked things to do.  My whole life was a sham.  I was very evil and wicked to the very core of my existence.  If sin were a stench, then I reeked beyond measure.  As I examined my life I replied to the pastor, “Everything.  I have done everything.”  I hung my head in shame.  I was not worthy of his help.  My life was worthless and I deserved the full measure of justice to be served on me.  I had more than earned the death penalty.The pastor looked at me, tears rolling down his face.  He placed a warm hand on my shoulder and turned to the dark man.  “What will redeem this man from his death?”The official replied, “The death sentence was already passed, a death must take place.”The pastor looked to the rear of the church and yelled out, “Bring in the lamb.”  They brought him in, a young, gentle, perfectly white lamb.  Its face was pure.  There was great truth in this lamb.  The pastor told me, “This lamb is perfect.  It is blameless in every way.  Only the blood of the innocent may redeem your death penalty.  You will kill this lamb in your place and then you will be free.”How could I kill this innocent lamb?  It had done nothing wrong, and I was the one deserving to die, it was unworthy of my death.  However, if killing this lamb bought my freedom, then why not?  Maybe I could change and be a good person if I had a clean start.  But deep down inside, I knew that I would go back to my old ways.  But for now, I could walk away a free man.  I could walk away alive!  And free!  How could I kill it?  How fast can he die?  I had no weapons, but I attacked the lamb.  I beat it with my hands; I kicked it with my feet.  I pulled and ripped and gouged.  I tore huge chunks of its wool away, yet it never ran from me; it never resisted.  I spit at it and I laughed.  I flailed it, but it wouldn’t die.  I drug it up and down the isle of the church; I picked it up and threw it across the room.  The lamb wouldn’t die.  It was deeply wounded from the internal injuries, but life flourished deep within his heart.  What I needed was a weapon.  I needed to inflict bigger wounds.  I looked up and the alter of the church and saw a hammer and nails.  I grabbed the lamb and threw it across the altar, stretching it out across the wooden counter.  I grabbed the nails and started pounding them into the lamb’s flesh.  All of the anger and hatred, all of the venom that drove me, with everything inside me, I drove the nails deeper and deeper.  I hated myself for what I was doing, but I hated this lamb more for not dying quickly.  It wouldn’t die.  It only lay still and let me inflict it with one punishment after the other.  I saw the curtain behind the altar and the poles that were supporting it, so I laid my hands on the curtain and ripped it in half.  I took the sharp end of the pole and jammed it deep into the side of the lamb, and it died.  I looked down at my hands, there was blood covering me.  There was blood dripping off the altar and running down the aisle.  There was blood on the vail I had rent.   Suddenly I realized that the lamb was Jesus, the Lamb was from God, and it WAS God.  He had taken my place, I had killed the very one that was trying to protect me.  I had killed God himself.  In my own fear and hatred, I had killed the blameless.  In the rear of the church, my accusers turned and walked away.  I realize now that they could no longer see me through the blood of the lamb I had shed.

Mediterranean Madness Part IX: Athens, Greece

Day 8 /Port 5We made plans in Athens, Greece with a company called PK Travel.  Their rates were very reasonable and being a small company, it was clearly focused on making us happy.  Our guide/driver was Dimitris, who said we could call him Jim if Dimitris was too hard for us to pronounce.  Dimitris was a charming man with a rugged smile that made him very likable.  I heard some of the women mention that he was the best looking of all our guides, but I don't have a dog in that fight.  I do know this, he spoke perfect English and he knew what he was doing and how to get it done.  And his jokes were funny!  On this day, our group was fairly large.  Sarah and I and the kids, Sarah's parents, Mike and George Anne, Sarah's sister and brother-in-law, Christopher and Micah, Christopher's mom and dad, Chris and Meg, and Meg's father, Bill made our group total to eleven members.  And two of those members had wheelchair issues.  Mike, of course had his scooter, which worked incredibly well almost everywhere.  Bill was able to walk, but he was a little unsteady, so when it was feasible, we pushed him around in a wheelchair.  It was just easier on him if we were going to be mobile for a long time.
Dimitris met us at the port terminal, but we had to travel to the terminal via shuttle, which met us just beyond the gangplank.  When he saw that we were limited with the wheelchair issues, he went out of his way to find the best parking spots, and find the most convenient places to accommodateus. 
Athens is an ancient town, as it dates back many millennia.  I was expecting it to look like Rome, I suppose, with all the antiquity poking up through practically every street corner, and nestled between apartment buildings.  Athens was not like that at all.  There were some very ancient sites, but they were contained to a very small section of town, and there was very little overlap with modern living.  Of course, the highlights of Athens are the Acropolis, which hosts the Parthenon, and the Erechytheon, with the six beautiful women columns holding up the building, and then the rest of the antiquities were confined to the area known as the Ancient Agora.  But there was plenty more to do and see that didn't involve ancient pillars.


Some of the sites as we walked from the ticket booth to the top of the Acropolis

Our first stop in Athens was the Acropolis, and we were some of the first barbarians to arrive.  Dimitris drove us all the way to the top of the entrance where the elevators were, and then walked to the ticket agents to find out how to get the wheelchairs up the Acropolis.  When he returned he wore the sad look of disappointment.  "The elevators are closed," he announced.  "It's too windy."  Well, that let the air out of our balloons.  But, Mike and Bill both accepted their fate graciously and declared they would remain behind and nap in the van while we spent an hour touring the ruins.  We all felt bad about that decision, but there was no other way to handle the situation.  So, we bought our tickets and proceeded to take our self guided tour.  In Athens, the guide cannot give a tour of the ruins.  If you want a guided tour, you have to hire an independentexpert.  We found several certified guides waiting at the entrance who were for hire by the hour, but we declined and decided to explore everything on our own.  They were affordable, it was mainly because we didn't want to spend too much time touring without Mike and Bill, and an expert guide would have extended our stay considerably.  So, we huddled up and agreed to meet back at the exit at a certain time.  Of course, we were tripping all over each other the entire time, as the Acropolis is not a large area.  Before you ascend the stairs into the Acropolis proper, you can explore the remains of the original amphitheater, which can be seen from the path you take as you leave the ticket booths.  By the way, in Greece, handicapped people and youth are exempt entrance fees to most historic sites, and the tickets we bought at the Acropolis worked almost everywhere we went.
Just before we entered the Acropolis.


You might say the wind was up a little! And, another shot with one of the hometown newspapers I carried across the world.

I would offer this sage advice to anyone willing to hear me.  Walk carefully.  The marble on the ground is beautiful, but it is slippery, and it had rained the night before.  Wear shoes that afford you the best grip possible.  Tap shoes would be an impressive choice, but equally dangerous.
The first set of pillars you encounter is the Propylea, and the beautiful ladies make the columns of the Erechtheion.Sarah and I and the kids walked around the ruins and had a great time embracing the fact that we were standing at the Parthenon!  How awesome is that?  We took several of my newspapers from home shots, and had a great time wandering around the site.  There are bathrooms located between the Parthenon and the defense walls, and they were clean and fairly unused.  Look for the WC sign pointing down a set of stairs. 
The Parthenon! And a nice family shot with George Anne and the Erechtheion.

Family shot! And it's time for another newspaper promo...


There's my bride!            The Acropolis is surprisingly small. It doesn't take long to see it all.


A view from the ramparts. Athens is a massive city... The well preserved ruin is the Temple of Hephaestus.

Finally, more cats! Thank you very much.     I think this is supposed to be the first theater built in Athens--perhaps in the world.It didn't take us long to explore the area.  In fact, an hour was sufficient to walk around and snap a few (thousand) shots.  By the end of our hour, the barbarians were arriving in mass.  We left the Acropolis and Dimitris took us to the Temple of Zeus, which can be seen from the Acropolis.  The sheer grandeur of those columns is hard to express.  Only 15 remain of the original 104 columns.  Impressively, the columns are roughly 55 feet high, and about 6 feet in diameter.  These are truly extraordinary, and they are hard to fathom.  The temple construction began in the 6th century BC and fell into disuse by the 3rd century AD.  It must have been awesome to stand in the center of that temple.  It is truly Herculean. 
The Temple of Zeus...this bad boy is MASSIVE!

A few other ruins can be seen from the grounds of the temple, the remains of some old Roman baths, and Hadrian's Arch is in the same place.  There are also bathrooms on site.  And this location is fully accessible by wheel chair.
From there, Dimitris drove us to some nearby sites, such as the Olympic stadium built in the 1890s for the Olympic Games.  We stopped at the Panathenaic Stadium and marveled that it was the largest stadium in the world covered entirely in marble.  The stadium sits on the remains of a stadium that was in use as early as 329 BC.  It was used off and on throughout history until it was completely refurbished in 1894.  It is an impressive site.  While we were touring there, a man approached me and asked if I would sign a copy of my book for him.  Of course I was flattered, and I didn't want to embarrass him, so I was honored to accommodatehim.  If one didn't know better, you would think it was a set up for a publicity stunt!


Dimitris then drove us to Lycabettus Hill, which overlooks Athens and which offered the best view anywhere.  Athens is a massive city, boasting around 5 million people in the collective area, and covering a massive 160 square miles.  After a brief stop for a city view and some picture opportunities, Dimitris drove us around town showing us different sites on our way to Syntagma Square where the Greek Parliament is located.  We were here to see the changing of the guard ceremony performed by the Presidential Guard in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  This is an impressive ceremony to behold.  The ceremonial battalion, called the Evzones, stand guard motionless for 15 minutes when they switch position with the other guard.  Then become motionless again.  Once an hour a new set of guards marches in, quite ceremoniously and takes the place of the old guard.  It's worth a stop!
Athens is unbelievably massive.      The changing of the guards.


The kids were proud to stand with the guards. The ceremony was impressive.

From there, we decided that it was time to grab a bite to eat, and Dimitris asked if we wanted to sit down in a restaurant, or if we would be happy with a cafe that specialized in gyros and other grilled meats.  It was their version of fast food.  We all wanted the gyros, so Dimitris took us to his favorite cafe, and then pointed to four other spots if the one he recommended didn't suit us.  No, the rule is, trust your guide.  He dropped us off immediately in front of the cafe, and then pointed to the rest of the historical district, where we would proceed after our meal, and then he would meet us and take us to the New Acropolis Museum as our final stop.
I have no idea what the name on the sign says.... It's all a different, unnamed language to me.


The kid who just threw up in Turkey was happy today!


Check out that gyro!  And this is the proper way to cook meat! This Texan wants to learn this method!The cafe was a perfect choice, even if it didn't have a Wi-fi signal that we could make work. (It did have one, we just couldn't make it work!)  We decided to sit under the awning on the sidewalk, where the wheelchairs would have easy access.  Our waiter was excited to see us, and the place was busy with locals.  We weren't the only barbarians there, but it was definitely not a shop that focused on tourists, even though the menu was in English as well.  The food was exactly what we wanted for our day in Greece.  We were excited to eat here and we ordered way too much food.  But, when would we get to come back?  We were determined to make the best of it.  We ordered some chicken gyros and pork gyros, and chicken sandwiches and pork sandwiches, and grilled chicken on a stick, and grilled sausage on a stick, and fried cheese balls, and saginaki, which is mozzarella sautéed in olive oil.  Several of us ordered beer.  And we ate.  And ate.  And it was great!  And we had way too much food, but what a great time we had!  And then it started raining, which none of us expected, even though we could see a cloud turning blue not too far away.  And when it turned loose, it was an impressive rain storm.  For a moment, I had flashbacks of my cowboy days out riding the pastures and getting caught in an old fashioned gully washer.  Wells sir, this was one of those gully washers.  We decided that we would have another beer and wait it out.  But it kept raining.  Accepting that the rest of our walking tour was now delayed at best, and in reality probably cancelled, we decided that we would go to the museum early.  We called Dimitris (he made sure we had his card and number before dropping us at the restaurant) to see if he could meet us a full hour earlier than we agreed, and he was sitting in front of the cafe within 5 minutes.  He helped us get loaded despite the downpour and then told us that if we skipped the walking part of the tour, we would miss it entirely, as it would close before we could return.  Well, it was too wet to actually do a walking tour, so we opted to skip it and go to the museum.
The New Acropolis Museum was an impressive place to visit.  First, it covers an active archaeological dig, and all of the floors in the museum are made of glass, so you can walk around and see the ruins underneath the building.  What a great idea!  The building was wheelchair friendly, so we loaded up our crew and went to the third floor, where we decided to watch the video of the Parthenon and begin the tour there.  There are adequate restroom facilities there, and by this point in all of our tours, I hardly noticed the woman who was standing in the corner quietly monitoring the facility in case she needed to clean something in a hurry.  This is actually quite common, but a bit unusual for Americans.
The glass floors were a bit concerning for me. Especially the ones with cracks in them.


The view of the Acropolis from the museum. The toilet in the men's room. I was going to take a picture of the attendant, but then I thought it might be creepy to do so.

The video was in English and then ran in Greek, and vice versa.  It was 14 minutes long and was well worth viewing.  The entire third floor was a restoration and reproduction of the Parthenon, which could be seen just above us from the windows of the museum. It is an excellent way for you to see a very close-up view of the intricate details of the sculpturing and statues of the Parthenon.  And you won't believe just how detailed the work on it is. 
This is the first day that I noticed how we were experiencing Culture Fatigue.  We had seen so many overwhelmingly awesome historical sites that we were starting to become numb to them.  We were all impressed, but we were finding a certain lack of enthusiasm for just how awesome the ruins were.  We still valued and appreciated what we were fortunate to see and visit, but we were becoming overwhelmed by what we were being exposed to.  We needed a break!
So, we went down to the cafe/book store, where we sat and ordered Greek coffee and the kids drank cokes, Seth having a Sprite and Caitie a Lipton Tea.  After tasting the Greek coffee, we decided that we wanted something that wouldn't overwhelm us.  So, Sarah ordered a cappuccino and I drank some water, and then perused the book store.  I'm telling you, Greek coffee can be used as a fuel alternative for the space shuttle.  Wow!  It's good, but, like Brill Cream, "a little dab will do you."  Did I just date myself?  Oh, by the way, the museum offers fantastic Wi-fi access for free.  Take advantage of that!
When our time at the museum was complete, we decided to spend just a few minutes and walk down to the Plaka where we could pick up a few souvenirs.  We had missed visiting this shopping district due to the rain earlier. It was only a two or three block walk from our van, so Dimitris budgeted us 15 minutes to rush down there and grab something and come back.  It was plenty of time.  We found what we wanted in the first shop we encountered.  Seth always wants a snow globe, Caitie usually wanted a small wooden box, and we only collect magnets and occasionally a work of art by some unknown local starving artist.  You never know who will turn out to be the next Monet, right?  We also stopped at a gelato place next to the shop and decided that it was good, but not as good as what we ate in St. Paul in France.  So far, Italy, Turkey, and now Greece were falling short on the gelato comparisons.
Dimitris! A gem of a guy.   A random shot of a local church. I love those blue domes.

Dimitris took us back to the port, where we thanked him profusely for his willingness to be flexible in our tour.  He went out of his way throughout the day to make it easier for our wheelchair issues, and was always agreeable when we wanted to modify his standard tour.  In fact, he was only 5 minutes away when the rain started, so he never even left the area when we were on our own for a two hour stretch.  We absolutely enjoyed Dimitris, and always laughed at his well designed jokes.  His final words to us when we arrived at the port terminal was to ask, "Do you know what is the difference between Turkish coffee and Greek coffee?  When you are in Athens, it's Greek coffee!"  Dimitris received high praises from everyone in our group.  He was a great guide.
Tomorrow: Santorini (And the tragic occurrence that almost ended my 20 years of marriage.)

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Part VIII Turkey

Part IX Athens

Mediterranean Madness Part VIII Terrific Turkey

Terrific Turkey
Our stop in Turkey was an excellent surprise.  Like most other barbarians, I expected Turkey to be the least likable of our stops.  How could I, who have personally been engaged in the War on Terror, possibly feel both comfortable and welcome in a Muslim culture?  Well, let me be the first to admit, I was wrong about Turkey.  But, let me do it casually, and I'll ease that part into the review. View from our balcony at breakfast.  We were greeted by dancers on the dock!
When we arrived, the sky was still dark, even though Turkey is an hour ahead of the rest of Europe (except for Greece), as one would expect, being that is in Asia, after all.  When the sun came up, we were on our balcony having our room service breakfast, and I was stunned that Turkey didn't look like the Middle East.  Of course, Turkey actually straddles both continents, and has a thriving European influence.  Three percent of Turkey is in Europe, and that is part where Istanbul serves as the gateway to Asia.  The rest of the country is a different continent.  Turkey is heavily influenced by the Greeks, and vice versa, as Greece was a part of the Turkish Empire for so many years.  I'll speak more about this in the following paragraphs.  Turkey had a king back before WWII who was determined that his country would be a progressive state, and not become consumedwith dogmatic Islamic ideology.  He determined that the women were free to dress as they wish, and to be educated should they choose to do so.  They are an overtly Muslim culture, but they in no way suppress other religions.  In fact, a sizable population of Christians (both Catholic and Protestant) exists in Turkey without consequence.  I never once felt discriminated against and I felt welcome in every instance and with every encounter.  I found the Turkish people to be warm and engaging, and their hospitality was unparalleled in any country we visited.   We wanted to take Bahar home with us!Our guide's name was Bahar, and she was loved from the first moment we met her.  She was very casual and relaxed, and her demeanor told us immediately that she was very comfortable with her job and that we were going to have a great day.  A small, pretty woman; she had a way about her that made us smile and caused us to be cheerful.  She didn't take herself too seriously, and was able to laugh at her own innocent mistakes.  For instance, when she was trying to connect with our driver, she called him from her cell phone and when the call connected, she discovered that he was standing immediately behind her, not more than four feet away.  She laughed and commented that she was glad she didn't say anything mean about him.  Yes, it was going to be a good day, indeed.
As soon as we got started, Bahar reviewed our plans for the day, and then made a suggestion.  Remember, anytime your experienced guide makes a suggestion, just go with it.  They know what they're doing and if you trust them, they will take great care of you.  Trust your guide!  It's a good rule to follow.  Bahar suggest that we modify our day slightly.  We were planning to visit Mary's (the mother of Jesus), house, which was on our way to Ephesus, and then tour Ephesus, and then tour a bit of Kusadasi for a few hours, and then the carpet factory.  I will address the carpet factory more in the next few paragraphs.  So, whatever you think about the factory, keep an open mind until you hear me out.  Bahar suggested that, unless we had a deep religious yearning to visit Mary's house, we skip it and tour a small, traditional Turkish village in the mountains instead.  She reasoned that, "After a while, old buildings are just more of the same.  It's all Greek and Roman, and it's all the same.  Old and interesting, but still the same as all the other old and interesting buildings.  Mary probably actually lived in that place, but the house has been rebuilt and the originalis buried beneath the home that exists today.  So, if you'd rather experience Turkish living, I suggest we skip Mary's house and tour Sirince."  She didn't pressure us one bit to do one or the other.  She made the suggestion and let us do as we wished.  Since our rule is "trust the guide," we told her to skip Mary's house and head for the hills.  That turned out to be the best decision of the entire trip.  Our other family member's tours went to Mary's house, and they all said they wished they could have gone with us to the village.   By skipping Mary's house we got to Ephesus waaaay ahead of the other barbarians.  We were not crowded at all for another hour!  We are standing in front of the library at the center of town. Next to the library are the arches that take you to the agora, which would be similar to a market place.
But first, we were to tour Ephesus.  Like most Americans, I really had no idea what to expect.  My only knowledge of Ephesus was based on Biblical studies, and most of that was limited to theology and not tradition or culture.  Well, let me tell you, Ephesus is one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites you could possibly visit.  First, the city is very well preserved, as it wasn't really "discovered" again until the late 1800's.  There are several reasons Ephesus is so preserved.  First, the sea began to retreat as river sediments filled the bay, forcing the residents to relocate closer to the water.  And, I seem to remember that a large portion of Ephesus was buried by an earthquake/landslide and was never thought of again until a very serious effort was made to unearth the city in the 1960's by the Austrian government.  Because of that, most of the marble, statues, mosaics and general wealth of the city remain for you to appreciate.  Ephesus is a city you can actually enter and walk through her streets and explore her buildings without the encroachment of the modern developments that grew up around the ruins in Rome.
 

Men's toiletsIt takes little effort to imagine daily life in Ephesus, as you are completely within the city, and the city extends as far as you can see.  There are no signs that tell you to keep off the ruins.  In fact, you actually interact with almost everything.  You climb the stairs, sit on the collapsed columns, and walk through the actual doorways.  It is even easier to imagine life in Ephesus if you hire a guide, such as Bahar, who walked with us through the city.  Do this, as it is worth the money.  Your guide will explain the intricate details which will make the city come alive to you.  For example, we found the public toilets that the men used.  See how the seats are so close together?  That is because the toilets were business meeting places, and a lot of socialization occurred there as well.  So, a man would send his slave to the toilet to warm it up, and then he would go and sit for his participation in the event.  But the part that was most amusing to me was the way Bahar explained the delicate nature of the toilets.  She said, "Sometimes sitting on a toilet can be a little noisy.  So, they had something to fix that.  Can you guess what it was?"  Well, we guess baffling, a fountain, deeper holes, but we were wrong on each guess.  She smiled and told us that musicians stood here and played while the men sat, and the music was loud enough so no one would be embarrassed by any noises that might occur.  And then we discovered that the women were not allowed to use these seats.  Bahar pointed to the edge of town.  "We had to go out there somewhere."  For some reason I find it interesting that we have a complete role reversal.  Today the women use the restroom as a social spot, while men prefer the tree behind the cars. And I bring you back to Ephesus.  So, Bahar did everything she could to help us close our eyes and envision what the city was like before it was destroyed.  The streets were paved with marble, and they were wide streets, almost like a courtyard themselves.  Columns ran the length of the streets, and each column had a statue of an important person.  The arches usually came in pairs, and they were reserved for gods and emperors.  The deeper you go into the city, the more preservation occurred, so you can stand back and look down the main streets and see how incredible Ephesus had once been.  There are estimates that several hundred thousand people made it their home, and it was an important shipping center for Roman commerce.  People from Europe and Asia would meet at Ephesus, so you can envision why Paul and John chose Ephesus as a place to plant a Christian church.   

As we walked past the partially restored library, and stood in front of the sizable amphitheater, we looked down the street that went to the harbor.  These streets were illuminated at night, which helped prevent muggings, but it also made them very special.  I can see on a moon lit night how the torches reflected off the marble pavement and columns, and how the sea below would have glistened softly in the distance.  And then Bahar told us to imagine seeing Antony and Cleopatra walking up from the harbor and holding hands as then entered the city.  At that moment, Ephesus became alive to me.  We were walking on the exact marble streets where the Caesars walked, and the gladiators marched on their way to the amphitheater to battle, men like Pliney and Josephus were probably here, working on recording their observations, which were probably kept in the large library in the center of the town. Remains of the Christian churchA Jewish menorah was carved into the marble on the steps to the library, and not far from that you could see an archway that lead to a temple for some god.   The Christian church was closer to the harbor and would have been in a very busy part of town.Where Paul preached!Bahar took us to the amphitheater where Paul and John preached, which landed them in jail, eventually leading to John's exile in the Greek isles just off coast of the sea.  When I stood on the same stage as Paul and John when they preached against the false god Diana (AKA Artemis), which enraged the local venders, who were silver and gold smiths.  Their lively hoods depended on selling reproductions of those Greek and Roman gods, which the people would take to the Temple Artemis, and Paul's message was very threatening to them.  He must have made an incredible argument for Christ, for those businessmen to so enraged that it ultimately led to Paul fleeing the city after living there three years and eventually lead to John's exile.  John also lived in Ephesus for several years and finished the Book of John in Ephesus.  And it happened right here on this very spot where my feet stood.  Things happened here.  History was made, and you can stand in those very places and appreciate all that it represents to you.
 
A group of actors demonstrating a gladiator fight.  This is the harbor road where anyone arriving by ship would enter Ephesus.  Close your eyes and watch Antony and Cleopatra walking down that very road....Another part of Ephesus that we so loved were the terrace houses, which is still an active archeological site.  The houses had been buried, probably by an earthquake and landslide, and were left alone until the excavations began in the 1960s.  The plastered and marbled walls were still standing, with the frescos preserved with their bold paints depicting incredible stories.  The floors in the houses of the rich were tiled with mosaics that told stories that were rich with meaning.  The furnishing of the homes were often still intact, and those homes are open for you to explore.  A catwalk was built above the houses so you can walk around and see what was happening in each of these homes.  The people who lived here were extravagantly richly, and they left behind their signature to demonstrate just how incredible man can be.

Following is a sampling of the rooms and their decorations.  The archeologists are trying to reconstruct the marble displays on the wall in the first shot.  The second is a temple inside a home.  The third is our future archaeologist admiring the reconstruction process.  The rest are our pitiful attempts at capturing the mosaic tile work found in the homes.  Some of the mosaics were on the floor, some on the walls, but all were magnificent.  The mosaics on the floor looked like carpet!
 

 

I'll share a side story about our day in Ephesus.  At the port, before we joined with Bahar for the day, the kids noticed several cats roaming the streets.  They were very friendly, but my kids are banned from petting unknown animals.  Once in Ephesus, the kids focused on the cats once again.  Soon, we started counting them.  By the time we concluded our tour at the bathroom on the way out of the ancient city, we counted 37 different cats, but by the time we left Turkey, the count was 42.  
This is the last cat we saw at Ephesus.


I was not prepared for what we would find in Ephesus, and all of us so enjoyed and appreciated our tour.  Perhaps it was Bahar who made it special, but we connected with Ephesus in a real way, and it became one of our favorite stops for the entire cruise.
By this point, Bahar had connected with our family and we had developed a great rapport with her.  She was laughing and telling us funny stories from the days when she worked as a photographer on the Disney cruise lines.  She reaffirmed to us that our decision to visit the village of Sirince rather than see Mary's house was a good decision.  By the time we loaded into the van to leave, large hoards of barbarians were arriving via bus tours, but our early morning private tour was a very peaceful time.  Skipping Mary's house launched us forward into Ephesus quicker than the hoards.

We drove up the hills over Ephesus for about 15 minutes and had a commanding view of the ruins, Kusadasi, and the sea (of which we never took a picture).  We arrived at the village and we knew immediately that we had made the right choice.  This small village was peaceful and simple, and it was not catering to tourists, even though a few barbarians meandered about.  Bahar stopped the driver on the edge of town and we got out of the van in front of some fruit stands.  She bought us a sack of freshly picked tangerines and we walked the market, which was actually a local fruit, vegetable, meat, and clothing market, and snacked on those wonderful tangerines.  And then she found a vender selling figs that were as large as tennis balls and she bought us a bag of those to snack on while we walked.  It was incredible.  And we were sticky.  So, she took us to a fountain where we washed our hands.
 
Those tangerines and figs were incredible! 


Sirince was a wonderful village to visit.  What a great day!

A celebrity of sorts lives in this village.  His name is Demetrius and he was the artist who designed all the jewelry worn by the actors in the movie Troy, starring Brad Pitt.  He was a jolly man and very welcoming, and he enjoyed Bahar fussing over his status.  He even gave Caitie a set of imitation zultanite ear rings, just because he liked her.  His nephew ran the jewelry store where he worked and when he saw that we were with Bahar, he showed us his selection of zultanite jewelry.  
Demetrius and his jewelry shop

Let me back up just a bit and explain zultanite, which is a gem that is only mined in Turkey.  On the hardness scale, it is a 9.7 or something like that, (diamonds being 10) and it is valuable and rare.  The stone has an incredible property that makes it change colors depending on lighting and temperature.  We were very interested in buying zultanite when in Turkey, but every internet article I read warned me not to buy it from any local stores.  Scores of tourists were buying fake gems that looked real.  But, once you see the real thing, there is no way to be fooled by the fake.   We wanted some, but we were afraid to buy it.  But, Demetrius' nephew showed us his dealer certificate and showed us that he sells directly to the cruise ships themselves.  And his prices reflected small village life rather than touristy manhandling. 
Looks like the negotiations are almost complete.

He handed us two rather large 3 carat zultanite rings and told us to go walk around outside and watch it change colors.  So, we did.  We walked out into the sunlight and over to the shade trees, and then back around by the fruit stand, and then back to the store.  In that short tour, the stone went from emerald green to turquoise, to violet, and then to hot pink.  We tried to return them to him and he said for us to take them to the carpet store next door and check out the lighting in there.  He met us on the other side of the wall and demonstrated how incredible that gemstone is.
I thought about buying some loose stones to use for trade once the zombie apocalypse starts, but Sarah had a better idea.  She bought a solitaire ring, matching earring studs, and a necklace stud as well.  We had such a phenomenal price from that store that I almost started to worry that he was selling hot merchandise.  We were simply fortunate enough to have Bahar with us, who was a friend to everyone in the village.  Everywhere we went with her, we were welcomed, and it was clear that she spent large amounts of her time amongst these people.
Random shots of the market area

The village streets were very similar to the style of narrow streets common to medieval European construction, but these people used tents and stands more than quaint shops.  None of the venders chased us down the street and badgered us into buying something.  We were largely ignored except for a polite greeting.  If we entered a shop, the vender would pay full attention to us, but if we walked past, they didn't press us to come back.  We had a wonderful time walking in those streets and getting a feel for what a true Turkish experience would be.
I don't remember what the bee hive looking thing is, but we were impressed enough to take a photo. And another shot of the countryside.

From there it was lunch time, even though we'd eaten many tangerines and figs, and we were cautiously optimistic about the meal we would receive.  Bahar chatted with us on the way down the mountain and explained to us how the traditions of the Turkish people had not changed much since their early days.  For instance, the girls were expected to make a rug/carpet as part of her dowry, and the boys were to make clay pots as part of his gift to his bride on their wedding day.  Bahar laughed and told us her rug already had three holes in it, so she had to buy a new one!  The rugs the girls made were supposed to remain in her family for the following generations.  Rug making was a significant part of their culture.  It was more than a business.  It was an identity.  And for them, it was an honor for you to tour their rug factory so they can demonstrate a very important aspect of their cultural identity.  We were honored that they wanted to share that with us, even though we were very clear upfront that we were not in a position to buy any rugs from them.
All that remains of the former wonder of the ancient world, Temple of ArtemisOn our way to our lunch, the driver paused briefly on the road and we glanced at a column standing off in the near distance and Bahar told us that was the site of the Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana, which was once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  The temple was first destroyed by a flood in the 7th century BC, and was rebuilt on three separate occasions.  And now only one column remains. 
The meals were prepared on the grill, and our table was under a covered pavilion near the grill.

Bahar then took us to small family cafe where we would eat lunch.  It was a traditional style of grill and it served only one type of food, grilled beef and lamb meatballs, and grilled chicken.  And it was good.  We started off with appetizers that were traditional offerings.  Yogurt and cucumbers, carrot salad, yogurt and peppers, and things like that.  They were all tasty, but we were not pressured to eat anything we didn't want.  And there was nothing scary that would not be edible.  Sarah and I had a local beer, Efes, and it was good pale ale, and the kids had cokes, Seth drinking a Fanta and Caitie having Lipton Tea. 
Seth freaks out with potato salad. Whatever he just ate didn't go down...

Seth is our picky eater, and he promised to try most of the dishes, and he did.  But he didn't care for most of the appetizers.  The one with peppers made him gag and he ran to the grass and spit it out.  Bahar felt bad for encouraging him to try it, but he needs a good push every once in a while.  The meat was very tasty and the quality of the food was top notch.  We were all relieved that our meal was not a disaster.  We listened to Bahar telling funny stories about life in Turkey and encounters with other tourists.  We had a great and relaxing meal. 
This meal was delicious! And Bahar ate with us, hence the extra plate.

Once the meal was over, we paid for our drinks and were offered a chance to tour the carpet factory.  It was optional, and we could freely decline.  But, we were there, and the tour was still young, so we decided to see it.  They showed us how the silk is collected from the worms, and I had no idea such a process existed.  And it is the same method used for centuries.  They showed us how the silk is processed into threads and strings for use in the carpets, and how the Turkish women still use those fabrics to weave a carpet, which take about 8 months to produce.  Caitie even got the chance to try her hand at weaving.  From that point, our guide asked us if we would care to see any of their products.  We had the choice of declining or viewing.  At first we declined, but Bahar explained that we should see the presentation because they would serve us hot Turkish apple tea and that lively and rich Turkish coffee, and they would even throw in some Raki for good measure.  Raki is the traditional liqueur that is flavored like licorice, and is really good when mixed with the coffee.  The coffee alone is a force to be contended with, and it was impressive.  While we sipped our beverages, they demonstrated the different types of carpets between the wool and silk, and they different designs and motifs.  At the end of the presentation, we were offered a chance to bargain with them for a rug, but we declined.  We could have walked out with a very nice rug for less than 1,000 dollars if we were in the market for one, and it would have been a great deal.
The cocoons were the silk is extracted. Caitie tries her had at weaving. Don't hold your breath, she never got the hang of it.

One of dozens of rugs they demonstrated for us. You definitely didn't want that coffee to be any bigger. HOLY COW! Strong coffee!With that over, Bahar asked if there was anything else we wanted to do or see.  Of course, we had no idea, so she suggested that we could tour the leather factory outlet, where they would give us a tour and a no pressure demonstration of their products.  She said it would be fun, and asked who wants to have some fun.  Well, who doesn't want to have fun, right?  Let's roll!
The leather sold at this company is incredible.  It is durable and very thin.  In fact, an entire leather jacket is rolled up into a bag that is the size of a small umbrella case, and the leather is wrinkle free.  But the leather is not free.  It was pricey.  Some of the pieces were marked for several thousand Euros, but the factory discount is 50% off, plus whatever else you negotiate down.  You could buy some incredibly high quality and very fashionable coats for a few hundred dollars if you wished.  I regretted not buying one of the leather belts I found.  I really wanted it, but for some reason I just didn't do it.  Next time!
We were treated to a show complete with runway models...

We arrived at the leather shop and we went in to a small theater, which was actually a model runway, where the lights dimmed and the music started.  Suddenly, the walkway was alive with gorgeous women and a few young men strutting up and down demonstrating their incredible leather products.  They were putting on a full show, and there were only the five of us to witness it.
And then it happened.
Bahar was watching us with a clever smile and she glanced at me like the cat that ate the canary.  The next thing I know, the taller of the Barbie doll models grabbed me by the hand and pulled me onto the stage, and drug both me and Seth behind the curtain.  They outfitted us into some rather amazing leather gear and then we were marched out on the runway and strutting our stuff.  The Barbie doll then grabbed Caitie by the hand and pulled her backstage, where she went through the same transformation.  The kids were having a blast, and it was fun to watch them enjoying being part of the program.  I was indifferent, but in order to preserve my man card, I had to feign offense.  Truth be told, I once applied for a job as a model back when I was 50 pounds lighter, and I would have been hired had Sarah and I not had an emergency medical problem that caused me to miss my final interview.  I never rescheduled and that was that.  And you could care less about the paragraph I just wrote, right?  ANYWAY, the kids and I spent several minutes modeling the leather products and walking the runway.  It was fun, but I'll never admit to it.
 


Sorry these shots are blurry. Sarah was laughing too hard to take good, clear photos.Then we were given more hot apple tea, which is wonderful, by the way, and allowed to shop for as long as we wished.  The manager was a very agreeable man and he insisted that we were his guests, and that we could stay as long as we liked, and there was no obligation or expectation of our buying anything from him.  We spent just less than an hour while the girls tried on several outfits, including Bahar, who was having fun shopping with Caitie, showing her the latest fashions in Turkey and Europe.  I thought Bahar would buy a coat she liked, but she finally set it back on the rack with a sigh.  She said she bought a similar jacket 8 years ago and it is still in wonderful condition.  When we return to Turkey, we will return to this shop and buy some cool products, and even a rug at the factory.  We just didn't budget for it on this trip.
Sadly, that concluded our tour of Turkey, except for the last details of the day.  She had promised to take us to the best Turkish delight in Kusadasi.  And it was in a shop just a hundred yards from the port.  Was it good?  Oh my lands, was it good!  The man behind the counter was so accommodating and he gave us a sample of anything we wanted to try.  Seth's favorite was the rose flavor.  Caitie's was the blackberry.  Sarah and I had trouble landing on a favorite.  Maybe the apple, maybe the lemon.  No, the tangerine.  Well, in the end, it didn't matter.  We bought some of each flavor and it was very affordable.  In fact, I'm snacking on a piece of the rose flavor right now, and it might be the best.  The shop was a fun place to stop.  We bought a bottle of Turkish wine, some Raki, some of the apple tea, and the candy.  What a great store!  And the workers were so grateful for our business.  By the way, there is no issue with buying Turkish delight and bringing it home through customs.
Oh my, this was good stuff! Just don't make the same mistake we did. If you get either banana or mint flavors, segregate them. Or your apple delights will taste like bananas.

Sadly, this did end our day with Bahar.  The kids were sad because they enjoyed her so much, and we immediately identified her as our favorite guide of the entire cruise.  I promise you this, when we go back to Turkey, we will request Bahar.  You should, too.  As we said good bye to her, I wanted to give her a gift along with her tip.  I always travel with complimentary copies of my books, and I wanted to give her one as a thank you for giving us such a wonderful day.  When I handed her the book she was excited and demanded an autograph.  When the store workers saw the event, they immediately pressed in around us, which drew in the people on the street.  Before I knew it, I was conducting a book signing in the presence of at least 20 people, maybe 30.  And they all assumed I was a celebrity, which Bahar shouted to her friend across the room.  I dearly wished I had more copies to give away.  It does an author's heart good to be clamored over like that!  We then returned to our ship very sad that our tour in Kusadasi was finished.
Some final notes about our Turkey tour.  You have a driver as well as the guide. We asked Bahar if we should tip him at the end of the tour and she said he would surely appreciate it. I couldn't get Bahar to tell me what an acceptable tip would be, so we gave him 15 Euros. I don't know if that was good or bad, but he was grateful.  ALSO, concerning Turkish coffee...well.  I like coffee.  I was in the Army, and I know what motor oil coffee generally tastes like.  This Turkish coffee was in my blood stream for 7 or 8 days!  It was thick and rich, and it had a wonderful flavor, but it would float a horse shoe.  It came in a one ounce espresso cup, and the bottom third of the cup was coffee residue that was too thick to drink.  And talk about a buzz!  Yee haw!  I liked it.  Sarah preferred the apple tea.

Next: Athens


Turkey will always be a fond memory. I'm SOOO glad we visited Kusadasi. 

Part I Getting there

Part II Barcelona

Part III Barcelona Continued

Part IV France

Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy

Part VI Rome

Part VII Sea Day

Mortis, by Hannah Cobb

In an underground school rife with duels and deadly classes, Jane hides in the shadows to stay alive. She is the invisible assassin. But as she prepares to graduate and take her place in the world as a fully trained assassin, Jane stumbles across shadowy secrets that reveal dark truths about her school. Will she embrace the darkness, or betray the school that raised her—and the boy she loves? Once Jane sets herself against her school, there is no turning back, because in Mortis, failure always means death.I recently had the privilege of discovering a new author, something I truly enjoy. Her name is Hannah Cobb, and she wrote a fantastic young adult/fantasy story that I highly recommend. Her book is Mortis. And it’s a killer book. Really.
The story is about an elite, covert school that specially trains young adults to become assassins. And it begins from birth for many students.
When I read her book, which I devoured in just a few days, I was compelled to do everything I could to help pass the word along about this terrific story. Now, let me be perfectly upfront. Mortis was published through Taegais, the same publishing company I also publish with, but I am voluntarily promoting her book--because I want to. It’s that good.
Mortis is set in a world similar to ours in many ways, but radically different in others. I asked her about that very thing:
Mortis is set in another world. What is that world called? How is it different from our reality?Both Mortis and its rival school, the Academy, are in Wade County, which is the most powerful of the Ten Counties (my imaginary fantasy country). The setting is light, medieval-esque fantasy; characters wield medieval weapons and wear medieval dress, but they ride talking horses, and some of the characters have magical abilities.
Hannah does a great job of immersing you into her fantasy world. She is so skilled at describing Mortis, the underground assassin school, that I felt as though I could smell the mildew on the walls. I had a similar reaction when reading about Hogwarts in Harry Potter.
I found Hannah to be witty and fun to interact with; she is a real treasure! I’d love to kick back in a coffee shop and hang with her for a few hours.
How long did it take to write Mortis?I wrote the first version of Mortis during my freshman year of college. (I went to a perfectly normal school, though. Mortis wasn’t inspired by college professors trying to kill me or anything like that). I’ve been writing—or at least telling stories—almost as long as I’ve been breathing; Mortis was my favorite story so far, and because of that I wrote and rewrote it many times, even while I was working on other writing projects. And trying not to fail college courses, obviously. Then I had to put my writing life on hold while I went to graduate school and began my first real career; I was both delighted and extremely surprised when Taegais offered me a contract on Mortis after all that time. All together something like seven years passed between the moment I first sat down to begin Mortis, and its eventual publication.
Seven years is a long development process, which describes the quality of her character.
How many times did you almost quit before finishing?I never really quit on Mortis. I definitely moved on to other projects in between writing new drafts, but the characters of Mortis lodged themselves so firmly in my mind that I couldn’t get rid of them. Which is not to say that I always enjoy writing. Creating a novel can be a lot like riding a rollercoaster—there are insane, heart-stopping plunges of delight when you think your book is the best thing ever written, but then you hit the bottom of a hill and feel like you just climbed out of your seat and are trying to push the string of carts up the rollercoaster tracks all by yourself, and you hate every word you’ve ever written. I learned over the years that this is when even the most introverted writer has to emerge from her lonely, secret little writing world, and enlist the help of beta readers. If your writing really is terrible, they’ll put you out of your misery and tell you. If it’s not, sometimes all you need is to have someone else helping you push that rollercoaster up the incline.
Which character did you most enjoy writing?Jane, the protagonist, is my favorite character; I like her quiet strength. It takes a long time to write a book, though, so I am invested in all the characters, even the villains. Felix was the hardest character to write, because the annoying guy kept changing his mind about whether he wanted to be a villain or a hero. I killed him in a fit of exasperation while I was writing an early draft of the story, but he refused to be so easily silenced—he was reincarnated in the next draft.
Why talking horses? Do other animals talk?In the world of Mortis, talking horses are sort of like fauns or centaurs, their own magical species. I avoided a Narnia-type setting where all animals talk, though it would have been kind of fun to have talking rats in the underground caves of Mortis. In the end I didn’t see that tying in to the central conflict.
Talking rats would have really changed the tone of the story. Talk about the walls being able to talk! That would be an enjoyable twist. But I have to agree, she made the right decision.
In Mortis, the characters have to choose to accept The Code or die. What was your inspiration for The Code?In a generic sense, most cults and scary secret societies demand absolute compliance from their members. From a practical standpoint I needed Mortis to be scary, so of course the school kills any student who refuses to conform. More philosophically speaking, though, I created the school of Mortis to embody the rigid, legalistic demands of many religions/worldviews. Jane is a danger to her school when she starts to think for herself, which sounds simplistic—but I think this is a crucial part of any teen’s coming-of-age process. At some point young people have to question the world they know, comparing the confines of their childhood to the wider world.
Most authors can't help but write some element of themselves into their stories. What part of Hannah Cobb is reflected in Mortis?Not any fencing ability, that’s for sure. I’m a stereotypical writer/librarian—I wear thick glasses and regularly walk into doors and trip over things that aren’t there. I’m not, sadly, very much like any of my protagonists, but the things they want and fear are things I think are important, and things I think are scary. And Jane’s curiosity is partly mine, I admit. I became a librarian for a reason. I find people who ban and/or refuse to read books just as frightening as people who burn them. Too many people narrow what they read and experience to only what coincides with their particular worldview or religious/political/philosophical perspective on life. Children and teens especially need to be allowed to read about what life is like for other people. They need windows into other worlds.
Do you have plans to make Mortis a series? If so, how many books do you project?I have played with ideas for a second and third book set in the Mortis world. Mortis left a lot of questions unanswered. So eventually there could be a sequel; right now it lives in my head and in a very sloppy, very rough draft on my computer. Whether or not it sees the light of day depends on publication variables.
I’m really hoping all the planets properly align. I’d love to see where this story goes from here.
Have you written other books that aren't published?When I was in ninth grade I talked my mom into letting me write a novel for the composition part of my English course. After that I wrote a novel every year in high school. (They were terrible, Ivanhoe and Tolkien inspired novels, mind you, but I learned a lot about writing while I wrote them). Continuing my writing career now that I’m also a full-time librarian is more difficult, but I’m always working on a book.
What advice do you offer to writers who yearn to be published authors?Read! And I’m not just saying that because I’m a librarian. You have to be a reader before you can be a writer. When you do start to write, don’t give up. Writing isn’t easy. Having written is a beautiful thing. Living with the voices of your story characters in your head can be both maddening and lovely. The rare moments when you realize that you just wrote a scene that says something worthwhile are a great gift. But the craft of writing is a lot of work. I have no “this always make me write great literature” tips. You just have to sit down and do it. Stare at a blank screen for three hours if that’s what it takes. And when you get too frustrated, go find a good book, and read the whole thing, and tell yourself that someday you’ll be able to write that well yourself.
Hannah Cobb is a class act, and I highly encourage you to buy a copy of Mortis, even if you don’t follow fantasy. Her work is very well prepared, her characters are realistic and engaging, and the struggles in the story are significant.
Buy her book. Do it. Do it now.
http://taegais.com/books/mortis/

Christmas Eve, 1914

I am not the author of this story, and I do not know who is.  I heard it at a church Christmas program and asked for a copy.  I think you will enjoy it.
British and German soldiers meeting in No Man's Land during the Christmas Truce of 1914. During World War I, on a battlefield in Belgium, English soldiers were facing German soldiers along a front that extended 12 miles.  During the weeks preceding December 24, 1914, both sides had suffered close to one million casualties on this very battlefield.  The constant slaughter was so fierce that the dead bodies lay across the field stretching from the Allied lines all the way to the German lines and neither side was able to bury their dead.
Even during Christmas Eve, the fighting continued all day.  Then, at midnight, during the silence of that cold, moonlit night, a church bell in a town not far away began to ring out, heralding the arrival of Christmas Day.  Suddenly, lights began to appear all along the German trench lines.  The English assumed that the Germans were preparing a night-time attack. The bugles rang out sounding the alarm and the English grabbed their weapons and rushed to the edge of the trenches. "Please God, not today as well," an English soldier was overheard to say.  A still hush fell over the battlefield when out of the cold night air the English heard a most beautiful voice coming from the German lines singing, "Silent Night, Holy Night".  When the German soldier had finished the first verse, one brave English soldier stood and began signing the second.  One by one, men rose up from their frozen entrenchments and began to join in until almost every soldier, German and English, were singing.
When the chorus had stopped, one German officer started to walk towards the English line while waving a white flag before him.  "Please do not shoot me, we do not want to fight this day," he called out.  I am bringing you presents of beer and meat."  An English officer then left his trench and walked toward the German.  They met at the center of this horrid, body laid field and saluted one another.  They shook hands, then each turned toward their own men calling aloud that it was safe to come out.  Slowly at first, the bravest men came out of the trenches and walked toward one another.  Then it became a rush of men.  The two sides crashed into their enemies, but not to fight.  They cried and hugged one another.  For these men had a bond that only those who had shared the incommunicable experience of war could understand.
For the rest of Christmas Day they spent the time together sharing what little food and clothing they had with one another.  They sang and laughed and for that one day were friends.  At some points on the battlefield, both sides aided in burying the dead despite the great difficulty of digging into the frozen ground.  They prayed and sang hymns over the newly dug graves.
"Though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil."  "For thy rod and thy staff hearten me."
When the day was finished, each side returned to their trenches.  A German officer stood up from his position and called out, "Merry Christmas, and thank you."  His English counterpart returned the salutation.  Then he fired three shots into the air.
The war was back on.