Okay, Okay, I'll Do It!

I'm a retched blogger, I have a hard time finding the time/desire to blog. BUT, here it is, many months later, and I STILL have not even finished telling me tales of the high seas! So, I will do so and try not to get to crazy with detail. :)

First Stop- Croatia

Standing by a cool alley & Pretending to eat a giant gelato cone.

We got off the ship and promptly got onto a boat that took us around the island to the "Old City". Once we got to the old city, we were given a quick tour and then head off on our own to see what there was. I saw a lovely orange tree, and some cool stuff to photograph... but all in all, Croatia was not that exciting. Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty, and I would visit again, but not during the cooler season, I'd go when it was warmer and hit their lovely beaches. :)

In front of one of many cool buildings in Croatia.

Second Stop- Turkey

In Turkey we went firt to the supposed final home of Mary, the mother of Christ. It was a very pretty area, surrounded by olive trees and it had a tiny little church in the middle of this area where Mary's home once stood. They used the remaining foundation of the former home to buy this church... kinda cool.

Cool Little church. The darker stone at the bottom is the original foundation.

All but one of us for a group photo.


Then we went over to Ephesus (the agent city you read about in the Bible). SO COOL! It was just so amazing to see all that was there and hear about the history. There was quite a large area that was saw and walked through, but our tour guid told us that it wasn't even half of the entire city, there was still a lot of excavating to do.

The group at Ephesus.

The picture at the top of the Turkey story was one I took of what was left of the outside of the library. There was also an are where the politicians met, it was a big stadium looking area, and of course, the theater, another, larger, stadium. The entire city is made of marble, and in the heat of the day, in order to keep cool, they would flood the street to cool things off. There were lots of large fountains all over that supplied the water. Our tour guid told us the story of one of Cleopatra's visits to Ephesus. That year there was a drought, and not enough water to keep the streets cool, but they had an over abundance of wine, so they filled the fountains with wine, and let it flood the streets. Cleopatra was in her room and could smell a sweet aroma coming through her window, so she went to look outside. When she looked out her window, Cleopatra saw the wine flowing down the street, turning the roads red and letting off the sweet smell. Cleopatra thought the wine was in honor of her, so she insisted that the same thing happen wherever she went... and that is where we get rolling out the red carpet. :)

After Ephesus we went to have lunch in an old train... thing... and then to a silk place, and a leather place... and then back to the ship.




Third Stop- Greece (Santorini)

First, we took a boat to shore... then go on another boat. :) We road the boat out to a volcano and hiked it, then went to some hot springs so people could take a swim... I chose not to get in, and I'm glad. We were only there a little while, and the wat er wasn't hot... it was luke warm, and smelled of rotten egs because of the volcano. :)

Then we went back to shore and headed up the mountain. There were two ways up, cable car, or donkey. We chose donkey. It was an interesting ride up. :) Then we grabbed some lunch as a Euro place, yummy, and took a bus to the other side of the island, where The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 was partially filmed.

I LOVED SANTORINI! I still dream I'm back there. It was goreous and the poeple were nice, and I could have stayed forever.

The blue roofs are churches, and they are EVERYWHERE! It's all blue and white there. If someone wants to use a different color, they have to pay a tax for it, because they are trying to keep with the original look.

Fourth Stop- Greece (Corfu)

Another GORGEOUS place. We went off on our own here, no tour groups. Well, us and Jenny's parents. They rented a car and we drove around. We took a boat tour round to some caves, and then we tried to find an olice press, and that was an experience. We asked the guy with the boat where to go, and he directed us, so we thought we were going the right way. We headed up a road that got more and more narrow as we went. Soon we were barely fitting between the buildings. Finally we got to a cross road and tried to turn around. This guy came up on his motorcycle and saw us doing a 1,000 point turn. This man parks his bike, takes off his helmet, lights a cigarette, and got comfortable for the silly American show he was about to watch. CLASSIC!

Finally we get turned around and ask our audiance where to go. He starts to tell us, then he stops and says "Follow me." in his Greek accent and he leads us out to the main road again and the tells us where to go from there. We go where he said to... we still weren't sure where to go, so we asked an old English lady walking her dog who told us to go back where we had just been... AGH! We gave up. So we went to the Archelian Palace, a huge mansion that a lady got as a gift... it was cool, I'd take that as a gift... why doesn' anyone gift me a massive house!?




And... I think I've now told you everything. :)