Days 10 & 11

Day 10 – Malta
Today we stopped at the island of Malta.  While in Malta we visited the cities of Valletta and Mdina.  The port of Valletta is beautiful with it’s fortified walls.  While in Valletta, we visited St John’s Cathedral.  The cathedral was consecrated in 1578.  The cathedral is the final resting place of many of the knights.  Their headstones line the cathedral floor.  Following the cathedral, we toured the Magesterial Palace, the former residence of the Grand Masters of the Order.  Here we toured the state rooms which displayed furnishings, armour, and tapestries.

After Valletta, we went to the medieval city of Mdina.  Parts of Mdina were built several hundred years before Stonehenge.  Mdina was extremely clean and no cars were allowed within the city walls.  It is said to be one of the few remaining fortified medieval cities in the Mediterranean.  We visited a 9th century cathedral of St Paul where we saw more tombs located in the floor which contained Maltese residents only.  There was a 16th century wooden baptismal and beatiful art work throughout the cathedral.

Day 11 finds us at sea with much calmer waters than previous days.  We plan to relax, pack, and enjoy our last day on the Mediterranean.  We’ll be in Barcelona tommorrow and back in Izmir on Saturday.  This will be our last blog entry until our next adventure. We hope you enjoyed sharing our adventure with us and look forward to hearing about your adventures as well! So keep us posted!

Days 8 & 9

Day 8 – Egypt
Today starts out with a three hour bus ride from Alexandria to Cairo.  Driving here is the worst ever and makes Izmir  look like leisure driving.    Apparently, whoever honks the most and the loudest has the right of way.  Both Alexandria  and Cairo are very dirty cities due to all the sand, pollution, and littering.  On our way, we saw some very interesting sights including camels being transported in the back of pick-up trucks, donkeys pulling carts down a busy highway, and even pigeon traps.

The pigeon traps are used to capture pigeons which are then separated into carrier and house pigeons.  The house pigeons are later fried and are considered an aphrodisiac delicacy.  Fortunately, pigeon was not on the menu during the lunch cruise we later took on the Nile.

On the way to the Citadel, we drove through what is called the Valley of Death. It is where family crypts are located.  Each crypt contains the remains of all the family members that have passed on. Sadly, some homeless people actually live in these buildings.

Our first stop in Cairo was The Citadel of Saladin which surrounds the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali (not the boxer). The Citadel was built in the 12th century AD.  After the Mosque, we took our lunch cruise on the 5-star Nile Crystal.  We tried traditional Egyptian cuisine and even tried a local Egyptian beer.  Belly Dancers and Whirling Dervishes entertained us.  Sorry, pics of the belly dancer did not turn out…guess Michelle shouldn’t have been in charge of the camera. LOL.

After the cruise, we went to the Giza Plateau for some scenic pics of the Pyramids of Giza.  It was breathtaking and well worth the entire trip.  The size of the pyramids were overwhelming.  The surface of the pyramids were not the smooth ones you see in movies.  The outer polished stones only remain on the top of the second pyramid.  They were once used as an outer layer to protect the pyramids but were later removed by the locals as building materials.

Unfortunately, the vendors at the sites are extremely pushy and almost ruin the experience.  While visiting one of the pyramids, one of the local Bedowyn children came up to us and started talking to us.  He wanted to give us a “free” head scarf and take pictures of us.  We tried to give him money and he refused saying it was a gift.  Then his father joined in and still refused money.  They got Tracy on a camel to take pictures and when we finally convinced him to let Tracy down, the father asked for a contribution for the camel.  We offered 5 euros but he said it wasn’t enough.  Tracy told him 5 euros or nothing and he said it still wasn’t enough.  We ended up paying him $20 which is about the going rate for a camel ride and they finally left us alone.  Several people on the tour were harassed in the same way…even by the Tourism Police which are guarding the Pyramids.  This part was NOT enjoyable but seeing the Pyramids and the Sphynx was a once in a lifetime experience that we will cherish forever! (Girly comment entered by Michelle. 8-))

Surprisingly we thought there were only three pyramids, However, there are several smaller pyramids around the three larger ones which are burial chambers for family members of the kings.  There are a total of 103 pyramids throughout Egypt.

The Sphynx was not as large as we thought it would be but it’s still impressive.  It’s designed with the head of a man and the body of a lion.  The idea is that it is best to think like a man and be brave and fight like a lion.

Next we went to the Papyrus Institute where the ancient art of paper making from reeds of Papyrus flowers and Lotus flowers was demonstrated.  Pretty cool.  Due to the polution in Cairo the flowers are growing smaller and smaller and in about 35 years will not be able to produce Papyrus paper any longer.

With the exception of the pushy vendors, we thouroughly enjoyed our trip to Egypt. There is talk that Malta may be removed from the itinerary due to storms in the Mediterranean, but we will find that out later today.

Dad and Mom: We miss you and it’s not the same without you. Please take good care of each other and get better soon!  We hope to see you in Istanbul in the not too distant future! We love you both!

Day 9 – At Sea
Today is our 20th wedding anniversary!! Yep, surprisingly we made it!! And we’re even Happy! It’s a day at sea and we plan to relax, goof off and enjoy the formal night. Our Best Wishes to You All!

Days 6 & 7

Day 6 find us on the Greek island of Rhodes.  We took a walking tour which started out at one of the two gates which provide entry to the old part of the city of Rhodes.  After walking the streets with a very in depth presentation from our tour guide, we end up at the Palace of the Knights of St John, also know as the Palace of the Grand Masters.  The palace has beautiful mosaic floors throughout which were made in the 3rd and 4th centuries. 

After the Palace we went to the Hospital of the Knights.  The picture of the two exits shows the regular exit and the morgue exit which can not be seen from the hospital entrance.  Their thinking was that if people entered the hospital and saw the condition of the people leaving, they would not enter and the hospital would lose business.  The Hospital was completed in 1489 and has been refurbished as an archeological museum.  It contains pottery from the 6th and 7th century as well as a sculpture garden.  In the courtyard there are cannon balls from the siege of 1522 and the marble looking balls were used as ammo for the catapults.  We were surprised to learn that the balls for the catapults weighed less than 45lbs so that they could be carried by both men and women for battle. Following the hospital, We toured around the city and later found some delicious crepes before returning to the ship.

Day 7 is a day at sea.  We’re heading straight to Egypt and should be there this evening.

Day 5 – Athens

Today’s port was Athens, Greece.  Our tour bus took us around the city with several stops.  We were able to take photos at the Panathinion Stadium wich was constructed in 1896 for the first modern Olympics.

Next was Hadrian’s Arch.  It was built by the Roman ruler in the second century AD.

After Hadrian’s Arch, we drove to the base of the Acropolis.  From there we started the walk up the side of the acropolis and took a couple of pics of the Odeon Theater, also built in second century AD. 

From there we continued on to the acropolis.  There we saw the Temple of Athena Nike. Nike means Victory.  It was built during the Peloponnesian War in honor of Athena.

After passing through the Temple of Athena Nike, we stopped at the Erecthion which includes the Porch of Caryatids, with it’s columns in the shape of monumental female figures which unfortunately are reproductions.  Part of the Erechthion is dedicated to Poseidon.  The olive tree in the center was place by archeologists in what they believe was the exact spot one existed thousands of years ago to signify peace between Athena and Poseidon.

Then of course the Parthenon!  It was intended as a sanctuary for Athena, Goddess of War and daughter of Zeus.  It was an incredible sight to see.

Next we toured the Plaka and had lunch with new friends and dinner partners from the ship.  We tried the local beer (Mithos) and gyros.

We made it out of there just before some scheduled student protests but managed to get a picture of the gathering riot police.

After returning to the ship, the captain informed us that the Limassol, Cyprus port was cancelled.  There’s a storm in the Mediterannean that may prevent our ship from docking in Egypt so they made the decision to cancel Cyprus so we could hopefully keep Egypt on the itinerary.  We’re planning on being there a day earlier to beat the storm.

Days 3 & 4

Day 3 took us to Palermo, Sicily.  We took a bus tour through Pallermo which showed us locations of the major cathedrals, theatres, and shopping areas.  We had about an hour and a half break during the bus tour which we spent walking around the city.  We checked out the outdoor markets, shared some Sicilian Pizza from a street vendor, gellato from a small cafe, and then went back to the bus.  Back aboard the bus they showed us the new areas of Pallermo and then returned to the port. 

The Quatro Canti, or four corners is the heart of the old city center of Palermo. Statues can be seen at all four corners.

The fountain is located at Piazza Pretoria and is a piece of 16th century Tuscany that was later moved to Palermo. The locals call it the Fountain of Shame as when it was moved to the area it was placed right in front of Church of St. Catherine which contained a nunnery. So basically the nuns would look at their windows and out their door to find a bunch of naked statues!

The Martorana Church was a Norman church built in 1143. It is nearly entirely covered with mosaics and is considered to have works that are among the oldest in Sicily.

The cathedrals on Palermo were very interesting.  Back before Rome conquered Sicily during the crusades it was an Islamic country.  There were over 300 mosques located on the island.  Once it was conquered, it became a Christian country and the mosques were converted to cathedrals.  One of the cathedrals had a page from the Quran carved in one of the marble pillars as it was formerly part of the mosque. The Cathedral which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary also contains a special sundial on the floor. There is a hole in the ceiling and when the sun hits it just right it points to the astrological sign on the floor that corresponds with that particular month (astrology sign) of the year.

Sicily isn’t one of those places you’d want to go to over and over, but it was a neat place to see. The city is a bit crowded and dirty, but we’ve heard the countryside is much more beautiful.

Day 4 is an At Sea day, so we’re just taking it easy and relaxing a bit. There was some talk from the Captain that, due to recent events in Athens, we may change our itineray. As of this moment, we are still heading towards Athens. The Captain also said bad weather is coming in behind us so we may have to divert later on. Hopefully we still go to Egypt, but we’ll see. The next four days are port days – Athens, Rhodes, Limassol, and if all goes as planned, Alexandria.

Cruise Days 1 & 2

Yesterday we boarded the cruise ship in Barcelona.  This was by far the fastest boarding out of any cruise that we’ve ever done.  We had checked our luggage, processed through the check-in counter and boarded the ship in less than 20 minutes.  The rooms were ready by the time we boarded so  the first thing we did when we got on the ship was to go down and drop our things off in the room.  We were in our room less than 5 minutes when they delivered our luggage.  Impressive!  The ship is beautiful.  Our favorite part of the ship so far is the Thermal Spa.  They charge extra for it and only sell a limited amount per cruise, but it’s well worth it!  Essentially, there’s an exclusive part of the spa where you can go to lie down on benches made of heated mosaic tiles.  Very relaxing.  They also have a dry steam room, a heavy steam room, an aroma therapy room, and a shower area that has options for rain forest or ice showers.  We took pictures of the benches so Dad can help me build a couple in our retirement home.   Tomorrow is our first stop; Pallermo, Sicily.  Hope everyone is doing great.  Keep emailing, we’ll check at least once a day.

Barcelona Day 3

Today we went to Sagrada Familia.  The second we walked out of the metro stationed we were stunned at how impressive and overwhelming the cathedral really is.  You just can’t capture every detail.  Construction is ongoing and probably will be for generations to come.  This was Gaudi’s greatest work and despite his death in 1926, his influence can be seen throughout the church.  There are two facades, the Nativity Facade which shows the birth and life of Jesus and represents faith, hope, and charity.  The Passion Facade was completed by a different artist and shows the days leading up to the death of Jesus.  It is controversial due to the angular and sinister figures.  After Sagrada Familia, we went to the Casa Batllo, also designed by Gaudi.  This block of flats has very interesting architecture.  It uses nature as inspiration throughout.  Finally we went to see another Gaudi building, the Casa Mila.  We only saw the outside but it was still impressive.

Michelle has decided that Barcelona is her favorite European city that we’ve visited so far…despite all the tourists!  8-)

Day 2 in Barcelona

Turns out what we thought was the La Rambla last night was one block over from the real one.  Slight navigational error. You can see from the pics that you can come down to La Rambla, buy a newspaper, watch the street performers, pick up a new pet…yep…you can buy parakeets, fish, turtles, rabbits, even ferrets, etc. all from a street vendor. You never know when you might need to go down to the street corner and buy a new pet. Next, we went to the Barcelona Cathedral. Unfortunately the outside of it is under construction. We took quite a few pictures from inside but the lighting inside the cathedral does not do the cathedral justice. The cathedral is very large and very beautiful. After the Barcelona Cathedral, we went to Musea d’ Historia. Here we saw the massive underground Roman catacombs that was once the original port city of Barcin.  We snuck a picture or two.  It’s interesting how the Roman’s would recycle stones to rebuild walls.  Next we went to the Picasso museum..sorry, pictures inside were not allowed.  The market in the Born District was closed so we didn’t get to see that.  After all the walking around, we rode the metro (like DCs metro).  Afterwards we tried to eat dinner around 5:30pm.  What were we thinking? Dinner here is not served in most restaurants until 8pm.

Happy New Years from Barcelona!

Michelle and I arrived in Barcelona last night.  Unfortunately Michelle’s Dad and Mom couldn’t make it.  We really miss them.

The city is beautiful!  It was already dark by the time we got into the hotel and then walked around so we didn’t get to take a LOT of photos.  We’ll definitely take more today.  In the mean time though, we snapped some night shots.  We had dinner at Hard Rock Barcelona and it was packed! We are having a wonderful time and so far the only downside is that the parents couldn’t come with us!

Stay tuned…more pics to come in the following days.

Visit to Virgin Mary’s House

Hi everyone. Just thought we would post some pics and information about our visit to Virgin Mary’s House.

The house of the Virgin Mary, located on the crest of Mt Pion overlooks Ephesus. The story of the house is very interesting. According to predominant Christian tradition, Mary was brought to Ephesus by the Apostle John after the resurrection of Christ.

The house was “discovered” in 1812 by a German nun, Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, who never actually traveled away from her home. Sister Emmerich, an invalid confined to bed, awoke in a trance with the stigmata and visions that included the Virgin Mary and Apostle John traveling from Jerusalem to Ephesus. She described Mary’s house in detail giving the exact location.

In 1891, a delegation lead by Henry Jung visited the region to find the house described by Emmerich. Archeologists who have examined the building believe most of the building dates from the 6th or 7th century. But it’s foundations are much older and may well date from the 1st century AD, the time of Mary.

The Vatican has accepted the house as having belonged to Mary and it is visited by thousands of people every year.