Next Stop: Ephesus

Next top for our bus was Ephesus.  It was packed with tourists, but everyone was given a set of earphones linked to their tour guide, so the site stayed pretty quiet even though everyone was hearing facts about Ephesus from their individual tour guide.

One of the many Ephesus kitties

Grooves cut in marble walkway to prevent slipping when wet

Cat sitting on top of a pillar

Library

Town Square, from which St. Paul preached

As we exited the Ephesus site, we encountered a flurry of vendors with boxes of Turkish taffy, and a multitude of souvenirs. One vendor had a large sign advertising "Genuine Fake Watches."

Visiting the Virgin Mary's House

Our next port of call, on November 19, was Izmir, Turkey.  We took a bus to our first stop, the last home of the Virgin Mary.

Statue of the Virgin Mary

Exterior of Mary's House

Picture of interior (no photographs allowed inside)

Fountains

Many, many handwritten notes on scraps of paper stuffed in wall

Not the universal women's restroom sign, but it gets the point across!

To the Holy Land

On November 17th, we checked out of our hotel and headed to the Cunard Queen Elizabeth.  We checked into our stateroom and waited for our luggage.  Dennis' luggage arrived right away, but we waited and we waited and we waited for my luggage.  I was getting more and more anxious, wondering how I was going to manage a twelve-day cruise with only the clothes on my back.  Finally, after multiple phone calls and describing my luggage multiple times, my suitcase was finally located! Hurray!

On a more positive note, cruise.com, with whom we had made our cruise reservations, provided some chocolate covered strawberries as a thank-you.  And Cunard provided a bottle of champagne.  I guess as long as I had chocolate covered strawberries and champagne, I should hve just enjoyed myself and not worried about whether I had any clothes!

Our first port of call, on November 18, was Mykonos.  We took a bus to and from the boat and toured on our own.

Do you see any cars at this car rental place?

Stray cats are endemic, we discovered

Time to sit on a shady bench and admire the view

Looking across the bay to the ship

Climbing to the Acropolis Twice in One Day

On November 14, we started on what was to be a "Holy Land" cruise.  An overnight flight to Athens was followed by a two-hour taxi ride to our hotel in stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Then we checked in to our hotel and headed to sleep.  The hotel had a rooftop terrace, from which we had a good view of the Acropolis, the city, and a park across the street.

On November 16, we headed out on foot to the acropolis, following the signs, only to discover that we had climbed to the back/side and not the entrance.  Back down to the entrance and then back up.

Cat napping on a motorcycle spotted on the way to the Acropolis

Whatever the person is doing inside, it has caught these cats' attention

The narrow and winding path

Finally, inside the entrance and on our way to the top

The Parthenon, undergoing rehab

On the way down

Of course, the way to and from the Acropolis is filled with tourist souvenir shops.  This one was selling ouzo in addition to souvenirs, and also advertised deserts.  I'm pretty sure they meant desserts, not deserts.

I did find a nice shop that sold "Greek Art Lace."  I purchased some olive oil soap (which I gave as Christmas presents), small decoratively stitched cloth bags, a kitchen set of towels and hot pads, and a tote bag.

Family Reunion

Brother Rob, who is an archeologist, came home from Germany for a visit in October.  We headed to Dubuque on Sunday, for morning church service and then dinner at a local restaurant.  Good conversation with family and with Pastor and his wife and Mom and Dad's power of attorney and his wife.

We had an early Christmas gift exchange with Rob.  I always give a piece of stitching as one of my gifts.  One year it was a bookmark, some years it is a Christmas ornament, this year it was a Halloween ornament.  Last year, Rob had given me a bar of Dead Sea Mud soap, so this year I gave him a bar of made-in-Iowa soap.

Mom, Dad, John, Linda and Robert

Whole group: missing is Renee, John's wife, who had to work