ST. PAUL'S JOURNEYS, JUNE 26 RECAP

After another delicious breakfast buffet on our cruise ship, we docked in Crete, the largest Greek island & 5th largest island in the Mediterranean. It's reputed to be the birthplace of Zeus, with the emphasis on "reputed." Our destination was the archeological site of the Palace of Knossos, which was inhabited by the Minoans as early as 6,000 B.C. Little is known of this culture, because only fragments of inscriptions have been found--not enough to construct an alphabet. Most of what we know comes from frescoes. 

It's the 2nd most visited archaeological site, after Ephesus. The ruins were discovered in 1870 & excavated from 1900-1936, but the excavators got carried away. Many of the ruins, including the frescoes, were renovated, not restored, so much of the original ruins are reproductions, not original. Much of what we know was deduced from the original frescoes, which required lots of speculation, since not enough inscriptions were found. It was a huge palace, involving at least 1200 rooms & 5 levels. The complexity of the corridors & so many rooms resulted in the designation of a labyrinth. Frescoes showed men vaulting over bulls--they didn't always survive--which led to the creation of the mythical minotaur. [I'm going to have to brush up on my Greek mythology.] We surmise that the Minoans worshiped Mother Earth [Gaia]. The city suffered many earthquakes & suffered its final destruction around 1300 B.C. The site eventually became entirely covered until discovered. The ruins also include a theater, including a royal box, & the oldest paved roads in Europe. Our guide also pointed out the water & sewage systems. One annoyance:  Another tour group was using the same frequency as our headsets, & there was nothing our guide could do about it. Whenever they got too close to us, there was a lot of audio interference.

We returned to the port city of Heraklion & made our way to the Church of St. Titus, which was originally built in 1200 A.D. Over time it's been destroyed, rebuilt, & repurposed many times. We couldn't go inside right away, because a Greek Orthodox service was underway. We tucked ourselves into a shady spot, where we could hear the chanting, & had our group devotion. [These devotions became a high point of each day.] After the service was over, people trickled out, & we trickled in. There was a small room which contained more relics, including the remains of St. Titus. Right.

We made our way back to the historic city center, which included the Merozini Fountain, built in 1629. Very few original buildings survived the Nazi bombing during WW II. Eventually the city was liberated by British, Aussie, & New Zealand troops. I deposited myself in a small cafe & enjoyed my first cup of Greek coffee. Very good, but there was a thick residue of sludge on the bottom of the tiny cup. I should have stirred it better. We passed a lot of gypsies & were warned to keep a close tab on our valuables. [I am NOT a gypsyphobe!]

ST. PAUL'S JOURNEY'S, JUNE 25 RECAP:  On to Santorini! Our cruise ship entered the caldera, which was ringed by sheer cliffs, some hundreds of feet tall. There were other smaller islands in the caldera, uninhabited, the result of volcanic activity, some less than 100 yrs old. There have been many violent eruptions over the last 1,000 yrs. According to geologists, there is a violent eruption every 20,000 years. [For the record, I'm a young earth advocate, which leads me to be skeptical of these timelines.] The island registers 13 sq. miles, with lots of evidence of ashfall & lava. In fact, many houses were built using ashes mixed with water--a surprisingly durable building material. The island is very arid with few trees. We saw grapevines that were trimmed very low to the ground, to protect them from the wind. Because there is little rain, plants depend on humidity to survive. Every time there's an eruption, the island loses landmass, so it's much smaller than in the past. There have been 3 eruptions in the 20th century, the last one in 1950. The island also experiences numerous earthquakes, since it is located at the juncture of 3 faultlines. 

We visited the village of Oia [ee-uh]. The bus had to park in a lot, & we had to walk a steep incline to get to the village. It's a very picturesque village with narrow walkways, featuring a plethora of shops, cafes, & souvenir "traps." Many photo ops. [REMEMBER:  Find Lois' FB page to view pictures. I only post narratives. I can't be responsible for everything.] After awhile I took a breather & did some people-watching while Lois, David, Carmen, & Anita ventured on. After they returned to pick me up--I wasn't worried--we found a tavern & treated ourselves to the local rose' wine. Expensive, but probably the best wine I had on the entire trip. I also treated myself to some Greek frozen yogurt. 

When we returned to the port, we passed by pistachio tree, abandoned ash quarries, & the aforementioned grapevines. The road leading to the port is pretty steep, pretty narrow, with lots of switchbacks. Kudos to our intrepid bus driver. Sorry, I failed to catch his name. You might be interested to know--but even if you're not, I'm going to mention it anyway--there are about 6,000 Greek islands; only about 200 are inhabited. We passed by a lot of them while we cruised. One more thing! It was very, very hazy, & our tour guide informed us that the haze is due to humidity.

 ST. PAUL'S JOURNEY, JUNE 24 RECAP:  After a delicious buffet breakfast at the Aegean Restaurant on the Celestya Olympia, we ventured into Asia Minor. We docked at Kusadasi, Turkey, which boasted a 17th century fortress at the mouth of the port. We hopped on our bus, led by Cas, our latest, fearless tour guide, & headed to the site of Ephesus, the largest Greco-Roman archaeological site in the world. There are ruins that date back to the 6th century B.C. Pretty impressive, huh? [CAVEAT:  My post may be a little disjointed. Picture me following Cas & furiously trying to take notes by hand, then trying to decipher my scribblings, abbreviations, etc., for this post. You take what you can get.] Ruins included latrines, temples, the Temple of Ephesian Artemis--one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world--many statues [mostly headless], & a theater seating 25,000. 

Our next stop was for a demonstration of Turkish rug-weaving. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was not! We saw demonstrations of silk, cotton, & woolen rug-weaving. Then it was on to the exhibit room, where many amazingly colorful & intricate rugs of various sizes were displayed. All rugs were over $1,000. The most intricate rug, which cost $11,000, had been completed by 3 weavers over the course of one year. That's right! $11,000, 3-weavers, one year! Lois bought a beautiful table runner. [REMINDER! If you want to see pictures, you have to find Lois' FB page.] They served us white wine & raki [Turkish ouzo], which was my choice. And they even served us some snacks! As we drove back to Kusadasi, we passed the alleged burial site of St. John. Then it was back to the ship.

Our next destination was the Isle of Patmos, which we reached via tenders. Nikolas was our new tour guide, & like all the others, he was both knowledgeable & entertaining. We took a very strenuous hike up to the Monastery of St. John, founded in the 11th century A.D. & built on one one of the highest points of the island. It's been a continuous monastic community for 900 yrs. There were frescos dating back to the 17th century; also a small chapel with relics:  pieces of the cross, along with the skulls of St. Thomas & St. Philip. [My conservative, LCMS brain is always skeptical of relics.] After a much easier walk back downhill, we traveled to the Cave of the Revelation, also known as the Grotto of the Apocalypse. Nikolas pointed out a niche where St. John rested his head while receiving his visions, a smaller niche where he placed his hand to help get up & down, & a ledge where his biographer wrote the Book of Revelation while John dictated to him. The founder of the monastery discovered it, so, yeah. Afterwards we had a group devotion outside the grotto, where there was a beautiful view of the village & harbor. Patmos was not what we expected. We expected more of a barren, rocky island, & it was anything but. Of course, we're not sure what it was like during John's 18-month exile.

ST. PAUL'S JOURNEYS, JUNE 23 RECAP:  As promised, I'm beginning to catch up on my travelogues. I stopped posting on FB when I lost access to the Internet. Actually, I could have accessed the Internet, but the fee was exorbitant, so I decided to wait. We bused to the port north of Athens & boarded our cruise ship, the Celestyal Olympia. It took us a few hours to reach the island of Mykonos. To quote from our travel itinerary, "the world famous Greek Island of Mykonos, where gleaming white-washed buildings seem to climb atop each other to reach the azure sky." Our guide Dimitri described it like this. "People go to Santorini to see & to Mykonos to be seen." [We visited Santorini later.] We loaded onto tenders [small launches] to get to the island. Dimitri guided us along very narrow walkways, pointing out some distinct architecture, until we reached Little Venice, which had been settled by Venetians. We got to peer inside a historic Roman Catholic church. One of my goals for this trip was to have an authentic Greek gyros. You may recall that I had one earlier in the week, but it was pork, not lamb, so I didn't consider it to be authentic. We had passed several cafes that advertised gyros, so that's where I wanted to grab a bite. Dimitri, our fearless guide, had recommended the Rouvera Restaurant, so the group consensus was to get something to eat there, & I acquiesced. In hindsight, that was a mistake. There was also a seafood buffet on the ship, so Lois & I decided to order appetizers & have supper back on the ship. We ordered saganaki [fried cheese] & Greek meatballs, & I had a Mythos beer. The cheese came pretty quickly, but not the meatballs. We waited, waited . . . several times the waiter returned with other people's orders. I would remind him that we hadn't gotten our meatballs. Over & over again he assured us that they were coming. They never came. When he came with our bill, I told him that we never got our meatballs. He claimed that we did & actually argued with me. Ultimately, I told him that I was only paying for the saganaki & beer, & he grudgingly agreed. I gave him 20 euros. He returned but didn't have any change for me. I told him that he owed me $5, & he claimed that he had given me my change. We argued again. In hindsight, at that point I should have demanded to see the manager. It turned out that he had given my change to someone else, & she passed it on to me. We weren't the only ones who had a bad experience there. David, Lois' brother, & Carmen, his wife/my cousin, got overcharged, & he argued with them, too. Their bill finally got corrected, but this was a bad experience. David let the waiter know that his service was terrible, & Carmen let Dimitri know that our experience at the restaurant he recommended was bad. [Take a deep breath, Paul.] On the plus side, the cafe was located on the waterfront, & we got to do a lot of people-watching, which was fun. I'd say that some people's clothes probably cost more than the sum total of my entire wardrobe.  We took a tender back to the ship, got something to eat [it was too late for the seafood buffet], then went to a show, where I had my first ouzo, a Greek liquor that has a black licorice taste. It's an acquired taste with a high alcohol content, so you don't chug it. I liked it. We left the show early, because we were both falling asleep. Tomorrow, Turkey!