Holy Land Cruise, October 24 – November 6, 2011.

11/7/2011: I am posting the journal now.  Photos later.
11/17/2011: Here are some Picassa Links to Albums I have uploaded:
     Istanbul, Ephesus, and Rhodes
     Israel
     Athens and Istanbul
Selected photos included below.

John S. from church found this “great deal,” a 12- night cruise on the Celebrity Constellation that cost around $1200 per person, oceanview room.  That was around January.  Egypt was on the original itinerary, and being able to see the pyramids was one of the main draws for us.  The political upheaval in that country caused the cruise line to cancel that destination, which probably is the prudent thing to do.  We then have the protests in Athens, the (slowly) escalation of tension in Israel, which added more uncertainty to the trip.  From the original number of 50 or so participants, about 30 or so ended up going, which was still a sizable crowd.

The cruise ship would end up visiting ports of Kusadasi (Ephesus), Rhodes, Haifa, and Athens, plus the origination and disembarkation port Istanbul.  Don T., a member of the group, organized quite a few (around 8) private tours through the contacts he knows.  I went on six of them.  They were considerable less expensive than what the cruise ship offered, and – if my experience was any guide – considerable more informative.

Monday 10/24/2011 EWR-MUC-IST.  David H. picked us up at 5:30 pm for our Lufthansa flight to Munich.  We cashed in some frequent flyer miles and booked business class.  Still didn’t manage to get much sleep, and the meals – while served on china – weren’t that good.  That’s the Lufthansa I got to know when I traveled to Europe quite regularly.  Took connecting flight to Istanbul.  Munich is a much larger airport than I expected.  Needed to pay US$20 each for a visa on arrival at Istanbul, immigration and customs process much smoother than I expected.  Bought a phone card for TL105 at Vodafone upon exit, it took a while for the card to be recognized, and we didn’t get the data service we expected to get, and I now have serious doubts about the minutes we would get.

Landing at the Istanbul Airport provides the first glimpse of the city.

Taxi driver was a little lost when we showed him the address of the cruise terminal, but we made it to the ship at about 5 pm. For some reason they needed to hold the passengers’ passports, which I wasn’t too happy about; on the other hand, there wasn’t much choice.  At dinner we met up with others, about 30 in all.

Meanwhile, because we weren’t sure the cell phone would work, we signed up for an internet package from the ship.

Wednesday 10/26 Istanbul.  Anne had to get up at about 3 am in the morning to join her class at 3:30 am.  She had to go the Café Seaside to get wifi service.  I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t, so I went to the Café at around 4 am.  Turns out Skype was blocked, and (meanwhile) the phone was working, so she was calling on Vodafone service.  I suggested she use the gmail call feature, which worked like a charm: she could get on the video platform, talk on gmail call, and work on the mail at the same time.  Evidently not too many people were vying for the limited satellite bandwidth at that time of day.

We tried to get back to bed after she was done but had trouble falling asleep.  At 6:30 am we decided to go have breakfast.  We left the boat at 8 am and met up with our guide.  It was going to be just Anne and me on a private tour (arranged through Don T’s contact) but Hantee and two others decided to join us.  Sights were visited were the Ancient Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the St. Sophia Museum.   The Ancient Hippodrome, an amphitheatre during the Roman times, was filled in when the nearby mosques were built.  On its grounds are a couple of obelisks (one from Egypt), a bronze serpent whose heads are missing, and a pavilion from the Germans in the early 1900s.  The Blue Mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet.  The largest mosque at that time, it has six minarets (most have four, max), and we got a description of a mosque’s basics inside a mosque.  The Topkapi Palace has three gates, jewels, religious relics, and costumes.  Somehow it reminds me of the Tower of London, but the guide didn’t see my humor when I asked him where the beheadings took place.  The religious relics included Joseph’s turban, David’s sword, Muhammed’s beard, and Moses’s staff.  I wonder how sure the scientists are of the authenticity of these objects.  We have always wondered about the St. Sophia Museum after seeing a National Geographic documentary on it.  It was grand, but not nearly as impressive as I thought.  While it was started by Constantine the Great, he actually died before it was completed (the temple was finished by his son.)  Initially built from wood, it burned down twice.  The current structure dates from the 6^th century.  This so-called museum is mostly empty space, we expected more items on display.

Egyptian Obelisk at the Hippodrome, Istanbul.

The Blue Mosque.

 Hagi Irene on the Grounds of Topkapi Palace.

 Courtyard, Topkapi Palace.

 Inside Hagia Sophia.  Shrine at far end points to Mecca.

Top Deck of Cruise Ship Celebrity Constellation.

We got back to the ship at around 1 pm, had lunch and then saw the boat leave the dock.  In between my naps, there was an evacuation drill.  After dinner we went to see a variety show “Celebrate the World.”  I am not very into these cruise ship shows, but this was made quite bearable because the songs were mostly familiar tunes to me, including “Nessum Dorma” and “Don’t Cry for me Argentina.”

A few observations about Turkey.  This is an area full of history, of which I knew very little about.  People ethnically are descendents of western Asians.  Tourism is the second largest industry.  This morning we saw 4 cruise ships at the terminal, there can be as many as eight during the high season.  We managed to skip many lines since the guide had bought tickets in advance, and some of the lines were very long.  The people here seem hard-working enough, and – if our guide Umit is any indication – have some level of animosity against the Greek financial situation.  The biggest industry is textiles, helped by Turkey’s high quality cotton production.

Thursday 10/27 Kusadasi, Turkey.  Ship docked a bit before 10 am, and we were on the dock soon after that to start of tour of Ephesus, this time with about 20 other people from our group.  The tour guide for the day was the same one the group had the last couple of days, so quite familiar with the group.

Don arranged several private tours for us.

The port Kusadasi is a 20-minute drive from Ephesus, on rather hilly terrain.  Ephesus was first occupied by Amazon women from Southern Black Sea/Northern Turkey, and a lot of their traditions and beliefs supposedly reflect that heritage.  At its peak it was a metropolis (acropolis) of 350,000 people.

In any case, our first stop was Virgin Mary’s House, a place (evidently) recognized by the Catholic Church as such since several popes, including the current Pope Benedict, have visited.  The legend is that Jesus entrusted his mother Mary to John when he died, and thus John would bring Mary with him on his journeys in the area.  Mary had to hide from those that were persecuting her and thus kept a low profile, which the modest place attests.  She died and was buried in the area, but her gravesite was kept a secret.  There are holy water fountains and a place where people can leave their prayer requests.  Many scholars don’t subscribe this story, pointing out there was no reference by the Apostles of Mary’s whereabouts after Jesus’s death.  I, on the other hand, am easily swayed, at least in the possibility of such a sequence of events; and it is a good story.  As far as faith is concerned, Mary had to live a bit longer, and eventually died; where it all happened should not be material.

 House of Virgin Mary in Ephesus.  Very modest building with a shrine inside.

Prayers are left on this wall in the House of Virgin Mary compound. 

Our next visit was the ancient town (ruins) of Ephesus.  This is a site that archaeologists have been excavating since the 1960s.  From what I could see, there is still a lot more to be done, because the area is immense.  The town was built over several centuries (4^th BC to 6^th AD, if memory serves).  And it was also rebuilt several times due to earthquakes, and was eventually abandoned and covered up by landslides.  One can find columns that are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, indicating the periods that spanned the construction.  There are a couple of agoras, one where the ruling class met, and one where the VIPs did their shopping.  Many Roman emperors built temples to themselves.  One was modest enough that he only had a fountain built to honor him.  There is a huge amphitheatre that could seat 24,000 people, up to 40,000 people including standing room; supposedly both Paul and John preached there.  The guide also described how the architecture helped with air conditioning and sound amplification.  There was a library (reconstructed) and a house of pleasure right next to the library – evidently even then husbands were lying about going to the library (my joke).  And we saw public toilets where “doing business” actually meant doing business as men sat next to each other.  There was an enclosed area with seven terrace houses.  These were large houses for the most privileged people.  It was nice to be rich and powerful, perhaps even more so in those days.  In any case, it is quite impressive what these people managed 2500 or so years ago.

Group Photo in front of the Ephesus Ruins.

 Nike, the Winged Goddess of Victory.

 Temple of Hadrian, the Emperor of the Hadrian Wall fame.

 Emperor Trajan didn't want a temple built in his name, so the people built a fountain instead.

 Terrace Houses in Ephesus.  The rich are different from the rest.

 The Celsus Library, Ephesus.  This facade is reconstructed using original pieces.

In front of the Library.

Ephesus Amphitheater with a capacity of 40,000+.  Paul and John possibly preached here.

By the time we were done with Ephesus, it was about 2:45 pm.  The guide took us to a buffet which served mashed up food for $15 a head.  We were hungry enough that we didn’t care, and ate quite a bit.  We then made a quick 30-minute visit to the Ephesus Museum (the town was renamed Selchuk after the Ottomans took over), where we saw the statue of Artemis with her 40 breasts, the head and arm of Dolmitian (we saw the temple at the ruins), and a model of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world.  Next stop was at St. John’s Basilica built on top of the Apostle’s grave.  The floor plan is indeed the basic crucifix form used in many churches, and there is an altar signifying where John’s grave was.  His body has been divided up and are now kept at various churches, so the guide told us.  We were shown also how the sign of the crucifix changed over the years from a six-pronged “cross” to the more familiar orthodox symbol of today. The Basilica was supposed to be built partially with recycled material from the Temple of Artemis, and we could see in a distance a restored column of the temple.  If that column is an indication of scale, the Temple was huge.  On a nearby mountain top there is a castle that was build around the sixth century AD to guard the area.  A big banner with the image of Ataturk, modern Turkey’s founding father, was hanging.  Shortly the country would be celebrating its 88^th year.

 One of several statues of Artemis in the Ephesus/Selcuk museum.  The 40 breasts signify fertility.

 Statue of Domitian from his temple in the Ephesus Ruins.

St. John's Basilica, Ephesus.

Our final stop was a commercial one.  The guide took us to a leather goods shop where several models demonstrated the merchandise (mostly leather jackets) for us.  Even with the Euro to USD and additional 40% discount, we are talking about jackets that cost several hundred dollars each.  The material really felt nice, not that I know what it means, and some are quite stylish (no doubt inspired by more famous brands.)  I was surprised that the group as a whole bought several.

It was close to 6:30 pm when we got back to the ship.  I still managed to eat a full dinner – Anne skipped the entrée.

Friday 10/28 Rhodes, Greece.  It is now about 5:10 am.  I have been sitting in the Café for about an hour, typing in yesterday’s events, as Anne is on her conference call.  Should be done in about 20 minutes.  Since we have a land tour at 8:15 am, we won’t able to go back to sleep after she is done.

The boat was a bit late in docking, so we didn’t leave the ship until about 8:35 am to join the Scenic Rhodes tour.  We drove through a “regular” area and eventually came to a ruins.  The ruins supposedly represent a small section of the entire area but there are few archaeologists working on restoring them.  What we saw was reasonably impressive, but much smaller than Ephesus.  Our trip back to Rhodes was delayed a bit by the parade in town.  The Old Town was built around 1500 AD by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.  This was an order of priests dedicated to relief work during the time of the crusades.  There was still need to build a castle which eventually failed to protect the town.  We walked around the harbors a bit and saw the two deer at the entrance of a harbor.  Perhaps significant as deer are the symbols of Rhodes, the statues themselves are quite small.  And this is where the Colossus of Rhodes supposedly sat.  The guide did tell a few interesting stories from Greek Mythology.  We walked back to the cruise ship.

 Rhodes waterfront.  The three windwills date from medieval times.

 Rhodes Ruins.

Deer guard the entrance to the Rhodes Harbor.  Many believe this was where the Colossus of Rhodes was located.

Celebrity Constellation docked at Rhodes Harbor.

Today’s dinner was formal with the requisite picture-taking by everyone.  We saw the show “Land of Make Believe.”  I then went and jogged six miles.

Saturday 10/29 At Sea.  Today is an at-sea day, so everyone took things in a leisurely manner.  We did attend two talks: one on the geology of the Jordan River Valley where we learned (i) most of valley relatively young at 18,000 or so years, (ii) Southern part of Dead Sea is very shallow and is very old, (iii) the rift is a transduction zone, and (iv) the level of the Dead Sea has varied a lot over the years, but has dropped significantly recently due to human uses of the river.  The other talk was on the star of Bethlehem and what could be its cause.  The usual suspects are a supernova, a comet, or the confluence of several planets.  The part that is most difficult to explain is why the star came to a stop.

After dinner I also jogged a bit, this time for 4 miles.  The Captain came on the PA system and announced because of recent incidents the Ashdod port was closed to cruise ship traffic so we had to divert to Haifa, which was to be the next port of call.  To accommodate passengers’ need to make changes in their plans, he opened up the telephone lines and internet.  Don, ever the efficient organizer, called the travel agent and had things squared away.  Many others, including I, took advantage of the free internet offer and got a lot of web access for free (the package we signed up cost $0.48 per minute.)

All said and done, it was after 1 am that I went to bed.

Sunday 10/30 Haifa.  For the next four days we will have daily tours of Israel.  These were all arranged through Don at a considerable discount compared to what the cruise ship charges, and we would have the services of a private guide.  For this first day, the bus came a bit late and we didn’t get started until 8:30 pm or so.  Perhaps understandable since they had to divert resources from Ashdod to Haifa.  We drove for over 2 hours to get from Haifa to Bethlehem, passing by Jerusalem.  Along the way, Guide Jerry gave us some background on the Israeli State and on what informs the Jewish people in the country. Survival and “never again” being big parts of the country’s collective mindset.  (Jerry himself is an Italian American who moved to Israeli after meeting his Moroccan Jewish wife.)  To get to Bethlehem, you have to go through a gate in the security fence (say 12 feet high) that encloses West Bank.  While we are not here for an understanding of the region’s politics, it is difficult not to think about whether there is a way forward to resolve things fairly among the different parties.

Our cruise ship docked at the Haifa cargo terminal for 3 nights.  It did move to another berth during its stay.

Graffiti on wall separating West Bank from Israel.

In any case, we switched to a Palestinian Guide after we crossed into West Bank.  Traffic was bad, so it took a while for us to get to the Parking area, and we had to walk quite a bit to get to the Church of Nativity.  Pastor Al was quite out of breath by the time we got there.  We had to fight huge crowds to get to the church.  We went in the cave where tradition has the many babies killed by Herod buried, and only saw where Jesus was born through a small peephole, so we didn’t have to wait in line for 3 hours.  The experience was frankly quite disappointing.  We then went to a sandwich place called “Christmas Tree Restaurant” for lunch – I am a bit worried about the sanitary conditions there.  After lunch we were dropped off at a souvenir shop where they sold items as expensive as $1,500 or higher.  Tourism makes up 60% of Bethlehem’s industry, I must assume these shops account for quite a chunk.  Many people bought trinkets for a few dollars each.

Church of Nativity.

Church of St. Catherine, adjoining the Church of Nativity.

 Inside the Church of The Nativity.

 We had lunch at this Bethlehem Restaurant.  Falafel or Shawerma.

In Jerusalem we visited many sights: Church of the Holy Sepulcher, many stations of the Via Dolorosa, Mt. Zion where the upper room was, Church of Garden Gethsemane, Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, the Western Wall, David’s tomb, and others.  Too bad it was already getting dark when we saw them, and thus couldn’t take good pictures.  Also, no one is sure if these are the actual locations; even if the original locations were marked, conquests in the different eras (Byzantine, Crusades) have made them untraceable.  I, for one, can’t imagine why where Jesus was buried is so close to where the cross was.  Those who were convinced that Mary was buried in Ephesus would be surprised to know that she is also buried in Jerusalem.

 Old City Jerusalem.

 Church of Gethsemane, Jerusalem.

Rock of Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed.

 East Gate, Old Jerusalem, and the Valley of Kidron.

 Mary's Tomb, Jerusalem.

 The Aedicule, which contains the Holy Sepulcher.

 Golgotha.

 Via Dolorosa.  This station is where Simon picked up the Cross of Jesus.

 Western Wall.

 

 View of Temple Mount from Mt. Olives.

We were dropped off at the main pier and took a shuttle bus back to the commercial wharf area where our ship was docked.  It was about 10:30 pm when we got back, and we went straight to dinner at Seaside Cafe.  They were still serving dinner entrees.  Free internet, alas, was turned off.

Monday 10/31 Haifa.  We took a shuttle from dockside to bus pickup.  It was a bit chaotic but manageable.  We again drove a long distance (about 130 miles) to Masada, stopping to snap pictures at Qumrom caves (we saw only a look-alike cave) and ate at the cafeteria by the Qumrom National Park.  Qumrom is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  The tram ride to the top of Masada was a short 3 minutes, and the group spent about 90 minutes there looking at Herod’s two palaces, grain storage rooms, baths, swimming pools, and the ingenious water collection system.  Masada was the place where 1000 Jews committed mass suicide rather than surrender to Romans as slaves.  They burned down the place but left the food storage rooms intact to let the Romans know they didn’t kill themselves because they were starving to death.

 We didn't get a chance to visit the caves.  But we did have lunch at the restaurant, though.

 Masada.  Bath house on the right.  You have to use imagination to picture what it was like.

 Cistern used to catch rainwater.

The Siege Ramp built by the Romans to attack Masada.

We indeed floated effortlessly on the Dead Sea “as advertised.”  I bought a pair of swimming trunks for just this purpose.  I was in and out in less than 5 minutes but quite a few people stayed in for much longer.  Some also applied some of the mud on themselves.  I am not sure of the mud’s rejuvenative powers, but there is no doubt about the bad smell.

 View of Dead Sea from Masada.

Yes, you do float on the Dead Sea.

We also got back quite late, and the driver had trouble finding our ship (it was docked at a container dock), so it was close to 9 when we got back.  We ate at the Seaside Café.

Tuesday 11/1 Haifa.  Today’s visit started with the Bahai Gardens.  This was after a great frustration of waiting in line for an hour for the shuttle bus to show up.  We then drove to Galilee to visit where Jesus spent most of his ministry.  Churches we visited include Church of the Basilica of the Annunciation inside which is the grotto where the annunciation supposed took place, and this is the largest Christian church in Israel.  Other churches visited commemorate the five loaves and two fishes (Multiplication), and the Beatitudes.  We also walked around Capernaum where Jesus began his ministry.  While people such as Peter lived in very modest houses, the temple was magnificent.  Pastor Al & Miss Ruth and Agnes & Kimberly were baptized at the River Jordan, at a location called Yardenit.

Pastor Al & Miss Ruth being baptized in the River Jordan.

Yardenit, the location on the River Jordan where baptisms take place.

Matthew 1:9-11 in Chinese (simplified).

River Jordan.

Few people in the region eat catfish, so there are a lot of them.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant.  I had “St. Peter’s Fish” which was a dry and deep-fried tilapia.

St. Peter's Fish, still a fried talapia by any other name.

The Guide calls this region the Fifth Gospel as it adds to the understanding of the Gospels.  While I may not go so far, I have to say today turned out to be the best of the four Israeli tours (naturally this remark is written after “tomorrow”.)  It did add a lot to my appreciation of the conditions under which many of the events in the Gospels took place.

 The Church of The Basilica of The Annunciation.

 The Grotto where the Annunciation took place, according to church tradition.

 Church of The Beatitudes.

Inside the Church of The Beatitudes.

 Monastery Tabgha, where the miracle of Five Loaves and Two Fishes took place.

 Mosaic of Bread and Fishes inside church.  Rock is where Jesus supposedly stood when miracle took place. 

 Capernaum, where Jesus started His ministry.

A synagogue dated from the fifth century.  Some people think there is an older one underneath it.

Although we could have made it to the dining room for dinner, we decided to eat on the tenth floor.  Pastor Al and Miss Ruth joined us for a while.

Wednesday 11/2 Haifa.  The shuttle bus situation got rectified and we got on the bus shortly after our meet time of 8 am, and were at the terminal at 8:10 am.  We waited a bit for the bus to show up, but left the dock in good time.  It was about a 25 to 30 mile drive to Caesarea.  We first saw a 10-minute film about the history of the city, starting with Herod.  It then changed hands from Byzantine to Muslim to Crusades to Ottoman Empire, suffering damage and enjoying subsequent rebuilding.  It explains a bit how the history of the area developed and why different people feel ownership of the region.

The major sights in Caesarea are the amphitheatre which seats several thousand people; a hippodrome where chariots races and fights took place – it was where the first Christian martyrs were killed, together with those in Rome; the foundation of Herod’s palace; and the remnants of a wall built by Crusaders.

 Theater in Caesarea.

 In front of the hippodrome.  Site of chariot races and later gladiator fights.

Reference to Pontius Pilate (replica) located in Caesarea.

It was about another hour’s drive to get to the old city of Jaffa, passing through the new city of Tel Aviv.  After a bit of history from Jerry, we were let loose on the couple of streets that define the area.  We wandered around a bit, met up with Don, Agnes, and Kimberly, and had lunch together (Restaurant Kaffe Yafo Tel Aviv).  We got back to the meeting point (Clock Tower) at 3 pm, people were punctual this time – there not being many things to do in that part of town.  We got back to the ship at about 5 pm.  Dinner was at San Marco.

 Bell Tower in Jaffa.

 Modern city of Tel Aviv viewed from Jaffa.

Jaffa.

The ship left a bit after seven, while we were having dinner.  We are on our way to Athens.

We also watched the show performed by the British magician Martin John.

Thursday 11/3 At Sea.  A relatively relaxing day where we had a late breakfast.  Went to a lecture on Jerusalem which was quite disappointing.  Choir practice, sing the tenor part.  Formal dinner.

Friday 11/4 Piraeus, Greece.  Piraeus is the port serving Athens, which is 7 or so miles away.  We signed up for the Acropolis and Athens Sightseeing tour.  It involves walking up to the Acropolis and then a 45 or so minute drive around town in the tour bus.  At $70 or so per head it is not cheap, but overall a reasonable experience.  Some in the group will do the exploration on their own, using public transportation.  It is quite doable, as long as you are willing to do some homework before hand.

 The Acropolis as view from the base of the hill.  It is about 175 steps to the top.

 Temple of Athena Nike, Goddess of Victory in War and Wisdom.

Propylaea, The Entrance to the Acropolis.

 Odeon of Herodes Atticus, built to commemorate his wife's death.

 The Parthenon.

The Erechtheion, with statues of maidens as columns.

 The Parthenon from a different angle.

A cross-section of a column.

Driving around the area you don’t get a sense of impending (financial) doom at all.  The streets are busy, Parliament Square, which we drove by, has not had any demonstrations for about 10 days.  Today was a mostly sunny and a bit windy, which made for excellent conditions for what we wanted to do.

We also visited the Acropolis Museum which was completed in 2009.  It in some way is a real life model of the location, enclosed in a modern structure, and adds quite a bit of explanation to the experience.  One could argue it is better to visit the museum first to get an idea of what one will see.  There is quite a bit of complaint – not necessarily harsh – that the British took a lot of the “stuff” to the British Museum.

The Olympic Stadium, Athens.

Plaka, a shopping district in Athens next to The Acropolis.

Entrance to The Acropolis Museum, built on top of some ruins, naturally.

We got back to the meeting point designated by the Cruise line and shared a taxi cab with a couple of passengers from the Celebrity Equinox.

The Acropolis at night.  Taken from our cruise ship, at more than 5 miles away.

Saturday 11/5 At Sea.  Last night was the first night we got a proper night of sleep, what with (for us) early shore excursions and Anne’s early morning on-line classes.  I for one am not feeling particularly refreshed …

Attended lecture on Black Sea Flood and Noah’s Ark.  A somewhat interesting lecture but the speaker didn’t seem to care (or be able to) tie the various views together or to illustrate what the different views’ limitations are.  The one take-away I have is this possibility that the Mediterranean and Black Sea were cut off from the Atlantic until about 7500 to 8000 years ago.  Worship service led by Liang Huei where Pastor Al and Pastor Chiu from Toronto preached; the latter leads a church of about 1000 people.  Sat for a while to listen to a rabbi and a couple of priests comparing Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Found the discussion quite dry and walked out (quietly).

After dinner we started packing, and found out we actually brought along more clothes than we needed.  Turns out most dinners had only a smart casual dress code, so we (especially Anne) didn’t need the many dresses we brought along.  Even though I wanted to go for a snack at 11 pm, we decided we were too tired to make the effort worthwhile.

Sunday 11/6 Journey Home, IST-FRA-EWR.  But before that we had one more tour to do.  Many in the group were either leaving late in the day or stay the night in Istanbul, so Don arranged for yet another tour.  We could join only the Bosphorus Cruise portion.  It was a pleasant cruise, though a bit on the cold and windy side, and the boat swayed quite a bit.  We got a close look at the European and Asia sides of Istanbul.

 Someone's Palace.  The rich and powerful are different from you and me.

 These two suspension bridges connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul.

 The Galata Bridge spanning the Golden Horn.

Our private cruise ship.

After saying goodbye, we hopped on a van for the airport.  We actually could use the lounge and thus took advantage of the free wifi.

The flight to Frankfurt was quite crowded, but uneventful.  The transfer at Frankfurt was frustratingly – and surprisingly – slow.  One line, which got stopped every time something needed to be looked at more closely.  The Germans are known for their efficiency, so this inability to do multi-tasking was a surprise.  We were among the last to board the plane, and to our surprise the coach section was quite empty, Anne has the two window seats, and I have the entire center 4 seats to myself. Thus a great flight by my definition.  Since this is a late afternoon/early evening flight, sleep probably won’t be in the cards, but we shall see.

The overall trip is a bit long, and the sights were generally not as exciting as I had hoped, nonetheless it was a good trip.  There are some surprises when you see people for that length of time (good and bad), and I am sure I surprised some people also.  I am particularly glad Pastor Al and Miss Ruth could come.

Ellie picked us up.  Ying and Shirley, who were on the same flights as we were, also squeezed into the X3 (with their considerable luggage.)  I then drove them home.