Then the sun appeared

Crete is actually one of my most favorite places EVER!!! Why you ask? Because the heavens smiled down upon us that day.

Myriam- the most wonderful person ever- from Guest Services on the cruise was in charge of finding lost baggage. She called Alitalia every 2 hours from the moment we got on the ship and fought and fought and fought for us daily. Remember that all 3 bags were lost. The night before we stopped in Athens- Alitalia told Myriam a flight number and that our 2 sets of luggage would be there. (Nate's luggage was still unaccounted for somewhere in the universe.)

When we returned from our great adventures in Athens and walked into our room- no luggage. We went to the Guest Services desk and found out that basically Alitalia lied. (I told you they were not very nice!) It was at that point that I held back the tears with all my might as I walked back to my room. I hadn't cried about it throughout the whole trip, but I was almost at my breaking point. I was sure I would never see my luggage again. So we sailed away from Athens and THEN our luggage was sent there. Yep. The day after we left. Alitalia then said that they would just send it back to the US. Can you believe that?! Luckily Myriam again fought for us since we still had one more stop. So once again we were given a flight number and were told that they would be in Crete. But we didn't get our hopes up at all.

The ship docked at 7:00 am and we went to breakfast around 8:00 Am. Right before we left, we had to go to our room for one last thing. As we were walking down the hall towards our room, we noticed something red outside the door. Larisa said "what is that?! What is that?!" It was our luggage!!! September 11, 2009- precisely 8 days after we flew into Rome- Larisa and I got our luggage back! :) I think I woke up everyone as I ran down the hall screaming "MY LUGGAGE!!! ITS MY LUGGAGE!!! YOU'RE HERE!" I gave it a big hug! (I didn't kiss it because it was filthy and who knows where it had been!)

The first thing I noticed was how many tags were on it! I even said out loud "Oh my goodness! Where have you been?!" My bag was dirty and broken, but it was in my possession!" Oh happy day!

We didnt have much time on Crete so we didnt take time to open the plastic tie that was keeping it locked and find different clothes to wear. We just left merrily on our way. It poured down rain in Crete- and I could care less because I had new and dry clothes waiting for me! What a difference! :)

Since we only had a a few hours on the Island so we headed up to the Palace of Knossos. (This place was inhabited in 1700 BC! wow nelly! Thats old stuff!) As we got there it started sprinkling but we didn't want to pay 6 euros for a poncho- so we decided we would rather look like drowned rats in our photos. But we didn't care! We had our luggage and nothing else seemed to matter! We had a lot of strange looks from people. I could almost hear them saying "why do those people not have on rain gear? Do they even know its raining? Where are their parents?!"

I will say that with all that rain -Crete was sure green and beautiful!



The coolest thing about Knossos was that the buildings were red. Red EVERYWHERE! It was so different yet wonderful to see Ruins that had red in it!

We even got to see real excavation work! This lady in her blue gloves was being really careful! We did not disturb! We didn't want to be the reason for her to all of a sudden chisel out a very important piece of history!

We didn't have a guide for this place. So... I became the guide- Naturally. I made up stories everywhere we went- and I tell you...with what I came up with, Knossos was AWESOME! I think the other 3 would agree.

I showed them how the Kings would stand and present themselves to the people.

I decided that this was where they would pray. So I demonstrated (I didn't know Nate was taking a picture!) With a British accent I began"You simply stand with your legs shoulder width apart and with your arms stretched upward you begin to pray like this."


Now you dont need to wonder anymore as to why people were looking at us like we were strange. Because lets face it. We were.

(In this picture there is no one in the background because the rain was coming down so hard that everyone else was under canopies...except us!)

Do you all know the story of Knossos? Believe it or not...I did. (Which was another reason why I nominated myself as the tour guide of our little group of 4!) The minotaur played a big roll. A summed up version of the legend is (for those who really want to know) that a Labyrinth constructed for King Minos of Crete was designed to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. Therefore there are a lot of pictures, paintings of the Minotaur/bulls.

(Do you see that paper in my hand? It started out being my "umbrella" but quickly became just a nuisance as there were no garbage cans to throw it in once it became sopping wet! ) You really can't tell but in this picture it is pouring like CRAZY!!! It's times like that that you have to just throw your hands back and enjoy!

After we left the palace we headed back to the city. My slippery flip-flops became much more of a hazzard as we added the rain to it. So we walked carefully but quickly back to the town.

Here is a great shot of the final look before we changed our clothes. Notice that my light lilac shirt was now a dark dark shade of purple. Two words- Drowned Rats! :)But we were still smiling! (Even though at this point I was FREEZING!)

However, before we headed back to the ship we had one more errand to run. We searched through the streets of Crete to find some flowers for our dear friend Myriam on the ship. She was our hero- for it was through her that our lost luggage was now found!

We love her!

Once I got that plastic tie off my bag and opened it- it was like Christmas! I was like- what on earth am I going to wear?! I have 10 outfits for 3 days! I'll never take my luggage for granted again! :)

Editors note (nate received his luggage the day after we returned to Phoenix! He wondered why he even packed! :) )

Now- I'm sure you are all wondering about what life was like on the ship- since we did have 7 nights and 2 full days at sea...well, thats next! :)

Epistle to the Ephesians

I was so super excited to go to Turkey/Ephesus. To be where Paul walked and stand in the grand theater where he preached! (Plus it was the closest to Iraq that I hope to ever be!)

So Turkey gave me the welcome that I was hoping for! A big banner and everything! :) I felt very welcomed! (And there's the red and black outfit again! For your viewing pleasure!)

Kusadasi was our port town that we stopped at. Is this not the coolest picture of our ship framed by the sign? Pretty amazing photography by Larisa.

Right outside of Ephesus they have a lot of shops- this one caught my eye and made me laugh...

Genuine fake watches...love it! At least the Turks are honest!

Thankfully it wasn't too hot as we walked along the road, listened to our guide and learned about the Ephesians. Basically its one long road with a lot of ruins! (Hallelujah for guides that can explain what you are looking at and paint the picture of what it looked like long long ago!)

As we started the decent down toward the library- I could almost imagine how grand this street was at one time! It mean was "The Street". I almost walked down it like Royalty and decided that maybe I would look a little weird. (I mean would Royalty really be wearing the same pants 5 days in a row?! :) )

This street was lined with statues and buildings. Ephesus in only 20 % excavated! I wonder what other hidden treasures are waiting to be discovered!

Listen up all the pharmacist in the family- I took this for you! This was the sign out in front of the pharmacy!

You're welcome.

And here she is the "just do it" girl herself...the Goddess Nike.

The Nike "swoosh" sign was designed from the shape of this stone.

I just like these ruins--nothing significant- just cool!

Here is one thing that I am thankful we don't have anymore are public toilets like these. I think its funny how Nate and Larisa just plopped down for a picture (They looked quite comfortable)...

Tiffany and I were a little more hesitant to touch them! Just the thought that they were at one time every single person's toilet in the town- kinda grossed us out! :)


Kinda interesting tidbit that I learned... the wealthy had slaves that would come and warm up the seats before they sat down. Wouldn't that be a fun job?!

And here we are at the library- which I am sure was amazing in it's time...Because it was amazing at how it is now! And see mom and dad I do read! I just have to find a library outside the country to do it! :)

Then there she was- the greatest of all- the Grand Theater where Paul preached. And by looking at it- I can't imagine how he did it! It seemed so intimidating to me! Just think of how many people were there listening...and I'm sure not all agreed and I'm sure they weren't a quiet crowd!



Here I was trying it out myself- I am sure I look just as Paul did "Repent Ye Repent Ye!"

(You can see the lady behind me trying to show me up by going down to where Paul probably really stood! How rude! )

I learned a super amazing fact while in Ephesus. Well I learned a lot of facts. But one that was super cool! You want to know? Okay then- keep on reading!

This road you see below was the road that Cleopatra and Mark Anthony rode on as they entered Ephesus. As they rode in people poured red wine on the road in front of them to welcome them in(why? Wealth I guess)- and from that we have the red carpet rolled out in front of people today! Did you know that? Because I did not!

Now, this is a multi purpose photo. I know! Not only does it show the road, but if you can see on the top of that hill, oh so far away,- is the prison that Paul was put in. Unfortunately this was as close as we could get to it! :)

So I zoomed in so you ( and I ) could see it! You can thank me later!

Now the fun doesn't stop there. Nope. Royal Caribbean Cruises also pays for people to put on a little play for you. Its about 7 minutes and includes Gladiators, Kings, Dancers etc... You laugh, You cry, You cheer... Best 7 minutes of your life... kinda!

Camel.

We also went to another town (which I can not for the life of me remember the name!) and saw the Temple of Apollo. Now never in my life have I seen such HUGOMUNGO pillars! Again- I cant imagine what it looked like in all its glory!

The oracles that told the future were kept in this temple. Unfortunately, they are not still there. I was kinda hoping for a little fortune telling!

Another lesson I learned... Medusa is outside of these temples in order to keep evil away. Did I sleep through all my history classes because none of this sounded familiar!

Here she is- a little falling apart- but here none-the-less!

From there our tour bus took us to a Turkish Restaurant free of charge. There was a big buffet style of Turkish sides. I ordered the chicken and had yummy BBQ chicken brought out to me! Tiffany on the other hand ordered the fish.

HaHa! I laughed so hard when I saw Tiffany's face as they brought out her plate. I had plenty of that on my mission. I had served my time. I am happy that Tiffany had that experience as well! :) I did teach her a trick or two that I learned-- cover the face with a napkin so you can't see the eye and keep talking while you eat so you don't think about what you are eating! She got through it. She did well. I was proud!

The last stop before the bus was a Turkish Rug shop. Really incredible...expensive...but incredible.

Turkey was all that I hoped it would be. Not a let down at all. Exceeded expectations!

One more stop- Crete!