Church hopping week

We did a day in Ephesus with the cruise ship, it was a perfect day. We were there for a spiritual adventure and this place is a must visit. We seen where Paul preached to the Ephesians in 52AD. And was able to see how they lived. We stayed for the silk making class which was interesting but we are not rug people so we didn’t stay and know the price.

We did a visiting to the church of the Holy cross. It was a beautiful little village and quite nice to visit. The church contains a relic from the original cross where Jesus died. There is also bones and relics from some of the apostles here. This church is beautiful. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and a piece of pie here in the village. It was a short day which was nice because we needed to rest. I have to say we are blessed to live where we do because all these churches we visit are fairly new backseats they were destroyed throughout history by extremist. We live where we hold our churches with respect.

We did two ports in Israel. Ashdod- we did a day in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. I wasn’t prepared for Bethlehem at all. When you pass the Gaza Strip it feels very unsafe. I don’t think I did proper research to understand what this means. We were traveling along and the streets looked clean and nice and inside the Gaza Strip it is dirty and smells like cat pee. We visited the church where Christ was said to be born. It is so busy and commercialized. Pay for the toilet one $ or Euro per person. Then we went to lunch a beautiful spread in a nice big hotel. Then we visited Jerusalem. I enjoyed walking the steps Christ took to Calvary, but I was not prepared for all the businesses and crowds going all directions. I wanted to experience a deep Christian feeling and with all that is going on it never happened to me. Also, while we were walking Christs steps the Muslims prayer came across the loud speaker, our guide says it happens five times a day. If you are trying to find that peace with Christ here in my experience there is just to much going on here. It is such a same for the Jews also not to be able to enter the Temple Mount but once a day. They devote their lives to studying and praying. I am glad I got to experience this and see with my own eyes, but I couldn’t feel any deep religious feelings with all the hustle and bustle of it. I was expecting it to be a place of silence and deep thought but it is loud and busy. People going in all directions and selling stuff everywhere. Haifa- we did a day in Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. This tour was very nice. We visited the church where Mary was visited by Gabriel and the church where Joesph lived. In these churches silence is asked for so it is easier to feel connected. The were both beautiful churches. We went to the Sea of Galilee and visited Peters house and the Church from the fishes and loaves. We seen the town of Cana and then a visit to the Baptismal site on the Jordan. Lunch was in a school cafeteria with the kids. It was cafeteria food. This day was amazing. The churches demand your silence so it is easier feel connected. Of course while we were at the church of annunciation (Mary’s church), we did hear the Muslim prayer again.

At this port we rented a driver from Viator. We had the driver for 4 hours and it was 300 USD. It was a nice big van and there was 4 of us. We visited the highest point and Opia and Fira. We walked a little old village on the south side of the is;and and then went to the red beach for an amazing sun set. We went to the top somewhere and could see the place where the cruise ship was all shining and the church in the back ground. This is a perfect island and we visited at the perfect time because the crowds were not bad at all. Perfect ending to our cruise.

We live small town USA and this is like big city everywhere. We visited the Acropolis and ate down town on the strip. It was wonderful. Fried cheese was amazing. Gyro was wonderful. The weather was perfect for us. We stayed at a hotel down town within walking distance of Acropolis and the elevator was so tiny that the four of us barely fit. It was a wonderful experience.