ATHENS

I enjoyed Athens much more this time than I did on my first visit.  This time I had a half day in Athens and then a visit to the Temple of Poseidon.   I had lunch in a very nice hotel and had some shopping time in the old section of the city.  I bought some Ouzo and a pin from the Hard Rock Cafe.  The only drawback was the "tour guide from hell".  She was very well informed but gave a 10 minute dissertation on a subject and then we would walk 50 ft and get another 10 minutes.  I finally wandered off on my own and actually got to see the Acropolis.  All in all it was a good day.

A temple as seen from the Acropolis

A view of Athens

Part of the Acropolis

Other ruins

 Another view of Athens

I thought that this door was very unusual and looked neat.

Ruins of the Temple of Poseidon.ens   The temple is located on Cape Sounion which is 43 miles SSE of Athens on the southern most tip of the Attica Peninsula.  It was a scenic drive along the Aegean coast.

EPHESUS

Ephesus is one of the best preserved archaeological sites  in the world.  I was there in March 2010 and again in May 2012 and there has been a lot of progress in those two years but there is still much to be done. These are photos that I took as I walked through the ruins on the old Roman road.

This road was built over 2,000 years ago.

The public Latrine.

The Library

A billboard for the oldest profession on earth.  Look closely and you will see a figure of a woman in the upper right, a heart in the middle, a left foot in the middle right and a plus sign above the foot.  2,000 years ago Ephesus was a seaport.  Sailors would get off their boats, visit the bathhouse,and walk up the road to this billboard telling them where they could find a little love.  What is says is 'For women walk up to the crossroads, turn left and you will find what you are looking for.

The arena

This is the road the road the sailors walked up from their ships.

MARY'S HOUSE

Jesus entrusted Mary into John's care.  There was a large Christian community at Ephesus so John brought Mary there.  Fearing for her safety, John had a house built on Mt Koressos which is near Ephesus.  More information can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_the_Virgin_Mary
It is a very quiet, beautiful and peaceful place.

 The grounds to Mary's House.                                  

The entrance to Mary's House.                                      
                                       

   You exit here and then follow the path down to the spring and past the wall where pilgrims write their intentions on paper and place them in the wall.                                  

APPROACHING KUSADASI

Kusadasi is the gateway to the ancient city of Ephesus and a seaside resort on the Aegean sea.  I took these photos as we sailed into port.

LEAVING ISTANBUL

Had a wonderful day in Istanbul!!! I left the ship around 9:00 am and was back on board when we sailed around 4:30 pm and saw all those wondrous sites  in between.  Istanbul is a city that you visit and rent an apartment and explore the city on your own.  Tours are wonderful because they give you a taste of a city and you know you want to go back and leisurely see what you were rushed through on your first visit.   The weather was great the entire day until we sailed.  The clouds moved in as you can see in the pictures.  As we were sailing out of the harbor, several schools of dolphins were following a fishing boat into the harbor.  I tried to get a video of it but they didn't show up in the video.

 You can barely see it but there is a bridge that connects two continents.  Europe and Asia

Water Taxi's or Ferries

These Mosques are Topkapi Palace, The Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.   The Hagia has 4 minarets and the Blue Mosque has 6.

THE UNDERGROUND CISTERN YEREBATAN SARAYI

The cistern is no place for the faint of heart on an organized tour.  There are a lot of steps down to get into it.  It's dark with a little light along the walk way.  It's wet.  It's crowded and you better keep up with your tour group or you'll be left behind.  I was trying to get the right light settings on my camera so that I could take some good pictures in this dark place.  I looked up and my tour group was gone.  I eventually found them so I didn't have to implement plan B.  Plan B was to retrace my steps to the entrance and wait for them to exit.  There is only one way in and out.  I would like to revisit the cistern on my own.  That way I can take my time  and not be rushed through.  It was built in the 6th century and I'm sure there is more to see than I was able to see.  Also better light settings will make for better pictures.

These pictures are of the head of Medusa.  They"re carved into the base of a pillar.  Same pillar, different sides.

THE BLUE MOSQUE

There isn't much I can say about the Blue Mosque.  It is simply exquisite.  I've posted all the pictures I took in the Mosque so I'll let the pictures do the talking.  For more information on the mosque click here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque

The bus dropped us off here at the Hippodrome.  This is where they held chariot races in the 4th century.  This obelisk is from the Temple of Karnak and was built 1500 years before Christ.

Ceiling of the hallway entrance to the mosque.  We had to remove our shoes before entering the Mosque.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Keep in mind that this was built in the 1600's.  These are electric lights.  Think of how it looked in candle light.

One of the minarets.