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| Ruins at St. John's Tomb |
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| Ruins at St. John's Tomb |
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| Ruins at St. John's Tomb |
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| One of the 7 wonders of the world - Temple of Artemis (the main remains are in a museum in England) |
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| From the internet - What the Temple of Artemis ruins looked like before they were moved and all that remains in Turkey on the original spot is what you see above in my picture |
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| Stork nesting on remains near St. John's Tomb |
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| The remains of the original church during St. John's time |
We arrived in port around 8:00am and after a quick breakfast we headed to the theatre to meet the tour groups. We decided to do a cruise sponsored tour which turned out to be a great choice.
They have several choices for tours including a city visit to Izmir but we opted for the tour to John the Baptists tomb in the beautiful ruins of the basilica which one stood there dating back to around the 4th or 6th Centuries. And then to the house of the Virgin Mary where she lived for over 40 years after Jesus was crucified. A good choice for mother's day.
It turned out we were sitting in the wrong room where some of the other tour groups were meeting so they had to come fetch us and thankfully we weren't too late and didn't keep the nice couples from Malta waiting to long.
The tour in English consisted of just me and mom, two couples from Malta and two young men from India who work on the ship. It was the prefect size and we were whisked to the countryside in a luxury van with our tour guide Petra and a very nice driver. It was informal but perfect for our little group.
Turkey is so completely different then I had imagined, it's modern, clean and so very friendly and you feel very safe here. I helps that the entire male population of this country must join the army and has the largest armed forces presence after America. They take their armed forces very seriously here and although Izmir is a mostly peaceful, low crime city the soldiers are everywhere even at the entrances to all the tourist or religious attractions. Petra said it could be that it's so peaceful and safe because of their immense presence but either way the Turkish are very proud of their soldiers and respect them greatly. They are imposing figures and I wouldn't want to have to come up against any of them so I could see why it might be a crime deterrent.
We arrived to John the Baptist's Tomb in Ephesus about 45 minutes later and were so taken a back by it's beauty. There are no full structures remaining but the ruins are beautiful and a sense of peace fills the complex despite the throngs of tourists.
The wild flowers growing in and around the remains and out of the old marble and brick walls captured most everyone's attention and the views from the hill and through the many open spaces where there once stood walls and doors to the mountains distance brought me back in time and you can truly get lost there. Although I tried to keep up with the tour guide which limited my contemplative time I still found it very inspiring. St. John's tomb is a large section of white marble squares with four thin marble pillars at each of the four corners. There is also in the back of the tomb a maybe 2 foot square dug hole with a metal grating covering it which we were told by our guide Petra that some times throughout the year dust will come up from there and the locals say it is the breath of St. John whose remains were, when they had to do some much needed preservation work, were not found below the marble stone, not even his bones but just a dust that was left in their place.
St. John preached there after the Crucifixion and a church was built at that time which still remains, or at least part of the interior which is protected by a recently constructed wooden roof and slated wooden side panels. It's so beautiful in it's simplicity. There is also in front of his tomb the long dais where he spoke to the would be converts about Christianity.
And the reason the Virgin Mary was living so close to this place of worship was because Jesus had entrusted his mother's care to John the Baptist before his death so of course when St. John went on his travels he took her with him and kept her close. The house she lived in is about 6 miles away from the tomb and ruins and we were told that St. John had to make the trip often to ensure that Mary had food and was well taken care of.
Also just below the hill from the ruins are an ancient Mosque and the only remains (a large pillar of marble) of the Temple of Artemis which is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. The rest of the temple is, for some reason the guide didn't tell, in a museum in London.
From there we headed up a winding hill past Ephesus, an archaeological to the Virgin Mary's house. It's in a beautiful wooded area, down a long driveway. When you first arrive you can only think of how touristy it all is but then once you reach up to the house which is a short 5 minute walk into the wooded area you find it much more peaceful and the home itself which is small and set up like a tiny chapel is so beautiful made from large dark stone blocks and low vaulted ceilings. There is a small alter with a statue of the Virgin Mary at it's center. The statue quite noticeably is missing both her hands.
You have time to kneel or sit and pray and there is an overwhelming sense of peace inside and then upon exiting you can make a donation for two candles which can be lit outside and placed in stands which we did. It's very moving and well worth a visit you must just look past all the touristy parts leading up to it.
The past three popes have visited the first it seems in 1967 the year I was born. I know, how crazy to always need to relate things to something relevant to ourselves, and hopefully not just a trait I possess or that would be kind of sad for me and make me a bit of an egotist. But I did like seeing the plaque commemorating the visit in 67 near the tomb of St. John and also the different items left by each pope displayed in the final room of Mary's house including a rosary given by Pope Benedict.
There were also several Franciscan Priests who were incredibly friendly and we spoke to the sweet Father Escia (I'm not sure of the spelling of his name) who kindly told us about why the statue is missing both hands. Apparently after I believe World War II they found the statue somewhere down the hill from the house in the middle of the woods and she was missing both hands. They chose not to restore her and add hands because they believe that we (all of us humans) are the hands of Mary and hopefully will continue all her good deeds with them, or at least that's how I took it when he told us this. He was just so kind and friendly and even the other, younger priest in his brown robe as well was chatting with the visitors and taking pictures with them. A very efficient and friendly nun was also taking pictures as well as cleaning up the area they have set up for mass which had ended just before we got there. She also apparently plays the guitar during services. I'm sorry we missed it, I think it would have been a very special experience right next to Mary's house and out in the open.
Father Escia also answered my questions about what happened to Joseph. Now you'd think with all those years of Catholic school I'd know but I didn't and from the time we headed for her house I couldn't understand why Joseph didn't come with her and why St. John took her alone.
The priest said that it is understood that Joseph must have passed away before Jesus was crucified because there is no mention of him when Jesus began preaching. I didn't know this but I trust that Father Escia knows what he's talking about and we all agreed that it must have been so because Joseph would never have abandoned Mary.
After saying our goodbyes and talking briefly to a women, Lea, who organizes pilgrimages from Philadelphia to here several times a year and who actually spent the last two weeks living with the nuns next to Mary's house, we walked along the lower path to where there is a wall of messages placed there on scraps of paper or pretty much anything a person could write on to Mary. We added a very quick note written on the entrance ticket to St. John's tomb and then headed for out bust and the waiting group.
Mom and I were both so pleased with this excursion and so happy were got to visit Mary's home especially on Mother's day. We even met a very nice couple from India who were traveling around Turkey and today were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and so happy that they decided to spend it by visiting Mary's home.
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| Mom with Vincent and Tony from the ship. |
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| Yes, I look like a giant next to them |
From there we made a stop at a school/shopping center for handmade Turkish rugs. Absolutely amazing. We saw how they get the silk from silk worm cocoons and have it spun and also saw a demonstration by a young girl who is studying there for the next 6 months learning the ancient art of rug making and it was truly astounding how much work goes into each rug. We would have loved to buy one, and they weren't expensive, but there is only so much you can get home, although they do ship them.
We didn't purchase anything from the jewelry center either and were on our way back to Izmir by about 1:00pm.
It was a beautiful ride and such a lovely group of people. One of the young men from India who works on board was telling us all about his family and his baby son who he will be going home to see for a few months staring in just a few weeks. The other young man was so adorable and telling us how he was on the Costa Concordia the night it hit the rocks. He was in bed taking a nap and was awake when it actually hit because his friends had just phoned him about something else and he was now awake and trying to fall back to sleep. Stuff fell from the shelves but he thought it was just a wave or something that had disturbed the ship but then the signal blared and he got quickly to his muster station to help with the passengers. They, and all the guests were on the ship for 5 hours before being given permission to leave around midnight and then some were brought to the local church and others just sat out in the January cold until the next morning, some on paths and the like, until they could be taken to safety and hotels near by. The Red Cross brought blankets, jackets and such to help keep them warm through the night. He said 32 people were killed and he only witnessed one very tragic death of an infant that was being passed from his fathers arms to his mothers and slipped out between them and fell so horribly. We were of course horrified to hear this and could only imagine the suffering of those two parents and the grief and then having to stand on deck with all these strangers knowing your child has just died. It's awful and so unspeakable. Just a terrible tragedy for so many.
He also said of the 5 crew members killed there was 1 man from India who was on sick leave with a terrible fever that days leading up to the tragedy and of course went up to the decks when the alarm sounded and for some reason, I'm sure just pure kindness he decided to give his life jacket to his manager and sadly the young man didn't make.
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| Me and mom in front of Mary's House |
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| Me with Father Escia and yes, the giant strikes again. |
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| Cute bathroom sign with her crossed legs |
It just reminds you when you hear all this of how precious each moment in life is and how much you must enjoy all the good times and laugh, love and be happy, choose to be happy for it's all so unpredictable.
We arrived back to port around 2:15pm and that didn't leave us much time to go into the town center to do a little shopping so we headed back to the ship and just stopped in the port gift shops where I bought a cute little bracelet with the traditional blue white and black overlapping dots to ward off the evil eye and bring good luck.
Once back on board it was time for some relaxing and mom and I headed up to the observation deck with exceptional views of Turkey as we pulled away and went toward Greece and eventually Malta in two days.
Sunday, Mother's Day mass was at 5:00pm in the larger theater and it was pretty packed, at least the orchestra level and the priest did a complete mass, unlike yesterday's abbreviated version with a nice homely in Italian about mothers and also marriage and then he renewed the vows of about 20 couples which was so lovely and touching. Some of the couples were married over 50 years and one was I believe celebrating their 56th.
And as I did my usual people watching I spotted the Captain who was sitting next to an elderly women. He stayed throughout the whole mass which was so nice and he didn't have any security with him so I guess that was just for the gala evening when the whole top management staff were on stage at the same time. We don't even want to contemplate what would happen if there was an emergency and they were all in one place and all unable to reach the bridge safely to dictate the proper commands. Mom was pleased the captain was a nice Italian boy who went to church, and although not with his own mother (he was escorting the Staff Captain's mother.)
We were moved to a new table for dinner with a lovely Scottish couple, John and Valerie who interestingly moved 15 years ago to a mountain town near Monta Cassini in Italy. Not too, too far from Avellino where my family is from. Valerie was born and raised in Scotland but both her parents were Italian from the town they now live in. Mom is having trouble with John's Scottish accent but she's doing her best to understand him. They both retired oddly at around 55 years old (I had to ask were trying to be Greek retiring so early) but they laughed and said it was because they both worked for the government, John as a dental hygenist for the local hospital in Glasgow and Valerie for some kind of financial agency so when they were offered early retirement packages they took them, sold their homes and moved to the charming Italian town of her ancestors. They seem extremely happy with their decision and keep busy with reading, shopping each day in the local markets and baking (John's new hobby.) He looks a little like Santa Clause but when I speaks I think more of one of Santa's Elves.
Another wonderful evening of entertainment with a performance by the baritone from a few nights ago and then a combination of comedy and acrobatic performance by what seems to be a married couple.
It was a very long day but happily a very nice one with some very special memories of Turkey to take with us.
DAY AT SEA
It was a very relaxing and somewhat windy and mildly rough day through the Aegean Sea past lots of beautiful Greek Island on our way to Malta.
We really didn't do much of anything just read, did the spa, mom took a nap or two and then dinner. There isn't a show tonight just a video of Frank Sinatra in concert.
Looking forward to visiting Malta again tomorrow, a very special Island country with great food, lots of sunshine and innumerably architectural, artistic and historic sites to enjoy.
