GREEK
We set off from
the
After boarding the
ship and settling into our cabins some of us took a look around our ship. It is not quite as big as I expected;
however, it is definitely a maze at times trying to get from one part of the
ship to another. We eventually located
the lounges, cinema, pool, restaurant, etc.
This cruise will definitely be a nice four-day vacation—a great way to cap off our many group trips of the semester.
Dino informed us
that there are less than 300 people on board for the cruise. Our meals will be entirely from the
restaurant instead of buffet style. And
speaking of, we had an excellent meal for lunch. I like being able to order any and everything
that I want off the menu…and not receiving a bill for it at the end. Our waiter, Theodoros,
was very nice and quick. Some had a few
problems because we hit rougher seas during lunch. For whatever reason, I actually enjoy the
boat rocking.
So far it has been
a total indulgence of the senses. The
smell of salt water is in the air out on the open decks. Music plays on a speaker in your room (and
was playing the Michael Jackson album, Dangerous just a few seconds ago; though
some would never admit to it, I have that tape somewhere at my house and I used
to love it. J) There is also the
sound of the water beating against the boat.
Sight is covered easily as everything on this ship is made to be
visually appealing. And as I’ve already
mentioned, lunch was great and now I’m lying down and enjoying the rocking of
the boat back and forth. I’m in heaven
on earth. No, actually that is deck 7 of
the ship called Ouranos (Greek for heaven), and we
are on deck 5 called Dionysus.
***
After a brief
devotional in which we talked about
As Lindsey and I
were asking several people some questions we weren’t sure of on the quiz, we
met a girl named Valerie. She’s
graduated a few years ago from the
Around
Dinner was
enjoyable. I had only pasta and cake
tonight because I was so full from lunch.
Nighttime activities included The Ring in español,
which I watched 40 minutes of, and a welcome show that I caught only the final
10 minutes of. Tomorrow, I am looking
forward to our two sites of Biblical significance—
After an early but
wonderful breakfast of pancakes, an omelet, and bacon, we disembarked on the
The traditions are
very prevalent on the island. Our tour
guide presented traditions alongside facts, making no distinction between the
two. Tradition says that John arrived in
AD 95 and stayed for 18 months. He
searched the island until he found a cave.
In that cave, he received the revelation and dictated it to Procorus, on of the seven in Acts
6:5. He remained in the cave for one
month. In the cave there is “evidence”
such as a handhold that John used to help himself in sitting up and down (he
was old). The place where he laid is fenced
off and there is a Bible on a ledge where Procorus
stood and wrote. Also, there is a crack
in the rock of the cave (Grotto or Monastery of the Apocalypse). The crack splits 3 ways and is said to be
symbolic of the trinity and was caused by the loud voice of the Lord.
Personally, I
don’t find mention of a cave in Revelation although maybe it’s there
somewhere. And I find the “evidence”
that the Grotto is the actual cave where John received the Holy Spirit and the
Revelation to be not very convincing.
We also visited
the Monastery of St. John that sits like a castle on top of the steep
mountain. St. Christodoulos
built the monastery around AD 1088. In
the museum of this monastery we saw a 5th century manuscript of Mark
9. This was definitely pretty neat,
although I could not make out any of the words because they have faded a lot.
The highlight of
the island was listening to and singing along with Acappela’s
John the Revelator. How many
people can say that they have done that?
Probably some members of Acappella cannot.
***
Our boat docked at
A turkey (the bird) has nothing to do with
We battled the cold on arrival at the archaeological
site. The visit was still quite worth it
though. Only one-eighth of the ancient
city has been excavated in the past 130 years, but it is already a large
site. Estimates are that it will take
nearly 1,000 years to uncover the rest of the city, which had a population of nearly
250,000 people.
We walked down 3 of the major roads in the city that
were mainly used for horses and chariots.
Sidewalks were available in most areas for pedestrians and were covered
in beautiful mosaics. As we walked down
the hill via the first road, we passed the political agora, stoas,
a hospital, the Fountain of Trojan, the Tomb of Memmius,
and the
Like other sites we have seen,
The street ends at
the Library of Celsus where it intersects with
another street. The library façade has
been reconstructed at a cost of over $1,000,000 (expensive jigsaw puzzle). It was the third largest library in the
ancient world, but it also served as a tomb for Celsus.
Across the street
are the remains of a building for the world’s oldest profession. Just down the street, an advertisement for
this brothel is carved into the marble sidewalk. And apparently demand was strong enough for a
tunnel to be built from the library to the brothel by passing under the
road.
Immediately next
to the library is the huge commercial agora.
This is where Demetrius, a silversmith who
sold statues of Artemis, started a riot against Paul because Paul and other
Christians were hurting the business of Demetrius. A mob of people grabbed Gaius
and Aristarchus and took them a short distance (40
yards or so) to the theater where they shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis
of the Ephesians.” Paul was prevented
from going to talk to the crowd by others with him and the riot was eventually
dispelled by the town clerk who reminded the people that
Paul addresses the
Ephesian saints in a letter to the church. We also have evidence of Paul’s love for the Ephesian church and her elders in Acts 20:13-38 when Paul
bids the elders farewell, knowing it will be his last time to see them.
After a brief
devotional in the theater, we headed for the bus and back to our ship. We took advantage of some free time to shop
in the bazaar before boarding the ship and leaving
The
Somewhere on the
island there once stood a statue known as the
We left the port
city for an hour drive to Lindos. This city offered some beautiful views of the
sea. WE walked through the narrow
streets and climbed the acropolis to view the fortress on top. During our free time in the city, some of our
group discovered some things that are unheard of in all the rest of
Overall, I was
disappointed on Rodos. Our guide failed to make his wealth of
information relevant or interesting. He
was very knowledgeable and constantly came up with something to talk about, but
his non-stop talking made me long for our free time. Perhaps this is only my opinion, but I have a
feeling it was shared with several others.
After another
early (ungodly even) wake up call, we visited
Several legends
are connected with this site. The
Labyrinth and the Minotaur are two of these. There is also the story of Thesius, the Prince of Athens, who went into the labyrinth,
defeated the minotaur, and
found his way back out because he placed a string along his path. On his return voyage to Athens, he did not
change his flag from black to white as Aegeus his
father instructed. When his father saw
the black flag, he was filled with grief and threw himself into the sea, which
is named after him today—the Aegean Sea.
Move over Mykonos. I believe Santorini takes top prize of the islands I’ve visited. We arrived in the afternoon and ascended the
cliff on foot, by cable car, or by donkey.
I chose the latter and took one of the slower donkeys available (not
that I had a choice). But he made it to the
top and I walked around looking at all the shops. We thankfully did not do a tour group on this
island as I was completely toured out.
It was relaxing to walk around, browse through art galleries, talk with
shop owners, and watch the sunset.
The island has
some interesting history behind it. In
the late 17th century BC, the volcano (still active) erupted causing
most of the island to sink into the sea.
This is the reason for the crescent shape of the island and the cliffs
on the interior side of the crescent. If
there is any place where the city of Atlantis might have existed, many
speculate this could have been the place.
I don’t guess we will ever know.
Though it is not
the fault of anyone in charge, this was too much for me. We did Mykonos for
3 days, Italy for 5 days, and a 4-day cruise with only a couple days between
each one. I know that free travel will
be more intensive, but it is also with fewer people and no one is deciding for
you where you must be and when. I like
this freedom; however, there are times when I like more structure as well.
Things are winding
up and I can honestly say I’m ready to go home.
There are so many people that I miss and cannot wait to see both in
Searcy and in Bentonville. This isn’t an
exhaustive list, but I miss my parents, Johnny, Miller, Kat, Trey, Katie, Kirk,
Ruth Anne, Cary, Bekah, and Tim and Becky Hicks. It won’t be long. I love you all!