Jesus Home Town Nazareth - 2009 Vacation Part 7

Our cruise ship left Rhodes and sailed to Haifa, Israel. Here we took a tour bus to Nazareth - home town of Jesus. We have visited the Church of Annunciation. This is the place where the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God took place.
The walls around the courtyard are lined with pictures from all over the world about Mary and baby Jesus.
Above are some of the pictures from all over the world.
The door of the church with stories of Jesus carved.
Wall decoration after we entered.
The site behind me is where the original church was. This is the place angel Gabriel reveled to Mary.
The main hall of the church.
Window in the main hall is decorated with different designs of Mary and baby Jesus.
Wall of the main hall is also decorated with designs from all over the world.
2000 years ago, people were living underground according to archeologist.
Jesus family was living in a cave similar this this one. Exact location is not known but very close to this one.
Outside of the church.

Rhodes - 2009 Vacation Part 6

The cruise ship docked at Rhodes after leaving Kusadasi. Rhodes is an island at southern Greece. We finally left the rain clouds!

The medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes is just steps away from the port. Taxi are black and white. The vehicles in the street are taxi - not police cars.

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World is what makes Rhodes famous for. The giant sculpture's two legs were stepping on each side of the mouth of the port. The original bronze sculpture was destroyed in an earthquake. Today there is a bronze deer (symbolize Rhodes) sculpture on the site. On the left side of my picture where the mouth of the port is one of the base of the Colossus of Rhodes.

Local mini market in a quiet street.
Main street in the medieval Old Town.
Town center.
Quiet residential area.
Locals set up shops in front of their homes. They don't seem to be eager if business comes to them. They were relaxing and chatting.
I saw this armor in front of a shop and can't resist to take a picture. It gives protection for sure but it is so awkward and heavy. I would be too tired even just to walk wearing this let alone to fight.
Entrance to the clock tower.
The clock tower - highest point of Rhodes.
The mosque next to the clock tower.
Flowers in Rhodes are similar to what we have in S. CA. However, I really like this color that is not common.
One of the gates of the wall. Outside is the port of Rhodes.
Our cruise ship Vision of the Seas docking in Rhodes.

Ephesus - 2009 Vacation Part 5

Ephesus, Turkey is an ancient Roman city. Virgin Mary spent her last years here. Today it is one of the best preserved Roman town. I have been here a little over two years ago. Seeing it again reminded me happy times we had here back then too.
Old temple - we can only imagine with the remaining columns.

Roman sculptures are incredible. Take a look of this angle. She is still so beautiful with grace weathered more than two thousand years.This is a typical Greek column design.

A large building.

The library.
A sculpture at the entrance of the library.

We can tell how large this city was in Roman days.

The road in the town center is very wide.

A very large and well preserved theater.

Romans must really know how to live. The buildings are all beautifully decorated. Sculptures are very beautiful. And they have such a large theater for their entertainment.

Cruise - 2009 Vacation Part 4

It was showering the day we get on the cruise ship in Istanbul. We took our time enjoying breakfast in the hotel. Waiting for the bus we have asked the hotel to arranged at the lobby, we have met yet another couple from the US going to the same cruise.

Bus arrived shortly. Staff from the hotel helped us to move the luggage on the bus. There were people going to two cruise ships so we had a large bus.

Bus went through the Golden Horn bridge. Our cruise ship was docked on the other side.
There were many fishing on the bridge.
I had planned to get out on the side where ship docked to look around. Well, the weather wasn't cooperating. It was showering most of the time after we got on the cruise ship. We have already seen all the must see sites. No one wanted to go out. Then we just enjoy the cruise facilities. Ship sailed the next day. It was a little rough. Captain was not able to come to the welcoming party. We appreciate him being on the bridge more. Other senior officers hosted the party well. I understood my limitations on motion sickness so I have already gotten a couple packages of medicines from the ship's medical facility. I took just 1/4 of the adult dosage since I am very sensitive to this kind of medicine. That was just the right amount. I had great time dancing and enjoyed dinner.

We were on this ship last year going to the Mexican Riviera. Everything was familiar coming back. The ship's maintenance has been super. Everything still look spotless and shinny after more than 1 year. All the staff were just as hospitable as before.

Ship took more than a day sailing from Rhodes to Israel. We had another formal night. I think I better wear these pretty dresses before getting too old. I enjoyed dancing again. Music was pretty good on this cruise - a lot better than the Mexican cruise last year.

Lots of walking and all the dancing helped me not gaining any weight although eating a lot on the cruise.

Topkapi Palace and Museum of Archeology - 2009 Vacation Part 3

Topkapi Palace in Turkey is one of the world culture heritage sites. It is a representation of architecture of Ottoman period.

Weather was pretty good the 3rd day we arrived in Istanbul. We took a short walk after breakfast to the Palace.
The gate is not as grand as some of the other palaces we have been in the world before but it holds its own. Everyone had to dismount before the gate except the Sultan back in the imperial days.
This long corridor used to be the place for carriages.

The courtyard is very large. There were many very old trees like this one.
Doors are fine decorated with gold and color marbles.
Buildings are heavily influenced by Greek and Roman designs.There are colorful tiles for decoration everywhere. Patterns show very fine details in design. After so many hundreds of years exposed outside, the tiles are still so colorful.
There are several of finely decorated marble wash with gold by the entrance of buildings.
View is unbeatable. This side looks out to the bridge connecting Europe and Asia. Istanbul is the only city in the world that situates on both continents.Classical decorated building.Beautiful stained glass windows.
Lovely tiles on a wall. I wonder if they have used real gold burning into the tile. Otherwise it would not be so shinny with rich gold color after hundreds of years.
The colorful marbles (under the tiles) reminded me of marbles in Hagia Sophia.

This is where the parliament met.

We went to a restaurant just outside of the park where the Palace and the archeology museum are located. We wanted to rush back to visit the museum.

We have ordered a mixed meat and a beef sausage pita sandwiches to share. There are lots of food. It came with salad too. We were not able to finish all the food among 4 of us. It was good that we have asked before ordering.
Pita sandwiches were not what we had imagined. The pita sandwiches we have had in the US. The pita sandwiches we have had in the US are almost the same as regular sandwich but using pita bread instead. The pita bread puff up with an air pocket. Cutting the break in half, one can stuff lettuce and meat inside. In better places, they use homemade yogurt source with special spices for the sandwich. Other places just use Ranch dressing. Turkish pita sandwich is more like a pizza. They use different spices so the pita sandwich tasted different from a pizza. The just made pita has very thin crest. It is crispy and soft at the same time. The smell of the pita sandwich just make you want another piece. It is delicious!

The Museum of Archeology is big with 4 major buildings. The treasures inside really surprised us.
Alexandra the Great sculpture was done 300-400 BC.

The legendary Alexandra stone coffin. This was also done 300-400 BC. You can still see the colors. The sculptures around all 4 sides depicts the major battles he was in.

Resting in the open coffee shop in the museum.

Another pleasant surprise was seeing these from the Babylon period.

We had very good impression about Istanbul.