Vatican, Pompeii, Ephesus and Athens.

Note: Internet on our cruise costs .75 a minute so we’ve used it sparingly (check Oilers scores etc.) That being said, Angie and I and Becky too, have been journaling and what exists below is a week’s worth. My post focuses on the wonders of The Vatican, Pompeii, Ephesus and Athens while Angie and Becky will entertain you with stories of Istanbul and the cruise. It’s a lot, a ton actually, but as always, you don’t have to read ok, jk. We’ll be posting a slew of pictures when we get to Rome in a few days. Our hotel will have free internet. If you don’t have time to read, please know, we are all doing quite well and although we have begun to experience the dreaded travel fatigue (it’s been 6 weeks now) we have navigated through it fairly nicely and look forward to our final month volunteering in Spain. The cruise couldn’t have come at a better time actually. Once again, thank you Calgary CofC, for your part in making this cruise happen. We love and miss you all!!!

John

As our funky tour guide irreverently informed us about the history of the world’s wealthiest business / church, I couldn’t help but feel angrily impressed. On the one hand, the sheer splendor of The Vatican is mind boggling. For a place (a country actually) with nearly 2000 years of history, millions of individual cathedrals/ churches, billions of paying customers/followers (although rapidly declining in recent years), and a net worth of over a trillion dollars (give or take) it’s hard not to be impressed. Still, many skeletons fill the Vatican’s closet -some are unavailable even to the paying public lined up outside its walls (the average wait time is 2 hours to tour the museum -close to 4 in peak season, which is why we booked a tour- 5 min wait time) so I went in with mixed feelings. The tour lasted a few hours but by the end I felt the effects of trying to wrap my mind around 1700 years of religious history and art. After the 239th statue I was beginning to feel like I was one, minus the interesting crotch.
The climax was the Sistine Chapel (of course) where I learned that Michelangelo not only resented having to do the job, he painted himself into the ceiling as a way of saying “I’d rather be sculpting.” The chapel lived up to its reputation though and my craned neck is still recovering. Pictures are prohibited in the chapel because the camera empire Nikon has copyrights to the paintings. Yep. I’m serious. So I say boycott greedy Nikon. Anyways. We were exhausted by the end of the tour and so we decided to save the world’s largest church (St. Peter’s Basilica) for next week when we return to Rome for 3 days. Later that evening we boarded Carnival Freedom –thus beginning our 12 day Mediterranean Cruise.

First stop, Pompeii. 1930 years ago the rich residents of Italy’s Pompeii were minding their own posh business when they heard a fierce explosion. The initial eruption had shot volcano guts 12 miles into the sky giving our Roman friends just enough time to finish supper before realizing that they were about to die. The earliest realizers decided not to take any chances with this foreign ash (our ancient friends had no idea they were living at the foot of an active volcano) so they hightailed it out of there. The easy going rest procrastinated too long. Their almost surprised expressions have been captured brilliantly by plastering archaeologists. As I stood over their plastered forms (now encased in glass) I felt an enthralled embarrassment as I looked down at their final moments. Teeth, bones, skulls were not only visible but still intact. The ash had done its work well preserving them for nearly 2000 years and keeping them hidden for 1600 years before being accidentally discovered (as most of these places are). Most people assume Pompeii was done in by hot seeking lava, nope, that was Herculaneum, the next town over. The residents of Pompeii were done in by poisonous volcanic gases. The said ash buried and preserved them -as is- giving today’s world the most complete and accurate information on the life and times of a first century Roman. Walking through this town was more than surreal. It was super surreal. (nice one John)

Most of the houses are still intact, minus the roofs where the ash piled, including the frescoes on the walls and mosaics on the floors. One particular mosaic, on the floor of Pompeii’s largest home (a massive 27,000 square feet) displayed in grand fashion the Victory of Alexander the Great. Its 1.5 million individual tiles -each one the size of my pinky finger nail- was impressive to say the least. In some places, the preservation was so complete it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe the house was left vacant just last year – this was especially true in the bathhouse and brothel. The bathhouse was fantastic - containing a change room with ancient lockers, a warm section where steam was piped through the floors creating a first century sauna experience; a cold section where the residents could cool off under the splash of the fresh water piped in thanks to the smart aqueduct system (we also saw some of the original lead piping). The technology in the bathhouse was impressive right down to the perfectly placed window allowing a ray of sunshine in each day (Angie took a great picture) and the ribbed ceiling preventing the condensation from dripping back down on the bathers, which, I know... I hate that.

I mentioned the ancient brothel which, I’m here, I paid, might as well go in, right? So I did. As I entered this small room I quickly discovered where most of the tourists were. Many were suppressing grins while others were openly laughing at the graphic wall paintings advertising the different services offered. There were 6 stone stalls still containing the original beds and pillow places (minus the mattresses and linens thank God). Not a lot of privacy I noticed and the acoustics were unfortunately brilliant. The brothel was just around the corner from the local bar which was… convenient. The other Pompeian highlights were: a small amphitheatre, temple ruins, first century fast food joints (seriously) and the public toilet. The level of sophistication in this town surprised me and I was reminded once again that ancient doesn’t mean inferior.

A few days later we went to Ephesus. If there had been a “Top Ten Cities of Antiquity”, Ephesus would have been in the top 5, maybe even top 3 after Rome and Athens. As I’ve said before, we signed up for this cruise largely for the ports of call or stops along the way. Although I knew Izmir, Turkey was one of our stops, I had absolutely no idea that it was only 30 minutes from Ancient Ephesus. When I discovered it I told Becky and we danced the Ephesus jig. It needs work. Anyways, we decided to go against our travelling principles and book a professional excursion with the cruise line instead of wing Ephesus on our own. With only 6 hours to see Ephesus, including transportation there and back, we wanted every moment to count. It ended up being great as our Turkish Tour Guide was both a gentleman and a scholar not to mention very passionate and proud of his heritage. He spouted Turkish history and politics on the way there and back as well as the Ephesus tour so we all felt like we got a super sized excursion. Anyways, Ephesus.

For the sake of your time and mine I won’t go into all the history surrounding this great city. Basically, it was a major port town for about 600 years leading up to the time of Christ. As the sea began to recede, so did the ships, its primary business. This caused most of its residents to pack up and move to the next city over leaving Ephesus 1, as our tour guide called it, to slide into decay. As time passed a Roman Emperor decided to resurrect it but built it inland between 2 mountains (his reason was not just practical but religious as he hoped to keep the Ephesians away from Artemis and her holy temple) The people complained, as people do, but in the end they gave in (as people do) and made the mountains their new home. This became Ephesus 2 or the Ephesus from scripture that we all know and have read.

As we stepped off the bus I was greeted by the said mountains and hundreds of men and woman desperate to sell their touristy and always tacky Ephesus wares. Our strong guide bulled his way through the mob creating space for us to follow. Our tour had begun. For the next 3 hours I walked through the town I had only studied in seminary and read about in Acts, Revelation and of course Ephesians. I saw it all, its houses, shops, shrines, temples, statues, altars but if I had to choose my top 3 it would be the marble streets we walked on, the library ruins and of course, the amphitheatre where Paul’s companions were tortured in hopes of smoking out Paul. Paul had wanted to come out of hiding and preach to the raging crowd, but it was too dangerous. You can read all about it in Acts 19, as I did to Angie, Maddie and Becky as we sat and took it all in. The theatre’s design was impressive allowing room for 25,000+ but even better, allowing each of the twenty five thou to hear what the speaker below was saying. One eccentric lady with Shakespeare in hand tested the acoustics repeatedly until finally a local from the same level as us, yelled out the words we all wanted to say “shut up, crazy lady.” Haha, poor embarrassed lady walking away all dejected, she had probably waited her whole life to spout Shakespeare in Ephesus’ theatre (no connection between the two by the way).

The streets of marble were breathtaking, especially the main one leading from the town gate to the great library, even more so as our guide reconstructed the buildings, statues and shrines along its way. The marble has either been taken or worn right down so imagination is key, although in some spots the original remains. As I sat on the library’s steps and looked down the road I realized how beautiful this city must have been. It would have glowed, literally. Once again, Angie took some pictures so you’ll have to check them out. Becky too. (I mean check out her pictures, although she’s pretty impressive too- and single). The library ruins is the structure seen on most Ephesus postcards and for good reason. Even the illiterate would be impressed. At its steps, ancient philosophers would hock their thoughtful wares giving the ancient Ephesians intellectual exercise. I asked the guide if Paul would have hocked his and he said probably not because he would have been killed. Haha, fair enough. One thing that was very apparent was that the cult of Artemis was not only present but integrated smoothly into every aspect of daily life. She was the supreme goddess and deserved total devotion and loyalty. (For all the history lovers - she is called Diana by the Romans and Isis by the Egyptians).

Anyways, as I learned more I felt greater respect for Paul. He was insane to spout off about Yahweh in a land loyal to Artermis alone and he is lucky he made it out alive. (It’s like me trying to convert to the mobs of the Saddledome to the Oilers, kinda). Anyways, at the end of the tour, after we had walked for 3 hours taking in hundreds of buildings, statues and sites our guide looked at us and said “and to think, only 17% of Ephesus has been excavated.” It is one of the seven ancient wonders for a reason. I’ll never forget it.

We went to Athens yesterday and if it wasn’t for the surprisingly huge crowds (in November??) and scaffolding (they are restoring the Acropolis) I would have put it right up there Ephesus. That being said, even a crowded and under construction Athens is remarkable and we had a great day including a walk through the Agora (Acts 17) and a Greek lunch in legendary Plaka. Angie loved the food so much I started to get stuffed vine leaf envy. Anyways, I’m tired of typing which, if you made it here, you must be really tired so I’ll write more later. Tyler asks me how we can type so much on our holiday. I think about how much we’ve taken in and how my heads hurts and wonder “how can we not?” We are truly blessed and are grateful for this one in a lifetime trip. Thanks for sharing it with us, it means the world.

John