Week of Aug. 16, 2009

Sunday: I think it was January of 2008 when we decided we wanted to go on a vacation to Santorini, Greece, and today we made it happen. It was just as beautiful as in all the pictures -- the pretty white homes with blue doors, the blue-domed churches, the pink sky at sunrise, the deep green-blue of the Aegean Sea. We ate a tasty lunch as we learned to make tomato pancakes (fritters) and fava puree, and we got to explore the small villages of Oia and Fira. Today we walked 7.5 miles, and enjoyed a spectacular fireworks and pyrotechnic show recreating the volcano explosion. 8/16 Monday: Today we got to Kusadasi, Turkey, and took a bus to Ephesus and then took a walking tour of the ruins. This was an awesome excursion, to say the least -- it was exciting to me to be walking where St. Paul walked and seeing all the details that still remain after 1500 years. I loved walking through the archaeological site where the terrace homes are being unearthed and put back together (see photo). The evening entertainment on the ship started with a Turkish folk-dance troupe and ended with music. Allen and I danced to the music from the top-deck, enjoying the smell of the salty air, the Mediterranean breezes, and the twinkling stars. The setting was perfectly romantic and we had a great time dancing. 8/17Tuesday: This may be the most glorious sunrise I've ever seen, and it was the view from our balcony when I woke up this morning. As we approached Rhodes this morning, I was so excited to see a medieval castle. We visited the Acropolis of Lindos, had lunch at a cafe overlooking the sea, took a quick trip to the beach while we waited for our food and dipped our feet in, and toured a castle built by the Knights of St. John. In the afternoon, we walked through Old Town Rhodes and since parts of the cobblestone streets were deserted, it was easy to imagine how it was 700 years ago. After walking 5.7 miles, we enjoyed a delightful five-course meal in our room. 8/18 Wednesday: Today we were at Mykonos. We visited a monastery, walked on a beach, tasted ouzo, and walked through the labyrinth of a village that was built in such a way to protect the people from pirates. We walked through a bakery that's been in business for over 400 years, photographed Little Venice (see photo), and saw the old windmills. The wind was quite strong today, but the water was even more brilliant than the photo shows. 8/19

Thursday: We had relaxed morning since we didn't get to Istanbul until lunchtime. We toured the Chora Church where we saw mosaics so amazing they brought tears of joy to my eyes. We also went to the Hagia Sofia which was Allen's favorite part of our entire trip. It was, indeed, an impressive building, and it was hard to keep in mind that it was 1500 years old. We also toured the cisterns and the busy bazaar where we finally found some gifts for the kids. I was tired, but I still put a little energy into haggling to get a good deal on four little folk costumes. 8/20

Friday: We woke up at 2:00 am and made our way to the airport in Istanbul. After stopping in Frankfurt and Dallas, we finally made it to Waco and got our long-awaited hugs from the kids. It was wonderful to see them, but we have to rest a bit to get back on the right schedule after the 8-hour time-change. The photo was taken from the ship at 2:00am. 8/21

Saturday: We are still trying to get back to normal, but we are sure tired. I watched Will work a puzzle this afternoon. Although vacation was awesome, it is so good to have our family back together. 8/22