Mykonos is aMazing

Mykonos is aMazing

Let's start with the fun...

♪ ♫ I am I Don Quixote... ♫ ♪

Mykonos is home to some pretty incredible beaches: Paradise, and Super Paradise Beach.  The people are young, and the party is never ending.

Join us here in our search for Paradise Beach:

Why else do I like Mykonos?  On Mykonos, every picture you take has Facebook profile picture potential that will last you at least three weeks before you feel like you need to change it again.

Case and Point

 And there are donkeys.

In the morning, he's making waffles.

Christos Anesti!

 There is still the occasional really typical looking Greek thing.  Over here we have your orthodox church with old man sitting in front of it just to remind you that you're still in Greece.

But Mykonos has so much more that just the same Greek stuff you find on every other island.

I don't quite know how to explain it, but...

Mykonos has freedom and happiness.

Look, I'm free AND happy!  (Please ignore my work uniform.  I'm at least happy).

 And an incredible view of these windmills.

♪ ♫ the Lord of La Mancha... ♫ ♪

Sure, it's a party town.

But, you just might want to do this all day.

Go right ahead.

Especially if you look like these two.

Most people on the island are beautiful.

(This is actually one of our waitresses and a chef).

You're going to want to do this every five minutes.  And I don't blame you.

Want to see what they're taking a picture of?  Next picture.

After all, I did.

See the windmills?

 I love these windmills.

♪ ♫ And the wild winds of fortune will carry me onward wither soever they blow! ♫ ♪

I did mention in my movie trailer up above that we were searching for Paradise Beach, right?  Yes, well we did make an attempt.  Here is Jennifer looking all badass and ready to go.

 We didn't quite make it that day.  There was an unfortunate accident.

Anyway, let me distract you from footage of a jeep ride instead!  At least this way, you can see more of the topography of Mykonos, without my friends having to relive their ATV experience.

 But let's say that we did make it to Paradise beach on another day.  If we did, it probably would have looked a little something like this:

For those with families, there are plenty of other "normal" beaches.  Take Hornos for example:

If none of my above reasons have convinced you to come to Mykonos, then here is where I play my trump card.

THE STRAWBERRY CAIPIRINHA at the Castro Bar

This is the best drink in the world.

 If you didn't know already, and if the name of this bar didn't give it away, Mykonos is a safe haven and a gathering place for members of the LGBT community, and this bar might as well be the headquarters.  So, what am I doing there?  Providing eye candy of course!

No, seriously, it is the best drink in the world.  Jennifer and I were even grandfathered in to the original 9 Euro price (it went up to 10 during our season of stopping by).

And here is the man who made it!  Alex!  (Or was it Carlos?  Spiros?  No...Alex, I think).

How is my neck doing that?

 Inevitably, it will be time to leave Mykonos, (unless you decide to move there, and then congratulations to you!)  But, for the rest of us, this sad moment eventually come around.  At least for us, we got to take an amazing tender ride back to the ship during the sunset.

Watch the video and try to imagine the ocean spray.

 ^_^

Viewing sunsets from the Greek islands.  Put it on your list, NOW!

 The moral of my story: everyone needs to go to Mykonos.  On, Mykonos, everybody is a winner.

I am the winner.

Next time:  The Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete and the ancient Minoan civilization.

Patmos, the Island of Exile

Patmos, the Island of Exile

What is on the Island of Patmos?  Really not much, but that is how it has always been, and that is how it continues to be today.  It's a place you can go to get away from it all, or in John's place, it's a place you can go while you wait for the current emperor to die, and in the meantime receive the Revelation.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The main mountain (or hill) of Patmos has a feature that is common amongst the islands of Greece, and that is the confusing-as-heck neighborhoods that only a local can navigate.  This absurd layout of city streets served as the number one anti piracy device employed by the locals.  Pirates would just have no clue where they were going, as we experienced ourselves on this day.

We went up...

And then down.
Down, down, down, the rabbit hole...

Really no clue where we were going.

So, we asked one of the locals, but none us spoke dog Greek, so we just named him Patmos, and he followed us around the rest of the day.

Finally, we stumbled upon the cave, *ahem* cave?  Okay, well it's a house now, but it's the cave where John received the Revelation.  So it is said.

No photographs inside, so here is an overexposed picture of me with a flash that lights up the inside of the house-cave.

In side, and to the right, in the corner opposite the entrance, there is a little indentation in the wall with a rock that kind of looks like a pillow.  They say that this is where John laid his head when he slept.  Not very comfortable.  Now, no one can say for sure that this is the exact place where the Revelation was given to John, but it is the island, and it is the mountain.  And at the very least, it is the place chosen to commemorate the event, and that is pretty cool.

But, unfortunately, they close early.  Sorry, Marcy!

So, what do you do after a day of getting lost on top of a mountain in an old maze of a city?  You head back down to the port cafe's and enjoy good Greek food and wifi, of course!

Tzatziki!  Order it every time.  Just do it.

Pork Souvlaki and the best tasting tomatoes of your life.

Honey and walnut crepes, and wifi.

Next time:  The Island of Mykonos!  One of the top 10 islands of the world.

Ephesus, the Great City

Ephesus,
The Great City

In my opinion, if the Mediterranean were a ring, Ephesus would be the diamond.

This single blog entry will attempt to show you as much of the ancient city as I can in a short amount of time.

First of all, this happened:

That's me singing in the ancient theater.  My mother was holding the camera.  "Surprise mom!  You don't know what I'm about to do, but trust me you'll love it."  This was the very theater of the uprising in Acts chapter 19.  The Apostle Paul was so effective in his preaching that the idol makers union got really upset.  I encourage you to read all about it.

While we're at it, here is another fun little video.  My friend Jennifer and I were each escorting two different groups of guests through the ruins, so every time I would see her pass, I'd catch her in a shot.  Then I compiled them all together here.  We liked to poke fun at each other a lot.  She is a great friend.

In  2013, I had many opportunities to visit the ruins of Ephesus because my ship would dock in the nearby port of Kusadasi about ten times, the first time being May 20th, and the last time on October 16th.

 The first time I was there, I took a bus up to the mountains that look down on the city of Ephesus wear it's said that the Apostle John took Mary the mother of Jesus.

This is an ancient baptismal in those mountains.

 It it up here that some claim to have found the "Virgin Mary House."  This doesn't make since because we don't say the "Infant Baby Jesus"  He grew up people.  And similarly, Mary...well, you get the point.  Anyway, this is an old house, but it was found because a German nun had a vision.  For some, this is all the proof you need, for others, it's just a house in the mountains.  Nevertheless, it's an experience for many to enjoy should they choose to take the opportunity to do so.

At the bottom of those mountains you'll find the ruins of Ephesus.

I'm going to take you through the ruins of the great city now.  Even though the following pictures were taken on various trips, I have placed them in order from start to finish as if you were walking through them yourself.

The first thing you'll notice (if you know to look for it) is the mixture of Roman and Grecian architecture.  To put it simply, everything made of marble is Greek, and everything made of brick came later with the Romans.  Here you can see a Roman bath house.
 

The citizens of Ephesus didn't know how lucky they were to be living in one of the only cities in the ancient world with pipes that were not made out of lead.  Below, you can see the cone shaped clay pipes that were fit one into the other.

An odeon is a covered theater.  And that is what you're looking at in the next picture.  Can you imagine that being covered?

By these three columns, a fire to Hestia was kept burning all day, and all night long.  It was tended to by virgins.  These ladies who attended the fire had to stay virgins until the age of 30, or else they were killed.  I advise they not ride any horses.

Marks on the columns would indicate the occupation of the person inside the building next to it.  Take a look at the left side of this column, and you will see the ancient symbol for doctor, the snakes bending around a pole, that is still used to this day.

If you turn to the left after the doctor's office you run into Dometian's temple.  This Emperor (statue on the left) is the reason why the Apostle John was exiled to Patmos.  He did a lot of not nice things, but then his wife (statue on the right) had him killed.  And so it goes in ancient Rome.

Turning around and leaving Dometian behind us, we find the relief of Nike on our left.  This is the winged Greek goddess of Victory.  This is the very relief that the Nike company gets its name and logo from as Jennifer helps us by demonstrating.  Can you see the Nike Swoosh in her dress?  Jennifer even has a few in her shirt.

This next section of Ephesus is one of my favorites.  You're about to go down a long smooth marble paved open road that is flanked by columns, statues, and fountains.  And at the very bottom stands the Ephesus library, the iconic symbol of the ancient city.

I took this next picture to show you all the land that used to be water.  In ancient times, Ephesus was a major sea port, but through the centuries the land silted and swamped, and made the area uninhabitable.  Nowadays, it has dried up and people are back in the land, but the nearby port is now Kusadasi, about a 20 minute drive away.

 Jennifer stands on one of my favorite picture spots in all of Ephesus.

This cat thinks it's a god.

 The following fountain on my right was my favorite for one reason.  If you look at that ball in the middle, it's all that's left of a statue of the Emperor Trajan.  Actually, maybe the statue is in a museum, I don't know.  But the point is, his foot used to rest on that ball and that ball represents the world, as if to say, "I rule the whole world."  Okay, so what's the big deal about that?  Well, this is 1,500 years before Columbus.  They always knew the world was round.

Towards the bottom of the street, if we make a right turn, we find the public restrooms.  In those times, you could buy a sponge at the door, come in, do your business, and then see dip your sponge in the running water flowing through that groove on the floor, and then clean up.

If Ephesus was a ring, the library would be its diamond.

Sofia, knowledge.  As in Philysophy.  Love of knowledge.  Fitting for a library.

Arches

 Though hard to read, this is not any official text, but rather ancient graffiti.  It translates roughly into, "Whoever takes a dump here will be in danger of being tortured by Hecate forever."

Within Ephesus, to the left of the library, there is an covered exhibition still in progress, and if you want you can buy tickets and have a guided tour of what's going on inside.

This sections of Ephesus is called the Terrace Houses, and it's where many affluent people of the day lived.

Above the Terrace houses, you can take a picture of yourself stepping on top of a column.  Who knows?  Perhaps in ten years when you come back, this will be dug out, and you can point to the top of a column, and show this picture and say, "I once stood on top of that column!"

Moving on, I'd like to talk a little more about the Apostle Paul.  When you read through the book of Acts, you can't help but pick up on how Paul has a great love for this city.  I think he spent more time here than anywhere else.  In fact, when he knew he wasn't going to be coming back to Ephesus anymore, he gives his most emotionally charge speech to the elders of this city strengthening them, and encouraging them, and warning them against false teachers.

Above is one of the places that historians claim Paul was held (for his own protection).  This hill lies to the south of the city, and if you look closely, you may even be able to spot it in my next picture.
Below is a panorama of the agora, or marketplace.  Paul would not have been a stranger in these parts.

Me in the marketplace where Paul walked.

The great theater of Acts 19.

When you are standing exactly where I am standing to take this picture, everyone in the theater can hear you clearly.  The wonders of ancient acoustics.

Here is a passageway that serves as one of several entrances and exits to the theater.

The theater is the final sight in Ephesus, but it is still a nice walk down to the southern exit.  I like this next picture because by looking at it, you can imagine Ephesus to be the port town that it once was.  Over two thousand years, the sea has silted and filled in, but in my imagination, I can once again put the water just beyond the treeline.

Alas, despite Paul's efforts the manufacture and sale of statues of the goddess Diana are still occurring to this day.  That's okay though, the church is strong today as a result of this efforts.

She's not holding a carton of eggs.  I'll let you research that one on your own.

But wait, there's more!  Just a five minute drive away from the ruins of Ephesus is the church of St. John.  From the ruins of that church, you can look just over the edge and zoom in on the last remaining column of the Temple of Artemis.  This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  You have to understand, this was the most grand feat of architecture to look upon in existence at that time.

Lastly, I want to show you the place where John the beloved Apostle is said to be buried.  Jesus really loved this guy.  Why is this important?  Because when you are here, your Bible becomes so much more real.  They aren't just stories.  Everything really happened, and I'm standing exactly where it all happened.

It is my sincere wish that everyone who has taken the time to read my blog can someday visit the great city of Ephesus.


Next time:  More on John the Apostle.  My time on the island of Patmos.