As the song says, "IT'S ISTANBUL, NOT CONSTANTINOPLE"

SATURDAY, SEPT. 26TH, Day 4:
On Saturday, September 26th, we said "good-bye" to Greece for awhile & "hello" to Turkey. The process of getting from one country to the next took about two hours. We had to change buses twice & then we met our gujide, Omer. He was an immediate hit with our group. I think he knew something about every rock & stone & monument & building in Turkey & could make it funny & interesting.

Our first destination - after eating a nice Turkish meal shortly after meeting Omer - was Istanbul, originally named Byzantium & then Constantinople. It is a city of 15 million & is the only city in the world that sits on two continents: Asia & Europe. The Bosphorus River runs through Istanbul & separates the two continents.

Before going to our hotel, we stopped to visit the Blue Mosque which derives its name from the predominance of blue tiles decorating the inside. We had to remove our shoes to enter. We did not need to cover our heads, but our knees & shoulders had to be covered. The mosque has 260 windows, six minarets, huge pillars, & large chandeliers. The lack of furnishings emphasized the vast spaciousness. There were no statues, icons, or sculpture. The carpet looked ike red velvet with blue flowers. Its name is actually Sultan Ahmed Mosque after the sultan who had it built in the 17th century.

As we left we headed to the area nearby which was once a Hippodrome where chariot races took place. Of interest there were two Egyptians obelisks, a serpentine column from Delphi, & a German fountain.

We bused to our hotel, settled in, had a nice meal in the hotel, & called it a day.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 27TH, Day 5:
After a nice breakfast in the hotel, we walked a short distance to the Topkapi Palace complex...a total of 26 buildings. It was the residence of the Ottoman Sultans from the 16th century until the empire fell in 1921. It iws now a museum.

As could be expected, the gardens & grounds were beautiful. We did not visit all of the buildings. We did see a large exhibit of the Sultans' clothes - from Ottoman to European styles. The Treasury rooms were filled with many gems & ornate articles. Gold & jewels were on everything - from thrones to rings. One eye-catcher was the Spoonmaker's Diamond: 86 carats - the 5th largest in the world. The Sacred Trusts room contained relics - including some of the bones of Moses & John the Baptist, Abraham's saucepan, Joseph's turban, & the apostle John's arm & skull.....sure! As we walked thru the rooms, we were "serenaded" by live chanting. In the room where the chanter was seated was a screen with words of the Koran scrolling. Omer explained that Jews & Muslims believe that just hearing words are good for you even if they are not understood. The Portrait Gallery contained portraits of all the Sultans. There was also a room where Parliament met with special seating above for the Sultan to watch. Omer pointed out the building which housed the kitchen & another which was the harem. There was more, but this sufficiently illustrates the grandeur & luxury of the Ottomans.

We bused to worship with the International church & enjoyed meeting the friendly, energetic people there. The song service was lively & the message for the day was a good one. I think it's noeworthy to point out that the congregation was taking homemade sandwiches to distribute to the street children after the services.

We bused to eat at a well known restaurant called lthe "Pudding Shop" & then walked to the Aghia Sophia. This is a church built in the 6th century over earlier churches, converted into a mosque when the Ottomans came into power, & then made into a museum around 1930. Much of the marble in the building came from the Temple of Artemis (Diana) in Ephesus. The inside was huge. Although it is not being used as a church now, it is the 4th largest church in the world. The dome has fallen twice because of earthquakes. (Work on its restoration has been going on for 20 years.) The ceiling has lovely mosaics & stained glass windows.

We walked to the Archaelogical Museum. Of particular interest to me: the Alexander Sarcophagus believed to be prepared for Alexander the Great; the beautiful Sarcophagus of the Crying Women; The Kadesh Peace Treaty (1258 B.C.) - the oldest known peace treaty in the world - between Ramesses II of Egypt & Hattusili III of the Hittite Empire; a portion of the Hammurabi Code Tablet; portions of the Babylonian walls; & statues & busts from ancient times. These are only a few of the thousands of Turkish, Greek, & Roman items on display.

We finished our touring by having tea with the Brinleys in the garden outside the museum. Rain threatened so we went back to the hotel & stayed in for the evening.

MONDAY, SEPT. 28TH, Day 6:
We are blessed each day with the opportunity for a wonderful breakfast before we begin our adventures! We bused to the Kirye (Chora) Church which is now a museum & which is located in an area which was once rural. It is Byzantine & was built in the 14th century. Particularly notable were the beautiful mosaic ceilings & frescoes. Except for these, it was rather bare & colorless. Interestingly, though, it was buttressed outside to protect against earthquakes.

We rode to the Ottoman Cemetery, but stopped for tea at Pierre Loti's Cafe right next to the cemetery. This provided refreshment & a great panoramic view of the Golden Horn, the beauti-ful bay/short river which separates the old & new European Istanbul. It runs into the Bosphorous River which separates European Istanbul from Asian Istanbul.

The cemetery is terraced on a steep hill & we traversed on a cobbled stone walkway across the hill viewing old & new graves. The older markers were of stone & generally shaped like a fez on top for the men & engraved with flowers for the women. (The flowers were usually roses & designated the number of her children.) The newer graves had marble monuments. Green is considered to be a holy color so some part of the gate or wrought iron fence around some plots were painted green. Most of the family plots were bordered with low white stone walls. I learned that Muslims do not believe in cremation.

We boarded our bus & drove to the Spice Market. It was crowded & full of shops displaying & selling meat, fish, tiles, spices, candy, scarves, teas, jewelry, linens, & on & on. I sampled my first "Turkish Delight" candy & found it quite good & not syrupy sweet as I expected it to be. Also had some hot apple tea which was very good.

We enjoyed a late lunch in a neat restaurant constructed in part of the old city wall across from the Marmara Sea.

After fortification from a nice lunch, we bused to the Grand Bazaar & more shopping. Omer told us there were 40o0 stalls in a space of 66 blocks. We browsed until we were dizzy & actually made a few purchases.

Our last excursion for this day was a one & a half-hour cruise on the Bosphorous River. The wind was whistling "Dixie"! Omer kept a running commentary on the sights as we passed mosques, palaces, universities, restaurants, gardens, parks, luxurious apartment buildings, & a fortress built by Mehmet the Conquereor to control & protect the Bosphorus. It was a great outing!

We rode back to our hotel, freshened up, had a great dinner, & did a bit of souvenir shopping at a nearby shop before turning in for the day.

We found the people in Istanbul to be friendly & helpful. Though it is predominately Muslim, the women here mostly wear western clothing & only cover their heads - many with very colorful scarves. Omer said there is a movement afoot to change this & encourage the women to return to their black clothing with all covered but their eyes while in public. It will be interesting to see if this comes to pass.

Better Late than Never - I guess...

I woke up feeling much better, but still had a little residual tiredness. As we departed the hotel in Thessalonica, Tim asked if we wanted to go a little out of our way & see the birthplace of Aristotle. We all did, so we headed to old Stagira. The white marble statue of Aristotle was in a pretty park-like area where various large instruments were placed around the grounds for guests to experience some of the principles Aristotle taught: for example, a prism, a water turbine, a pendulum, optical discs, & parabolic reflectors, to name a few. A little further away were the wall & ruins of ancient Stagira atop a mountain with a view of a beautiful bay below. The bay is a part of the Aegean Sea.

As we continued toward Philippi, we passed by the large Lion statue of Amphipolis. The 4th century lion had been pulled from a river & its original significance is not known. This now small community was mentioned in Acts 17:1 as a place Paul passed by on his way from Philippi to Thessalonica.

We entered the site of Philippi where Paul worked & established a strong church. Before viewing the ruins, we had a nice lunch on site in an open air restaurant. The ruins included a prison where Paul & Silas had been imprisoned. One of our students read from Acts 16 where this is recorded. Other ruins were: the Agora (Marketplace), the theatre, a Byzantine church, & a 5th or 6th century Basilica built to honor Paul. One of the guides in the area told us it was the oldest Greek church in Europe. It is still under excavation. Interesting was the baptistry in the shape of a cross. We walked along part of the Via Egnatia, the Roman road which ran from Rome to Byzantium.

We found the area where Lydia was supposed to have been baptized a quiet, lovely setting near a small stream. The section about this in Acts 16 was read aloud. Bob prayed & we all sang an appropriate song. Near this spot was a small chapel with beautiful glass windows, a painted cupola, & several icons around.

We travelled to Kavala where we stayed the night. Before heading to our hotel, we walked up a long, narrow, winding street to a Byzantine castle (fortress) which provided us a great view of the bay & city.

My notes are a bit skimpy for this day because I was sick during the night & I didn't feel up to par throughout the day. Dramamine took care of the problem, but it also produced a sleepy state.

The first site of the day in Vergina was only 15" from our hotel in Berea: the tombs of Philip II of Macedonia. The tombs were covered by an earthen mound, probably to hide & protect them from further looting. It was only uncovered in the late 1970s. The tomb purported to be that of Philip II had not been looted. Some of the items retrieved from the tombs were in display cases & included silver & bronze vessels, weapons, a gold larnax holding bones of Philip II, a gold oak wreath, & many other beautiful gold items. One of the other tombs might possibly have been that of Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great. Picture taking was not allowed.

We went back into Berea where I opted to stay on the bus while the rest of the group walked into the old Jewish Quarter to visit the 19th century synagogue. Only three Jewish families live in the area now. I joined the group when they walked back to see the "Paul Altar". According to tradition, the monument - with its Byzantine mosaics - was built in the spot where Paul stood & delivered his sermons while in Berea. (Acts 17:10-15) Paul said the Bereans were "more noble" than the Thessalonians he had met.

Our next stop was Mieza, where we viewed the remains of Aristotle's Institute. Alexander the Great was a student there from ages 13-16 years. There was not a great deal to see - stones & parts of walls, but it was a lovely setting by a stream. There was a building nearby which housed a gift shop, a small museum with a few statues & some other objects (according to Bob) & a room for viewing a film about the school. I 'm sorry I missed the film, but the Dramamine was having its effect & I took a nap on the bus.

My nap continued as we traveled to Thessalonica, the second largest city in Greece. Though I really wanted to see the sites, my energy was non-existent, so Bob took pictures & gave me a brief report. The visited the Archeological Museum which housed treasures from the tombs of Philip II in Vergina. There were many sarcophagi displayed outside of the museum. There was a lovely park to walk through on the way to the harbor. Other sites included a statue of Alexander the Great, a large Venetian Tower built in the 1400s, ruins of an agora, the Arch of Galerius, & a 7th century church, Hagia Sophia. The city was important in ancient times because it was a port city located on the Via Egnatia. It was the capital of Macedonia when Paul, Silas, & Timothy visited in 49-50 A.D. Paul preached to the Jews & God-fearing Greeks here. (Acts 17:2-4)

We stayed overnight in this historical city.

This is a late entry to a wonderful trip through Northern Greece & Turkey which began Wednesday, September 23rd & was completed on Monday, October 5th. I had wanted to write a little something about this experience before we started a three day trip to the Peloponnese which meant more ventures to record, but it didn't get done. So, here is Day 1 of our Northern Greece & Turkey trip.

We spent many hours on the bus, of course, but the scenery was beautiful & interesting: groves of olive trees, grape vineyards, cotton fields (a real surprise), many kinds of fruit trees, vegetable gardens, tobacco fields, herds of sheep &/or goats, bright blue bays, & mountains in every direction. The mountains at times were barren or sparsely vegetative & at other times forest-covered.

Our first stop was at the Pass of Thermopylae, where in 480 B.C. the small Grecian army of Spartans & Thebans fought a huge Persian army. The Greeks were defeated but their brave defense delayed the Persians on their way to war on Athens. A statue of the Spartan commander, Leonidas, & a small memorial to the Thebans marked the site. I've not seen the movie, but "300" commemorates this battle.

Next was an incredible drive to visit Meteora which means "suspended in air". Huge boulders rising 1000-1500 feet were the site for monasteries! They were initially built by Greek Orthodox monks in the 14th century & only accessible by ropes thrown from above. People were lifted up in baskets. Thankfully, steps are now available. There were 24 of these at one time, but only six have survivied. The scene of these beautiful structures perched precariously high above the ground is an amazing sight! They are still in use, but very few monks now live in them. They contain icons, mosaics, & frescoes. One was the setting for another movie I've not seen: James Bond's "For Your Eyes Only".

As we drove to Dion we caught sight of Mt. Olympas - visible for miles. It was a bit hazy, but we could get a few good photos. Dion (ancient name for Zeus) was a sanctuary city & the worship center for Zeus. It was at its peak during the time of Alexander the Great. The ruins were from Roman times: a small theatre & a large bath area with colorful mosaic floors. We made a quick run thru their museum where one of the oldest instruments ever discovered (uncovered?) was on display - a pipe organ, or at least a forerunner of the pipe organ.

We stayed in Berea that first night.

It's 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5th, Greek Time. Our group returned to our Hotel Home this morning around 9:00 a.m. We had a marvelous 12 day visit in Northern Greece & Turkey! We saw everything from monasteries, mosques, & mountains to ruins, relics, & palatial residences with a whole lot of other sites in between! Today is a rest, recover, & reflect day. Classes are back in session tomorrow. In a day or so, I will get my thoughts intact - with help from my faithful moleskin - & be a little more specific about our experiences. Thanks to those of you who take the time to read & respond!

Since my last entry, life has been good; fast, but good! Might tell you first about our big souvenir shopping spree - except for a meal or two, we have made two purchases: deodorant & corn pads. Not big news, but quite different from previous trips. Back to the significant stuff...we had a big day last Wednesday touring Nemea & Corinth - south of Athens. This is the area with the richest grape vineyards in Greece. Grapes & olives were growing everywhere. Of course, the scenery along the way is beautiful - the Saronic Gulf & various mountains. A lot of escavation has been done by the U. of CA in Berkeley in Nemea. We had a little time to browse their museum & view the Temple of Zeus. The new adventure we had was climbing the Acro-Corinth, the huge mountain which overlooks Corinth. During the time of Paul, there was a Temple to Aprodite there - only ruins of a church since built over it mark the site. There is also remains of a castle. The climb was a challenge, but it provided a magnificent view. On vacations when we hike, we don't usually attempt such a climb until we're good & acclimated. But, we made it with no ill effects the next day. It was nice to return to Corinth & walk through the ruins there. A lot had been roped off - probably to protect the area during the Olympics when hordes of tourists visited Greece. Of special interest was the Bema - where Paul appeared before Gallio - & the remains of the Temple of Apollos. Next was the Corinth Canal - one of man's creations - where we saw quite a few boats go through. And, the big event was Bungy Jumping here. It is the second highest Jump in the world, but that didn't deter 14 of our group - including Ali, our granddaughter! We watched them all & breathed a sigh of relief when it was all over. Friday afternoon most of us decided to try the transportation systems into the Mall & further into the Plaka. Some of the students bought the famous sandals made in the shops & some bought some clothing items. Except for missing our connection to the last bus where we exited the metro - resulting in a rather long wait for Tim to rescue the 7 of us stranded - it was interesting & fun. The students have been to the beach area here in Porto Rafti several times. We made it once & Bob enjoyed the water. I preferred to sit on a lounge chair covered with a towel because of the wind chill. We joined Tim & Rebecca at a dinner Friday evening at the Congo Palace, the site where the English speaking congregation meets on Sunday evenings & where HUG students once stayed. It has been upgraded to a 4 Star hotel (for the Olympics) & we hardly recognize it from previous visits. Anyway, Dino Roussos was host of the party honoring his family. One of his daughters from the U.S. was here with her family & he also had siblings here. There were lots of people from the church there & also the faculty with the Faulkner University group that is here for a semester. We enjoyed meeting them & asking about "old" friends from Montgomery. Yesterday - yes, Sunday - because of a schedule change - was a work day for all of us with worship at the hotel at 8:00 p.m. Bob & I helped "sweep the street" outside the gate. Actually, we shoveled dirt & debris & then swept along the wall. We joined in the painting of the wall, too. Griffiti is prone to appear on any clean surface, so we got that covered & hope it will stay that way for awhile. After the projects around the hotel were finished & a great meal was enjoyed, we each took a garbage bag & headed down one of two streets hoping to make the surrounding area a bit tidier. We ended up at the beach & picked up some trash there, too. We were all beat at the end of the day, but proud of our accomplishments, too. Bob's classes are going well, as are those of Tim & Rebecca & Vicky. I'm still hanging in with the ones I began. The students are a pleasure to be around & that makes everything even better. Today is Bob's birthday. They learned a Greek birthday song in Greek class today & serenaded him at the beginning of his Paul class. They had all signed a huge homemade card, too. (Ali had a hand in that.) Later there will be a cake, but he doesn't know that. We were scheduled to have a day of sailing tomorrow, but the winds are making the sea a bit choppy. We have really had some beautiful days here. Wednesday we leave for a 12 days trip to Northern Greece & Turkey. I don't know if we'll have access to a computer or not. I'll get in another blog when we return. We are looking forward to all of this. Thanks for reading & commenting. Please do so even more.

Saturday was Day Two for classes & Bob began his teaching. I sat in on the Bible Class re the apostle Paul. For introduction, he used a portion of a movie about Paul & continued with power points. It was interesting & will make our travels to the areas Paul traveled more meaningful. I also sat in on International Relations & I'm hoping it will prove beneficial, too. We both sat in on Greek class & now have some of the more frequently used phrases to practice on. We've been introduced to some of the shops & cafes up & down the street where we are & treated to gyros & ice cream here - both quite good! Sunday turned out to be a marathon day. We left via special bus at 10:00 a.m. & didn't return until 9:30 p.m. We attended worship services at the Greek congregation in the morning & with the English speaking congregation in the evening. Both were enjoyable. We have "whisper sets" so Tim can interpret for us. After morning services we visited the Plaka where we had lunch & then walked up to the Acropolis & Areopagus. Access has been improved since our last visit, thanks to the Olympics. A lot of re-construction is being done on the Parthenon & surrounding buildings, but it is all still quite impressive. As we sat on Mars Hill, one of the students read the words of Paul from Acts & then we sang several songs before "hiking" down & back through the Plaka to our bus. We headed to another area on the outskirts of the city (Glyfada) & were treated to ice cream before the evening worship began. My old brain cells are wondering what is going on - so much information being thrown their way in such a short amount of time! If I can retain just some of it, I will be happy. Today was Class Day Three & thus our second class in Humanities. This will also be of great benefit as we travel. The weather has been somewhat like home - unusual for this time of year - not terribly hot, but warm in the day & cool at night. Some are planning to head into Porto Rafti & visit the beach this afternoon. (Porto Rafti is the name of the town where we are living. It is south east of Athens proper.) Thanks to those of you who have read & written!