Day 14 and Day 15

Yesterday we visited ancient Olympia! Amazing what was still preserved and reconstructed. We got to see the ancient stadium where the men competed NAKED! No women were allowed to attend except the priestess Athena. I also learned that they held games for the women a couple of weeks later after the men's competition and then they posted the women's names on the columns of Athena's temple.

The really cool part was seeing the statues of shame for the cheaters. If you were found to cheat during the games you had to pay for a bronze statue of Zeus that stood in a line next to the entrance to the stadium with your name engraved along the bottom. Totally cool.

Well today we had a relaxing day at sea. Me and mom got up and had breakfast and then went to a talk of Rome and how to get off of the ship, we also bought some new necklaces and bracelets in the jewelry store then we had lunch and I went off to the art auction and mom went out to sit on deck and enjoy the sun. We both met later to got and play 10 games for $10 Bingo and I won $100. I would have won $200 but someone else got Bingo at the same time so we had to split the prize. I then spent that money on the art that I bought at the auction. It was great.

Tomorrow we are getting off and heading to Pisa to see the leaning tower. Still no pictures I am starting to get really mad!

Love you and miss you

Becky

Day 13 Athens

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

That is all I can say. We had all day but still didn't have enough time to do all of the things that I would have loved to do. OMG the Parthenon was spectacular. Out of this world amazing. Everything we saw was so so so amazing.

Me and mom are having fun but we are starting to get on each others nerves. I think Mom forgets that I truly do like to do things by myself and to have her almost afraid to do things by herself is funny.

Oh by the way Mom spent $10 and played BINGO and won $150! She was so proud of herself it was great. I just wish I would have been there to see the look on her face when she won (I was dozing and watching a movie in the room)!

So we go to Olympia tomorrow so I will sign off and see you all tomorrow.

Oh sorry about the pictures for some reason it is not letting me post them so maybe I will figure it out tomorrow. Funny that I can't call Jay and try to figure it out but that is too expensive.

Love ya

Becky

A Day at Sea

It seems like all I do during my day's at sea is sleep eat and sleep again. Yesterday was no exception other then they had a chocolate extravaganza and so I eat a lot of chocolate. I took some pictures as we sailed through the Aegean Sea it was beautiful and there were a lot of barges.

I think I keep saying a lot but I don't have a Thesaurus so I am sorry

Becky

Day 11 Istanbul Lara was right!

OK LARA if you are following I could spend weeks possibly months in Turkey. I am so glad that you convinced me to go. It has been awesome. Today was no exception.

I can say that I would have to have a driver and a guide because without them I would be totally lost. I thought drivers in the US were bad they are nothing they are great for that matter. Today we had several times that we had to wait for people to return to their cars and move them so we could get through. So someone would stop their car in traffic run in the store purchase something and then come back and go. Craziness, also the pedestrains were just asking to get hit running in and out of traffic and such I can't believe it.

We started at the St Sophia church then went to the Toekapai palace. We then went to a real Turkish rug factory and saw how they were made and had lunch on the terrace. We then hiked up to the Blue Mosque which was amazing. We are here during the holy month of Ramadan and we got to hear the calls to prayer this afternoon. They are beautiful and so heartfelt. It was interesting to see the rituals that they go through before and when they pray.

I thought it was very interesting to see the difference of the beliefs of the people. 90-95% of the people in Turkey are Muslim, yet I only saw a few women in full burikas and then alot of women with their head covered, but then I saw a lot of women without any head dress. So a lot of different cultures in one day.

We finished up the day with a quick shopping trip to the Grand Bazzar and a cruise on the Bospherus. All wonderful things to do. Unfocuntanatley it will still not let me post pictures so tomorrow we have a day at sea and I hope to be able to get everything posted but until then I will see you all tomorrow.

Becky

Turkey Day 10

Today was so cool. We visited the anciet city of Ephesus. They have only uncovered about 15% of the city and it is HUGE! We spenct about 2 hours there walking around and looking at the different sites located there. The Libreary of Celsus which I have seen on programs like National Geographic. I am glad that my knee is doing well because today could have been really bad, but it seems to be holding up as good as could be expected. We walked through the whole city coming at the end to the Ampitheather which could hold 25,000 people. It was huge. The sea use to come up to the city but due to earthquakes and silt depsoits it is now 4 miles from the sea. It is so amazing.

We also visited the House of the Virgin Mary and St John's Bascillcia. They were also really cool. We got to see one of the 7 ancient wonders we saw where the Temple of Artemis use to stand. There is just 1 pillar still standing and the foundation. It was so special.

Funny story from this morning, my mom and I were eating breakfast in the dining room and the boat made a very fast turn. If you can imagine an 111,000 ton ship making a fast turn, anyway everything on the table leaned with great strain and we heard dishes and such falling in the kitchen. It was quite amazing.

Well I have to be up early tomorrow so I will sign off. It is about 10:30 at night and we have to be off the ship at 9am.

Goodnight

Becky

Turkey is Great!

Ok so I missed yesterday but I had a huge migraine and I could barely see straight. We got to Turkey yesterday and had a great time. We were limited to 5 hours so it was a run and grab kind of day. We landed in Marmaris and they have a beautiful port city. Our guide told us it was popular with the European tourist's.

I have to say that I had a lot of preconceived notions about Turkey. I thought it was mostly a desert but I am wrong it is so green and there are so many trees and so much agriculture. Turkey sustains itself with it's own agriculture and then sells a lot off to Russian and Eastern Europe.

The ruins of Kaunos were amazing. They have such amazing sites it is mind blowing. We took a boat ride up the Daylan River to get to the hike to see Kaunos. I hope the pictures are enough for you to see how wonderful. We got a fresh pomegranate it was great.

It looks like it will not let me upload images maybe in a little bit.

Becky

Hello, from Turkey

We finally have made it out of Italy and we ported at the city of Marmarius Turkey. The port is very hilly all the way down to the water. It is a resort town with a marina full of very large boats.

Our guide todays name was Mulock he said to call him Mike. He took us to the ancient city of Kaunos which was both Roman and Greek. It was a harbor city that is now miles from the sea. The rivers silt has land locked it. Kaunos was on the silk and spice highway coming from the east and did a very busy business until the discovery that the earth was not flat and you could sail to the east much cheaper and faster. Bummer for Kaunos. Turkey is forested and mountainous. The people grow all kinds of citrus fruit and Pomegranates. We ate one on the hike back to the bus. It was very delicious.