The Greek Islands!!

Hey everybody!! I hope you all are enjoying your summer..Sorry it's taken a while to get this on here, but I've been so busy lately..I feel like I'm taking 18 hours..lol..Anyway, here's some stuff about the Greek Island cruise we went on..

My roommates for this trip were Paul Haebegger and Jared Morgan. It was definitely interesting in our room most of the time. I'll explain more later.

Friday July 4th
We spent the day on the island of Mykenos. We didn't take a tour on this island so I don't have that many notes, but when we first got there we saw Petros the Pelican. It was really funny. He was just sitting there, and then Bryan tried to stand by him for a picture and he just went crazy. So, I left there, and then came back later and he was biting some guy's arm. I thought that was pretty funny. I'm guessing he was the owner because he was just sitting there laughing and talking to all the people. Paul and I and a few other people just walked around for a while and then we went through the "Little Venice." It was really neat. We also saw the windmills which were really interesting and Paul and Katy decided to swim out to the rock in the sea. I just decided I would stay and watch their stuff. I really enjoyed Mykenos and I thought it was a very pretty island. That night, we went to the show. It was really cool. They did different dances from all the different countries that were on board the boat. There was also a magician and he did a whole bunch of crazy stuff. He nailed a nail THROUGH his face. I have no clue how in the world he did that, but he was hardcore, and definitely amazing!! He's probably the most focused person I've ever seen.

Saturday July 5th

We started off the day in Ephesus. We started to go to the Temple of Artemis, but the guard was late, so we had to bypass it and go straight to the Archeological Site. We saw an orchestra which would seat 1,400 people. I thought it was very neat. We also saw the Library. The Library was one of my favorite parts of the site. It was huge. It had about 12,000 books. Egypt even stopped sending them papyrus because they were jealous of the amount of books they had. After that, we went to the Domitian Square which had a wonderful view of the city. It was built in the 1st century after Christ. We saw a Palette of Nike which was really cool. Then, there were two pillars with Hercules' figure. He had a lion skin wrapped around his shoulders. I thought those were really neat. After that, we went down to the public toilets, latrines. They were made of marble and they were only for men. They would pay to use them and stay down there for a hours and hours. They'd play music and there was even a pool. I personally think they just went to use it for hours and hours to get a break from the women. It was a really "fancy bathroom." Next, we went to the Theater. This was definitely my favorite site in Ephesus. It could hold 25,000 people and it had 3 sections. It played an important role and still does today. It had great acoustics so of course we had to sing a few songs here. It was also very moving because it is the place of the riot in Acts 19:23 ff, so Paul was definitely there. I really love when we know for a fact that Paul was there because it just makes it so much more meaningful and I will always remember that. It really just makes the story in the Bible come alive. After the Arch. Site, we went back to the Temple of Artemis and took some pictures. Also, we went to the island of Patmos. It looks like a seahorse on the map, and it is the northernmost island in southeast part of Greece. It is very small: Only 34 square kilometers. We can be sure that John was here because of John 1. He came to the cave to pray and today, it is an everyday church. We then went to the Monastery of St. John. It was not a direct link with him. The monks would use 8 hours of prayer, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of assignments or duties to make up their day. After visiting the monastery, we went to the museum. There were 4 sections. 1-books 2-icons 3-ritual vessels 4-clothing of priests. They had lots of copies of the Bible on papyrus or paper and parchment. That night, we had Greek night on the boat, so we all dressed up like Greeks for supper, and then I was too tired to head to the party, so I just went to the room and passed out.

Sunday July 6th

Today, we started the day in Crete which is the 5th largest island in the Mediterranean. It has a population of 500,000. We went to the Palace of Knossos. I thought it was really neat, but it probably would have been a lot more amazing if we hadn't already seen the Temple of Karnak and Luxor in Egypt before it. It was excavated by Arthur Evans. The Minoans used big stones to build it. We saw the Bull Horns which was a lot smaller than I thought they would be. We saw many frescoes. One was of the Toreador or the Bull Jumping, and the other one was of The Ladies in Blue. We also saw the Queen's Apartment which had frescoes with dolphins, so I'm sure Ms. Schramm liked that a lot. There were also storage rooms with HUMONGOUS vases. Some were even taller than me. It was insane. I seriously wonder how they move that stuff around. Next, we went to the Iraklion Archeological Museum. They used olive leaves for burial ceremeonies. We saw the Phaestos Disk which I thought was really interesting. They still have yet to decipher it. There was also a Rhyton drinking vessel with a bull head. After that we went back on the boat, and Paul, Jared, and I watched National Geographic. It's pretty interesting the things you'll watch when it's the only thing in English. lol..It was so funny because we had just got done watching The Orangutan King, and it was the most awesome video ever!! Then, I asked Paul if he was going to go on top of the deck, and he said, "The only thing that will keep me in here is if The Crocodile King comes on," and not even 30 seconds later..The TV goes, "Now, King Croc." We seriously laughed for about 10 minutes straight. It wasn't near as good as the Orangutan King, so we definitely fell asleep. After we woke up, we were in Santorini!! We rode donkeys/mules up to the top of the island. Paul and I walked around the island until we met up with Neely, Lauren S, Shailer, Kayleigh, Tyler, and Audrey. Then I met up with Jack, Andrew, Bryan, Frank, Jen, Leah, Lacie, and Kim and stayed with them until the end. Santorini was really really pretty, but I really wished they would have dropped us off at the nice part of the island with all the houses and everything. I guess we could have taken a taxi, but I didn't have any money with me. It was a very beautiful island though. After we spent the day walking around Santorini, we rode cable cars back down which I thought was a lot of fun. It was Captain's Night on the boat, and so we all dressed up and headed to dinner. Earlier in the day, Chad had proposed to Jordan at one of the restaurants there, and so he announced the engagement at the end of dinner. Everyone knew it happened though so it wasn't really that big of a surprise, but still a happy time. That night at the show, it was soo hilarious. The magician came back out again, and made Sterling take a cigarette and start smoking it with him, and he was like, I don't smoke and then he was like I CAN'T smoke..lol..but he still made him, so he just went with it, and I was afraid he was going to get in huge trouble, but I looked over and Captain and DiMy and the Richardson's were just laughing soo hard. It was pretty awkward. Afterwards, they joked around with him for a while. After Sterling went up there, Jared had to go up there and do some tricks with him. I don't think he could have picked anyone better for that job. Jared was hilarious. It was probably the funniest thing I've seen in a looong time. He was just going with it, and afterwards, he said he thought the guy was mad at him because he thought he was taking the show away from him, but I thought it was alright. lol..He livened it up soo much.

Anyway, that was the Greek Islands Trip. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and I love and miss you all and I hope you are having a greeeaattt summer!! Love, Ryan