We got up at a leisurely pace this morning…not a commoon occurrence for this trip. Orhan went with us to the dock and got us headed for the ship, where we bid him a fond farewell. (We will have a new guide once we disembark on the mainland of Greece.) We are on a ship called the Aquamarine, which is in the Louis Cruise Line, if any of you want to google information about the ship. It has twelve decks, 525 cabins, and approximately 1,231 passengers, including our group of forty-four. This is definitely an exciting part of our trip.
The first thing we did after boarding the ship and checking out our cabin was to disembark and use the last hour before the ship sailed from Kusadasi for some last-minute shopping at the local bazaar, located near the harbor. We stumbled into a small shop, which was interesting because the elderly gentleman that owned the shop was a silversmith who made his own beautiful hand-made silver items…mostly jewelry. I thought it was interesting that we were attracted to the shop of a silversmith in the area of Ephesus where the silversmiths in Paul’s time made their living fashioning statues of the goddess Diana. Today the local silversmiths make their living fashioning jewelry for tourists! He was very interesting to talk to, and I ended up buying a camel charm and matching earrings. I plan to wear the earrings and pendant (on a chain) when I wear my camel bracelet I bought at the bazaar in Cairo in 2005. The photo shows my silversmith friend at work fashioning a silver bracelet.
The ship sailed on schedule, and as we sailed out of the harbor at Kusadisi we said “good-by” to Turkey and “hello” to the Greek islands. Leaving was somewhat bittersweet as we have seen so many remarkable sites in Turkey and met so many wonderful people that we have developed a special attachment to the country of Turkey. It is definitely a “undiscovered jewel” for tourism.
After lunch on board, we went up to the Sun Deck for a view of the island of Samos as we sailed through the strait. Because Paul left Miletus on a ship, we have to assume that he sailed through this same strait. We stood there on deck and viewed the island of Samos as we sailed by. It was surreal to think that the apostle Paul probably leaned on a ship’s rail and looked at this same view as he headed from Miletus toward the area of Palestine at the end of his third journey. The photo is of David and Norm on deck with Samos in the background.
Later this afternoon we arrived at the island of Patmos, best known as the island where John was when he wrote Revelation. We had to drop anchor in the harbor and be “tendered” to shore in smaller boats. Our tour took us to the “traditional” place…a cave…where John received the Revelation. (We know he was on this island, but the Bible gives no other details as to exact location.) We then went to visit a monastery that was located on the top of the mountain that dominates Patmos. From there we could view the island, and the small town at the harbor called Scala. The view was spectacular in the afternoon sunlight.
Dinner tonight on the ship was “Greek Night” and we all tried to wear blue and white clothing to dinner.
This evening we will be rocked to sleep by the gentle waves. I hope you will take time today to think of the struggles the apostles, especially Paul on his voyage through this area, and John in exile on Patmos. Enjoy your day. We certainly enjoyed ours!
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