Ephesus, Turkey 6/14/16 - Virgin Mary's House

Our next stop on the cruise was to Ephesus, Turkey!
We were a little nervous about this stop because of all the terrorist attacks that had taken place and all the news programs talking about Turkey.
However, we decided we were going to explore, our lives our in the Lord's hands anyway!

This was the view coming into the port.

There were cruise ship passengers that booked their own excursion through a private tourism company and through the cruise messenger they put out an invite for anyone who wanted to see certain attractions, Jeff saw it, we priced it out and it ended up being a WAY better deal, with an intimate group, were able to see way more, and they picked us up directly from the port with private transportation.

The other people on our excursion didn't really care to see the Virgin Mary's house, but I did so I spoke up and that was the first stop on our excursion.
(Afterwards they were glad we went there!)

House of Virgin Mary in Ephesus was not known till Anne Catherine Emmerich's vision. The paralysed German nun, who had never been to Ephesus, had a vision of the House of the Virgin Mary and described it in detail to the German writer Clemens Brentano, who later published a book about it. Catherine Emmerich died in 1884. In 1891 priests and historians from Ismir read about her vision and found a little building which corresponded with Emmerich's descriptions.

Archeological evidence showed that the little house was from the 6C AD but that the foundations were from the 1C AD. Proving that some people restored this home. What was intesting that every year on August 15th some villagers came here and made ceremonies under the name Panaghia Kapulu. First they were asked why they make these ceremonies. Like so many in the world without knowing what Christmas of Easter means, they did not have any clue. Historians searched the word Panaghia Kapulu and found out that it means Virgin's Door. August 15th, still celebrated as the assumption date of Virgin Mary. From these indications they thought this is the house that Virgin Mary spent her last years.

 The supporters of the belief that Virgin Mary lived her last years and died in her hut near Ephesus base their theory on this point...

The presence of the Tomb of St. John and St. John's Basilica in Ephesus: Jesus Christ, before dying on the cross, entrusted to St. John his mother (John 19:26-27). It is believed that after the crucifixion of Jesus, St. John left Jerusalem and came to Ephesus, one of the biggest and safest cities of its time (capital of the Asia Minor province of the Roman Empire), and built a small hut for Virgin Mary just outside Ephesus in order to protect her from the non-Christian community of Ephesus. 

Just outside the house you can light a candle as a prayer and put it in these boxes.

Then you walk down to the water fountains with the fresh spring water.

 The water fountain or well is believed by some pilgrims to have miraculous powers of healing or fertility.

We both drank from it and it was refreshing.
 (I'm still now pregnant so I'm not so sure about fertility but it was a beautiful experience.)

Outside the shrine is a particular "wishing wall" which pilgrims have used by tying their personal intentions on paper or fabric.

The wall is huge and is completely covered with wishes and prayers, we left our own little prayer/wish on the wall and it was a great experience.

Her home is situated at the top of a beautiful mountain top.
It was so peaceful and beautiful up there.

I can't remember what this was exactly, but I think it was some kind of bath or something!

Mary has always had a special place in my heart and I've always wanted to be like her. She was so humble, righteous, strong, all around amazing to take on such a big and overwhelming role as the Savior's mother. She carried so much responsibility and she fulfilled her role with grace and strength.
As I've struggled with fertility I can't help but yearn to feel Mary's presence with me as she is the mother of our Savior, and while at this beautiful scene I felt her love for me.

We of course took some holy water home to our families as souvenirs.

After our visit to Virgin Mary's house we made our way down the mountain to Ephesus.

This gold Madonna statue was a gift from the U.S. president, Bill Clinton.

I loved the serenity felt up on that mountain and being in a place where Mary was was a great experience.

Watch our day in Ephesus and don't forget to subscribe to our channel to see more!

Mykonos, Greece 6/13/16

Our next stop on the cruise itinerary was Mykonos, Greece!
We were supposed to tender in (take a little boat from the cruise ship to Mykonos from the middle of the ocean) but because circumstances were good we were able to dock.

After docking we bought tickets with the sea bus to Mykonos town for 2 euro per person each way.

It was nice because the sea bus was literally right next to the cruise ship dock and it comes and goes every 30 minutes.

First glimpse of Mykonos...lovely!!!

Before our adventure in Mykonos begins.

Blue dome church.

Major heart eyes!

Beautiful restaurants line the streets like this.

One thing I loved about Mykonos was the white building, the colorful doors, the beautiful flowers, and the streets. (The white grout was paint, I thought that was interesting and something I want to do one day!)

Mykonos is known for their beaches and because they don't have public restrooms accessible like the U.S. we opted to just wear our beach clothes for the day.

I spy...a cat. Just taking a nap, no big deal.
Fun fact about Mykonos, and Greece in general, there are cats EVERYWHERE.

Another charming restaurant with beautiful flowers!

I LOVE roof/balcony gardens!!!!

More beautiful flowers popped agains the white. MMM.

I spy...beautiful flowers and another kitty.
I thought it was hilarious how there were cats EVERYWHERE, so you'll see a few of these pictures.

We did a lot of stopping to take pictures, but how can you not in such a picturesque place.

We got lost a lot because the streets just wind every which way, but we didn't mind cause it was so beautiful.

Another lazy cat.

Mykonos is known for their windmills so we spotted one and made our way towards it but when we got there we had discovered just one of the windmills, not the famous line of them so we enjoyed the view for a while then made our way to find the others.

We could see them, but how do we get to them?? Haha.
There are currently 16 windmills on Mykonos, most of them were built by the Venetians in the 16th century, but construction continued into the early 20th century. They were primarily used to mill wheat and were an important source of income for the inhabitants. Their use gradually declined until they ceased production in the middle of the 20th century.

Something I didn't expect to see in Greece and Italy but they were everywhere and were beautiful were cacti.

They tell you not to pet the stray cats, I'm extremely allergic to cats but when they are napping in a window like that it makes me want to hug them.

Are you catching the charm of Mykonos??

We certainly did.

Why not stop for a photo shoot right?

So that's what we did.

I love him.

We are crazy haha.

I LOVED all the colorful doors so we made sure to take a picture in front of lots of them (not all pictured haha.)

The Greek churches are DRASTICALLY different than the Italian churches. They are much smaller, maybe 1 or 2 small rooms with blue dome ceilings, lots of pictures (as pictured), lots of gold accents, and a few (if any) chairs set up.

I'm not sure how their worship services go, but if I had to guess I'd say it's more of a walk through, quick kind of thing.

Picture of the second room.

A cool lounge area. Mykonos is known for their party scene, so I'm sure at night this is one of those scenes.

What I pictured Greece to look like. (I spy another cat, and I didn't mean to take a picture of this one.)

More charm.

The view looking out from the windmills.
Little Venice with out cruise ship in the background.

We finally found the windmills.

So cool.

The neighborhood across from the windmills.

Little Venice.
Little Venice is one of the most romantic places in the whole of Mykonos. This neighborhood is replete with elegant and gorgeous old houses that are situated precariously on the edge of the sea.

Beach.

After already having been to Venice a couple days before, it didn't quite compare to the real thing but it was still charming.

Another perspective of the windmills from Little Venice.

Another church right next to a restaurant.

This was one of the biggest Greek churches we went into.

I thought this painting was interesting, what was so interesting was the cat behind Jesus.
(Told you cats were everywhere!)

Another.

The Greek flag was flown everywhere.

Scooter and ATV rentals were available all over the island, and I'm mad I didn't get a video of it but the streets were dangerous and crazy with scooters, ATVs, buses, cars, all driving crazily everywhere. Because of what we were witnessing we opted to not rent a scooter or ATV.
So we bought bus tickets at a convenience store for like 2 euro a piece and made our way to Ornos beach.

We opted for this beach because it was family friendly and we wanted to be comfortable and just relax.

They had chair rentals but we brought towels and wanted to lay on the sand so we walked to the end where there was a sandy area. The water was beautiful with it's shades of blue and green.
There were lots of sales people walking up and down the beach selling selfie sticks, clothing, hats, purses, etc. I looked at a few of them but didn't end up getting anything.

My handsome hubby.

Beaching it.

More flags in different form.

After chilling on the beach for an hour or two we caught our bus back to the main areas and went exploring by foot again.
An orange/red dome church.

Exploring on a scenic walk along the coast.

That water though.

We found our way back to the windmills, but this time on the backside of them.

Cute little scooter.

Lots of shopping everywhere. I LOVED the flowers here and how they were growing.

By this time we needed something to eat so we ordered a waffle and crepe. The waffle was AMAZING!!!! So amazing that I may or may not have ordered another one...
Seriously it had a warm pastry texture with chocolate, ice cream and more chocolate. I don't know how they made that waffle but it was seriously heavenly!!!
I still dream about it.

Then it was time to head back to the ship. 

Goodbye Mykonos.

You are seriously BEAUTIFUL!

Something we learned about Greece is how sexual they are, there was inappropriate pictures, calendars, games, objects everywhere on display haha we couldn't help but blush and laugh at some of them.

View from the sea bus back. So beautiful.

We had a blast in Mykonos just wandering around together and taking in this cool culture.
I loved the white buildings, colorful doors. flowers everywhere, delicious food, and gorgeous waters.

Here is part 2 of Jeff's awesome videos he made of our trip! This one includes Sicily, Mykonos, and Ephesus.