Trip: Santorini, Greece

Next stop......Santorini, Greece.  Wow.  If this place isn't on your bucket list then definitely add it.  It's amazing.  A place that I would love to fly to one day and stay for a week or so.

Our first stop was a cute little town called Oia.  (pronounced EE-Ya)  Such a quaint little place.  Lots of cobblestone pathways, cute shops, restaurants, etc.....

This part of the town is pedestrian only.

Making the climb up the cliffs.  Stunning views.

So pretty!  Pictures don't do it justice.

This guy was playing music.  Made the experience that much better.

One of the churches.

Our next stop was Santo Winery.  We got to nibble on snacks and sample wine.....

....and enjoy some amazing views.

We drove around and got to see some of the island.  Then we were dropped of in Fria and had time to explore and eat and shop.  We stumbled on this neat little restaurant and THIS was our view.

Some sort of fruit/yogurt dip for our bread.

Homemade pesto.  Yum!!!

We sat right up there by that umbrella shade.

After some walking in the crazy heat/humidity.....we grabbed some gelato.  Huge shock.

To get back to the ship, we had to take this cable car down.   It was so hot, the lines were horribly long, people were cutting in line....it was a nightmare.  We finally made it down and tendered back to the ship.

Such a great day.  Hope to go back sometime!

Ephesus, Turkey

Out of the 4 stops our cruise made, Ephesus was a tie as my favorite.  We did the 8 hour Biblical tour and it was so amazing.  I have never been to Europe and I've never seen ruins like this before.  

We visited the house of the Virgin Mary.

So crazy to walk through this little "room" and know that she slept there.

People gathering "holy water"

I had no idea that Turkey was this pretty.

I was so drawn to the details on their pillars.  LOVE!

Pomegranate tree

Look at the design on the floor....tiny mosaics.

Standing here was so surreal.  This is the place where Paul spoke to the Ephesians.

We were told this was the long line where the chariots drove Cleopatra....

On the bus, we were offered Turkish Delight.  I had heard of this from reading the Chronicles of Narnia and always wondered what it tasted like.  Not a strong taste....kind of meh!

Next we had a Biblical inspired lunch.

A baptistery

The last leg of our tour was to a carpet factory.  This is so neat to watch!

I am in such awe at how these ladies make these rugs by hand.  They have a pattern and then string them one at a time and then push them down really hard with a metal object.

Showing us how they make the silk threads

They took us downstairs and pulled out so many rugs for us to look at and purchase.  They wanted us to take our shoes off and walk on them to feel the softness.  They were so beautiful.

We  sipped on apple tea while looking.  Such a fun day!!