Odessa, Ukraine

Our third stop was in Odessa, Ukraine which is called the Paris of the Ukraine. It was definitely a beautiful city. We can't really tell you much about the city. We didn't take a tour on this one, and the maps that the ship gave us didn't match the streets there - oh well. So, we wandered a lot. One of the things that absolutely cracked us up were the agencies marrying off Ukrainian women to Americans, etc. There were signs everywhere which more or less said, "Choose a Ukrainian woman to be your wife...cost includes honeymoon night at hotel with a translator"! (Wow! What a steal!)

The top picture is of our kids and our friend's kids Luc and Jack. The middle picture is of our kids, Jack and Luc and a Ukrainian kid that popped in for the picture. The bottom picture is a beautiful building there in Odessa.

Varna, Bulgaria

The second stop on our cruise was in Varna, Bulgaria. We went up to a Medieval Orthodox Christian monestary called the Aladza Monestary that was built in caves about 17km north of Varna. The first 3 pictures show parts of that. Our guide drove us around and took us to the Golden Sands beach resort. We were in shock to learn that there are beach resorts in Bulgaria. It was a beautiful town and would be a lot of fun to go back and visit. The last place we visited is in downtown Varna. As you can see, the bottom picture shows some gypsies. Apparently, the gypsies are a huge problem in Bulgaria. While we were eating lunch in Varna, there were gypsies around that our guide warned us about who steal anything they can. There were police around trying to protect, but there's only so much that can be done!

Istanbul, Turkey

The first stop of our cruise was in Istanbul, Turkey. What a fascinating city it is!!!! Call me clueless, but I had no idea that part of Turkey was in Europe and part was in Asia. Istanbul happens to be on the Europe side. The first place we visited was the Topkapi Palace. It was the home to the Sultans of Turkey. The palace is beautiful especially with the intricate tile and designs on the inside of the buildings and the huge courtyards on the outside. It even houses (supposedly) the arm of John the Baptist (which we saw) and the staff of Moses. The first picture shows the outside of the palace.

The most famous and well-known mosque in Istanbul is the Blue Mosque which is pictured behind our family in the second picture. (George Lucas liked it so much he used it in one of his Star Wars films which Cameron and Caleb thought was sooooo cool!) The Blue Mosque was so crowded from tourists that our tour guide took us to a different mosque so that we could go inside and see what it was like. The bottom picture shows us with our guide in the mosque. We had to remove our shoes to go in. Before the people are allowed to enter and pray they must all wash themselves before entering. The muslims pray 5 times a day. If they pray at the mosque then it's "better" (according to our guide). They don't have to pray at the mosques, though. There are mosques everywhere, though....like every few blocks. We were able to witness when they made the call for prayers from the minarets. All of this was so interesting in light of all that is going on in the world today.

The picture with the round blue circle is a symbol you see all over Turkey. It is something that is displayed everywhere to ward off the "evil eyes".

Athens, Greece

We arrived in Athens, Greece on September 5 . We happened to be there 1 1/2 years ago, but the Acropolis was closed the one day we were there. After dropping all our baggage off at the hotel, we jumped on the subway and headed for the Acropolis. It was amazing! It was a beautiful sunny day. At the top of the hill of the Acropolis we were able to see all of Athens. One of the best parts of Greece is the food. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it mmmm..............................