Seeing Greece Together: The Church of Saint Titus

We just really wanted to be in a church, even briefly, on Easter morning. We didn't have enough time off the ship to find a local fellowship and attend a worship service, but just to be in a House of God was something we desired. We walked until we came to this beautiful place. Just as we walked up, the members were exiting with the priest handing them each a small cake.

This beautiful place was originally from the 2nd Byzantine period. During Ottoman rule, it was converted into a mosque and the bell tower turned into a minaret. It suffered destruction by earthquakes and fire, but as the city's most significant religious monument, it has been restored each time.

After giving the members time to exit, we entered.

And this was by far, my favorite Easten morning picture. CC read the Easter story to us aloud.

And we enjoyed the beautiful colored glass.

Easter 2015

After we boarded again, Sweet Cheeks and I began checking out all the (7 or so?) bars on the boat and seeing if the fruit drinks tasted the same in all of them.

Big Ben quickly learned that he could even order something like a milkshake.

I love my kids. They looked up every conceivable activity on the boat and went to classes. Here Sweet Cheeks is attending an origami class. Firstborn went to embroidery class. Twinkle (of course) went to Greek dancing. No belly dancing!!!

Seeing Greece Together: Next Stop Crete

Though Crete has some amazing archeological ruins we could have seen through a tour group, we opted for a slightly slower pace for this beautiful Easter Sunday morning. We enjoyed the all-inclusive breakfast, then de-boarded and took a long walk along the shore.

I can't capture on here the smells and sounds. I wish I could. It was a beautiful little port town with all the busy sights and smells of fishermen up early.

We walked a long harbor to an end point that contained castle ruins.

Seeing Greece Together: Patmos At Night

The candles and frescoes in the monastery were beautiful. There is also a small museum with relics there on the premises. We got to see a Gospel of John from the 4th century.

The sun went down while we enjoyed this first stop. We took this picture of the harbor from the mountaintop. The bright glowing part to the right is our cruise ship.

Sweet Cheeks and I did one little naughty thing. At the monastery, there was a little Kumquat tree with fruit. I once had this fruit in Florida, and the peel is my absolute favorite citrus in the world. SC had never had one before, so we took a tiny fruit for her to try back on our tender boat. I suppose St. John wouldn't have minded.

The evening shows on the cruise ship were amazing....but YAWN, CC and I could not WAIT to get back to our spacious room and crash.

Seeing Greece Together: Mykonos at Sunset

IWe loved having a couple of hours with nothing to do but walk around an island! Here are our attempts at the ever-elusive family photo.

Nope, Big Ben looking at a worm or something.

 Gust of wind.

CC is not smiley happy. Also, Big Ben doesn't really smile like that. Natural smiles, everyone.

CC still not happy. Likely it's the photo shoot.

What about this angle? Miss Middler is too close.

There we go. CC looks...happy (?)

Even better. Wait.....a Campbell is missing. 

On to other, easier to shoot, scenes! Like...island wildflowers, 

beautiful family chapels,

sisters comparing pictures,

oil tins that have been repurposed into brightly painted planters,

crosses and bells that create beautiful shadows,

fishing boats,

tiny chapels,

tucked away crosses,

the man I love,

souvenirs that don't cost anything,

little girls in front of red weathered doors,

and final glimpses of a beautiful place.

Thanks for reading my blog posts from Greece!