Day 11:   Assos, Alexandria Troas, Troy

We began the day with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the hotel at 6:45.  After a short drive we began a steep walk through a picturesque little village to the top of Assos.  Appropriately, it was in Assos that Jorge rode a donkey.  It was at Assos that Aristotle had his first school.  This ancient stronghold, strategically positioned atop a high bluff overlooking the Aegean Sea, dates to the 6^th century BC.  At this spot are still found ruins of a temple to Athena.  It was an absolutely brilliant morning, the sun gleaming across the water with the coastline rippling and sloping away from us far below.  As we stood amidst the stones of ages past, Matt gave us a reflection.  He noted that Paul only briefly passed through this spot, however, his short presence still bears a message for us today. Christ’s message lives on and on and we can be constantly inspired to be where Paul was.

A short drive then through the country to Troas, the spot of Acts 20 and the story of Eutychus who fell asleep during Paul’s preaching.  Fr. Peter warned us not to be a modern day Eutychus.  Not much left to Troas now as over the centuries it was subject to three earthquakes.  The ruins there date to about 2^nd century AD.  Brendan gave the reflection here, noting the time Paul spent here and the friendships he built connecting for us the friendships that we are deepening on this pilgrimage.

Our final visit was to the legendary city of Troia (Troy).  Hey…we went to Troy, huh.  En route, Fr. Peter gave us a crash course in mythology which set the scene for our visit.  Troy was thought for a long time to simply be a city of myth, until some rascally German archaeologist named Schliemann, who learned five languages by age 13 and was a tea smuggler, successfully began excavations of the city.  There are nine levels of human occupation that were discovered, known by the different types of rock.  They date back many centuries before Christ, with the levels of the legends of Troy circa 1250 BC.

After lunch we began a seven hour drive back to Istanbul.  This included being transported by ferry across the Dardanelle Strait from Canakkale to Kilitbahir.  The Battle of Gallipoli happened in the Dardanelle.  FYI- If you’ve never seen the flick Gallipoli with Mel Gibson check it out.  It rocks.  We are back in Istanbul tonight.  Pray hard.  We love you all.

News From The Bus-----  By popular suggestion, Vu played us a couple tunes on his new flute, a tricky little piece called “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and a jazzed up cover of Celine’s “My Heart Will Go On.”  But the music didn’t end there as Bob and Angelo sang a rousing rendition of Lemon Tree, heard exclusively by the back of the bus. Finally, we are all most pleased that Zach is now the official dispenser of all “happy thoughts,” or in non-pilgrim lingo, the suggestion box.

Day 12:   Istanbul

Today we began a tour of Istanbul, which consists of three sections: the Asia section, old town Istanbul, where we find Hagia Sofia, and the newer section of town. We got a little later of a start today, leaving the hotel at 8:45 – welcome by everybody as most of our wake-up calls through our tour of Turkey have been 6:00 & 6:30.

Our first stop was Sent Antuan (St. Anthony) Church.  On the way we crossed the Golden Horn, a channel that separates European Istanbul from the Asian side of Istanbul.  Some trivia on the way from our guide as we pass a hotel – it is the place where Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express.

Sent Antuan is the first, of what will be many majestic churches that we will visit on our pilgrimage.  Every one of these will surely have too much to describe.  However, one thing that stood out to me here was the marble altar with the lamb and the waving banner of the Resurrection in relief on the front piece.  We had Mass in a make-shift chapel in the sacristy.  Some words from Mass: “You cannot love the God you have not seen if you do not love the brother you do see.” 

Our visits today were the most in depth experience we have had yet regarding Islamic faith and architecture.  We spent the morning at two great church sites in Istanbul.  The first was the Blue Mosque, so called because of the dominant interior color that comes from the quartz Nicene tiles on the walls, meant to instill a peaceful ambience to the interior.  In the courtyard there stands a seventy-five foot granite Egyptian obelisk that dates to 1500 BC.  The true name of the Blue Mosque is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.  He had it built in order to outdo Hagia Sofia, since that was originally a Christian place.  There were just a few worshippers when we visited, mostly tourists. 

Hagia Sofia was our next destination, essentially just across a plaza from the Blue Mosque.  It was an obstacle course of sellers, urging us to shell out for books, trinkets, and perfume.  Some fell prey.

Hagia Sofia, the great 1400 year old Christian church, was built during the reign of the emperor Justinian and is now a museum.  It was a Christian church for 900 years, a Muslim mosque for 500, and converted to a museum in 1934.  It is a profoundly grand structure, steeped in history that is marked by much conflict.  One cannot help but feel a little disoriented at the mixture of Christian and Muslim art and symbols that are side by side all throughout.  Much of the Christian art that had been covered over with plaster is now fortunately exposed.  Scaffolding was taking up a large portion of the interior from the floor up to the dome, reducing the opportunity to take in the full effect of the vast space.  In the dome of the apse was a striking image of the Virgin and the Christ Child.  Unbelievably, 15 tons of gold was used on the inside of the church.  Also interesting was two large 2^nd century onyx bowls near the doors.  These had been found by a farmer in his field and given to the Sultan.  They were discovered to be filled with gold coins.

We had lunch at the Aquarius Restaurant right near the waters of the Bosphorus Strait, a colorful spot with fishing boats and men sorting through their catch.  Lunch was a variety that included squid and swordfish.

We then took an hour-long boat tour on the Bosphorus.  It was a nice diversion from the way that we have been viewing things , despite the slightly chilly and overcast conditions.  The coastline was marked by waterfront homes and palaces of all shapes and styles.  Also, we saw the giant stone Rumeli Castle which was built in 1453 by the Turks to control the waterway.  Thanks for reading.  Wish you were here!

News From The Bus---- We have a new bus today for our time in Istanbul!  Thank goodness since the last one had begun to develop a strange shoe and potato chip quality to it.  Joe made a friend today outside the restaurant – some fella who was possibly not just drinking the Turkish coffee.  He either thought Joe was an old friend or was just struck funny by his uncanny resemblance to Al Capone.  

Day 13:   Istanbul

Today we began with Mass in the hotel.  A few days ago there was a plane crash in eastern Turkey, some seventy people died.  In his homily, our pilgrimage pastor Fr. Mike related a story of how he and Sr. Kathleen met someone in our hotel who told them that he were supposed to have been on that plane, but cancelled because he didn’t feel there was enough time for the business he had there.  He said that when he called his wife she was certain that the ringing phone was to inform her that he was dead.  Then she heard his voice.  The man was dumbstruck at how this one decision turned out to have such an impact in his life and future.  Fr. Mike turned this story toward us and the decisions that we are planning to make in the next year and a half and the future that will follow.

Our first visit of the day was at the wonderful Chora Church (museum now).  The date is unknown, possibly 6^th century AD.  Our guide described this church as one of the greatest examples of Byzantine art.  It was a remarkable place, even more so for being in Istanbul.  Here we were in another place where the Christian art had been covered over by Muslims, but is now gloriously revealed.  The mosaics were awesome – many of the life of Mary and the miracles of Christ.  Two domes in the narthex contained the prophets and the noble ancestors of Jesus.

We then went to the Topkapi Palace, the residence of twenty-four sultans of the Ottoman dynasty.  It was built between 1465 and 1478 and became a museum in 1924 following the establishment of Turkey.  The Ottoman Empire lasted for 400 years and the Topkapi Palace is the place to see many of the treasures that were collected by the sultans.  These included some 12,000 oriental porcelain pieces dating 13^th –18^th centuries, the eighty-six carat Spoonmaker diamond, as well as many jeweled items, swords, and daggers.  There are a number of Mohammed’s possessions.  It also purportedly has the skull and arm of John the Baptist and Moses’ staff. 

Our afternoon was spent doing a little browsing and haggling in the Grand Bazaar, the mother of all shopping malls with nearly 6000 shops.  Vu got a good deal on a small guitar and Joe a leather bag.  Some remained to shop while the rest returned to the hotel.

News From The Bus---- Somehow our class fisherman, Mark, is not actually too fond of the fish that we have been served at some of our meals.  He’s looking for McDonald’s while many others say “fish, fish, more fish, fish please, more fish.”  These fish comments were submitted to Zach’s “Box of Happy Thoughts.”  It is likely that Shawn now has his shopping done for Christmas 2005.  It is rumored that the ladies like to refer to Bob R. as the Turkish Delight.

Day 14:   Istanbul

We began the day again with Mass in the hotel.  As we prepare to move on in our pilgrimage we heard the words today from John the Baptist: “He must increase and I must decrease.”  The spirit of humility from John was a good reminder for us today of our future priestly identity.

We had just two short visits today in the city.  The first was a quick stop to see the Spice Market, sort of a smaller version of the Grand Bazaar but with a majority of shops with more little bins of any spices than I’ve ever seen or heard of.

We then took a tour to the Asian side of Istanbul, crossing a great suspension bridge, to eventually arrive at the Belereybi Palace.  This summer palace of the sultans stood in stark contrast to the words earlier in the morning from John the Baptist.

The event of the day came later in the afternoon when we had our meeting with His All Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.  We were guests for vespers (an evening prayer liturgy) in a beautiful Greek Orthodox chapel, with the gold Iconostasion arrayed with icons.  Patriarch Bartholomew then received us for a short introduction.  Fr. McIlhone read a letter of greeting and the Patriarch followed with well-wishes for our journey.  We were all commenting afterward on how warm and gracious he was towards us.  I think we all felt our bond with the Orthodox Church through this close personal encounter.  He also showed a gentle sense of humor and served us cake and juice!  He finished with words of encouragement that he borrowed from his predecessor, an exhortation to “take with us the voices and messages of the centuries past from this place.”

We fly to Greece tomorrow.  Keep us in your prayers as we do you.

News From the Bus----- Vu’s new guitar came in handy today as we had a La Bamba sing-a-long on the bus.  Hoang led the way on vocals.  At the spice market – one seller was wondering if we were a male harem(?)… We got the joke when we realized that we are a group of one woman, Sr. Kathleen, and all us guys.  I’ll bet Sister never thought she’d hear that one when she joined her order!  Finally, we were all concerned when Bob lost Zach in a backroom Turkish card game.  He was able to win him back though just in time for our departure.

Day 14:   Istanbul, Thessaloniki

Today was a travel day as we left Istanbul and Turkey behind and journeyed to Greece.  We got up early for our trip to the airport and said goodbye to Orhan our guide.  This was his last tour for the season and he said that in working with us, he did not feel the normal exhaustion that accompanies leading tours.  It didn’t feel like work at all for him.

We flew from Istanbul to Athens, and then to Thessaloniki.  Thessaloniki, which dates back to 316 BC, is the second largest city in Greece with one million people.  We checked into our hotel and then just had some relaxation time.

At 5:30 we walked about ten minutes from our hotel to a nearby Catholic Church for Mass, the Church of the Immaculate Conception.  Interestingly, Anthony met a group from Nigeria and Sunny met a group from the Philippines –both groups consisting of students and workers who emigrated to Greece.  Mass today was the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.” Mark 1:11

News From The Bus---- Khue’s brother was married this weekend!