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| Leroy being fitted for a backpack - we're traveling light! |
On Easter afternoon, Leroy and I will finish our packing and
fly to New York City so we can catch an early
flight to Cyprus via London
on April 1. In Cyprus we will
mostly relax following the activities of Holy Week. We will be able to walk from our condo, with
a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean, into the city of Paphos. I will engage in a spiritual retreat while in
Cyprus,
probably at the Kykkos Monastery at a mountain-top location.
A plane will take us to southern Israel,
via Tel Aviv, and we will cross into Egypt’s
Sinai Peninsula. We’ll climb Mt. Sinai
(transported partway up by camels) and visit the oldest monastery in the world
at St. Catherines. Passing through Israel again quickly, we will continue to Petra where we will spend
a couple days exploring the ancient city and stay at a Bedoin camp. We will also stay with Bedoins (nomads) while touring and climbing in the Wadi Rum wilderness (of Lawrence of Arabia fame) for
two days.
Back in Israel,
we will settle into Jerusalem for several days,
exploring the Old City and nearby Bethlehem. We will participate in an archaeological dig
and then head south to the Dead Sea
region. After climbing to Massada and
floating in the Dead Sea, we will drive north to Galilee
and spend a few days on a kibbutz while visiting sites associated with Jesus’
early ministry. We’ll stay in Nazareth for one night
and then head to the Mediterranean coast for several days by the beach in Tel
Aviv.
At the start of May, we will fly to Istanbul
and meet some dear friends from Canada. We’ll have time to explore the city with them
for a few days before arriving in Cappadocia in central Turkey. We will stay in a cave hotel and fly over the
other-worldly Cappadocian landscape in a hot air balloon at dawn. In Izmir we
will experience modern Turkey
and travel to the ancient ruins of Ephesus. If possible, we will visit Patmos, where John wrote the book of Revelation, and then spend several days in a rented
house by the sea on the historic island
of Rhodes.
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| View from our rented "cave house" on Santorini island. |
From Rhodes we will fly to Santorini and stay in a cave
house perched high above the Aegean Sea. After a few days of exploration, we will
travel by ferry to the island
of Mykanos for several
more days. In Athens,
we will stay downtown and tour the Acropolis, with a day trip into the
mountains to the ruins of Delphi.
By the start of June, we will be in Italy, beginning with the Amalfi
Coast
(Sorrento/Naples/Pompeii/Positano/Isle of Capri.) A train will take us to Rome to view the Coliseum and other ancient
monuments (and perhaps the Pope on Sunday??)
We’ll continue on to Venice
to a rented apartment on a canal near St. Mark’s Square. After a gondola ride, we will travel by train to the many museums of Florence
for a couple days before renting a car and driving to central Tuscany.
We will spend the final week in Italy
at an “agriturismo” – an old village once owned by the Vatican that is
now a working farm with vineyards and olive orchards. We will take a week to tour Tuscany, take a cooking class or two, and
sample the area wines.
On June 26, we’ll fly from Rome
to Los Angeles
where I will be a delegate to the UCC General Synod from June 28-July 2. Arriving back in Buffalo on July 3, we will take some allotted
vacation days (as urged by the Lilly Endowment for decompression and
reconnecting with family before returning to work.) We will likely rent a lakeside cottage in the
Finger Lakes Region and then celebrate my father’s 90th birthday on
the last day before returning to the office at SSBUCC.
Whew!
The blog entries during our journey will provide far more
detail on our travels, along with reflections on life, ministry, and what we
are learning and experiencing along the way.
