Bob from Istanbul, Saturday Morning:
Our one overnight bus trip is now behind us. It lasted from 9:45pm to about 8:00am. Of course it was overbooked, but they kicked some poor young German students off to fit our group in. It was air-conditioned but full. On arrival I polled the troops and they opted to shower and nap until noon and then follow Sam's priorities for his last day: St. Sophia (the massively domed Church from the days of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire of Constantinople), the Blue Mosque (from the Ottomom Empire), the Covered Bazaar (for his last minute shopping) and a farewell dinner for him (I just reserved a good place). Tomorrow we will do the Topkapi Palace and Harem from the Ottomon Empire and perhaps a Haman (Turkish Bath) and/or other options.
Of course the current nap time has turned into pool table time for most of the group. So it goes...
Some of you may recall that I have been quietly optimistic but nonetheless haunted for 3 months awaiting confirmation for all 9 seats of our flight to Venice Monday morning. I had been arranging it from here to save money compared to buying the ticket in the US. It took some final face to face effort and a 26% increase in price per seat this morning, but we are now confirmed. I will sleep better tonight.
Bob

 
Bob from Istanbul, Saturday Morning:
Our one overnight bus trip is now behind us. It lasted from 9:45pm to about 8:00am. Of course it was overbooked, but they kicked some poor young German students off to fit our group in. It was air-conditioned but full. On arrival I polled the troops and they opted to shower and nap until noon and then follow Sam's priorities for his last day: St. Sophia (the massively domed Church from the days of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire of Constantinople), the Blue Mosque (from the Ottomom Empire), the Covered Bazaar (for his last minute shopping) and a farewell dinner for him (I just reserved a good place). Tomorrow we will do the Topkapi Palace and Harem from the Ottomon Empire and perhaps a Haman (Turkish Bath) and/or other options.
Of course the current nap time has turned into pool table time for most of the group. So it goes...
Bob

 
Bob from Selcuk Turkey Frıday evenıng-
Perhaps you have notıced that I am doıng almost all the chatterıng on thıs websıte. I have been seekıng volunteers to gıve loyal readers some varıety - but the students don,t see the poınt or perhaps are a bıt shy about broadcastıng. Plus part of thıs trıp ıs about provıng theır strength and ındependence so reportıng ın to Mommy and Daddy ıs almost a sıgn of weakness - though I hope they have been sneakıng off to do so now and then. And who (but me) wants to sıt ın front of a computer when wonderful weırdness awaıts outsıde.
I thınk ıt ıs safe to call thıs day an educatıonal wın. Ephesus ıs among the top places on the planet (along wıth Pompey-Herculenıum) for beıng able to vısualıze a workıng Roman cıty - thıs one rısıng to 250,000 populatıon and playıng the role of the Roman,s Asıan proventıal capıtal. Our guıde was among our better so far. Some along the way have had trouble connectıng wıth the students for varıous reasons. Then we went to the adjacent ruıns of a very early Chrıstıan basılıca to revıew some of the struggles of the early Chrıstıan church (a Brad specıalty) as ıt trıed to come up wıth a unıfıed posıtıon on the nature of Chrıst (and Mary). At fırst that dıdn,t seem to ınterest the students, but after a long lunch of mısc. crepes at a beautıful and very tradıtıonal Turkısh place (agaın all carpets and pıllows and low tables) - the ıssue of early relıgıous hıstory ın thıs part of the world buılt momentum. Surprızıngly an after-lunch stop that I thought mıght be a mıstake to the alleged fınal home of Mary, where we were surrounded by devout pılgrıms, was most helpful ın trıggerıng good dıscussıon and arguments about the nature-role-socıology of relıgıon ın lıght of our group,s predomınate Jewıshness, that place,s rıtual Catholıc Chrıstıanness, and the Islamıc culture we are otherwıse vısıtıng. The students asked and argued good questıons. So I wıll call ıt a wın.
Next we wıll brıefly clobber them by Istanbul,s spectaculars of the Byzantıne and Ottomon Empıres ın the hope that that wıll lıght some curıousıty about the pre-renaıssance eastern half of thıs Medıterranean world - often overlooked ın overvıews of European Cıvılızatıon. We only have two days (Sam only has one) ın Istanbul. And I know they also want to shop because they have wısely avoıdıng buyıng much earlıer when they would have had to carry ıt for a longer perıod. And they know Italy ıs much more expensıve than Turkey. So we have two bıg days ahead - and we start them at 9pm tonıght wıth a 10hour overnıght bus trıp. Good thıng we are all so young...
Bob
ps - needless to say, I am at peace wıth quıck and sloppy spellıng on thıs channel - hopıng you wıll understand.

 
Bob from Selcuk Turkey Thursday nıght -
We arrıved safely on Asıan shores agaın - thıs tıme Turkey - and were greeted by the hostel bus ın Kusadası that took us to Selcuk - walkıng dıstance to the Roman cıty of Ephasıs. The students arrıved completely tıred but then revıved after a excellent rooftop Turkısh vegetarıan dınner at sunset - a beautıful dınıng space of tradıtıonal Turkısh carpets pıllows low tables etc. and good Turkısh hostel managers - and our students say they love thıs place. They are almost all asleep as of 930-1000 ın antıcıpatıon of a full day wıth a guıde ın the ruıns tomorrow and then theır one bıg all nıght bus experıence tomorrow nıght. I have arranged a late breakfast for them to get them as prepared as possıble. All ıs well.
Bob

 
Bob from Samos, Thursday morning:
Our ferry departing Mykonos was delayed until 2:15am and our sleep on the boat (in cabins) ended at 8:30am upon arrival in Samos so it has been a short night. Some stayed up late on the beach the prior nights in Mykonos (the coolest part of the day) so some are tired now. Samos is really just a layover while we wait for the next ferry going the short distance to Kusadasi Turkey (5pm). So folks are playing chess in the port cafes, strolling the pedestrian shopping streets or napping in the park - or so they plan (now most are in this internet cafe). This is a quiet and relaxed port called Vathy and their last chance to catch the rythums of Greece.
I debriefed the students on the choice of Mykonos for their break and their evaluation is mixed. Access to the town of Mykonos was easy and everyone seemed to enjoy strolling there at least as much as the beach. Paradise Beach was clean and beautiful. The tent cabins no problem. But they had trouble connecting with all the European students there. Many seemed to old for them (college aged) - and many were traveling in couples. On the other had the high schoolers seemed to be grouped by nationality and perhaps intimidating in some way. There was, for instance, a big open pool party by a large group of French high school students (it seemed to be some sort of school trip, for about 50) but our students didn't like their techno music. They also didn't like the college students dancing to American rock and rap that was a bit too dated for our guys. And all the music seemed too loud. At least one of our students even said that a family-style beach would have worked a bit better. Despite some talk of needing alchohol to be able to interact and meet new people, our folks in the end mostly played cards and chess and read quite soberly.
We sleep in nearby Selcuk Turkey tonight and tomorrow we go to the ruins of the Roman city of Ephesus in Turkey - at one point considered by the Romans as their "Asian capital".
The fact that we only have a week to go seems to have sunk in for everyone. It has all gone by so fast...
Bob

 
Bob from Mykonos Day Two,
We are still coasting under the hot sun with the scattered energy of beach life. In the twisted lazy streets of Mykonos after heavy doses of sand and sun it is asking a bit much to get folks all lined up to briskly go the same place at the same time without diversions - so we missed the last shuttle boat to the neighboring island of Delos this afternoon - or maybe the students' hearts were not quite ready for more Greek history. So we came to rest in a cafe on the waters of the harbor as the boat pulled away and imitated current (and perhaps ancient) Greek history under the cafe umbrellas: a leasurely lunch with relaxed and random discussions - like the Greek men do after all the tourists leave. No one seemed to mind the change in curriculum. Today we agreed to prepare ourselves for the transition back to educational travel.
Bob

 
Walker from Mykonos - The town of Mykonos (about 15 minutes by bus from our campsite) is a beautiful place. It's narrow flagstone streets snake through a town full of storefronts topped by balconies of second-story residences. One edge of the town is right along the water, with beautiful sea-side restaurants with amazing views of the surrouding islands and the island itself. The buildings are all traditional Greek whitewash with blue, red, or green trim on the shutters, doors, and banasters. It is a photographers dream. I'm sure many of you have seen images taken in the town of Mykonos on postcard etc. Tomorrow we sail for the island of Samos. See you all soon.
walker

 
Bob from Mykonos,
The ferry down to Crete was only four hours and we checked into the hostel about midnight. We had had a good serious mid-trip conversation for the whole 4 hours on the ferry reviewing our performance on the ground rules written by the students and given to the parents. They asked me to report on that to the parents so I will upload a separate email to the parent list in a few hours. One outcome is that some wanted to call or email parents to request specific permissions in anticipation of Mykonos - but today (our first Mykonos day) is their first opportunity (the internet cafes were closed in Crete when we arrived and the next morning was totally consumed by the visit to the Minoan Palace of Knosis before we once again ran for a ferry (the 1pm to Mykonos). Some tried late night telephone calls upon arrival in Crete but only one got through. The ferry phone was for within Greece only. The campground phone last night on arrival here was too noisy.
The general issue is that some want to amend/stretch their own groundrules and also know they should do it with parental permission only in keeping with the trust the parents showed allowing them to go on the trip.
So even our "non-educational" mid-trip beach holiday has ended up with real educational content: how to manage their growing sense of independence and confidence, how to negotiate a new and more mature relationship with adults, how to cope with increased temptations.
We are here on Mykonos today and tomorrow and sail tomorrow night overnight for Samos. The water is good, the beach clean, the music loud, the crowd young (majority college, maybe 15% high school), the weather hot and clear. Wish me luck rebuilting interest in ancient history and religion now that our momentum has been so happily broken.
Bob

 
Bob from Santorini,
Gotta run for a ferry to Crete this evening - but I thought I would just let you know that all have now relaxed and caught up on sleep and had some freedom on the beach to balance all the group living of the last two weeks. Some of the group have discovered that alchohol can be bought over the counter here and thus I need to have a discussion with them about how to handle that exciting bit of new freedom. Their agreement with you all and their health and safety in general are of course on my mind. We are now half way through the trip - and finished with the most difficult stuff I think. More news when we get to Mykonos.
Bob