Cruising with Kath

Welcome to Turkey! Oh, my goodness it was cold! Because we were late leaving Jerusalem, we had to make up time to Kusadasi, and we ran into some strong winds that slowed us down. It also brought a big change in the weather. My day in Ephesus did not get above 50 degrees with howling winds. I think I got frostbite. But it was worth every painful minute. Port city of Kusadasi For orientation, the port of Kusadasi is located on the west coast of Turkey on the Aegean Sea. My tour was Biblical Ephesus, Virgin Mary Shrine, and Private Mass. We started with the House of the Virgin Mary, which is considered a Holy Site by the Vatican. This site is believed to be the home of Mary, Mother of God, after Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. Mary's Home Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German Augustinian nun, had visions of Mary’s life. Her writings were taken to Ephesus and used to find Mary’s home. It is a simple brick house where she lived out her later years after Jesus’ assu...

Lush farmland on the drive to Jerusalem Modern cities The Ashdod port on the coast allowed us to head inland to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Israel is about the size of New Jersey, with a population of about 6.5 million. The history of this area is so long and troubled, I can't do it justice in these few paragraphs. But they persevere. Jerusalem is a sacred city to three major religions: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, which creates a lot of conflicts, and a lot of pilgrims. I was thrilled to be seeing in person the places that I had long heard about and studied in school. It was difficult to reconcile the Jerusalem and Bethlehem I had envisioned with the towns I was driving through. Both cities are modern cities with modern problems of construction, traffic, dirtiness, and crowds. And yet, right in the middle of all the action, was suddenly something holy, something meaningful and spiritual.  The Wall of the Old City Our guide for the day was Murray from Borough Park, Brooklyn, New Yor...