Traveling Tolins 2

  Diane and I left a day early on the 19th to spend an extra day in Istanbul to have more time at its three main attractions, the primary being the famous Blue Mosque.  We traveled by cruise ship from there to Athens, Greece to trace and follow the footsteps of the Apostle Paul's 2d and 3d Journeys.  We visited many of the churches he established. Our cruise ship was extremely small holding only 600 passengers, of which 280 were from our church, the about 300 from other USA Methodist churches.   Our tour operator, Educational Opportunities (EO), provided great details, including flights:  https://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/gc23102023d#eotours A detailed itinerary is below this table. Friday, October 20 Itinerary: Arrive in Istanbul, Turkiye. Continue to your hotel for dinner and overnight. Accommodation:   Sheraton   Saturday, October 21 Pre-Trip Information:  Itinerary: The bejeweled capital of Istanbul sits between two...

 Viking Polaris Expedition Ship More info:  https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/ships/viking-polaris.html Viking refers to the two 2022 ships as purpose-built expedition ships designed to explore the world’s most remote destinations in comfort and immerse you in these majestic, untamed regions. One of many differences is the Antarctic "expedition," although there is a published itinerary, must be flexible with its destinations due to the major weather variables and uncertain conditions of planned destination visits. Weather conditions of wind and waves, limited visibility, flow and packing of small ice floats, and precipitation.     Wind and waves have a very distinct effect on the Zodiac rubber rafts used to transport passengers from ship to shore and back.          Low visibility caused several Zodiacs to lose sight of Polaris on one occasion.  Fortunately, each boat has an antenna that transmits signals to Polaris; the bridge ...