Since they were born, the sons of Abraham have caused
conflict in the world. And today is no different. However, for some, like in
any conflict, they have turned lemons into lemonade, and created a
multi-million dollar travel path to learn more about the ancient biblical
conflict and the birthplace of the little one.
When it was decided to cruise to the Holy Land, our
research took a sudden turn. Most tour groups fly into Tel Aviv and take an
air conditioned tour bus into the Holy Land to view the sites of Jerusalem,
Nazareth and surrounding sights.
Research showed us that mega cruise lines were sending
smaller cruise ships to complete this same journey, on the Mediterranean
Sea, but from a different prospective. For instance, we found one of the
newer cruise lines (actual the daughter of Carnival Cruise Lines) which
cruises between Europe, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Greece, and vs. versa. (A
little expensive, yet reviews are spectacular (12 days)
After continued research to locate a journey which would
satisfy our needs to visit Israel and Egypt, at the same time, (less than
270 miles apart) we found another mega cruise line, which offered the
journey from a totally different prospective.
This particular cruise line does something very
different. The cruise departs from Istanbul and returns to Istanbul (Turkey)
Of course, two days in Egypt, two days in Turkey and two days in Israel, we
would be able to spend more time in each port and therefore see more and
learn more. (10 days)
What we didn't understand was, why Istanbul? Our research
explain it!
Of course, including Europe was one of our criteria's,
until we did our homework. We had to ask, ourselves was this upcoming tour
about seeing Europe, once again, or, learning more about the beginning of
civilization and the events, which shape our lives today?
We decided that learning more about what "really
happened," 2000 years ago, was the goal. From past experience, we understood
that different destinations, hold different secrets, concerning the world,
and you only have to visit, watch and listen, and the secrets are revealed.
Past experience taught us, that once we arrived, as a
visitor in these foreign lands, the unwritten contract of providing
information is fulfilled, IF, you watch, look and listen. (The truth has a
way of revealing itself, when you actually get off the couch and visit far
away, places. This is why the travel industry is a trillion dollar industry
and thousands of people are visiting Israel each week, regardless of the
down turn in the economy)
Ephesus, Turkey, one of the ports of call, is where the
Virgin May is believed to have spent her last days. Even the hat wearing
guys from one of the largest religions on earth, has visited this small
spot. (1967, 2006, 2009) Our research, then lead us to ask questions about
the birth of Sarah's son and Hagar's son and the conflict over which has the
birth right of his father, Abraham. (The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict)
Did someone greater, than ourselves, decide to eliminate
the same problem, by sending the little one, who was "without" an earthly
father? What clues did his mother, the Virgin Mary leave for us? What clues
did the country that we now know as Turkey, preserve for us? What historical
and biblical secrets does Turkey hold?
This particular cruise, is extremely popular. We decided
somebody knows something! And we also realize that as avid travelers, we too
have kept the secrets that were revealed to us during our travels, so the
only way to find out, is to go and see for ourselves.