Cruise to the Mediterranean

Hi everyone!  Amanda, the kids, and I went on a cruise out of Rome recently, stopping in Turkey, Cyprus, Israel (2 days), Crete, and Naples (near Pompeii).  I posted some pictures on facebook, but here are some Boyd family specials.

Philip was overjoyed to be at a train station.  He has been looking sharp as every with some David Ermine Jr. clothing brand jacket.

We found a roman catholic mass on Crete.  They sang one English song, the Sactus and Our Father in Latin, so we were able to follow along a bit.  I butchered the songs in Greek as I tried to pronounce contemporary Greek with my limited education in Biblical Greek.

Philip and Amanda are trying to found out way through Pompeii.

This is a Roman road in Pompeii, covered for nearly 2000 years by 20 feet of ash.  It was very well-preserved, and one can see the ruts from chariot wheels that slowly wore down the stones.

Entrance to the amphitheater.  Tristan...Dan...want to try and translate this?

Amphitheater.

Philip and Amanda on a castle wall in Alanya, Turkey.  The horizontal space above was where a large piece of wood...would have been to hold the stones and mortar as they settled.  It has since rotted away.

Stella at the beach in Turkey.

A monastery in Cyprus.

Stella at n Amphitheater in Pafos, Cyprus.

Philip and I at the Jordan river.  This site is where some entrepreneurial Israelis have turned baptisms in the Jordan river into a ridiculously over-commercialized business, totally targeted for American evangelicals.

Jerusalem

At Golgotha.  Philip didn't make it to the 11th station.

Our last day in Rome, we had lunch with 5 of my classmates from ICAS in New Hampshire.  They are studying theology there, less than two years away from ordination.  It was a lot of fun and we shared a lot.  Too much detail to divulge here.  For those that are interested, we can talk on the phone.