I made a decision today, that while in Greece in May, to go to Ephesus, Turkey, to the spot where the apostle St. John is buried, and St. Paul preached the early Yeshua teachings to the Ephesians (Romans). It was quite a mystical way it came about today. I have been really delaying making a commitment to which islands to go to in Greece on my upcoming trip back to Europe, and decided today to re-investigate the possibility of Turkey. Since there is nothing going on at work, I had all day to surf the internet and figure out all the possible ways of doing it.

I still was unsure though. So many choices and possibilities....and its a huge choice to cross items off my wish list to journey to Turkey.

So, at work, my boss Dick has a fantastic daily calendar with awesome images from all over the world. We play a game every day where he blocks the description of the place with a sticky note, and I try to guess where in the world the photo is taken. I'm quite good at the game actually. Anyways, in the midst of trying to figure this Turkey thing out, he switches the calendar to this weekends photo, as we usually do on Fridays.

I'm staring at this photo, of this awesome castle on a small island, surrounded by blue and green water, and tightly packed boats on a quay near its base. It looked so much like the water in the Mediterranean, and as I looked closer, I was shocked to see a small Turkish flag on a boat! I thought, OH MY, and ripped the post-it note off, and much to my amazement, read that this castle was in the entrance to the Kusadasi Harbor, the gateway city to the nearby ruin of ancient Greek and Roman Ephesus!!!!!!! Of all the possible places in the world that calendar has had.... it cosmically ended up being the VERY PLACE I was struggling to decide on whether to go to.

I really felt like this was some sort of strange cosmic affirmation. So, within a few minutes, I bought a ticket from Athens to Samos island, a Greek island a few kilometers away from Kusadasi. I'll take a short ferry to the mainland from there. So I'm going to Turkey to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles, and stand at the ruined entrance to the largest Roman City in Asia, and the largest library outside of Alexandria, all built upon the even more ancient ruins of a huge Greek city. I guess spirit says I need to go....so here I come!

I got back from Europe last night, it was a great
trip! Here are some of my journal entries from the
trip, which was May 17 - June 1.

Started out in London, and did St. Pauls, Tower of London, Parliment, and Soho. We took Eurostar in the Chunnel on Sunday, May 20 to Paris.

Ah... Paris.

We had a fantastique'
time there. Our hotel was very close to the Eiffel
tower, and directly in front of a bus stop and Metro
station. That made getting around this large, and
noisy city quick and easy. We got 2 day Paris Visite
Cards, good for unlimited travel on the buses and
metro, which really made zipping all over ultra
simple.

I was in heaven there. I loved the cafe's, the
scooters, the river, the peoples style, and the
weather. What I didn't like as time went on, was the
crazy, crazy traffic, and that our hotel room faced a
busy street. I liked the hotel, I would just make
sure to get a room facing the back alley next time.

The real jewel of Paris for me though, was the Rue
Cler street area, which we stayed 1 block from.
Heavily featured in every Rick Steves books and TV
shows about Paris, this pedestrian friendly group of
cafe's, shops, and produce stands felt cozy and warm.
I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Anyways, Tuesday, we left on the TGV out of Paris,
bound for the small city of Le Puy en Velay, southwest
of Lyon. My travel buddy Glenn has some old friends
in the country, and thats where we are now. Its
beautiful here, and reminds me totally of the Portland
area. So much so, that my grass allergies totally
kicked off today. The house and small village we are
staying in is surrounded by rolling hills of trees and
grass, and ugh... today has been rough. The "hay
fever" feeling this afternoon was not too fun. I hope
that in Monaco, and Switzerland, my allergies will be
gone, as it is different terrain.

Our hosts have been fantastic, fixing us wonderful
French cuisine on the patio in the near perfect
weather. Its so, so quiet here too. A great break
after two of the worlds busiest cities of London and
Paris.

I am glad I brought some small cards that explain my
wheat allergy, which has made eating everywhere easy
and stress free. We actually met a Canadian woman and
daughter in Paris on Rue Cler that was trying to
explain to the waiter that SHE was allergic to wheat,
and I was able to whip out a card for her, which saved
the day. I gave her a few more to photocopy and use
during the rest of their trip.

Another big plus has been the natural food stores,
which are easy to find via internet, and have all the
special food I need.

This morning we went into the main town of Le Puy
itself, about a 20 minute drive through a river gorge
lined with castles. Le Puy is a major starting point
for the Compostela Pilgrimage trail that runs along
the Pyrannes (sp?) mountains, and into Spain. It has
the most amazing, and deeply spiritual Cathedral I
have ever seen. Built on the side of a volcanic rock
tower, the 1200 year old Cathedral towers over the
equally old town of Le Puy. I took over two hundred
photos alone there. There were several pilgrims
starting their journies on the trail, and they all
prayed inside the dim, hushed halls of the church
below ancient stained glass, and a mighty crystal
cross.

I was awestruck at the place. This is a city I want
to come back to and savior. Our hosts are not able to
sight see too much due to health reasons, and it is
not possible for me to go to Le Puy on my own due to
the remoteness of this village so sadly, we only were
there for a few hours, but it was grand...

We have one more full day here, and then its back on
the TGV for a full day of travel to Nice, and Monaco.
The weather reports say it will rain this weekend, the
weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix, so think
"NO RAIN!". I am really looking forward to the French
Riviera. Sounds sooo nice....

Anyways, we are doing great and having a fun. Glenn
and I are getting along great. Sometimes he gets
locked on to some political thing, but I gently steer
him to a new subject and things are fine.

[May 24]

I had one of those experiences today that will always
stay with me forever.

Our hosts drove us this afternoon to a clear, deep
mountain lake in the French Central Massif mountains.
It was so beautiful, perfect weather, puffy clouds,
blue water, and a light breeze. The lake reminded me
so much of some of my favorite lakes in Oregon.

From there we headed north towards a castle I had seen
in the far distance on a hilltop while in the
Cathedral of Le Puy the day before. A large
thunderstorm had sprung up, and in the distance, dark
clouds and curtains of rain veiled the horizon.

The castle was built on a steep, black spire of
volcanic rock. Its stones rising from the twists and
turns of the vertical cliffs continued up into a
natural fortification. It towered over a small
village with red mediterainan tile roofs and very
narrow lanes. We parked the car below, and sprinted
up the steep, winding trail towards the black gate,
trying to beat the storm approaching from the west.

Glenn and I saw the signs for the 5 Euro entry fee,
but with only 45 minutes til closing, we decided to
bypass the ticket office and see if we could get in.
We passed into the fortress and the ticket collection
booth was totally unmanned, so into the walls we went.

We came out in the center of a semi-ruined cluster of
buildings, graves, towers and fields of green grass.
I went to a high point on the grassy fields, which
looked out 360 degrees into the valley 400 feet below.
The castles ancient stones laid out before me in a
grand arch. The clouds were dark, and sheets of rain
and hail could be seen moving closer to us. Lighting
flashed all around in the valley and nearby hilltops.
Suddently, an opening in the clouds towards the west
began to shine beams of light through the rain into
the valley below. It was totally amazing. For me, it
all came together. This is the reason I wanted to
come to Europe. To stand on the ancient grounds of a
1000 year old castle, the crisp breeze blowing my
hair, and that brilliant shaft of pure light...

It felt divine. A sacred moment in time. I thanked
the sky and smiled widely as I gazed around at the
lightning dancing close by... the deep rumbles of
thunder coming through the valley. I was so happy.
What an incredible place this is...

[May 29]

Gudmörgen from Switzerland!

We finally arrived in Swisse after a long drive from
80 degree Nice, France, through Italy, over totally
snow covered mountain passes. A very strong storm
swept through Europe yesterday...our travel day. We filled our gas tank at the last
town in Italy before the big mountain passes, and the
attendant pointed to the towering bases of the alps
surrounding us, then with his hands, mimed driving a
steering wheel, then said loudly, "closed!"

Oh no! the pass was closed! We decided to go see for
ourselves, and continued driving up. Sure enough, the
pass was closed and we joined a long line of cars
waiting. It had been closed for hours due to high
winds, downed trees and tremendous snow fall.

After an hour of waiting, the cars suddenly began
moving, and to our delight, we were able to drive the
stunning snowy pass into Swisse. We made it to Tachè
at 7:15 pm, 45 minutes before the roads were to be
closed for the night! Yikes! So, here we are, in
Zermatt, Swisse, at the base of the Matterhorn. There
is 12" of snow on the ground, and the Alps are so
beautiful. I caught my first glimpse of the
Matterhorn this morning in a brief clearing, and it
was amazing!

We had a great time in Monaco over the weekend for the Monaco Grand Prix,
although it was very hectic. I have never seen so
many people with as much money as I have there.
Gigantic super yachts, million dollar cars, the whole
deal. It was quite a show. i think i prefer the
alps. But, it was a great experience to be at the
races. Security was ultra tight, but Glenn has a
buddy on the Honda racing team, and following the
race, we were able to go into the pits and take photos
of the cars. That is normally impossible, and we were
very, very lucky to do that.

[More to come......]

Seattle, September 17th, in the year 2005

What can I say. I love this band. Their music over many, many years has had a huge hand in shaping who I am as a person. I have played and sang along to their music countless moments when I am jubilant, when I am feeling sad and emotional, and when I am alone camping in the woods.

And so, during the opening song of the first show on their first North American tour in 9 years, I was filled with graditude. Overwhelming graditude for the gift of these amazing songwriters, artists, and human beings who have been such a helping hand throughout life.

Brendan Perry's voice was clear and beautiful. Lisa Gerrard was angelic. A great show with alot of their older popular songs being my personal high-lights. My only 2 critiques are: I felt like the backing musicians were not as rich musically as on the Spiritchaser tour in 1996, could have been the sound too...don't know; and also I got slightly tired of what sounded like the same slightly depressing song sung alone by Lisa and a synth keyboard, re-hashed about 5 times during the set. I know they were different songs, but they were so similar, they were...dare I say it...I can't believe I am going to say...it....they were BORING. Ugh, don't tell ANYONE I said that.

But we were treated to TWO encore's, after teasing the applauding/stomping audience with the longest encore wait in concert history. I actually thought they were not coming back out, but they did. Silly folk.

I had a wonderful time in Seattle. I took a morning ferry out to Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound the next day after the concert, just to feel the salt air blasting at my watering eyes, and be out on the water for an hour. Such a treat. It makes me want to travel again, a common problem I seem to have.