Taking a holiday from the recession

Taking a holiday from the recession


De Facto
Liamy MacNally

BAD news travels fast.  There we were basking in the sunshine of the Aegean Sea in Turkey when Sky News informed us that Ireland was officially in a recession.  The recent difficulties in the travel industry should have been a sign.  Before boarding at Shannon we waited in the departure lounge with a group of older Limerick women from a bridge club.  The women had to suffer the ignominy of being told the bar had run out of brandy.  A bad start to any holiday!  Then the inevitable announcement – ‘The flight has been delayed for an hour.’  The check-in attendant, with a smile on her face, had gently advised us that the flight never left on time!  (Why do airports put passengers through such waiting hell by only opening two check-in desks when people have to queue for over an hour to check in?)     
A colleague wondered if the plane was ‘driving’ to Turkey it spent so long speeding on the runway.  He also wondered if it had lost its exhaust pipe because it made such a racket when ascending.  Seated in row 8 we were too late for cheese sandwiches when stewards arrived.  “The country’s going down the tubes,” moaned my friend.  Walking forward to the loo he was told by the steward that he had to use the loo at the rear of the plane.  It had 219 passengers and the back of the plane seemed a long way off.  “What time does the next bus come?” quipped my friend.  The steward was not amused.  When he returned to his seat he thanked God that he was an expert in yoga because the seats were so cramped he had to assume a bizarre position to ensure his knees did not rub off his ears. 
All frozen thoughts thawed along with the stiffened bones when the plane touched down in sun-scorched Kusadasi.  Thank God the sun is still alive and the sky is still blue!  We were thinking that forty shades of grey were the only colours available in Ireland.  The hotel was spotless and the staff very friendly apart from the hundred managers on the front desk who refused to accept that my bag had been ripped apart on the journey from the airport to my room.  The charter company representative advised me to make a claim on my insurance.  Such abhorrence - is that not why insurance prices are so high?                 
A visit to Ephesus, an archaeological paradise, was such a treat.  It is a spectacular location and all the more so when you are allowed to walk the same streets as the people of the one-time Roman capital of 500 Anatolian towns.  It was the country of the Artemis, the goddess of hunting and the chase.  250,000 lived there, among them at one time was St Paul.  He later wrote to the Ephesians, a letter accorded Biblical status in the New Testament.  He spoke (and could be heard) in the Grand Theatre, still standing and capable of holding 25,000 people. 
Close by is the Basilica of St John the Apostle, who is reputed to have lived and be buried here.  The Basilica was a magnificent structure built in his honour by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century.  The Virgin Mary left Jerusalem with St John after the death of Jesus and lived in Ephesus according to many traditions.  The first church in her honour was built here.  During an Ecumenical Council in Ephesus in 431AD Mary was declared the Mother of God.  The House of the Virgin Mary is also in the area.  Its discovery in the late 1800s has an interesting tale, based on the visions of a Bavarian holy woman who never left her country!  Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) had visions about the location of the Virgin Mary’s house in Ephesus and wrote them down.  In 1892 a group, including French priests, Frs Poulin and Young, discovered the remains of the house.  Today it is a pilgrimage site visited by thousands of people, including Popes Paul V1, John Paul 11 and Benedict XV1.  This day last week (Tuesday) our group had the honour of celebrating Mass at the site.  Mothers were at the centre of our prayers with relatives and friends, living and dead remembered and especially the recently departed.  It was a most moving experience.  The Eucharist has that gift of bridging life and death.  The majesty of God contained in a crumb.  It is strange how the best ‘holiday souvenirs’ are the silent pilgrim prayers. 
Back to the reality of the hotel where drinks prices, especially water, were a rip-off.  We leather shopped, gawked at gold and devilish diamonds.  We swam, sun-bathed, went on mountain-safari and survived!  Recession season – when winter comes can spring be far behind?