My part two last week ended with an ultra-brief commentary about Cappadocia that barely scratched the surface of the exhilaration we felt as we soared high up in the skies at the crack of dawn alongside hundreds of other multicolored balloons taking off almost simultaneously, spaced safely apart to avoid mid-air collisions, which have been known to happen — the most recent of which was in Arizona last January, killing three passengers.

The view from the wicker basket, in which about 20 of us were crammed, was breathtaking as we began our slow ascent. Every ignition of the liquid propane produced a swoosh of flame that heated the air inside the giant parachute-like aerial wonder, causing the balloon to float in the cold air outside.

Like kids, we giggled with joy at the marvel of the fascinating scenery gradually unfolding before our eyes as we ascended higher and higher — over the Valley of Stone of Goreme, another wondrous miracle of nature.

The valley was like a fairyland of towering chimneys as high as 130 feet, shaped like inverted ice cream cones of various forms and sizes, scattered abundantly over a vast area as far as the eye could see.

The stones were light, porous volcanic rocks carved over millions of years by wind and water.

Saving the best for last, another must-see memorable destination for our band of pilgrims was Ephesus, where tradition tells us the Blessed Virgin Mary was brought to safety by the Apostle John shortly after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We visited a chapel in the House of Mary on the slope of Bulbul Mountain in the area surrounding Ephesus, where a pre-arranged mass was held for us, officiated by our indefatigable tour and spiritual leader, Fr. Rodel Paulino.

The next and final stop after Türkiye was Greece, the cradle of Western civilization — the ultimate destination of our troupe of religious travelers who started out mostly as strangers, certainly at least to me anyway, but became intimate friends by the time we landed in Athens.

The pages of the world’s abundant trove of literature and ancient manuscripts are replete with tales of mythical Greek gods and goddesses alongside heroic tales of Odysseus, Leonidas and the immortal Spartans, immortalized in the hit movie 300, who valiantly stood tall and brave to the death against thousands of Persians of Xerxes in the legendary Battle of Thermopylae.

I would have loved to visit this battle site, but alas, it wasn’t part of the tour.

However, our treat was instead the main attraction of Greece — the iconic Parthenon on the majestic hill of Acropolis, which dominates the clear, blue skyline of Athens, seen from miles away.

The reconstruction of the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Parthenos — Greek goddess “Athena the Virgin” — a rectangular white marble shrine in her honor instantly recognizable for its towering colonnades, was started in 447 BC and completed in 438 BC by Pericles, an Athenian general and ruler, who reclaimed the glory of Athens as the center of education, literature, arts and culture.