Monday, July 28, 2014

We arrive into Istanbul just before 2 PM. Wow! Is all I can say. We can see the mosques from the water, hear the call to prayer and are just in awe of the shear size of this city. They think about 12 and 13 million people live in Istanbul. They don't know the exact number (could be as high as 16 million) as they haven't done a census in many years. Inconceivable! Oh yeah and the pictures look foggy because the humidity is so high.




Today is the end of Ramadan - the 30 days (every nine months) when muslim's must fast from sunrise to sunset. The end of Ramadan is a feast (holiday) that lasts 3 days. What does mean for us - a lot of people leave Istanbul to go on vacation so the city is quieter, but also means some things (the grand bazaar for example) are closed for these days. Most of the main sites are open though so we will be able to see all those and will try and hit the Grand Bazaar before we leave Istanbul on Thursday.

We have a leisurely morning. It was so nice to sleep in and then hit the gym. Our tour doesn't begin until 2:30. Today we visit the Chora museum (once the Chora church but has been converted and is being restored to show the beautiful mosaics created during 13th century.


Next we head to our first mosque - Rustem Pasa. It is small and not a major attraction but contains some beautiful tile work. Yup, when visiting mosques we must take off our shoes and have our shoulders and knees covered. Women also must cover their heads. Pretty sweet look, huh.




Our last real stop is to see the Underground Cistern. This was built by the Romans in the 16th century as a water reservoir. All the columns in the cistern are "recycled". They are ones they didn't want to use for the buildings that could be viewed (this cistern was filled with water during that time so no one ever saw these), so it is an interesting mix of different styles. Also includes a couple Medusa heads as "fillers" when they needed to add a little more height to the columns.




We have our last dinner on the boat with Chris and Lisa - another fantastic meal! Tomorrow, we disembark and will spend a couple more days in Istanbul before making our way back home.



It has been a great cruise and we are so lucky to have great friends to spend it with. Thanks for putting up with us Chris and Lisa!

Location:Istanbul, Turkey

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Our first day off the cruise and in Istanbul. We head to our hotel - Hotel Nena in the heart of the Sultanahmet area and just 2 blocks away from the Blue Mosque, Haya Sopia and Topkani Palace. In other words, it is a good and convenient location.

After settling into our room, we head to lunch and walk around to explore and get our bearings. We walk around the area of the Grand Bazaar. Even though it is closed for the end of Ramadan holiday, some of the shops nearby are still open. This spice and Turkish delight shop was a real treat... literally.



After sampling their wears and purchasing some dried chilies, curry and apple tea, we continue our walk.




Our tour guides in the previous cities we visited said that Istanbul shouldn't be very busy as most leave the city for the holiday period. That might be the case, but we wonder if tourists are coming into the city. There is a lot of people!

Chris and Lisa are meeting us in the city for dinner so we head to meet them. It is wall to wall people the closer we get to the water and difficult to walk.

The restaurant we choose is new to all of us, but the beer and food is good.







After dinner we partake in a Turkish pastime - smoking a water pipe. No, it doesn't contain any illegal substance, but it is tobacco and ours was apple flavored. It isn't something I would participate in on a regular basis (it is tobacco after all) but it was fun to try it.






The water in the pipe is suppose to clean out the impurities. I am not sure if that is true but it was a lot smoother than smoking a cigar or cigarette and the head rush was very mild and only lasted a few minutes.

Tomorrow we have a full day tour to see some more of the highlights of Istanbul.

Location:Istanbul, Turkey

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Our port is Kusadasi, Turkey. It is very large and looks nice. We weren't able to spend anytime in the port itself as we were on our tour most of the day. I think it is somewhere I would like to come back to and stay longer one day. There seems like there is a lot to see and do.




So, I said that the ruins by Marmaris were cool (and they were), but the ruins at Ephesus are extraordinary. Take a look at these:








This amphitheater can hold 22,000 people and concerts are still being held there today. Crazy!

There is a ton of history at Ephesus and so much more to be excavated. There is a lot of information on Ephesus – just need to Google it as it would be too much go write in here. :-)

From Ephesus our tour takes us to a small village called Sirince. What is interesting about this village? One, it is very pretty and perched within the Turkish mountains; but the really interesting part is that was part of a population exchange between the Greeks and Turks in the early 1900s. Approximately 2 million people were forced to move from their homes in Turkey to go to Greece and vice versa. The homes built in Sirince to house some of these people are still there today and we were lucky enough to have lunch in one of them cooked by an 87 year old woman! It was fantastic!










It is a little hard to tell from the photo, but the chairs were about the size of those for kids and the table the height of an average coffee table. That was all part of the charm. I think both Ron and I agree this was the best tour we had been on. Now there was more to the tour where we had Turkish coffee which was great, but then our guide read our fortunes using the left over grounds from our coffee. That part was a little hokey but up until that part, a great tour.

Tomorrow we sail into Istanbul for our last full day on the cruise.

Location:Ephesus, Turkey

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Today is our one and only tour we have with our friends Chris and Lisa. We didn't plan it that way (we really didn't plan it at all) just worked out that way, but I'm thrilled we can do one with them.

We dock in Marmaris around 8 am and head to the tour buses around 9 am. It is already pretty hot and humid, but don't notice that much as we have an hour long drive to start in our air conditioned bus.

Today we are doing a channel cruise on the Dalyan channel and visiting the ancient ruins of Kaunos. The drive, although long, isn't bad at all. It gives us time to see and hear about all the beautiful landscapes and agriculture of this part of Turkey.




How do I know I am not in Kansas anymore - I use a public washroom (WC). It is clean, which is great but the "toilet" is something I have never seen before. It is like a plastic sink on the floor (and no, I didn't take a picture). Here is the visual - you put your feet on either side and squat. It does flush, so it isn't just an open hole but definitely not something that we would experience in Canada. Now, I could have waited for a toilet with a seat, there were some, but then what would I have to write about????

We load onto these river boats to start our cruise of the channel and reach to the ancient ruins. As we cruise we can see tombs built into the sides of the mountain - remarkable.




We travel onto the ruins - a short boat ride then hop onto a wagon being pulled by a tractor to get up to the actual ruins. At first sight you think those are pretty cool. Then when you hear that they are from 200 BC, you realize it is super cool!







Check out this amphitheater:




Back on the boat we make our way back to our bus stop and lunch. Of course we need a beer after the hot walk around the ruins!




Our boat is leaving the port at 5 PM so it doesn't leave us much time to check out Marmaris but it was enough for the day.

Location:Marmaris, Turkey

Friday, July 25, 2014

Our last and favorite place (that we have visited) in Greece - Santorini. It is very unique and in our opinion... Amazing! We came here on our first trip to Europe with the kids and loved it. Definitely a place we would recommend seeing.



We took the tour to visit the volcanic island, the hot springs and a quick wine tasting at the end. It is hot today but there is a nice breeze so it is completely tolerable.

The volcanic island is just that - an island of volcanic rock that was the site of an active volcano many years ago. There is nothing on it except volcanic rock and of course the volcano is now dormant, but it is interesting to see where the craters existed and you can feel the hot air and see the smoke from some holes.





It was handy to have my own personal geologist with me to provide some further information.

From the island we travel to the hot springs by boat. They are in the bay of the older volcanic island (the one we visited was the "newer" volcanic island). You have to jump off the boat and swim to where the hot springs exist (about 15 to 20 m). I am not feeling into it, but Ron goes and checks it out. It isn't exactly hot, but cool for him to see and do.



Next we head back to the main land for the final piece of our tour - the wine tasting and Santo wines. Santorini isn't really known for their wines but the white and late harvest wasn't bad.

Fira is the main city in Santorini and where we need to go to get back go our boat. We check out a few of the shops and stop for lunch. I am thrilled because Greek iced coffee (Freddito) is on the menu and Ron is definitely good with a bottle of Mythos. Not to mention the view was spectacular (notice our ship in the background). A little Greek salad and some bread and dips rounds off this delightful meal.




Back on the boat we head to the steakhouse for dinner. Thinking I can have steak back in Calgary any old time (and that Ron makes a mean one) I opt for seafood instead. Just a nice light meal of crab legs, or so I thought. Do you know what 2 lbs of Alaskan King Crab legs looks like?!?! Now you do...



It is massive! I am a little embarrassed to say I ate about 3 quarters of it. Did I mention my clothes are getting tighter!?!? It was SO good and the crab legs were so meaty! Well worth the calories I think.

We say good-bye go Greece tonight as we head off in the sunset to Turkey. Tomorrow we will check out Marmaris.

Location:Santorini, Greece

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Piraeus is the port for Athens, Greece - the 3rd largest port in the world.

We decided to skip the tours, sleep in and then check out Piraeus. We were glad we did - it was a great day.

After a workout and breakfast (room service, of course), we head into Piraeus. At first I was a little skeptical there would be little to see or do, but then I was pleasantly surprised. The further we walked into Piraeus, the better it got. Cool little shops, a nice marina and some beautiful views. And not to mention, the best ice coffee we have ever had!




We found a really cool coffee bar/restaurant called Gazi College. The decor was relaxed but very unique and artistic. Check out how the bottles are suspended above the bar.


The ice coffee - a nice strong coffee with a thick, rice creama and just the right amount of sweetness. I covet those coffees now.




It was nice to do some more walking instead of the bus rides - not that there is anything wrong with them just nice to switch them up.

Tomorrow is our final day in Greece. We will be revisiting one of our favorite places - Santorini.

Location:Piraeus, Greece

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

After a large earthquake in 1953, there wasn't much left of Zakinthos. Today, a lot has been rebuilt but most of its historical sites were lost.

We can't dock so we have to tender into ports. It isn't a big deal, just adds a little more time and effort. It does provide us an opportunity to get a picture of our cruise ship.




Zakinthos is pretty small - only 50,000 people, so on our tour we travel a lot of the island. We visit a church that is being rebuilt after the earthquake...





A quick stop to see a 2000 year old olive tree!






Then stop for a snack and some Greek dancing at a local restaurant.

The views returning to the port are stunning and our bus stops for a few photo ops.

















Zakinthos seems to be more of a place to go, relax and enjoy the sun, not really to see sights.

Dinner tonight was again fantastic. I had the halibut (after having foie gras and consommé to start) and it was delightful.




But here was one on the best parts... the cheese cart. A selection of cheeses and you get to pick which ones and how much you want. Perfecto!

Location:Zakinthos, Greece

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Ron is feeling better today, thank goodness, so we head out this morning for our tour in Corfu.

We board a bus which takes us to our first stop - Achilles Palace. Although the Palace itself isn't very opulent, the grounds, gardens and views are stunning - see below.







Our tour takes us to Old Town Corfu. It is typical old city with narrow streets/walkways and cool sidewalk cafés. Lots of souvenir shops selling olive oil, olives, items made from olive wood, kumquat liquor, ouzo and of course the usual jewelry, t-shirts and bags.



We walk around Corfu for a while then stop for lunch and a lovely cold Amstel dark, at a sidewalk cafe. It isn't as hot as it has been - around 28 degrees and there was a nice breeze from the sea.




The food on the cruise has been a real treat. Room service every morning and 4 course dinners each night. Yes... we have made a couple visit to the gym as well to try and help balance out the food and wine but I am sure the food and wine is still ahead!

Tomorrow we head to a new port for Regent in Greece - Zakinthos.

Location:Corfu, Greece

Monday, July 21, 2014

The one situation we all try to avoid - getting sick on vacation. Ron, woke up in the middle of the night sicker than a dog. Not sure if it was something he ate or touched, but nevertheless, it wasn't good. He spent most of the day in bed, but did manage to gather enough strength to the head into Kotor to check out the old town.

Kotor looks beautiful from the boat as you can see below. But it is a bit run down close up. The old walled town is charming though.




Old town Kotor



A loop around the old town then we head back to boat to shade and coolness. Yup, we are wimps. A nice dinner for me and unfortunately just soup and bread tonight for Ron. Hopefully tomorrow he will be back to normal for our visit to Corfu, Greece.

Location:Kotor, Montenegro

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Wow... What a stunning place. The crystal blue water, the lush green hillside and not a cloud in the sky - Dubrovnik is beautiful.


We have our first tour this afternoon. It is 32 degrees outside so what do we do - nope not walking, but... Biking! We take a bus from the pier up into the hillside. Stunning views, but I must admit, the bus ride was a little bit of a white knuckler for me at some points. There really isn't much of a shoulder here.

We get to our starting point and get outfitted. Sweet huh.


So, the first leg is mostly downhill, we are easing into it. We stop for a "snack".


All the stuff on the plates and in the baskets is homemade - including the olive oil. It is delicious! The second part of our bike tour continues. This time there are 3 more strenuous hills. They start gradually but by the end, it was a bit of a haul. Drench with sweat we end the bike tour and head into a cool winery for a wine tasting. Not a bad way to end the day.





We get back to the boat late. We are disappointed that we didn't have time to visit the old town of Dubrovnik but hope to come back one day and explore more.

Tomorrow... Kotor, Montenegro. Jodi, we promise to listen carefully and take lots of pictures!

Location:Dubrovnik, Croatia