June 15, 2014 Istanbul

June 15, 2014 Istanbul

Our last day we spent on a boat ride along the Golden Horn and Bosphorus,a must see for any visitors. The European side has the last grand palace built by the last Sultan in the late 1800s. At the narrowest passage stands two fortresses. The Asian side is loaded with very expensive homes and much cleaner air. We passed under three large bridges spanning the gap between Istanbul Europe and Asia. Surprised to hear that the bridges were built in only three years. How long did it take to rebuild the Bay bridge? After a return up the hill we ate lunch and had fun with the staff, Larry started to walk away with the tip money and Wayne asked for his sun glasses when they were already on his head. Too much beer or too much walking. A return to the Grand Bazaar for small gift purchases and back to hotel for rest. Dinner at our hotel and packing.

On the Bosphorus

Last Sultan Palace

  Mosqu

Hunting Palace

Wedding Pictures at Bophorus

Rear Entrace

Mosque

sque

Water Pipe

Istanbul June 13, 2014

June 13, 2014 Instanbul
Today we walked again up the hill to the Grand Bazaar which seems to go on forever with shop after shop of  merchants selling most of the same items. Constant inquiries "hello, where are you from?, are you Ameican, German, English, do you want to by a Turkish rug?, etc."  Advice given by our guide, just keep walking. Do not engage in conversation. Bought a coffee mug just for memory sake. Stopped for lunch at nice street restaurant.  Walked to the underground cistern for tour of this Roman built water storage facility supported by marble columns collected mainly from Greek sites. Located a restaurant converted from another cistern. Our travelling companions' daughter had eaten here

Latest Muslim Fashions

Bazaar

Cistern

Madusa on Column in Cistern

Cistern Restaurant

Hagia Sophia at Night

while on her honeymoon. Came back at later at 8 pm for dinner. Needed to walk here since taxi drivers refused to drive us due to the short distance involved.

Istanbul June 12, 2014

Istanbul June 12, 2014/
Departed our

 ship by cab to our hotel. Met our guide Heimi for tour. Walked up the steep grade to the hippodrome and onto our entry to the Topkapi Palace of the Ottoman Sultans where a staff of thousands ruled the huge empire. Heimi walked us to a high end carpet shop for an "educational" presentation on Turkish carpet. We were served tea while listening to descriptions of dozens of different type and prices of carpets. After a polite thank you Heimi took us to an upscale traditional Turkish restaurant, pricy but delicious. Back on the tour we next went to the Blue Mosque and finished by taking off our shoes to enter the St Sophia mosque. Thanking Heimi we returned to our hotel for a rest after a day of much walking. We enjoyed our dinner on the 6 floor terrace over looking the hippodrome area and the sea. 

Arrival in Istanbul June 11 , 2014

Istanbul June 10, 2014
Arrived in Istanbul. Spent day exploring the old town then located the Ottoman Hotel Park where we will be staying starting tomorrow for three nights. Arrange for a tour of the main attractions for tomorrow. Walked back to the hippodrome and ate at an outdoor cafe. Walked to the Spice Market which is a large bazaar housing hundreds of food vendors. Crossed the Galata Bridge to return to our ship for our last night aboard. Packed  and ate dinner.

Dikili, Turkey June 10, 2014

Dikili, (dee-kee-lee)Turkey June 10, 2014
This resort town has nice beaches and provides access to Pergamum, site of the invention of a sheep skin derived material to replace papyrus from Egypt. The Egyptians had stopped shipment of papyrus for book making in protest over the proliferation of libraries in Turkey rivaling those in Alexandria. We decided to spend time swimming then black to the ship for lunch, Ping Pong and a briefing on Istanbul. Some kind of fish bit our legs, not sure why. Missed lecture on iCloud but got tips on aps and setups for iPad. Went to musical review after dinner, really good singers/dancers.

Ephesus, Turkey June 9, 2014

Ephesus, Turkey June 9, 2014
Met our personal guide, Touro, a native of Istanbul, who took us for a 2 1/2 hour tour of the archeological ruins of Ephesus, once the second largest city in the Roman Empire. The ruins are gradually being restored by a University from Austria which has done a magnificent job uncovering  a theater which could hold 25 thousand citizens for viewing religious events, later comic and tragic plays and.musical performances. Other notable structures include the restored library which was second in size only to that in Alexandria. The road leading into the city was lined with magnificent columns and was once travelled by Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. Our next stop was high up a mountain to the House of the Virgin Mary a replica of the homes that existed here when Mary supposedly travelled here with St. John in his quest for disciples and converts. Stopped for large statue of  Mary then to the oldest mosque in Europe. Back to ship for international buffet then off to the roman theater visited earlier for string ensemble but due to light rain the concert was moved to an elaborate indoor concert hall.

Santorini June 7, 2014

Santorini. June 7, 1014
This island now consisting of a large Calderon formed when this volcanic island exploded in an eruption somewhere around 2000 BC. We took the first tender from our ship at 8am to beat the crowd to the funicular (5 euros/person). Alternative access to the town of FERA are donkey or stairs. No crowds while we walked through the town. Next took the city bus for 1.6 euros each way to Oia for the most spectacular views of the white houses perched atop the cliffs.  We took a stop for coffee at a caffe overlooking the Aegean Sea. After walking further we ate moussaka and beer while Miriam had a no salt Greek salad. We sought out the one remaining wind mill on the island. Back to a long line of cruise people from the Celebrity Equinox to take the Funicular and then our tender back to our ship. Dinner and entertainment tonight was bases on the theme White Night in which everyone dressed in white clothing and we enjoyed a large buffet with about dish imaginable.  We were entertained first by folk dancers and musicians. Next was an evening of entertainment provided by the  the Voices from the previous night.  Lots of dancing

Chania Crete June 6, 2014

Chania, Crete June 6, 2014
Walked through part of the old city in order to rent a cat for a drive to two
 Monasteries, Agis Triada and Guvernato. The first one was magnificent with beautiful gardens and impressive hanging candle lanterns. A long winding road took us up a steep incline to the Guvernato which we found was closed on Fridays. No big loss since the monastery was under going major repairs. Back to Chania for a look at the inviting beaches on the south side of town. We stopped for a small lunch and were surprised afterwards to a serving of cake and the Greek liquor Raki, a potent drink tasting like grips. Spent the rest of the day walking through the winding streets of the town. A great post dinner variety show of dancers and singers capped off our evening.

Syracuse, Sicily June 4,2014

  Syracusa, Sicily June 4, 2014
Arrived in this ancient city with fascinating water front. The architecture reflects the numerous civilizations that have invaded and occupied this land, greeks, romans, Byzantines, turks, etc. We spent the day just exploring the curvey narrow streets, the churches, large piazza Duomo, fountains, and shops. Miriam bought a dress and I bought two bottles of our favorite Sicilian wine, one for John Fortner, Corvo Glicine. Churches and museums close early here so we did not get to the Greek theater which closed at 4pm in order to stage the Greek Tragedy. Walking back to the ship we witnessed local teams of young men playing a water polo match but using kayaks. Back on ship, using required local tender we prepared for dinner and the 9:45 performance by broadway singer. 

Pompeii June 3, 2014

June 3, 2014
We took a cab from Positano to Sorrento  to board our Azamara cruise ship. Met our friends, Myrna and Larry, for breakfast and to plan our day in Sorrento. We chose to take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii and they went on to Herculanium. The ruins of Pompeii are much more extensive than we had imagined. Also, impressed by the city planning especially the provisions for pedestrians (I.e. pedestrians only, water flushes of the streets, elevated steps across the streets to avoid wet feet, one way streets). The city of twenty thousand was extremely well planned with a real cosmopolitan mix of rich and middle class. Back on our ship we had a late lunch at the Pool Grill, sandwiches and wine/beer included. Later at 8:30 we had dinner in the Window Restaurant.

Positano June 2,2014

Positano June 2, 2014
Today is our relaxtion day. After leisurely breakfast we went the beach below our hotel. Spoke to a local couple about politics and economy in Italy. Feedback is that he economy is still bad with a depressed housing market. We went for a cool swim, temperature can't be much above mid 60s On our way back along the sea walk we witnessed strange video being shot of a wedding couple fully clothed swimming in the water while a camera drone hovered over them. Next, their friends are fi lmed jumping into the water and moving them. Must be the latest thing in filming wedding events. We also have witnessed several Japanese wedding parties and photo shoots.  Early dinner of fish and Sicilian white wine. No fire works tonight even though it is Day of the Republic, a national holiday.Time for packing.

Amalfi and Rovello May 31, 2014

Amalfi May 31,2014

After breakfast on our hotel terrace we took the steep but short downhill walk to the fairy landing for a 40 minute boat ride to the town of Amalfi another quaint town built on the side of the steep slopes. Took a lengthy walk above the town following a stream to a dead end then returned for a trail along the coast to the town of Atrani, a much less developed area but with a nice rocky beach.  After a lunch of sandwich beer and gelato back in Amalfi, we caught the local bus for the very curvy and steep 40 minute ride to the elevated town of Ravello. The town is picturesque with an extensive multi acred Cimbrone Garden owned and renovated by a wealthy Brit in the early 1900s. A faster descent in our bus took us back to Amalfi. Wayne looked for the Emergency Shop looking for a pair of sun glasses at a reasonable price. No glasses available at stores here for less than $145. Too many people waiting for bus back to Positano so we took the ferry back for 8 euros. Steep uphill walk back to our hotel for shower and dinner where we were treated to live music. Finished the day with walk down to center of town.

Rome May 31, 2014

Rome May 31, 2014
Up early to catch our train/bus combo to Positano. Confusion about need to validate our down loaded tickets. Approached by "good Samaritan" who helped clarify our ticket and walked us to our cabin. Negotiated his "fee" down from 5 to 3 euros. A two hour train ride to Naples then an uncomfortable one hour local train ride to Sorrento. Waited for local bus to take us the final leg to Positano. Way too many people in the cue we get the last seats on the ocean side of the bus. Others are allowed on to stand for the half hour curvy ride to Positano. We are not sure what those left behind did since the next bus was not scheduled for another hour.

There are two stops in town. Following Rick Steve's advise we get off at the second, Espanda and purchase another ticket to ride the orange city bus to our  Hotel Montemare. A young lady with a cute baby helped us get off at the right spot.
After getting settled in our very nice accommodations we ate lunch on the balcony restaurant overlooking the hillside city below.  The food, local fish and a fabulous egg plant salad, makes the long trip seem worth it. Wayne suggested a nap before taking a walk. We woke up an hour later to the thunder of a rain shower, no opportunity to venture out. Spent time planning the next three days
Around 8 o'clock we ate dinner on the terrace while watching lightening out over the ocean. Food is excellent with our sharing seafood pasta and another order of the hot eggplant salad.
Observation:  In the train stations there is little information services available to give directions/clarification. "Good Samaritans" are available for a price to assist travelers. Negotiate before accepting their offer to help.