To round out our month of traveling, we took a 12 day, 11 night cruise to the beautiful Mediterranean We visited lots of Turkey and Greece (originally supposed to visit Egypt, and then Israel, but both of those were canceled).
We had a great 2 weeks filled with sunshine, blue skies, warm weather, and gorgeous water and beaches! And of course, gorgeous sunsets! This is just the first half, check out the
second half of our trip here. And more
Turkey,
Greece, and
cruise pictures.
Days 1 & 2: Istanbul, Turkey
After a bit of a whirlwind, we made it to Istanbul. Think delayed flight from Paris and a seemingly endless passport line in Istanbul--I'll just say, sometimes it pays to be a girl to sweet talk your way to the express line, I only felt slightly bad going ahead of people who'd been waiting for hours.
By the time we got to the ship and all settled it was early evening, but we decided we wanted to head into the Old City to at least see a little bit before the next day. After successfully navigating the Turkish tram system (and definitely feeling like a foreigner for the first time in Europe), we headed underground to the Basilica Cistern, which was an old water reservoir that was beautifully lit up with lights. It was a very unique sight and Nick loved the the Medusa heads.
After a quick stroll through the park near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia, we headed back to the ship for some delicious food and relaxation. We managed to sneak a few night pictures of Istanbul and the Bosphorus Straight (division of Europe and Asia).
The next day we got up bright and early and headed for the Blue Mosque. It was quite an experience...women were required to hear head coverings and everyone had to have covered shoulders and knees. The insides was ornately decorated on the walls and ceilings but felt strange without any furniture.
Next, we checked out the Hippodrome area, which used to be a huge racing chariot area, but all that's left now are a few pillars. The heat was starting to set in this point, so we slowly dragged ourselves through the streets to the Grand Bazaar, We had heard so many things about this. but we didn't really know what to expect It was HUGE, and while it got a little repetitious after a while, it was fun trying to see where you could get the best deals on things. All I bought was a hand painted trivet, but if someone gave me a few hundred dollars I could easily spend all day in there bargaining!
Some more wandering outside the Grand Bazaar led us to the Spice Bazaar, which was even more overwhelming than the Grand Bazaar because not only were people all over you trying to get you to buy, but you had the smells of all the spices tempting you at every turn.
We ignored our noses though and found a little street vendor to buy a lunch of a kebab and Ayran drink for 2 turkish lira (that's $1 people!) Too bad the Ayran drink was disgusting!! We topped off our meal with a traditional Turkish tea and Turkish delight, while waiting at a nearby mosque for the call the prayer.
We knew call to prayer happened 5 times a day and that all the mosques would project it from the rooftops, but we hadn't heard it yet because the ships were too far way. But, sadly, the time came and went when we thought it was supposed to happen, so we made the trek back to the ship (and of course heard it as we were walking over the bridge). Don't worry, we heard it more than enough times later on this trip to make up for it (more on that later).
At 4pm we sailed off into the Mediterranean, complete with a toast on our balcony.
We both really liked Istanbul...it was so different from the rest of the Europe. The culture is so unique, and it's refreshing to see churches that are little more unique (Traditional European churches all tend too look the same after awhile. I may be spoiled, yes, but it's true!) We also loved how cheap everything was in Istanbul and Turkey...I'm sure this will change once they go on the euro, but I'm a fan for now!
Day 3: Sea Day
A gorgeous day just spent reading, soaking up the sun, swimming, and eating lots of delicious food! We also played a few pool games with Jazzy (entertainment director who we came to know pretty well and was quite a character), to win some free cards for Bingo.
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Jazzy is in orange above & cruising through the
Dardanelle Straight----> |
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| Jellyfish everywhere! |
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This was also our first formal dinner night, so we got all fancied up for a fun night!
Day 4: Mykonos, Greece
I was pretty pumped for this stop because it was one of the two places I really wanted to visit in Greece (Santorini is the other, but that'll have to wait for another time). We got off the boat early to take a tender to shore. The town of Mykonos itself is very cute, and we were off early enough that we were able to wander the streets with hardly anyone around. Like Santorini, it has the traditional white streets, and buildings with beautiful flowers everywhere.
We finally reached our end goal, a place to rent an ATV for the day. It was a perfect way to see the island, and we are so glad we did! We started by heading to the north part of the island, on a recommendation given to us by a friend. Upon arrival...heaven!! This is the NON touristy side of the island and the beaches are GORGEOUS!!
Then we headed up to Kikis for lunch. This was recommended to us by the same friend, and even though they didn't open until 1, a line began forming outside around 12:30...apparently word has gotten out! We ate a delicious lunch with tons of freshly made salads and meat grilled outside. And the view was pretty spectacular as well!
In hindsight, we probably should have stayed on this side of the island for the rest of the day, but we wanted to check out the beaches on the other side as well. We spent the rest of the day touting round the island on the ATV and checking out a few more beaches. They were also beautiful, but more touristy and "Miami" style...rows of beds and umbrellas and loud music.
We had booked an excursion through the cruise boat for night called "Greek Night Out". I thought this would be a great way for us to meet other young couples on the boat (there were very, very few young couples on our ship. average age probably around 60). But, instead we met and dined with 2 of the nicest, most awesome older couples ever!
We enjoyed Greek salad, traditional dips (hummus, tazikim etc.), muzzata as a main dish, and Greek yogurt with figs for desert. We were given the option of a drink choice and decided to try to traditional Ouzo, which tastes like black licorice with hairspray. YUCK! But, our friend, Peter thought we loved them and continued to buy us more rounds throughout the night. I definitely think our table had the most fun at this dinner!
Halfway through dinner, some of the waiters came out and performed some traditional Greek dances. It was just like "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding", and not in a cheesy way! I loved it!
All in all, a perfect end to a perfect day on a beautiful island! I'd go back for sure! :)
Day 5: Kusadasi, Turkey (Esephus)
We booked an excursion through the ship this day, so we were off bright and early and headed up to Mother Mary's House first. This is the site where she was said to have spent her last days. Now it's rebuilt as a church, so it didn't take too long to visit. But the setting was pretty cool!
Next, we drove down the hill to Esephus, which are the ancient Greek, and then Roman ruins. We walked through the entire town. Our favorite parts were the library and the theater, but after 2+ hours in the sun and intense heat with no shade, we were ready to go back to the bus!
Next up was St. Paul's church, where Paul is buried. It was interesting because there was this church (christian), a mosque (Islamic), and Temple of Artemis (pagan and an ancient wonder of the world. Yep, it's just a pillar in a field now!) all in the same area. Turkey was conquered and reconquered so many times, that is was cool to see evidence of it.
Our last stop was to a carpet store. Turkish carpets are made everywhere in Turkey, and we got to see a demonstration of the weaving as well as how silk worms make silk. Now I can see why these carpets are so expensive...they can take months to years to finish just one!
That night, our friends, Peter and Ann, that we meet at Greek Night Out, invited us to a champagne happy hour in their room. WOW...no joke, their room was as big as our apartment in Paris, with a private hot tub on their balcony. Heaven on earth!
In true Guldan travel fashion, we decided to venture out on our own to the city of Lindos. An hour and half public bus ride later (a bit longer than we anticipated), we arrived in beautiful Lindos. We toured the Acropolis/castle on top of the hill and admired the beautiful views below.
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| St. Paul's Bay from above |
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My hubby's a pretty good photographer, huh? :)
Hanging out in St. Paul's bay in the beautiful waters. Nick says we have too many "normal" pictures. This is his solution! :)
After the bus ride back to Rodos, we wandered the Old Town streets, found the famed location of the Colossus (another ancient wonder of the world), and headed back to the ship for some relaxation.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with the dreaded news that our 2 Israel ports had been canceled due to uncertainty in the area...
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