Rhodes

So where's the giant dude guarding the harbor? We arrived mid morning and hung out on the ship until the groups had departed on day tours. We all went in different directions for the day.

Bobbie and I stayed on board, worked out in the gym, and had lunch before disembarking.

Our afternoon visit included a stroll around the old city viewing a few ruins and monuments. It's the end of the season but with four ships in port things were pretty busy! Lots of hungry vendors.

An ice coffee, shot of bourbon, and a cold tab and we finished our visit to Rhodes.

Back on ship was time to rest before another Greek dinner. The food on the boat is really good and the waiters are very engaging and funny. It's turning out to be a great cruise after all

Mykonos

We arrived on time and took a shuttle bus to the sleepy village. On the way we passed the same hotel I stayed at during my first honeymoon, the terrace overlooking the sea was unchanged, save a coat of paint or two. That was 1979. Lots of sun, lots of beer, and a Henry Miller book-"Portnoy's Compliant" I believe. Fond memories!

We walked the streets taking in the local atmosphere and creating new memories. And finally an Ouzo and grilled calamari at the water's edge.

It was a sweet day!

Patmos

An early breakfast was followed a short shore excursion on foot. The cubistic architecture is such a departure from Turkey, only a hundred miles to the east.

After the walk we boarded the ship and prepared for our departure. Lunch on the poop deck with the multitudes was good. Lots of American standards ( they had a tack bar- yuk) with a few Greek additions.

The skies are blue as can be with no clouds. Really postcard pretty as we passed some of the 2,000+ islands in th Aegean. We cruised today to Mykonos for a mid afternoon arrival.

Orient Queen

Our ship was in harbor! A small sized cruise ship, only a couple thousand people! We wandered around for a couple of hours and sampled the bar. Then took a nap.

Dinner was in the formal dining room tonight. Lamb with all the fixing and delicious. A walk around the deck to cool off was followed by an episode of Star Trek Voyager!

Goodbye to Turkey

What a lovely people! Everyone, even the vendors, were pleasant and welcoming. The Turkish economy is booming with amazing amounts of construction and there were few signs of poverty and hardship. We know this exists of course but it was very much less evident here.

The sectarian society is a homogeneous mix of many aspects of the Muslim faith from totally free style pro-western attire to strict orthodox, heavily veiled women, often walking together or in the same family.

The landscape and towns were like home except there were minarets instead of church spires. Chanting replaced bells and we would simply look at our watches and announce to each other that it was time for prayer. After a while this simply became commonplace and no longer stood out. Funny how quickly that occurred! Just like in Morocco.

There was less curiosity here from the locals-just a simple acceptance of us and our American ways...smile. The children all waived and so many smiles passed us as we walked the streets.

The place oozes with history, ancient and modern. The building of one culture (period) on top of another was intriguing.

I'll be back again in March and I've been taking lots of notes. And...I've made a few friends!

Back on track

This morning we were picked up by Vulcan and taken to the Istanbul airport for our flight to Izmir. We are scheduled to arrive at 2:30pm with plenty of time to meet the boat. Unless something else changes, all we missed was a night at sea.

Back at Sude Konak

Back at our same Istanbul hotel, we are accommodated to lovely rooms, a free dinner on the terrace, and a flight to the ship's next port.

All is well. A couple of rum and colas and we're mellow enough to take on the world-well maybe just a few blocks in any direction of the hotel.

The GOOD news. We get to celebrate Turkish Independence Day in Turkey. We've been watching the preparation for days. We would have missed it if we had gotten on the ship.

See, the silver lining again. Man, are we golden or what!

Missed the boat!

Our guide and driver dropped is off at 4:15 pm as scheduled and we were processed through immigration and on the cruise dock at 4:30 only to discover our boat sailed at 4:00.

Our documents all said 5:00PM so we are here at immigration trying to figure out how to get back into Turkey so that we can meet up with our local guide and figure out what to do next!

The immigration officers are irritated and our passports are being detained. Not bad- four weeks on tour and this is the first glitch!!

Stay tuned!

Bosphorus Cruise

After the palace Orhan took us to a local restaurant for a traditional Turkish ravioli lunch. The homemade pasta was delicious and came with a tangy yogurt sauce.

Following lunch we boarded our afternoon cruise up the Bosphorus Strait. It was big sight-seeing boat holding at least 100+ passengers.

We sailed up the strait under two magnificent bridges and past many monuments and palaces. It was a great way to say goodbye to Istanbul.

Another day of touring doing three times as much as most groups do in two days time. Gotta love the Leopard way!

The Prissy Palace

The Beylerbeyi Palace was built in 1865 when the reformist sultan wanted a more western image. The guild and chandeliers and Louis XIV furniture were a Liberace dream! Sorry, interior photos are from the brochure. Taking pictures was strictly verboten and we were followed by security to insure compliance. He had an ouzie!

Just when we think we've seen it all...

Our second day in Istanbul began with a prompt pickup at the hotel and a drive through the city. This was pur optional day yet wr all opted to spend it together on a second city tour.

Our first stop was Chora, an 11th century Greek orthodox church converted to a mosque and now a museum. The iconic mosaics are stunning! The walls are covered with the first signs of marble veneer from recycled marble temples of the region at that time. The most interesting part about the mosaics is that they tell the story of the birth of Christ by starting with the conception and birth of Mary.

In a separate room were an assortment of restored frescos. Very cool

Egyptian Spice Market

Yes, Egyptian, in Istanbul and CRAZY busy. We bought spices for Suzie!

Cisterns

536 AD the cisterns are man made caverns 5 meters below the ground level and designed to capture and contain rainwater and run off for use by the city. The system was build by the Emperor Justinine I at the same time as St. Sofia church

Blue Mosque

A real mosque during prayer time. We were asked to remove our shoes. There were kids running around, women in all

Oh damn, another carpet store

Just when think you're out of the forest another one of the damn carpet stores appears! This time didn't hurt too bad, only a couple of us got bit and the bleeding stopped fairly quick.

Underground cistern

3,000 year old underground storage tank, empty and now used as an art gallery. Very cool.

Central Park, obelisque, and lunch

From St. Sofia we walked through the Central Park full of monents, vendors, and thousands of people. We paused for lunch (noses buried in menus) before visiting the Blue Mosque. It's already been a long day and we have lots more to see and do! Yikes

Tokapi

Wow. Royal palace of the sultans dating back to the 1200s. Not a lot of pictures were allowed. The jewelry in the treasury was stunning. The wardrobe collection was really interesting. The views of the city and the Bosphorus were amazing as well as the palace gardens.

St. Sofia

First a church in 400 AD, then a mosque in 1422, and now a museum since 1923. Remarkable architecture, stone, chandeliers, carvings, and frescos. Orhan gave us a wonderful overview followed by some free time to wander around on our own.

Kalamar

This restaurant was recommended by our hotel (translation- expensive and touristy). The driver picked us up and took us to the Kumkapi district (looks like Hong Kong (smile).

Pretty restaurant. Fish menu. Live music. A amazing amount of noise. Sensory overload. Unbelievable amount of people. Overwhelming activity. There were a half dozen musical groups competing within the seated crowds. Yikes!