We docked at Kusadasi, Turkey, a nice little port town, at about noon after the run down the coast from Instanbul. A short bus ride took us to the top of the ruins at Ephesus.
This was an ancient Greek port town. Think Letter of Paul to the Ephesians. Think 250,000 people, with running water to their homes and a sewer system as well. Think the second biggest library going, after Alexandria. Think the place where Antony and Cleopatra spent their honeymoon. Think an amphitheatre seating 14,000 people, with perfect acoustics way before electronics--and a few smaller ones seating only 1,000 or so. Think hotels public markets and public baths and latrines and treelined marble pathways as wide as a city street connecting all the areas of the city. Just totally amazing--takes your breath away.
Back to Kusadasi and a visit to the market area and a nice Turkish kebab and a beer, then back to the ship.
It was 22C today--the guide said she was amazed at the way the warmth was carring on into the fall/winter.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Exotic Istanbul
Up at the crack of dawn to see that we were docked in the middle of the Bosphorus surrounded by the city of Istanbul. We booked an all day tour that took us to: 1) A carpet huckster. Nuff said...no carpets for us! 2) The Grand Bazaar, a massive shopping area full of gold, silver, knock-off purses, andd 22 Euro T-Shirts. Spent no money there! 3) The Blue Mosque....WOW, it was almost as beautiful as the Alabaster mosque in Cairo. Our guide was not as good so we were less impressed, I think. Still it was a massive, stunning, and working mosque. 4) Next to Ayasofya or Hagia Sofia, which is a museum but had been a mosque and a church. Also very massive and beautiful. 5) A boat trip down the Bosphorus, which combined sightseeing and a true Turkish lunch....including Turkish Delight (Quite good, too). The sights were amazing, the river is lined with palaces, large homes, nightclubs, schools and ruins. 6) Topkapi Palace, the former home of the sultans. Very large, interesting and had a display of the sultans treasures that was magnificent. What a day...Istanbul is a very ancient, modern, cosmopolitan, contradictory city. It was clean and people were well dressed. The traffic was crazy but occasionally they obeyed the traffic signals!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Khios, Greece
A nice lazy day at sea, crossing the Mediterranean to Greece. Wonderful, and needed after Egypt!
This morning, we anchored at 8AM just off Khios. A beautiful site from our room--the port, the city rising up into the hills to the tops of the mountains wrapped in clouds. It was rough seas, so tendering took time to set up and we didn't get to shore till about 10:30, after a rock and roll ride in. We didn't have a tour planned, so we just walked with friends up and down the seaport's main streets. Even though it was Sunday, lots of establishments were open and we poked about. A nice lunch--Greek Salad, a Greek sampler plate, a Greek Beer and Ouzo--overlooking the harbour. A generally lazy day, but our first taste of Greece--so, now, we're ready for the rest of the Greek stops--we have tours booked for both.
Tomorrow is Istanbul; we're on a tour. As I type this in the Internet room, I'm right beside a porthole on deck 5--so the sea is rushing by--we're doing about 22 knots or roughly 40kph--about 4 meters below the window. Fortunately, it is not too wavy!
The photo people are going to print a picture of Sophie for us--thanks for sending/posting all the pictures!
This morning, we anchored at 8AM just off Khios. A beautiful site from our room--the port, the city rising up into the hills to the tops of the mountains wrapped in clouds. It was rough seas, so tendering took time to set up and we didn't get to shore till about 10:30, after a rock and roll ride in. We didn't have a tour planned, so we just walked with friends up and down the seaport's main streets. Even though it was Sunday, lots of establishments were open and we poked about. A nice lunch--Greek Salad, a Greek sampler plate, a Greek Beer and Ouzo--overlooking the harbour. A generally lazy day, but our first taste of Greece--so, now, we're ready for the rest of the Greek stops--we have tours booked for both.
Tomorrow is Istanbul; we're on a tour. As I type this in the Internet room, I'm right beside a porthole on deck 5--so the sea is rushing by--we're doing about 22 knots or roughly 40kph--about 4 meters below the window. Fortunately, it is not too wavy!
The photo people are going to print a picture of Sophie for us--thanks for sending/posting all the pictures!
Egypt (2 of 2)
Up early in the morning and had a wonderful breakfast. The hotel was pretty nice, even the internet was not working--but we were only there for about 10 hours total.
Over from Giza to Old Cairo, where we saw the oldest Christian church in Africa, and the oldest Synagogue in Egypt. Both still functioning. Both very near the site where Moses was found in the basket in the bullrushes. A very interesting openminded discussion between the Jewish and Catholic people on the tour and our Islamic guide about the many similarities and points of difference between the 3 faiths.
Then to the Museum of Antiquities. An older but magnificent building with 2 floors just crammed with exibits and artifacts. They desperately need a new building--the current one is overcrowded and old--and one is under construction. Once the new one is done, they are hopeful that England will give back the Rosetta Stone and France the Head of Nefertiti. The gold jewellery, the stone carvings, the items of daily life, and so on--just amazing. (No, we did not see the Hollywood depiction of a mummy!)
Then, another buffet lunch beside the Nile and the 3 hour trip back to Alexandria. We stopped in front of the brand new Library of Alexandria--already the largest in Africa--and just across the harbour from where the Lighthouse of Alexandria stood.
Back to the ship through the downtown of Alexandria--a mix of old and new. At that point, just about everyone on our tour was exhausted from the information and sensory overload, so we mostly all missed the sailaway.
The above words don't do justice to what we experienced. The ancient is magnificent, the current, not so much. All wonderful and different and we're both very glad we have been able to see it.
Over from Giza to Old Cairo, where we saw the oldest Christian church in Africa, and the oldest Synagogue in Egypt. Both still functioning. Both very near the site where Moses was found in the basket in the bullrushes. A very interesting openminded discussion between the Jewish and Catholic people on the tour and our Islamic guide about the many similarities and points of difference between the 3 faiths.
Then to the Museum of Antiquities. An older but magnificent building with 2 floors just crammed with exibits and artifacts. They desperately need a new building--the current one is overcrowded and old--and one is under construction. Once the new one is done, they are hopeful that England will give back the Rosetta Stone and France the Head of Nefertiti. The gold jewellery, the stone carvings, the items of daily life, and so on--just amazing. (No, we did not see the Hollywood depiction of a mummy!)
Then, another buffet lunch beside the Nile and the 3 hour trip back to Alexandria. We stopped in front of the brand new Library of Alexandria--already the largest in Africa--and just across the harbour from where the Lighthouse of Alexandria stood.
Back to the ship through the downtown of Alexandria--a mix of old and new. At that point, just about everyone on our tour was exhausted from the information and sensory overload, so we mostly all missed the sailaway.
The above words don't do justice to what we experienced. The ancient is magnificent, the current, not so much. All wonderful and different and we're both very glad we have been able to see it.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Egypt (1 of 2)
The last few days have been a blur--a good, very good blur, but nonetheless...
Sea Days--wonderful and relaxing. We are enjoying our Balcony immensely--sitting out there quietly enjoying the Mediterranean coast by. We had a Formal Night--everybody got dressed up and it was great.
We sailed into Alexandria a bit late, because of fog, but our group tour met on time and off the ship we went. We met our guide (Eslam) and driver and piled our luggage and ourselves into the 11 passenger van and off we went towards Giza.
The drive down was interesting in a few ways. Eslam was a young Egyptologist who had just got engaged and really knew his stuff--he gave us an entertaining and brief history, geography, sociology, etc. of Egypt. Our driver was wizard--just suicidal enough to get us safely down the roads, which were not too bad--better than Winnipeg's in the springtime, but were filled (think rush hour) with traffic going faster than the speed limit--considered to be a suggestion--and piloted with drivers more suicidal than ours. They have a bad accident rate here. Lots of dints and scrapes in the vehicles--most drivers have their side mirrors folded in (or broken off) because they don't use them anyway--just beep and go into the nearest space that appears, big enough or not. And the countryside--a mix of sand and irrigated land and people and homes everywhere in walled off or hedged-off lots. Some pollution in the cities but not too bad otherwise. As a 3rd world country, it is "messy", though, in most respects.
After about 3 hours, we left the rolling sandy landscape and got into some more rough stuff and then the pyramids appeared. Totally marvellous. We climbed about 15meters up the Great Pyramid on a path towards the original entrance--which is now blocked to tourists. After some time clambering around, we got back in the van and drove around the other 2 big pyramids to a bit of desert and a camel ride. They are big and when they get up with you on their back, it is a bit of a ride. We were on them for about half an hour--I have a lot more respect for T.E.Lawrence (of Arabia). It was a real Wow time to be riding camels looking at the pyramids. Then, a walk to the Sphinx, which is really quite a mysterious masterpiece in its own right.
After lunch at a buffet place, we went first to an outdoor museum exhibit with a large statue of RamsesII at the site of the ancient city of Memphis and then to Saqqara, the site of the first "step" pyramids in a complex. Here we went into a royal tomb which had heiroglyphics throughout on all the walls. A few joined rooms, all empty and small, and underground--but not under a pyramid. But 5000 years old...!
We checked into the hotel and then went for an evening supper cruise on the Nile. Sadly, it was rather tacky.
Back to the hotel where we begged and borrowed a computer with Internet Access so we could find out that our newest Grandchild, Sophie, had just been born, less than an hour before. Welcome to the world, Sophie!
Sea Days--wonderful and relaxing. We are enjoying our Balcony immensely--sitting out there quietly enjoying the Mediterranean coast by. We had a Formal Night--everybody got dressed up and it was great.
We sailed into Alexandria a bit late, because of fog, but our group tour met on time and off the ship we went. We met our guide (Eslam) and driver and piled our luggage and ourselves into the 11 passenger van and off we went towards Giza.
The drive down was interesting in a few ways. Eslam was a young Egyptologist who had just got engaged and really knew his stuff--he gave us an entertaining and brief history, geography, sociology, etc. of Egypt. Our driver was wizard--just suicidal enough to get us safely down the roads, which were not too bad--better than Winnipeg's in the springtime, but were filled (think rush hour) with traffic going faster than the speed limit--considered to be a suggestion--and piloted with drivers more suicidal than ours. They have a bad accident rate here. Lots of dints and scrapes in the vehicles--most drivers have their side mirrors folded in (or broken off) because they don't use them anyway--just beep and go into the nearest space that appears, big enough or not. And the countryside--a mix of sand and irrigated land and people and homes everywhere in walled off or hedged-off lots. Some pollution in the cities but not too bad otherwise. As a 3rd world country, it is "messy", though, in most respects.
After about 3 hours, we left the rolling sandy landscape and got into some more rough stuff and then the pyramids appeared. Totally marvellous. We climbed about 15meters up the Great Pyramid on a path towards the original entrance--which is now blocked to tourists. After some time clambering around, we got back in the van and drove around the other 2 big pyramids to a bit of desert and a camel ride. They are big and when they get up with you on their back, it is a bit of a ride. We were on them for about half an hour--I have a lot more respect for T.E.Lawrence (of Arabia). It was a real Wow time to be riding camels looking at the pyramids. Then, a walk to the Sphinx, which is really quite a mysterious masterpiece in its own right.
After lunch at a buffet place, we went first to an outdoor museum exhibit with a large statue of RamsesII at the site of the ancient city of Memphis and then to Saqqara, the site of the first "step" pyramids in a complex. Here we went into a royal tomb which had heiroglyphics throughout on all the walls. A few joined rooms, all empty and small, and underground--but not under a pyramid. But 5000 years old...!
We checked into the hotel and then went for an evening supper cruise on the Nile. Sadly, it was rather tacky.
Back to the hotel where we begged and borrowed a computer with Internet Access so we could find out that our newest Grandchild, Sophie, had just been born, less than an hour before. Welcome to the world, Sophie!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Ciao!
At Sea, just south of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the toe of the boot of Italy.
We almost bit off more than we could chew. The flight to Toronto was uneventful. The passage between T1 and T3 in Toronto was a lot of walking and a short train ride--fortunately we had been able to check our luggage through to Rome, so we didn't have to deal with that too. The flight to London was good, but Laurel and I weren't together and were both in middle seats, so it wasn't great. We arrived in London at 0630 their time--about midnight body time, without useful sleep. A good English Breakfast and strong coffee perked us up a bit. The flight from London to Rome was good, except for the last half hour. The pilot said they had a "stiff breeze"--English understatement for a strong gale, torrential rain and an extremely rough trip down. Laurel was ill--motion sickness--from the ups, downs and sideways. We found the train tracks and bought the necessary tickets to get to Civitaveccia. The first train was OK--they had a scrolling sign saying which station was next, so we knew when to get off. We waited in the station--an outside covered affair with about 8 tracks open to the rain and covers over the platforms--built in the 1920s or so--beautiful iron works. As the train was pulling into the station, they changed platforms on us. Some people ran across the tracks and the train honked at them. With luggage, we had to go down stairs, through the tunnel, up stairs and onto the train. A wild rush; too much excitement!!! But we made it. A group of Nuns on the train said we had gotten on to the correct train. (I should point out that there were no railway workers to be seen anywhere along the trip--nobody checked tickets, not even the seller--and nobody to ask. All of Italy gets free train rides on Sunday???) Anyway, through the rain, wind and darkness, we went to Civitaveccia. A few hundred meters of dragging suitcases along wet cobblestones and our hotel beaconed at us. We were VERY glad to get there! 12 hours of sleep followed.
The hotel was great. Nice big rooms, marble everywhere. Typical European breakfast of breads and muffins, cheeses and meat, yogourt and coffee. The very first people we said hi to in the small breakfast room were from Winnipeg!!!! There were also Americans from California and Germany--they were working there in Germany... All nice folks.
We are booked into the same hotel for our intercruise night. Wonderful little town--we wandered and shopped for the morning--and stocked up on wine! It was windy, but no rain, and about 19C. We walked our suitcases down to the port and got on the ship. A couple of snoozes later, we watched the sailaway from our balcony. Very nice!!!. We had supper with the Americans from Germany--good conversation--and then to bed.
This morning was rainy again, but the sun came out as we went through the Straits of Messina, and its quite nice. We had the Cruise Critic get together and met the folks that we will be touring Egypt with. All in all, we're recovering from the travel and doing great!
We almost bit off more than we could chew. The flight to Toronto was uneventful. The passage between T1 and T3 in Toronto was a lot of walking and a short train ride--fortunately we had been able to check our luggage through to Rome, so we didn't have to deal with that too. The flight to London was good, but Laurel and I weren't together and were both in middle seats, so it wasn't great. We arrived in London at 0630 their time--about midnight body time, without useful sleep. A good English Breakfast and strong coffee perked us up a bit. The flight from London to Rome was good, except for the last half hour. The pilot said they had a "stiff breeze"--English understatement for a strong gale, torrential rain and an extremely rough trip down. Laurel was ill--motion sickness--from the ups, downs and sideways. We found the train tracks and bought the necessary tickets to get to Civitaveccia. The first train was OK--they had a scrolling sign saying which station was next, so we knew when to get off. We waited in the station--an outside covered affair with about 8 tracks open to the rain and covers over the platforms--built in the 1920s or so--beautiful iron works. As the train was pulling into the station, they changed platforms on us. Some people ran across the tracks and the train honked at them. With luggage, we had to go down stairs, through the tunnel, up stairs and onto the train. A wild rush; too much excitement!!! But we made it. A group of Nuns on the train said we had gotten on to the correct train. (I should point out that there were no railway workers to be seen anywhere along the trip--nobody checked tickets, not even the seller--and nobody to ask. All of Italy gets free train rides on Sunday???) Anyway, through the rain, wind and darkness, we went to Civitaveccia. A few hundred meters of dragging suitcases along wet cobblestones and our hotel beaconed at us. We were VERY glad to get there! 12 hours of sleep followed.
The hotel was great. Nice big rooms, marble everywhere. Typical European breakfast of breads and muffins, cheeses and meat, yogourt and coffee. The very first people we said hi to in the small breakfast room were from Winnipeg!!!! There were also Americans from California and Germany--they were working there in Germany... All nice folks.
We are booked into the same hotel for our intercruise night. Wonderful little town--we wandered and shopped for the morning--and stocked up on wine! It was windy, but no rain, and about 19C. We walked our suitcases down to the port and got on the ship. A couple of snoozes later, we watched the sailaway from our balcony. Very nice!!!. We had supper with the Americans from Germany--good conversation--and then to bed.
This morning was rainy again, but the sun came out as we went through the Straits of Messina, and its quite nice. We had the Cruise Critic get together and met the folks that we will be touring Egypt with. All in all, we're recovering from the travel and doing great!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Only 6 More Sleeps!
The travelling Baileys are nearly ready to hit the road, really the air and sea, but it's all travel! Our flight to Rome leaves Winnipeg on Saturday at noon. We hope the new grandbaby will have put in his/her appearance by then. Alene is getting very anxious and has convinced her midwife to induce her before we leave. I'm sure it will be OK as she was great with the others.
We are off to sea again...12 days on the Star Princess, travelling to Egypt, Athens, Khios (Greek Island), Istanbul, Kusadesi, and Naples. We board November 22 and disembark December 4. We will be posting to the blog about these exciting places and hope you will enjoy travelling with us! We spend one day in Italy and then catch a second cruise on the little Pacific Princess that takes us from Civitavecchia on December 5, to Florence, Monaco, Barcelona, Casablance, Ceuta, The Azores, and Bermuda. We will fly home from Fort Lauderdale Dec 22, just in time for Christmas.
Talk to you from Italy, Ciao!
We are off to sea again...12 days on the Star Princess, travelling to Egypt, Athens, Khios (Greek Island), Istanbul, Kusadesi, and Naples. We board November 22 and disembark December 4. We will be posting to the blog about these exciting places and hope you will enjoy travelling with us! We spend one day in Italy and then catch a second cruise on the little Pacific Princess that takes us from Civitavecchia on December 5, to Florence, Monaco, Barcelona, Casablance, Ceuta, The Azores, and Bermuda. We will fly home from Fort Lauderdale Dec 22, just in time for Christmas.
Talk to you from Italy, Ciao!
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