Well westarted Sunday morning off by heading to an Irish Pub downtown Rome to watch the Aussie/NZ game....yey AB's!! Then we managed to get to the Colosseum and have a look around inside, and then went through the Roman Forum which is next door. It is pretty impressive to see how much of it is still in tact and the way modern stadiums are based very much on the same principle.
The streets around the Colosseum were still blocked off by the police when we went through so it had somewhat of a carnival atmosphere with people wandering around the streets, street sellers and entertainers. They had done a great job of cleaning up after the riots as there wasn't really any signs there that they had happened.
We enjoyed our last night in Rome just cruising and found a really cheap restaurant just down the road which was a nice family run business we would say....very old school Italian.
Monday morning we were up super early to catch the train to Florence. Only a 2 hour trip on the high speed train and our first class tickets got us a free paper, drink and a snack for the ride - just like being on an aeroplane. From there we headed straight for the car rental place to pick up our rental car and have a first attempt at Italian traffic - holey cow! You definitely take your life into your hands driving here....we don't think there are actually any road rules, pretty much just a free for all, try and make as many lanes as you can, weave in and out of traffic at will without indicating, and the one way streets make no sense at all! There are scooters everywhere, and we actually saw one just after it had been hit by a car....not surprising! Logan has had lots of fun driving on the wrong side and trying to figure out how it all works.....definitely an experience.
After getting a little lost in the countryside we managed to get most of the way to our villa, and the owner came and escorted us the remainder of the way....about 25 minutes out of central Florence and we were really in the middle of nowhere. The house were have been staying in is a medieval tower house, there are lots of them around Florence, and it was built around 1100. The apartment we are in is the top 2 stories of a 4 story tower, and is adjoining to the main house which the family who owns it live in. It is actually and active farm that produces Olive Oil as a main income with a whole heap of sideline products including honey and saffron.
Within several minutes of parking up a squirrel ran across in fron of us, and the property is elevated so we have a fantastic view over the Tuscan countryside with a castle on the hill opposite us. The tower is all stone, with a stone floor on the main level, and a wooden floor on the top. Everything has been kept very classic Italian villa and even the windows have wooden window covers. The kitchen bench is solid granite, and we have to boil the kettle over the gas hobs......very cool and it is like taking a step back in time.
We had to do some grocery shopping at the local town of Pontassieve......that was quite fun! Everything is CRAZY cheap here food wise. Wine is 2 euro per bottle and the really good stuff is 3.50 euro.
We spent the day in Florence on Wednesday looknig around the Accademia Gallery and Uffizi Gallery, we saw the Statue of David which is huge and extremely impressive! Then yesterday we headed out to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and Lucca which is a little Medieval town about an hour or so from Florence. On our way back down the driveway to our villa we had a deer run across in front of us, they seem to be everywhere as well, and we are picking the frequent shots we hear through the valley are people out deer shooting. Beats the horse meat we have seen in the supermarkets!
Unfortunately this is our last blog as we received the sad news that Saras Gran passed away on Tuesday so we are now heading home a little earlier than planned. A wee bit of a sharp jolt back to reality, but we have had a wonderful time over here!
Friday, 21 October 2011
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Chaos in Italy
Well our forst two days in Rome have been fantastic! We absolutely love it here, and apart from the traffic you don't really feel like you are in a big city at all. The streets are all cobbled with really old stones, and the buildings are lovely. The food is fantastic as well, quite simple but really tasty and so much to choose from! Yesterday we went for a walk around the city and did the outside of the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and then had a general wander around the city in and out of all of the little streets. Today we had an early start and headed straight for the Vatican City........absolutely beautiful! We ended up getting a tour to avoid the massive queue but we are really glad we did as we got a lot of background on the actual paintings in the Sisten Chapel and on Michaelangelo himself that we didn't know and it was very interesting. The scale and beauty of the paintings right throughout the Vatican are indescribable. St Peters Bascilia is also quite mind blowing, and the have tombs in there for all of the deceased Popes.
We then headed to catch some other sites taking in the Piazza Novona and the Pantheon. After heading further into town to find the Metro station we noticed a massiv Polce presence and then eventually all of the streets were emptying. We found they Police had the streets blocked off for quite and area, and when we asked them what was happening they informed us there was a demonstration. We were around the area the demonstration was happening and needed to get through the block to get to the Metro station so they directed us around the block to get there. At that point we saw the crowds gathered about 100 metres away at Piazza Della Repubblica and the speaker was sounding fairly serious. We decided between that and the riot police and helicopters circling it was best to get out of the area as quickly as possible.
Once we got back to the hotel, about 20 minutes later, we turned on the TV to see riots had broken out in that very area so we watched it all unfold as we listened to the actual sirens and helicopters only about 3 or 4 blocks from our hotel. It all got pretty serious with cars on fire, tear gas, mini bombs and masses of people and Police going head to head! We will definitely be avoiding central Rome at dinner time tonight.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f19_1318694493
We then headed to catch some other sites taking in the Piazza Novona and the Pantheon. After heading further into town to find the Metro station we noticed a massiv Polce presence and then eventually all of the streets were emptying. We found they Police had the streets blocked off for quite and area, and when we asked them what was happening they informed us there was a demonstration. We were around the area the demonstration was happening and needed to get through the block to get to the Metro station so they directed us around the block to get there. At that point we saw the crowds gathered about 100 metres away at Piazza Della Repubblica and the speaker was sounding fairly serious. We decided between that and the riot police and helicopters circling it was best to get out of the area as quickly as possible.
Once we got back to the hotel, about 20 minutes later, we turned on the TV to see riots had broken out in that very area so we watched it all unfold as we listened to the actual sirens and helicopters only about 3 or 4 blocks from our hotel. It all got pretty serious with cars on fire, tear gas, mini bombs and masses of people and Police going head to head! We will definitely be avoiding central Rome at dinner time tonight.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f19_1318694493
Friday, 14 October 2011
Salvé from Italia
Well after a full day of travel yesterday we have touched down in Italy! So far Rome is pretty good, took a while to get from the airport into the city but we eventually sussed out the right bus to catch. We are having a bit of a catch up day today....and have finally found somewhere that is a Laundromat/Internet Café, about time! We had a lovely dinner last night in a little restaurant just around the corner from our hotel, and got some free Limoncello with our bill......Logan likes it as much as the Grappa (well after beer anyway). Once we have clean clothes to wear we are off to do some sightseeing around the city.
Ciao for now :)
Ciao for now :)
Last of Greece
Well we enjoyed our dinner at the Italian Steakhouse on the ship thanks to Logans poker win! It was fantastic, the service was great from start to finish and the food was devine. We had been avoiding Italian food for the whole trip saving up for the 2 weeks worth we would be getting in Italy, but this was well worth it! Logan even tried a bit of Grappa (agreeing to something he didn't understand) and boy did he regtret it! A combination of wine, turps and gasoline we would say. Definitely not havng that again......Logan asked to be stopped if he was caught agreeing to it in Italy out of politeness, I guess the smile and nod if you don't understand theory only has a 90% success rate :)
Still can't get used to the fact that everywhere over here the dairies sell individual cans and bottles of beer that you can buy for €1.50 and wander down the street anywhere drinking it! The other thing is that you never pay for anything as you go like you do in NZ....even just a simple coffee at a café you sit at a table and someone will come to you....you never pay until the end, and never have to go to the counter to pay they always bring the bill to you. They are just really well set up for it as they ALL have mobile eftpos machines that they will bring to the table for you as well. Its stuff that is the exception to the the rule in NZ that has obviously been standard here for quite a while. They really like you to relax and take your time when you are eating and drinking, and it is like a major event in your day. It is actually really nice and something we really miss out on at home!
Our last port of call for the cruise was Crete. We were docked in Souda which is about 7km out of Chania. They had a heap of buses just transfering people all day but it ended up taking over an hour to get into the city as the traffic was crazy! We noticed all of the buildings in Chania had the upright steel reinforcing rods still sticking up out of the rooves about half a metre. It was almost like a design feature of all of the industrial buildings in the city! We had a bit of a look around at the old Venetian docks that were built in the 14th century, and went for a wander around the old city but a lot of the place you want to see in Crete are out of the city quite a way so you really need to be there for a few days to get in everything worth seeing. We tried to get to the War Museum, but it was closed for rennovations so we just relaxed over a drink and headed back to the ship.
Our last day at see was nice and relaxing, and we went to watch the last show which was really average before getting in an early night as we had to be ready to leave the ship at 7am the next morning. Our cruise experience was great though, and we would highly recommend Celebrity to anyone going on a cruise. A lot of the people we spoke to onboard are experienced cruisers and they all said Celebrity was the best line they had travelled on.
Still can't get used to the fact that everywhere over here the dairies sell individual cans and bottles of beer that you can buy for €1.50 and wander down the street anywhere drinking it! The other thing is that you never pay for anything as you go like you do in NZ....even just a simple coffee at a café you sit at a table and someone will come to you....you never pay until the end, and never have to go to the counter to pay they always bring the bill to you. They are just really well set up for it as they ALL have mobile eftpos machines that they will bring to the table for you as well. Its stuff that is the exception to the the rule in NZ that has obviously been standard here for quite a while. They really like you to relax and take your time when you are eating and drinking, and it is like a major event in your day. It is actually really nice and something we really miss out on at home!
Our last port of call for the cruise was Crete. We were docked in Souda which is about 7km out of Chania. They had a heap of buses just transfering people all day but it ended up taking over an hour to get into the city as the traffic was crazy! We noticed all of the buildings in Chania had the upright steel reinforcing rods still sticking up out of the rooves about half a metre. It was almost like a design feature of all of the industrial buildings in the city! We had a bit of a look around at the old Venetian docks that were built in the 14th century, and went for a wander around the old city but a lot of the place you want to see in Crete are out of the city quite a way so you really need to be there for a few days to get in everything worth seeing. We tried to get to the War Museum, but it was closed for rennovations so we just relaxed over a drink and headed back to the ship.
Our last day at see was nice and relaxing, and we went to watch the last show which was really average before getting in an early night as we had to be ready to leave the ship at 7am the next morning. Our cruise experience was great though, and we would highly recommend Celebrity to anyone going on a cruise. A lot of the people we spoke to onboard are experienced cruisers and they all said Celebrity was the best line they had travelled on.
Monday, 10 October 2011
γειά σου from Greece
So far Greece is fantastic! We are almost at the end of the Greek leg and catching up on blogs from a little cafe in Mykonos on a disgusting stormy day.
Rhodes is absolutely beautiful......the old city wall is still completely in tact - well with a bit of restoration work, but the city inside it is extremely charming. All of the streets inside the old city are made from riverstones turne on their side and cemented in, not very confortable to walk on in bare feet. The first thing we noticed was that you don't get hassled hardly at all compared with Turkey. In Rhodes you can order a boot of beer, which is literally beer served in a 1L boot shaped glass. We had a look at the ruins of a few churches and the Temple of Aphrodite in the old city and then had a wander around the Palace of the Grand Masters (Palace of the Knights of St John) which has over 300 rooms.
Once we got out of the Old part and into a more modern Rhodes we took a little train which drives around the streets to see some of the main sights around the city. It is a minature model of a steam train, but doesn't run on tracks, it works just like a car (we have since seen that this is a common form of tourist transport in Greece). We found a cute little pub in a quiter area where we tried the local beer - Mythos - and a Greek coffee. It is very much like the Turkish coffee but not as sweet, it has a definite texture to it, and is made the old fashioned way over the fire.
We checked out the site at the harbour entrance where the colossus used to stand before finding a place to try some Greek takeaways....Pitta Gyros (Pork cooked on kebab, chips, tomato, onion and taziki wrapped in a pita bread) is the best! The Greek pita bread is quite different to what we have at home, it is quite thick and squishy.......and its really good!
The next island in line was Santorini. This wasn't quite what either of us was expecting, it is a lot higher. Most ofn the pictures you see of Santorini are taken from above the roof tops looknig down to the sea, but the cliff you jhave to get up is around 300m high all the way round, and it is straight up! From the water you can tell it was formed by volcano, and the buildings on the top just make it look like snow capped mountains. The ship was tenered as there is no real port, and you get tender boats to ferry you in to shore.
To get to the top you have 3 options....cable car, walking up the 600 steps (and these are not normal steps, they are about half a metre deep) or getting a donkey to the top. Of course we decided on option 3, but not entirely convinced they were donkies as some of them were huge. We lined up with the group that had gathered thinking they would tie a line of donkies together and lead them up the hill. Not quite how it works.....they get one of your feet in the stirrup, push you onto its back, then wack the donkey's backside and you're off! We actually thought we were going to die! There is no order to how they go up, the donkey just knows the track and makes its way up as it feels like it. There were about 8 that they sent up at the same time so they kept having little races and trying to fight with each other, or stopping for a feed. Logan got a crazy donkey that kept wanting to be at the front of the group. It also had small man syndrome and was the smallest donkey in the group, and kept trying to take on the big one, that was a similar size to a horse! The path they go up zig zags up the side of the cliff, one side it rock and the other is a shear drop. Of course they donkies take the easiest route and go right up to the cliff side when going around the corner, and then right up again the wall on the other side. Logans one pushed him into the wall and gave him a bit of a graze on his ankle, and Sara nearly got squashed between 3 of them, but after hearing other peoples stories when we got back to the ship we got off very lightly. There were a lot of falls, arms in slings and twisted ankles that night!
We decided to go out to the volcano, which is a seperate island 15 minutes boat ride from the main island. We got a lovely yacht across to to the island, and hiked to the top of the volcano (only about 20 minutes). It is still active and our guide dug away 5cm of dirt to let us feel the heat in the ground which was amazing. The whole island is just volcanic rock, but it is quite different to the type of lanscape you get at Ruapehu, as there is not lava flow.
After that we had a bit of a wander around Thira town, which is very cute. They hire out ATVs rather than cars to get around as there is really only 1 road on the top, all the rest are really noly suitable for walking or scooter. There are millions of stairs and meandering walkways everywhere.
That night back on the ship Logan had the final for his poker tournament where he got to play some of the ships officers. He ended up getting 3rd overall - 1st and 2nd were officers, and won dinner for 2 at one of the pay restaurants on the ship!
The next stop was Athens........complete contrast to the islands! Athens is a lot busier and in your face, but wasn't as dirty as we thought it would be. We hadn't really been hassled in Greece until we got to Athens, and it was back into being hassled by every street vender, and beggers again! Really randomly we saw heaps of turtles. They just wader around in various parts of the city. There are heaps of stray dogs as well, and we actually saw one at the Acropolis that was munching away on a piece of turtle.
Logan got sucked in again - he likes to think people are being helpful when they offer to show you the way somewhere or give you directions. Eventually he will learn they always want money in exchange for their help.
We caught the Metro into the city - the ship was docked in Piraeus, about 20 minutes walk, then 20 minutes on the metro away from the city. We were lucky as we wouldn't have been able to walk the distance, and there was a public transport strike the day after we were there. The weather was forecast for thunder storms, but the day cleared up to beautiful sunhshine, so we managed to get in all of the sites at the Acropolis, and the original olympic stadium along with a few other things. There were flea markets everywhere that were bustling, and we managed to find somewhere in the centre to have lunch. There was a strip of cafes which looked like a really nice place to have lunch but the street sellers were in your face the whole time, just one after the other people shoving stuff in your face to try and sell it to you. Even little kids would come up and play the accordian or a home made guitar to try and get money out of you, so we ate and left as quickly as we could.
Once we got back on the ship the weather turned and the thunderstorms that had been forecast started. There was a little freak tornado that came across the ship - the band were playing on the deck, and all of a sudden they stoped and were pointing out the side of the ship. When we looked out you could see the wind moving in, then all the birds took off, and within about a minute it was on the ship flinging deck chairs everywhere. It lasted about 2 minutes and then it was gone and the rain started bucketing down.
This morning we arrived in Mykonos, and unfortunately the weather hasn't improved. Thunder and lightning all morning, and rain bucketing down.
We managed to get a little look around in before the rain started. The streets here are amazing - again not suitable for cars, the streets were designed like a maze to confuse attacking pirates, so it is really easy to get lost without adding int everything looks the same and the streets are really narrow. The streets are all paved with stone, and when the rain got really heavy they turned into gushing rivers! The sun has just started to show itself now so hopefully our shoes will dry out in time for tomorrows adventure in Crete!
Rhodes is absolutely beautiful......the old city wall is still completely in tact - well with a bit of restoration work, but the city inside it is extremely charming. All of the streets inside the old city are made from riverstones turne on their side and cemented in, not very confortable to walk on in bare feet. The first thing we noticed was that you don't get hassled hardly at all compared with Turkey. In Rhodes you can order a boot of beer, which is literally beer served in a 1L boot shaped glass. We had a look at the ruins of a few churches and the Temple of Aphrodite in the old city and then had a wander around the Palace of the Grand Masters (Palace of the Knights of St John) which has over 300 rooms.
Once we got out of the Old part and into a more modern Rhodes we took a little train which drives around the streets to see some of the main sights around the city. It is a minature model of a steam train, but doesn't run on tracks, it works just like a car (we have since seen that this is a common form of tourist transport in Greece). We found a cute little pub in a quiter area where we tried the local beer - Mythos - and a Greek coffee. It is very much like the Turkish coffee but not as sweet, it has a definite texture to it, and is made the old fashioned way over the fire.
We checked out the site at the harbour entrance where the colossus used to stand before finding a place to try some Greek takeaways....Pitta Gyros (Pork cooked on kebab, chips, tomato, onion and taziki wrapped in a pita bread) is the best! The Greek pita bread is quite different to what we have at home, it is quite thick and squishy.......and its really good!
The next island in line was Santorini. This wasn't quite what either of us was expecting, it is a lot higher. Most ofn the pictures you see of Santorini are taken from above the roof tops looknig down to the sea, but the cliff you jhave to get up is around 300m high all the way round, and it is straight up! From the water you can tell it was formed by volcano, and the buildings on the top just make it look like snow capped mountains. The ship was tenered as there is no real port, and you get tender boats to ferry you in to shore.
To get to the top you have 3 options....cable car, walking up the 600 steps (and these are not normal steps, they are about half a metre deep) or getting a donkey to the top. Of course we decided on option 3, but not entirely convinced they were donkies as some of them were huge. We lined up with the group that had gathered thinking they would tie a line of donkies together and lead them up the hill. Not quite how it works.....they get one of your feet in the stirrup, push you onto its back, then wack the donkey's backside and you're off! We actually thought we were going to die! There is no order to how they go up, the donkey just knows the track and makes its way up as it feels like it. There were about 8 that they sent up at the same time so they kept having little races and trying to fight with each other, or stopping for a feed. Logan got a crazy donkey that kept wanting to be at the front of the group. It also had small man syndrome and was the smallest donkey in the group, and kept trying to take on the big one, that was a similar size to a horse! The path they go up zig zags up the side of the cliff, one side it rock and the other is a shear drop. Of course they donkies take the easiest route and go right up to the cliff side when going around the corner, and then right up again the wall on the other side. Logans one pushed him into the wall and gave him a bit of a graze on his ankle, and Sara nearly got squashed between 3 of them, but after hearing other peoples stories when we got back to the ship we got off very lightly. There were a lot of falls, arms in slings and twisted ankles that night!
We decided to go out to the volcano, which is a seperate island 15 minutes boat ride from the main island. We got a lovely yacht across to to the island, and hiked to the top of the volcano (only about 20 minutes). It is still active and our guide dug away 5cm of dirt to let us feel the heat in the ground which was amazing. The whole island is just volcanic rock, but it is quite different to the type of lanscape you get at Ruapehu, as there is not lava flow.
After that we had a bit of a wander around Thira town, which is very cute. They hire out ATVs rather than cars to get around as there is really only 1 road on the top, all the rest are really noly suitable for walking or scooter. There are millions of stairs and meandering walkways everywhere.
That night back on the ship Logan had the final for his poker tournament where he got to play some of the ships officers. He ended up getting 3rd overall - 1st and 2nd were officers, and won dinner for 2 at one of the pay restaurants on the ship!
The next stop was Athens........complete contrast to the islands! Athens is a lot busier and in your face, but wasn't as dirty as we thought it would be. We hadn't really been hassled in Greece until we got to Athens, and it was back into being hassled by every street vender, and beggers again! Really randomly we saw heaps of turtles. They just wader around in various parts of the city. There are heaps of stray dogs as well, and we actually saw one at the Acropolis that was munching away on a piece of turtle.
Logan got sucked in again - he likes to think people are being helpful when they offer to show you the way somewhere or give you directions. Eventually he will learn they always want money in exchange for their help.
We caught the Metro into the city - the ship was docked in Piraeus, about 20 minutes walk, then 20 minutes on the metro away from the city. We were lucky as we wouldn't have been able to walk the distance, and there was a public transport strike the day after we were there. The weather was forecast for thunder storms, but the day cleared up to beautiful sunhshine, so we managed to get in all of the sites at the Acropolis, and the original olympic stadium along with a few other things. There were flea markets everywhere that were bustling, and we managed to find somewhere in the centre to have lunch. There was a strip of cafes which looked like a really nice place to have lunch but the street sellers were in your face the whole time, just one after the other people shoving stuff in your face to try and sell it to you. Even little kids would come up and play the accordian or a home made guitar to try and get money out of you, so we ate and left as quickly as we could.
Once we got back on the ship the weather turned and the thunderstorms that had been forecast started. There was a little freak tornado that came across the ship - the band were playing on the deck, and all of a sudden they stoped and were pointing out the side of the ship. When we looked out you could see the wind moving in, then all the birds took off, and within about a minute it was on the ship flinging deck chairs everywhere. It lasted about 2 minutes and then it was gone and the rain started bucketing down.
This morning we arrived in Mykonos, and unfortunately the weather hasn't improved. Thunder and lightning all morning, and rain bucketing down.
We managed to get a little look around in before the rain started. The streets here are amazing - again not suitable for cars, the streets were designed like a maze to confuse attacking pirates, so it is really easy to get lost without adding int everything looks the same and the streets are really narrow. The streets are all paved with stone, and when the rain got really heavy they turned into gushing rivers! The sun has just started to show itself now so hopefully our shoes will dry out in time for tomorrows adventure in Crete!
Merhaba from Turkey
Well we have settled ın well to the cruise and are quicly learning how everything works onboard. The ship ıs quite amazing and really has everything you could need. There are more bars than you could ever want, a full casino, a lıbrary, about 5 restaurants, indoor and outdoor pools, a nightclub (although we haven't really seen tht ın action yet, a gym and spa, a spots deck, a cınema, a theatre and all sorts of other bits and pieces. We have had a day at sea - thankfully there are only 2 on thıs cruise as we were bored by about 3pm. we had a go at Bingo.....what a pair of nanas, didn't win anything though! logan took part in the firts qualifying round for the Officers Texas Hold'em challenge and kicked but. He had the game won in 15 minutes flat! There are 2300 passengers on our cruise so the logistics of getting everyone through mealtimes (especially dinner) is pretty impressive. They certainly like feeding you....if you don't have 3 courses at every meal they ask you why! They frequently have frogs legs and snails on the menu, so Sara tried some snails on the first night. They are almost lıke mushrooms soaked in garlic butter, nothing particularly special. The show on the first nıght was a variety show that introduced all of the entertainers, and the second night was a show they had put together - really nothing special after spending a week on Westend, but still entertaining.
We are still getting used to the fact that everyone wanders around in bikinis and speedos regardless of age or appearance.....even dancing to the band in front of the pool in nothing but speedos....Logan is particularly enjoying that!
We are still getting used to the fact that everyone wanders around in bikinis and speedos regardless of age or appearance.....even dancing to the band in front of the pool in nothing but speedos....Logan is particularly enjoying that!
We ended up with a lot less time in Istanbul than we would have like as a lot of it got consumed with travel time, but managed to get out to look around İstanbul during the day on Sunday and managed to tick off a lot of the things you should see. Unfortunately some people we spoke to on the cruise told us that the Grand Bazaar was shut on Sundays so we dıdn't bother goıng there, only to fınd out thats not the case at all. We still managed to visit some mosques, and we went to the Hagia Soifıa, the Hıppodromme (which was very underwhelming) and a few smaller bazaars to see what the shopping was like. We found a lovely little tea garden on top of a hill that overlooked Bosphorus where we trid Turkish Black Tea out of a little copper double tea pot. The bridge leading over to the main part of Istanbul is pretty crazy, it is obviously a popular fishing destination, and the entire bridge (probably 500m long) has people shoulder to shoulder fishing off the side of it.
The eeire part about Turkey - and it is all of the places we have been in Turkey - is the prayer calls. All of the mosques have speakers on top of them, and at certain times of the day they do prayer calls. All of the Mosques have a person chanting and they are all chanting something different - it can be heard all over the city. All of the mosques also have wash stations outside them, and a lot of them were occupied with men washing their hands, faces and feet before and after praying.
We did finally find somewhere that sold Apple Tea, so had to stop and have some of that - once we found the first place everywhere we went had it......thank goodness as it is the only hot drink you can drink in a hot climate that is still refreshing....yum!
After a full day at sea we landed in Kusadasi, a little bit further down the cost of Turkey. Our main focus for this stop was to get to Ephesus, so we managed to jump on a tour to the Virgin Mary house and the ruins of Ephesus fairly quickly. On walking through the shops outside the port there was a guy hanging out of the window on the top story with a cigarette in one hand and a sign in the other advertising the tour.
The drive out to Ephesus was about 30 minutes or so and thankfully not as crazy as Istanbul. Our first stop was the Virgin Mary House where she lived til she died - it was absolutely packed! Then we headed to Ephesus. The ruins were a lot bigger than we were expecting - we thought is was just a couple of buildings, but they have excavated most of the significant buildings from the main part of the city. There was a population of around 200,000 people when it was inhabited so the actual city was quite big, although about 90% of it is still underground. The covered main street (not covered anymore) there that was built for processions for Cleopatra is made from solid marble!
It was a super hot day that day, and Ephesus was really jam packed with tour groups but still fascinating. Our Greek tour guide looked like he had been smoking hashish all morning, and at the end of the tour he asked everyone if they wanted to do a carpet demo and leather factory which is really big in Turkey. None of us were interested so all said no, only to fnid ourselves escorted to a carpet factory and shut in a room with a whole lot of carpet salesmen anyway.......what fun!
Our next stop on the cruise was Bodrum, which is a little further down the coast again. Logan fell in love with Bodrum. Again absolutely superb weather! We did our own little walking tour here as the town isn't very big at all, the ancient name for the town is Halicarnassus, and remnants of the old city wall and moat are still there. We headed straight to the Castle of St Peter the Liberator and had a look around, it sits right on the water front and is really well preserved. Bodrum has a very resort feel, a lot quieter than Istanbul and the shop keepers don't hassle you anywhere near as much. The marina was full of yachts made in Bodrum, absolutely beautiful old style wooden yachts that are called Gulets.
We headed up some impressive streets to the 2000 year old amphitheatre that overlooks the town and the water, it is a stunning view, and the amphitheatre has been restored and is still used by the town today.
We also looked at the Tomb of Mausolos and went to Myndos Gate which is one of the two gates into the old city of Halicarnassus.
After Bodrum we landed in Marmaris. Again a little further down the coast....there wasn't anything in particular we wanted to see in Marmaris so we decided it would be a good opportunity to take some washing off the ship and find a laundromat seeing as the ship do washing for about $3-$4 per item. We managed to find a place where the woman didn't speak any English so sign language prevailed and we managed to get her to do our washing, dry it and fold it for 10 Lira :)
It was a super hot day that day, and Ephesus was really jam packed with tour groups but still fascinating. Our Greek tour guide looked like he had been smoking hashish all morning, and at the end of the tour he asked everyone if they wanted to do a carpet demo and leather factory which is really big in Turkey. None of us were interested so all said no, only to fnid ourselves escorted to a carpet factory and shut in a room with a whole lot of carpet salesmen anyway.......what fun!
Our next stop on the cruise was Bodrum, which is a little further down the coast again. Logan fell in love with Bodrum. Again absolutely superb weather! We did our own little walking tour here as the town isn't very big at all, the ancient name for the town is Halicarnassus, and remnants of the old city wall and moat are still there. We headed straight to the Castle of St Peter the Liberator and had a look around, it sits right on the water front and is really well preserved. Bodrum has a very resort feel, a lot quieter than Istanbul and the shop keepers don't hassle you anywhere near as much. The marina was full of yachts made in Bodrum, absolutely beautiful old style wooden yachts that are called Gulets.
We headed up some impressive streets to the 2000 year old amphitheatre that overlooks the town and the water, it is a stunning view, and the amphitheatre has been restored and is still used by the town today.
We also looked at the Tomb of Mausolos and went to Myndos Gate which is one of the two gates into the old city of Halicarnassus.
After Bodrum we landed in Marmaris. Again a little further down the coast....there wasn't anything in particular we wanted to see in Marmaris so we decided it would be a good opportunity to take some washing off the ship and find a laundromat seeing as the ship do washing for about $3-$4 per item. We managed to find a place where the woman didn't speak any English so sign language prevailed and we managed to get her to do our washing, dry it and fold it for 10 Lira :)
Marmaris has one of the largest marinas in Turkey and it took about 20 minutres walk just to get out of the marina into the central town. There are cats everywhere all over Turkey, and in Marmaris we even saw a Cat Feeding Station with a sign and everything where people take food to feed the cats. After doing all of the essentials we found a nice waterfront cafe to enjoy a cold beverage where Sara got served Pina Coldas in naked lady shaped glasses and Logan tried some of the local Raki - a homemade brew even - that is a white coloured liquer that tastes like aniseed, but it is made out of grapes or plums. As this was out last port of call in Turkey we managed to squeeze in some Turkish Delight tasting....which was amazing, and we had dinner out at a little takeaway place, settling on a traditional Iskender - it was awesome, but qute different from what you would get if you ordered and Iskender at home. Our Turkish food is quite Westernised and has been blended with Greek food quite a bit too.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Turkeys the Word!
After our first experience on Easy Jet we made it to Istanbul. We now know that being at the front of the line is best - being polite Kiwis we thought we would join the end of the line boarding not realising that they don't alloocate seats...its first in first served, but we managed to get seats either side of the aisle together which was good - guess you can't expect too much for the price you pay. They are quite similar to the old nuts and coke flights, and it is only 3 1/2 hours to Turkey so we managed to sleep for a fair bit of it seeing as it was such an early start.
On arriving at the airport we just booked a trip with the first shuttle company we saw - after the 1 1/2 hour journey to the city we were glad we hadn't jumped in a taxi! After only a few hours sleep the shuttle ride was interesting to say the least, we were treated to blaring dance music (uncensored) and wow the Turks are MAD drivers!! We found it best not to look out the front window, they change lanse every few seconds, and tooting must be used in addition to inidcating!
The motorways closer to the city were nose to tail not moving and there were street sellers in between lanes in the middle of the 4 lane motoway trying to sell bread and water to the cars passing! As we got closer tpo Galata where we were staying the streets narrowed to one lane and the landscape is quite hilly. The roads are similar to Wellington only narrower, and hand cobbled. Our area was lovely - the buildings don't look like much fromthe outside but inside they are stunning. Our residence for the night was a full apartment, that was one whole floor of the building AMAZING! It included a full foyer, cloakroom, kitchen, lounge/dining, huge bedroom, massive bathroom with double shower and sunken bath, guest room/office, and a seperate guest bathroom......pure decadence!
We got taken out in the evening to the Galata Tower for dinner which was built as a lighthouse in about 576AD. We were about 55m up and it is on top of a hill so the panoramic view of Istanbul is fantastic. We enjoyed a 4 course traditional Turkish meal with silver service again, and a show comprising of really top belly dancers, male Turkish dancers, and band. It was a really good night out.
The area we had to walk through to get home (just around the corner) is where all the young ones like to drink, and there were partygoers out in the square everywhere partying. The place feels very safe and is very pretty as they have done all of the streets up with lights. So far we are really enjoying Turkey!
This morning we went out for coffee and Sara decided to try a real Turkish coffee....not bad. It is very thick and almosts tastes like treakle but it is still drinkable.
We had now boarded the cruise ship and are just adjusting to a different way of travelling for a while. We have oriented ourselves with the ship, it just has everything you could ever want! The lunch buffet is brilliant and we are just sussing out what is free, what is paid and how it all works.
We are planning to see a bit more of Istanbul tomorrow before we sail tomorrow night and spend a day at sea relaxing. From what we have seen so far we are fairly sure we will survive the next few weeks (Dad I feel your pain!) but our blogging will be limited as the internet costs 75c per minute!
Güle Güle for now:)
On arriving at the airport we just booked a trip with the first shuttle company we saw - after the 1 1/2 hour journey to the city we were glad we hadn't jumped in a taxi! After only a few hours sleep the shuttle ride was interesting to say the least, we were treated to blaring dance music (uncensored) and wow the Turks are MAD drivers!! We found it best not to look out the front window, they change lanse every few seconds, and tooting must be used in addition to inidcating!
The motorways closer to the city were nose to tail not moving and there were street sellers in between lanes in the middle of the 4 lane motoway trying to sell bread and water to the cars passing! As we got closer tpo Galata where we were staying the streets narrowed to one lane and the landscape is quite hilly. The roads are similar to Wellington only narrower, and hand cobbled. Our area was lovely - the buildings don't look like much fromthe outside but inside they are stunning. Our residence for the night was a full apartment, that was one whole floor of the building AMAZING! It included a full foyer, cloakroom, kitchen, lounge/dining, huge bedroom, massive bathroom with double shower and sunken bath, guest room/office, and a seperate guest bathroom......pure decadence!
We got taken out in the evening to the Galata Tower for dinner which was built as a lighthouse in about 576AD. We were about 55m up and it is on top of a hill so the panoramic view of Istanbul is fantastic. We enjoyed a 4 course traditional Turkish meal with silver service again, and a show comprising of really top belly dancers, male Turkish dancers, and band. It was a really good night out.
The area we had to walk through to get home (just around the corner) is where all the young ones like to drink, and there were partygoers out in the square everywhere partying. The place feels very safe and is very pretty as they have done all of the streets up with lights. So far we are really enjoying Turkey!
This morning we went out for coffee and Sara decided to try a real Turkish coffee....not bad. It is very thick and almosts tastes like treakle but it is still drinkable.
We had now boarded the cruise ship and are just adjusting to a different way of travelling for a while. We have oriented ourselves with the ship, it just has everything you could ever want! The lunch buffet is brilliant and we are just sussing out what is free, what is paid and how it all works.
We are planning to see a bit more of Istanbul tomorrow before we sail tomorrow night and spend a day at sea relaxing. From what we have seen so far we are fairly sure we will survive the next few weeks (Dad I feel your pain!) but our blogging will be limited as the internet costs 75c per minute!
Güle Güle for now:)
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