Eric and I went on an amazing adventure to Istanbul, followed by a Silversea cruise to Greece, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria.
This is Greece's second largest city and seaport. We wandered the town, but found nothing to buy. Well we did find some erotic postcards which only the recipients can see. We then walked along the seawall. There was a lot of trash in the water, which was picked up by a trash boat, kind of like a street sweeper.
Home sweet home
It was a long series of flights from Orlando to Istanbul. We flew through Miami and London. The last flight was the killer. The British Airways flight was late and we
didn't arrive until 2:00 am, and then the taxi took us to the wrong place. At 3:00 am we finally fell asleep.
October 10-13 - Istanbul
After the late arrival, we slept until after noon. The Grand Bazaar is the largest indoor bazaar
in the world. The merchandise was amazing
with hundreds of jewelry, clothing, rug, and spice stores and everything thing
else imaginable. I bought a beautiful
gold ring.
The Grand Bazaar
Aladdin's hats and slippers
Turkish pretzels
Spices galore
We walked for miles through the old town taking hundreds of
photos. The next day we did the Hop On
Hop Off buses. The weather was dreary,
so we mostly stayed on the bus. There must be
1000 mosques in Istanbul. Our final stop
was the Egyptian Spice Market, which we were warned would be very crowded.
The following morning it was back to the Grand Bazaar for a
few gifts and my much needed Iranian saffron.
I'll add this to my collection of Greek and Spanish saffron.
After noon we took a taxi to our home for the next nine
days - the Silversea Silver Cloud.
October 13-22, 2014 - The Silversea Silver Cloud
I felt right at home rejoining the Silver Cloud. Many of the crew remembered me from my
previous journey.
October 14, 2014 - Kavala, Greece
This Greek city is the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia. We stayed in the old city which overlooks the Aegean Sea.
A beautiful aquaduct
Local fishing boats
October 15, 2014 - Thessaloniki, Greece
The farmers market with amazing tomatos
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair
October 16, 2014 - Volos, Greece
Volos was not a very picturesque city, yet we did manage a few
hundred shots. There was really nothing
to see, so we walked a few miles to the beach.
Greece has 1000s of fishing boats
The Silversea Silver Cloud
October 17, 2014 - Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Eric and I spent four days in Athens last year, so we
skipped the Acropolis and other mob scenes.
We went to the farmers market and bought some more tomatoes for our
caprese salad on board. The other passengers were jealous of our "red tomato" caprese salad.
We ate at a local restaurant for lunch, having Greek
salad and chicken souvlaki.
The Piraeus train station
Calamari
Beautiful lemons and limes
October 18, 2014 - Izmir, Turkey
We took the cruise excursion to Ephesus. I had been there 20 years ago, but there was
so much more to see following recent excavations. The guide was very knowledgeable, filling my
brain with useless information.
The library
I should have bought these for my nieces
October 19, 2014 - Cruising the Dardanelles
This was the most relaxing day of the cruise, despite the
cold weather. I read and did crossword
puzzles.
October 20, 2014 - Constanta, Romania
Today was a real adventure.
We took the shuttle bus to the main city park. After a stroll through the park, we decided
to walk back to the old town. It was
about two or three miles away. I don't
know what happened, but ten miles later we finally found it. (After returning home I checked the camera's GPS tracking, and saw where we made two wrong turns. We didn't even have any local money.) Then we could not find the shuttle bus, so we
walked back to the ship. At least I could
have dessert without feeling guilty. The
ABBA show was fantastic, and yes we were dancing and singing in the aisles.
A view from city park
With these directions, how did we ever get lost?
October 21, 2014 - Nesebar, Bulgaria
Nesebar was another beautiful port. Unlike yesterday, it was impossible to get
lost on this tiny island. We covered almost
every street and continued our shopping spree.
How will it all fit in the suitcase?
Amazing architecture
More fishing boats
We had dinner with two more of the cast members, Kelly and Jason.
October 22, 2014 - Istanbul, Turkey
How sad, the cruise is over.
But I will be back on the ship in December for a cruise of the Caribbean
and Central America.
We walked around Istanbul and it was difficult not to buy
more clothes. The prices were so
cheap. For dinner we had a local
dish. Chicken and lamb were cooked in an
earthenware container and then the top is cracked off (falling to the ground)
allowing the cooked meats to be served.
October 23, 2014 - Istanbul to London
We had a nice dinner with Norman and Ann Shuker, who met us at our London Heathrow hotel
October 24, 2014 - London to Orlando
Home sweet home
