Explosive Mt Etna: Sicily's volcano

By week three we were definitely getting accustomed to life on board the ship... relaxing in the warm Mediterranean air, enjoying the delectable food, and still meeting new people and making new friends. Two such friends we met at our next port - Sicily. One of the biggest tourist attractions here is Mt Etna. It happens to be one of the most accessible and well-known active volcanos in the world at the moment.

Keen to sneak a peak at some volcanic lava, we made our way ashore. Our plan was to suss out taxi vs hire car prices and find another couple to share with. How hard could it be, right? Well, we do try to find the best option and after a brief search and semi-haggling with locals, who offered to taxi us to the top in their unruly vehicles, we realised that our late breakfast meant our transport options were drying up. Quickly, we went back to the ship side where the taxi rates offered were as good (or better) - and certainly more reliable - than anything else we could find. Then it was just a matter of waiting for other late starters who had also shrewdly planned (while dancing late into the night) to miss the early morning crowds and have a sleep in.

So, we waited to see if any other passengers leaving the ship wanted to split a taxi with us. Those we did see were already travelling in groups... We were about to give up and go back onto the ship and console ourselves with a second breakfast when we met another couple keen to go.

It's the people you meet along the way...

They were lovely people! Like us, they were on a bit of a round-the-world trip. They were going for about 4 months. The major difference was that they had three young kids... Two had just been dropped off at the ship's 'kids club' and one was back at home in the States with grandma. Oh, one other thing, they were doing it all without flying!! As we got to know them better, we learnt that they would Skype their youngest every night and take it in turns to do a couple of hours work for their business back home. They really wanted to travel, so they made it work!

They were also hilarious. The reason they weren't flying was that he had developed a fear of flying and to a lesser extent a fear of heights. He just wouldn't fly. He told me that he used to fly regularly for work when he was younger but then he had children and realised that it was too risky (compared to driving?!) and he had to look after them and be around, so he stopped flying!! To get to the Mediteranean, they had taken a cruise ship across the Atlantic to London, then caught another ship to the Mediterranean.

As the taxi climbed the long road up Mt Etna, we turned a corner and the conversation stopped. All of a sudden, the green foliage gave way to black volcanic ash. If you've ever been skiing, it was like that moment when you're driving up the mountain and all of a sudden you cross the snow line and everything is white. Except, in this instance everything was black... and it was warm... so actually, it wasn't like that at all...

Holding a rock this size is easy - when its volcanic pumice

 What amazed me as we drove on was how far we still were from the main car park. Clearly, there had been a major eruption at some stage in recent years. Again, I was filled with a familiar feeling - a mix of hope at seeing something different and a small sense of risk... ... It was like being in Alaska, where I really wanted to see a bear in the wild, but I didn't want to die. Here, I really wanted to see Volcanic lava, but I didn't want to become flame-grilled.

It turns out we didn't have anything to worry about. We got to the main car park, made our way to the chair lift and as best as we could tell, through our new friends' "pigeon Italian" (ie "We know Spanish and its basically the same"), our driver was going to buy us discounted lift tickets. In the end none of us went to the main crater. Our friends decided it was too high, especially on a chair lift, and the fear of heights got the better of him. Just being up on the mountain was enough he said with a big smile and a nervous laugh. We bailed out because it was really expensive and to go to the very top required a chair lift, followed by a 4 wheel drive and a walk. Also, there was a thick cloud and we got the sense that there was no real lava bubbling away at the time, so we wouldn't see anything anyway. Instead, we trekked across volcanic rock and ran up and down craters left from previous eruptions many, many years ago. It still felt like we were hiking on another planet and that was a memorable experience!

Our next stop was Naples. The main attraction here was pizza, the mafia, or a trip to places like Pompeii, Sorrento or the famed island of Capri. Having been in this region recently when we stayed on the Amalfi coast for a few days, we decided to just relax and take a short stroll around Naples. We saw some wonderful old buildings and strolled down some of the streets that really did make us feel like we were in a scene from 'Eat, Pray, Love' with the laundry hung high across the road from one balcony to another and little cafes and pizzerias down on the street level.

Sadly, we didn't take our cameras, so just think of Italian movies for a visual, with a little extra grundge. Previously, during our drive through Italy (see previous posts for our adventures in Verona, Cinque Terre and more) we drove through the outskirts of Naples on our way from the Amalfi Coast to Rome (via Pompeii) and it was dirty and really very unimpressive. The city centre was alright though; factoring out the street-side 'second hand' iPads and other attractive portable items that had obviously been snitched. Maybe it was a good thing we didn't bring our cameras out? (Perhaps it was our well-honed travellers nous that led to us forgetting our cameras for the first time?)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, we didn't buy an iconic Napoli pizza. Our excuse - the food on the ship was just too good, in abundance, and already paid for! Oh well, next time, 'eh?

There's a man on the sign.. A homage to Jesus?

The next few days on the cruise were scheduled to be very long days for some people, we were to stop at the ports for Rome and Florence/Pisa (Civitavecchia and Livorno respectively).

The reason they would be long days is that both ports are several hours away from the actual cities. The only way to ensure you got to Rome and back in the day was to take one of the cruise's bus tours or to have organised a hire car in advance - but who really wants to drive around (or risk a long remote park!) in Rome or Florence? Both are walking cities! Technically, Florence could be reached by train, but it all depends on what times you are in port and whether the trains are running - they are notoriously unreliable.

So, while many of our fellow passengers embarked on 10-12 hour 'whirlwind' tours of nearby cities, we settled back and relaxed, refreshing ourselves before our own whirlwind trip through Morocco, Turkey, China, and Singapore (but you'll have to wait for our next post for those tales!). We stretched our legs with a stroll through the port towns themselves and sent some postcards home. (*Postcard Tip: don't send postcards from Italy. It's cheaper, for Aussie's, to take your own photo, log-in to AustPost or Qantas, create your own postcard and have it printed and mailed to your family and friends. They'll receive it more quickly too!) In the evenings, we enjoyed the stories our fellow passengers told us over dinner and quickly remembered our own adventures in Rome, Florence and the surrounding regions.

Jahda and Amanda

Venice by night and cliff-jumping off a Croatian fort

After enjoying a visual feast in Turkey, we were on route back to Venice. The ship stopped in at Split (Croatia) on the way so we could all have a quick look. While it was nice enough and had plenty of history to soak up, a quick look was definitely enough for us on this visit because, like many a marauding 'barbarian' sailing this route before us, we had our sights set on Venice.

Old, tall tower in Split, Croatia

Sure, this was our third visit in as many months, but we were still looking forward to this one. Our first visit was as part of a bus tour and was just our second stop in Europe - back then we were still getting the hang of things and were a bit under the weather. The second time we were on a rush to board our ship and settle in. This time would be different. This time we knew our way around (kind of). This time we already had our Venetian masks, tourist t-shirts, and knew where the good pizza was located. This time we were ready for Venice.

We splashed out (pun intended) and bought 24 hour passes for the Vaperetto (a boat that serves as public transport because there are no buses). This meant we could cruise the canals as frequently as we wished. First up, we went to the famous Island of Murano which is known for its glass blowing. We wandered around admiring the very beautiful and very expensive glass creations - from vases and chandeliers, to glass animals and abstract sculptures, we delighted in the vibrant colours and the craftsmen's skill. We were also very careful not to touch anything - not even to satisfy our curiosity and check the price (see 'What happens on tour' post for how we learnt that particular lesson.) As we caught the Vaperetto back towards St Mark's square we passed another walled island which appeared uninhabited and a little out of place. We soon realised we were actually passing the dead centre of Venice - more commonly known as Venice's graveyard. (That wasn't the worst joke in the world, it was just a tribute. And it goes out to you Dad!)

Doges Palace

Next on our list was the Doge's* palace, which was fascinating. Like many a prisoner before us we crossed the 'bridge of sighs' from the palace into the prison. Unlike those many prisoners, we were able to cross back again from the prison to the palace. In case you haven't heard of this bridge, it is an elevated and enclosed walkway across a canal between the palace and the prison. There are little windows through which you can see parts of Venice. It was called the bridge of sighs because for many prisoners it was the last time they would see Venice and apparently it invoked a common response among convicted Venetian criminals that went something like this, *sigh... The palace itself was quite fascinating and included a number of items that caught my eye, including some old maps of Europe and other parts of the world that were painted from a completely different angle. It's not like they were simply upside down, or at 90 degrees, some were at all kinds of angles or stopped at some odd places. It was a quirky little reminder that there are many different perspectives on the world - both throughout history and in our current times.

After refreshing ourselves back on the ship, we decided to explore Venice by night. One of the couples we had met and become friends with on the ship gave us a handy little tip. An American travel writer by the name of Rick Steves has written a series of free self-guided tours for lots of different places in Europe. We downloaded them via an app on our iPads. They included places we had already visited including Ephesus and the Acropolis. We downloaded the audio guides anyway, figuring both places were still fresh in our memories so we could relive the experience with the extra information.

Anyway, he also has a guide for Venice. And it uses the Vaperetto public transport system... It is also precise enough to tell you which number Vaperetto to board. It's a good thing too, because we were originally on the wrong one - who knew that there were multiple bus routes down the same canal?? So as we floated down the canal, we had Rick Steves as our own personal travel guide telling us all about the places we were passing. It was fantastic, free, and we highly recommend it!

We disembarked our canal 'bus' in the grand canal just outside St Mark's square. As we strolled across one of the many bridges under the Venetian moonlight we encountered that familiar Italian sight - a gypsy selling something. It seems that the hot item in Venice was a laser pointer that also allowed you to scatter the laser beam into lots of smaller ones with different patterns. Instantly, Amanda was captivated... apparently, it was like carrying around your own portable disco light show...? But I couldn't see it.

Pulling ourselves away, we wandered into St Mark's square. It seemed that as the sun set, the throngs of tourists had left Venice for the day. The restaurants had to work harder to attract clientele. Many years ago one entrepreneurial restauranteur decided to combine those three great Italian passions - good food, good wine, and good music. He built a mini stage outside his restaurant and furnished it with ample seating for visiting tourists so they could enjoy their food while being serenaded.

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for us tourists, his competitors recognised a good idea when they heard one and so they also built stages and hosted musical performances each night. The result - the original 'battle of the bands'. It also means St Mark's square is the perfect place for a romantic evening that delights the senses. Of course, if you want to eat, drink, or even sit down, it may be your hip pocket that feels it the most. But standing is free. With an abundance of food on the ship, we simply wandered around St Mark's listening to the different musical ensembles performing. We also discovered that if you walk to the middle of the square you can stand in just the right position so you can hear three or more bands at once. If you take a step in the direction of any one band all the others fade out and you can only hear that one. If you want to change songs, just take a step in the other direction. You don't need an iPod here.

Back on the ship, we had an evening 'snack' and found some more entertainment. The was also another masquerade ball (well, we were in Venice). So we donned our masks, went to a ball, and made some more friends. While there we got chatting with some more of the crew - particularly the entertainers and 'lifestyle' crew. I happened to ask them what they do for fun on their days off. The response - 'depends on the port, tomorrow in Dubrovnik some of us are going cliff jumping if you want to come'.

I wasn't expecting that. But by breakfast the next day, Amanda and I were both curious enough to go. Just when we'd talked ourselves into it, we then got separated from the crew on the buses into town. So, instead of going cliff jumping we did what everyone else seemed to be doing - paid a a couple of Euros to walk onto the old city wall that encloses the original city. On the Mediterranean side it is built on top of a cliff for extra protection against would-be raiders. It really is very impressive and definitely worth doing.

About half way around the wall we saw some young people standing on a rocky ledge on the cliff. We looked closer and realised it was some of the crew. So we scurried to the next exit from the wall and weaved our way through the streets of historic Dubrovnik - it is like a rabbit warren and incredible that we were actually able to find our way!

We got there just in time to see one of the singers, Chris, dive head first from about 16-17 metres up. The other three 'jumpers' went from a slightly lower ledge about 13-14 metres high. It might not sound like much but when your standing there contemplating jumping, you realise just how high it is. Unfortunately, it's a bit late then because everyone is watching. But it was a glorious sunny day, the Mediterranean was an inviting clear blue colour, and we could see that there were no submerged rocks where we were jumping. So we took the plunge! Never thought I'd be doing that on this trip.

Amanda crossing the line of no return

One of the guys who jumped also ran the tech workshop on the ship and taught people how to use Microsoft office and how to manage their photo libraries. In the following days, a number of passengers showed him photos of 'these people jumping into the Mediterranean'... A couple of days later we walked into one of the lounge areas where Chris had just started a set. He stopped singing, looked at us, and confessed, 'my head's still a bit sore' - and that's why the rest of us went feet first.

All of us crazy jumping folk

Our next stop was Santorini again. Having being there about a week earlier and thoroughly enjoying the walk high up on the cliff through the blue and white villages, we decided instead to swim at the base of the cliff and enjoy the colour of the ocean and dramatic scenery.

Now the thing about Santorini is that there is no beach there. The ships actually drift in the middle of a former volcano, so it's a long way down... They can't drop anchor. They just float around on a very deep lagoon. If you climb the mountain and hire a car you can get to a volcanic beach (code for black pebbles/sand) on the other side of the island where you can swim, but we weren't sold on this option - it sounded like a lot of effort to swim at an ugly beach. The lagoon side, however, held out more hope. Once we reached the shore (really some rocks and a concrete ledge) we walked up and down the 50m area looking for somewhere to swim. We eventually found two other people swimming just off one of the rocky ledges, right in front of the 'no swimming' sign.

White buildings on top of the cliffs

As there were no reasons given for not swimming, we decided to take a dip anyway. We carefully negotiated the rocks and occasional rolling wave and enjoyed the water. I stayed fairly close to the edge of the water, but Amanda swam/floated further towards the lagoon to keep away from the rough rocks. Then our conversation turned towards what sort of animals would live in a deep water lagoon. Then to presumptions that I would fight it off... I can still remember the look on Amanda's face as the realisation dawned on her that whatever creatures lived in the lagoon would get to her first... it's been a while since I've seen anyone swim that fast... or that frantically.

Amanda: I've watched 'River Monsters' and I don't want to feature in an 'Ocean Monsters' sequel!

So we left that former volcano in the lagoon at Santorini and made our way for another volcano in Sicily. We'll tell you that story next time as we relax our way through Sicily, Naples, and the west coast of Italy on route to Barcelona.

J.

Turkish Delights: Ancient Wonders, Palaces, and Belly Dancers!

Istanbul - a view from the train

"You don't choose a carpet; it chooses you" read the promotional material delivered to our ship cabin. That meant one thing, we were nearly in Turkey. But I (Jahda) will get back to the carpets in a minute.

We were particularly looking forward to visiting Turkey and it been on Amanda's wish list ever since her dad had regaled her with tales of his visit to Istanbul and the famed 'grand bazaar' when he was an officer in the Australian army. We had deliberately chosen this particular Mediterranean cruise because it went east all the way to Turkey and stopped in two separate and quite different Turkish ports.

A taste of the mosaics in Topkapi palace - more below

First stop - Kusadasi, which is one of the ports near Ephesus. Second stop - Istanbul.

We arrived in Kusadasi earlier than planned because we were unable to stop at the party island of Mykonos due to high winds. The captain made some calls and managed to get us a berth in Kusadasi the night before our scheduled visit. For most people the highlights of Kusadasi are a trip to the ruins of Ephesus or the chance to buy a Turkish carpet. We chose Ephesus.

The famed entryway and arena of Ephesus!

As always there was a range of tours available for purchase on the ship at exorbitant prices, so being comparatively young and filled with confidence from 4 months of traveling, we chose to make our own way there. Not having done much research we made a beeline straight for the tourist information centre. Here they told us we could hire a taxi to Ephesus and back, which it turns out would cost almost as much as the ship's tour because there were only two of us (in a group of four it's definitely a more viable option) or we could catch a local mini bus/van known as a 'dolmus'. The only catch was we would have to walk about 40 minutes to the bus stop or catch a taxi to the bus stop! As the sun was starting to burn down and I had forgotten my hat, we caught a taxi to our dolmus and then jumped on board. It was still much cheaper than an official tour.

The name dolmus comes from the word dolma, which means stuffed. You may have eaten a dolmade before - its a vine leaf stuffed with a mixture of rice, nuts, lemon and herbs. It gets it's name from the same word. In this case, we were the rice and the mini van was to be the vine leaf. It turned out to be okay though. Everyone gets their own seat. The reference to 'stuffed' simply means that the van waits until it is full before departing. It's good value too, costing just a few euro.

The dolmus dropped us off on the side of the highway with the driver announcing this was Ephesus. It didn't look like Ephesus. It looked like the side of a highway in the middle of Turkey with dried grass baking in the sun (remember I had left my hat behind). It's amazing how quickly your confidence can fade. Thankfully though, four of our fellow passengers were also on their way to Ephesus. So we set out up the road the driver had pointed to. At this point we encountered a couple of Turkish taxi drivers. The little bit of research we had done made it very clear not to trust taxi drivers in Turkey, so when the taxi driver started to tell us this was the wrong entrance... that we'd gotten off at the exit... that he would drive us to the entrance and then pick us up again from the exit when we had finished... We did start to wonder. Remember, we couldn't even see Ephesus at this point. Then the bartering began, but we all stuck to our guns and kept walking. A minute later the taxi drove up to us and started again. This time he was armed with a map showing us the entrance and the exit. Something didn't add up for us, especially since the tourist information centre told us the dolma would take us there. So when our fellow travelers relented and got in the taxi, we kept walking, wondering if we were being fools... and if I was getting sunburnt. A minute later another taxi drove past and we asked for directions. His look betrayed both scorn and bemusement (clearly seeing us as the clueless tourists we were) as he responded, 'over the hill about a 5 minute walk'.

Sure enough, 5 minutes later we were in Ephesus. The first taxi driver had in fact lied to us as both ends of the Ephesus site were both entrances and exits. Fortunately, there were tourist shops everywhere, so armed (or is that 'headed') with a new hat, we set out exploring.

We did our usual sight-seeing thing - walking around trying to imagine what life was like where we were thousands of years ago, listening in to the occasional tour guide, and of course taking photos. For me the highlights were seeing the main road down to what used to be a port (now several kilometres inland), seeing the famous facade of the library, seeing the spot where once stood the famous temple of Artemis, which was one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world, and reflecting on what it was like there for the early church.

The ancient library of Ephesus

Back in Kusadasi, we decided to walk the 40 minutes back to our ship and we meandered through open fresh produce markets where Amanda bought some bee pollen (full of micro-nutrients and other things I'm told); criss-crossed alleyways selling all manner of items from cheap junk to leather jackets, to Turkish lamps, and carved boxes; and we stopped to try Turkish ice cream. I can't actually eat ice-cream but Amanda assures me it was delicious and had a more tacky texture than normal ice cream.

Another thing in abundant supply in Kusadasi was purveyors of fine Turkish carpets - either large handmade woolen carpets or the smaller silk variety that some people buy to hang on their walls. The promotional materially we were given on the ship helpfully warned us that, 'buying a carpet is an emotional experience'. We weren't entirely sure what this meant until curiosity got the better of us and we checked the prices of a couple of carpets. Wow. There was a whole other cruise right there in that price tag. Around the dinner table a few nights later we met some fellow passengers who had 'been chosen' by a carpet and decided to splurge. The promotional material was right... it was definitely an emotional experience... "I just spent how much on a carpet?!"

Back on the ship we enjoyed a special BBQ of Turkish treats, including baklava and turkish delights for dessert. Mmmm, yum.

One of the baklava-style treats we saw..yum!

Overnight, we sailed through the Dardanelles, which is where the battle of Gallipoli was fought. It's an iconic battle in Australia's wartime history and a lot of lives were lost. We ended up sailing past at about three or four in the morning, so we were fast asleep. Although, I think the guy we met who used to be in the SAS (Australia's most elite soldiers) would have been awake. I sometimes wonder what he would have been thinking about as we sailed passed.

The next day we made port in Istanbul...

Check out the green man's moustache!

First though, there is a story from our fellow travelers that I can't resist sharing. While enjoying our Turkish dinner we struck up a conversation with some fellow passengers. One of them recounted how a friend had been surprised to see China's influence in this part of the world. This got our attention so we took the bait and asked what sort of influence they were talking about and how they knew about it. They weren't too sure on the first part except there seemed to be a general presence. But the clincher is HOW they knew... Apparently they'd seen lots of Chinese flags! We agreed this was remarkable, until we realised they were actually talking about the Turkish flag. Oh dear. Well, I guess if you're not familiar with any flag other than your own star spangled banner, the red and yellow combination could get a little confusing. I wonder what they would confuse the Aussie flag with... Great Britain?!
So to Istanbul... So much to see, so little time. The good news was we were here overnight so had a day and a half to explore and we were coming back in a few weeks to stay with some friends.

When the ship offered a shuttle bus to the main tourist area for about 15 euro we figured there must be a local transport option! Sure enough, there was a tram/light rail set up right near the port that would take us all the way in. It could get a little crowded at times, but in a city of around 14 million people with both Asian and European history - what do you expect!?

We went to the blue mosque first. We had to wait outside a while as evening prayers were underway when we arrived. It gave us a chance to hang out and just observe locals and tourists coming and going, which is always interesting. Amanda made friends with a young girl - she didn't seem to speak English and we didn't speak Turkish, but it's amazing how easily the language barrier can be crossed with a big smile and a pair of funny looking 'toe shoes'.

The Blue Mosque in miniature

After visiting the mosque, most everything else had closed for the evening so we walked to the grand bazaar and had a quick look. After having our expectations built up we were disappointed to discover that these days it feels like a bit of a tourist shopping centre, just in a different shape and with some sections of of walls and roofs restored from ages past. Amanda was keen to buy a couple of Turkish lamps, but we were coming back in a few weeks so we decided to wait.

Grand bazaar - image sourced online as ours didn't work

The next day we explored the Hagia Sofia, which is the church Justinian built around 530 AD (there were two previous churches on the site dating back to 360 AD but both were destroyed by rioters). It was then converted to a mosque when Turkey was taken over by Ottoman Turks. In more recent times there was fierce disagreement over whether it should be a mosque or a church, so after 1100 years as a church and another 500 as a mosque, they turned it into a museum instead. The main building is actually much bigger than it's neighbour, the blue mosque. It's also considered by some as the epitome of Byzantine architecture with a square building and a dome roof. Others have struggled to replicate in the same proportions. It's quite something to behold.

Inside, it is quite cavernous, with two levels and one main, massive hall surrounded by a couple of hallways. There was the customary line up of tourists waiting for their turn to stick their thumb in a hole in the Sofia's marble column... If it comes out wet, it's supposed to bring you good luck. Joining in the queue (really, when would be back?), I did think to myself how amazing it was that there are people that still think humans are rational creatures.

Spot Jahda! (bottom right)

After our dose of good luck...and some hand sanitizer to prevent a dose of something else, we then explored the rest of the Sofia. Without a guide or a guide book or anything really, we just stumbled around enjoying it as we saw it. We were glad to come across a series of mosaics from the Sofia's time as a church. Some are almost fully intact while others are only partially there. It's amazing anything is there at all because when the Ottomans first took over they plastered over all the old walls - mosaics and all. Now that's quality workmanship...? I'm surprised they didn't rip them down, but we, like thousands of tourists before us, we're glad they didn't.

After a few more minutes just sitting on the edge of the great hall, staring in wonder at the dome ceiling and this great, old church, we made a dash for our last stop in Istanbul - the Topkapi Palace.

If you're going to live in a palace, this is the one you should live in. Built on a bank overlooking the Marmara sea as it becomes the Boshporus straight (which separates Europe and Asia), it is a luxurious and expansive abode with 'location, location, location'. Why settle for a million dollar view overlooking one continent when you can have one that looks down on two continents?

The palace was mostly flat with only one above ground level in most places. It had many wings and many individual rooms - some for relaxing, some for entertaining, some as private quarters and one 'circumcision' room (*cringe followed by a shudder). A number of these rooms were floor to ceiling in tiles, mosaics, and marble columns.

One of the mosaic walls in the Topkapi palace circumcision room

We endured quite a crush to get into the palace in the first place. It seemed it was where everyone wanted to be this particular day and there was no such thing as a line. I felt like I was in high school again, waiting in the crush of students to try and get a space (standing room only) on the 3.35pm bus to Petrie station. Wow, I never thought those skills would come in handy again. Then we discovered why - the palace was loaded with Treasures... Swords from this era, vases from that era, jewels from all over the world, including some very very big diamonds and golden ornaments. Apparently, much of it was a gift to Muhummed's tomb... but he seems to get a lot of gifts as these were now back on display in the palace. We then saw a bunch of people 'queuing' for another room so we joined them and discovered it allegedly contained King David's sword and Moses' staff... Oh, and Muhummed's footprint and tooth. Quite a collection apparently acquired when Sultan Selim 1 conquered Egypt Around 1517.

A ceiling in Topkapi place

After so much magnificence we were getting hungry and our ship was about an hour from disembarking, so we caught the tram back to the ship bypassing all the delicious looking turkish delight and walking straight past this guy, a security guard with his hookah pipe:

Back on board, we enjoyed another feast while watching a belly dancer do her best to throw her back out (she was actually quite good), joined in some ship board activities , and madly tried to find some intel on our next port - which turned out to be Split, Croatia.

~Jahda

Through the Greek Isles - Santorini

There's a tale about a man who saw a bird in a tree and wondered why the bird was in his neighborhood when it could go almost anywhere if it wanted to. It was then he realized that so could he...

On this trip we've enjoyed the empowerment of saying 'just wait a while' to our normal to-do list. Our careers may not be thanking us but we're getting some great memories, together time, and life lessons that are of a higher worth to us. Although I think we timed it pretty right too! ; ) The unique vistas of the european coastline are spectacular and are safely stored in our memory banks.

I've wanted to visit Santorini since seeing it on my friend's Facebook, and in two great items of quality entertainment: America's Next Top Model and Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

Our ship had arrived in the night and we awoke to find ourselves floating within a seeming circle of high, vegetation-less mountains. Great. We were floating over an old volcano. On the upside, there was a streak of white buildings clinging to the top of two of the mountains. One was the famed Santorini!

To get up we went on small boats to the shore then had the option of 1) taking the donkeys up the winding stairway; 2) walking up amongst the crafty and vengeful donkeys and all their poo; or 3) taking the furnicular/cable car.

We had just a few hours and had plans to really explore up the top so we took the soft option - enjoying the company of some hilarious crew members from another ship on the way up to get free wifi for their iPads from a cafe.

Up the top we were confused. Where were all the postcard shots? To get away from the touristy stuff we took a punt and found ourselves on a walkway headed to the side of the town and slightly upwards. About an hour along we found we had gone the right way and we had struck gold; or rather, visions of soft curvy white and deep jewel blues...

In returning to our ship we took the wrong and very long way back. Thankfully though it wasn't the 'wrong, and very brief' way back (i.e. quick drop, sudden stop..or splash, rather..). Following some wrong directions we found ourselves on a bus winding over bare hills further and further away from the cable car. Finally the bus stopped at a very popular spot, the drop off for Oia, the supposed 'best location' in the area. Twist of fate, if only we'd known earlier!

We had to stay on the bus due to the time and mass of people and were soon charged another fare. It turns out the word 'furnicular' - that all the directors on our cruise were using - sounds very similar to something in the Oia area. The ticket man blamed us for not speaking Greek (!) and not using the more standard word 'cable car'. For a 3 euro round trip we weren't going to complain though. To think that some on our ship had spent a hundred plus dollars to come this way on a guided tour!

The previous day the island of Mykonos had been on the itinerary. However the winds blew fiercely and the waves were high so there was no chance we were going on land via the little boats. A friend told me that in this region there are three words for wind. The individual meanings are: 'swing mover', 'chair pusher' and 'unseats rider from horse'. I think we had the last type as we went past Mykonos!

Ephesus up next!

Amanda