Italy to Turkey through the Mediterranean
We left Venice at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, September 27th. It was a beautiful and very warm day. Passengers lined the upper railings to say goodbye. The slow cruise to the sea took a serpentine route almost through the middle of the city. It wound through fairly narrow waterways giving us a close and final view of Venice, perhaps the most beautiful city in the world made by man. After an hour we were free of the narrow channels and on our way into the open sea.
Tonight we had our first official dinner at nine in the living room. We sit at a table for ten with three other couples … all very nice people. There was a lot of conversation back and forth. Dinner was fantastic! Dinner ended around 23:30 and we took a short evening stroll along the hot deck and down to our cabin.
The next day we cruise brunched in Kotor, Montenegro. It took several hours to wind our way into the Bay is a World Heritage Site. We anchored off of Kotor and returned to the city.
Kotor has three miles of stone walls around him. The streets are cobblestone, polished by centuries of foot travel. We walked throughout the city, and saw churches, city walls, stone buildings and narrow streets. We stopped at an outdoor bar / cafe for a drink and use their free internet access (WIFI on the IPAD). We caught up with email, and continued our walk through this historic charm.
We returned to the boat, showered, changed and went to the show in the early evening which featured a drum and Argentina show bolero.
We spent Thursday the 29th to the sea to travel to Athens. Lots to do on the boat, and we ended with an official dinner that night.
Friday in Athens, Jill and I decided to stand on our own. We bought tickets for local bus and went to find the bus stop. We could not find our bus stop, then Jill called asking if anyone spoke English! Japanese a charming woman replied. She explained where we were going, and then offered to guide us. We took the train inter-city and several different subway cars on the main square. She showed us the "happy train" (HT) is a cheap little train that travels through the streets.
HT took us through the old Athens, where we saw many sights classical Athens, as the ancient Agora, Hadrian's Arch, Panathinion Stadium (built in 1896 for the first modern Olympiad), the Plaka ( a former trendy above the slopes of the Acropolis) and ending up at the Acropolis.
The Acropolis is one of the great wonders of the world. It was built over 2500 years! Throughout history it was used as a military fortress and a religious center. This place is very old. The paving stones of marble that we walked on were worn so smoothly that we have wasted our time as the foot of several smooth slippery rock. The Acropolis is being restored. We spent an hour at the Acropolis. We returned in early HT, took the bus to the ship at Piraeus port is the city of Athens. The trip took more than twice as long as the metro / urban rail travel, but it was much easier for us as our guide type Japanese in the morning do not think you can remember all the changes in subway we would have to do to get back. We returned just before the cafeteria closed at 3:00 the boat.
On Saturday, we arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey at 08:00. This time all four negotiated a taxi. We finally agreed on a price and Murat, a 24 year old student, took us about 15-20 km from the ancient city of Ephesus. He is one of the best examples of Roman architecture and well preserved. Ephesus is one of the world heritage sites of UNESCO, and beautiful to see!
It took about an hour and a half to wind through the entire site. Just one of many parts of this site is the Temple of Atremis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Another part of the site is an ancient, ruined a stadium that could hold 25,000 people! It was huge.
When we finished, we Murat fell a carpet factory where we learned about the different materials (wool, cotton, silk, etc.) and different colors – each of which has a special meaning. We watched a carpet and a woman saw how the silk cocoons are separated to form a single continuous thread where a 1.6 km long! Very cool. Of course, there were sellers who have tried (very hard) to sell us carpets, but we resisted. Murat, then took us back to the ship for another late lunch.
Sunday, October first we found in Bodrum, Turkey. This smaller town, is quieter coastal southeast of Kusadasi. We had breakfast and went out later on the dock to find a shuttle boat ready to take us from the cruise ship dock in the center of the city.
Bodrum is a beautiful port city clean. There are many shops and restaurants. Similarly, there is a small castle, and a maritime museum which is one of the best in the world. We shopped and walked for several hours, then returned on board for lunch.
PS Apologies for not posting photos, we have problems trying to download them here for the iPad.
More Source:
Anemos Tours to Greece Italy Turkey Egypt and Mediterranean!Mediterranean Travel Guide: Greece, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Egypt
Turkey Tours : Mediterranean Cruises : CentralHolidays.com
European Cruises 2012 & 2013 | Mediterranean Cruises 2012 ...
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Submited at Monday, October 3rd, 2011 at 6:00 pm on Middle East by ethan
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