Istanbul

Sue and I took separate tours, with hers focussing on shopping and mine on historical sites. Everyone was a winner!

My tour visited the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque is so named for the magnificent tiled interior in which the colour blue predominates. It is a shame that we can’t download photos at the moment because the art work is beautiful. The Hagia Sophia was built in the 6^th century and has served as a Christian church till 1453, a Mosque until the 1920s, and is now a museum. It was a great experience to be in a building that he been functioning for nearly 1500 years and see wonderful Christian and Islamic works of art side by side.

Our next stop was the Grand Bazaar. Under Ministry of Tourism rules the tour had to include an excursion to a local carpet factory, but our tour guide told us that we didn’t have to do that if we didn’t want to. Many of us did not. I teamed up with some Americans and we went in search of a local restaurant that did not look touristy. We found one in a back street that looked good and one of the locals eating there called out and recommended we try it. We did so and were not disappointed even though the guy who recommended it turned out to be the owner’s dad. The food was great! We had local lamb and beans, chicken and rice – fabulous.

We then walked to the Grand Bazaar. Four thousand shops!! Mind you, I reckon about half are jewellers and I have no idea how they all survive. The downside of shopping there is the numerous aggressive people who shove products like perfume in your face and practically demand you buy. I have become very practised at being outright rude! But for all that it was a great experience.

Now for Sue’s day: OMG!!! The Grand Bazaar was amazing. There were more people in one place than I have ever seen before.  But it is a small world when I talk to someone who used to live at Bilgola Plateau and went to Newport Primary School!!! We worked out she was there before I taught there, but you can imagine how surprised I was to see a Sydney “local”!!!  She was inviting me to spend money in her shop, and I did as she gave me some terrific prices!!  As you all know, I am never one to pass up a bargain!!

We went to a Cabaret Show on board last night, and 2 of the singers came over to us afterwards.  They both said how great it was to have people in the audience singing along and thoroughly enjoying themselves, and how much better it made them feel. One fellow, Ryan, spent about 15 minutes with us, just talking about singing and how he got into it through his Primary School teacher at the age of 10.  You can imagine we had heaps in common, and he invited us to wait till after the .Broadway Show is over tonight and he will bring the cast out to take photos with them.  That will be a bit special!!

Mykonos

Our wonderful taste of the Greek Isles! Mykonos is only 60 square km of mostly dry, rocky land and yet the whole place is beautiful. As we approached shore in a tender we wondered why the whole town of Mykonos looks dazzling white. Our guide said that under local law all buildings have to be white or they cannot be connected to services. Also, because the winter rains always carry lots of yellow dust from the Sahara that colours the houses the local council requires that all buildings be repainted by the end of April. It certainly makes the town look terrific.

There are lots of churches and family chapels scattered around the island, many with sky blue cupolas. It reminded Phil of the typical photos of Santorini with the white hotel built in steps down the hill.

We had drinks by the beach and later a tasting plate of local food in a tavern where we were also served Ouzo. Phil tried the Ouzo without water and is still trying to pop his eyeballs back in. But we knew our Greek experience would not be complete without the local baklava, which we found at a tavern on the waterfront. It was delicious of course and rounded off the most relaxing and enjoyable day of the cruise so far.  Sue also managed to find time to pick up a few “trinkets” as we walked back to the port to pick up our tender back to the boat.