Our final day in Istanbul and our last day of vacation

Today was a very very busy day! We started with a nice breakfast at the hotel which was an amazing buffet.  They give associates an amazing price so we were glad we stayed here for breakfast.  The was a real honeycomb with the honey just dripping  off of it for you to use!

 Honey !

 The breakfast buffet

The lights in the restaurant which we thought were cool!

After breakfast we headed to the metro and thought we had great directions.  After getting off and wandering for 45 minutes we finally hopped in a cab to take us to the Topaki Palace.  As soon as we got out of the cab a helpful friendly gentle stuck up a conversation.  He to,d us that the blue mosque would close for prayer from 1230 -230 so we should go there first.  He could tell we were a little hesitant since we had finally just gotten to our destination after wandering aimlessly for way too long.  He offered to walk and show us exactly where it was and where the entrance was.  Now he was being way too nice.  He showed us the line and the to,d us about his carpet store and that when we came out he would wait for us and take us to his carpet store. 

The blue mosque was amazing.  Michelle and I had our head scarves and the guys had the zip on legs for their pants .  Before entering the mosque everyone must take their shoes off.  Once we were all properly attired we entered and it was amazing .  Very hard to describe the tile and size of the mosque.

When we came out our guide/carpet guy was waiting for us.  We did tell him The we really had no intention of buying a carpet and we had very limited time and did it want to waste his or our.  We did offer   His something. Fro hi time. And for beings so helpful but he would not take anything.  He was very nice...

Ok I am supposed to be ready for dinner in 10 minutes and my battery is down to 12% so I have to run.  I will have to finish our day either later or tomorrow in the airport...

Thank you all for following along and I promise I will update and finish the end of our trip tonight!

Dinner in Istanbul

A few months ago Wayne and I watch a show called Chef's table.  It profiles different  chef's and their story.  Once we watch the show I look up the chef and he had a restaurant in Istanbul! So I immediately booked it and told everyone we would be having Italian on our first night in Istanbul.

The restaurant is Ristorante Italia by Massimo Bottura.

http://ristoranteitalia.com.tr/restaurant.php

Our taxi dropped us off at the. Wrong enrage but we eventually found our way to the Eataly Market and inside to the restaurant.  We sat on and outside open area..kind of open..the windows were all open.

The service was exceptional.  We started with a delicious meet and cheese mix that was very tasty.  Nice home made bread and bread sticks as well as olive oil made in Italy specifically for Massimo.

We has some nice Turkish red wine.  We were then served an amuse bouche of a small portion of frozen mozzarella with pesto and a few very small tomatoes.  It was delicious! We then  then moved on to the pasta course.  Peters choice was definitely the winner here and the winner of the night for best dish.  He had homemade ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese and  served with a  ricotta foam.  The foam definitely made the dish.  Michele had Tagliatelle with a ragu sauce, I had tortellini with aged Parmesan cream sauce and Wayne had a seafood risotto. 

Onto entrees.  Peters choice was the tenderloin, Michelle choose another pasta dish of linguine and clams I had the monk fish and Wayne  chose the Bronzino.  All were delicious but I think we expected them to be amazing from the status of the chef and the restaurant and definitely when we got the bill...we were very happy with the food I think just not as blown away as we expected to be. 

We did not have enough room for dessert but we were brought some cream puffs and a shot of grappa to finish our meal.  Wayne was the only one brave enough  to actually finish his grappa.

It was an amazing meal and we were escorted down the private elevator where a taxi was waiting for us....another great day of our vacation comes to an end!

Istanbul...Day 1

Our shipped docked at about 7am and our ride was waiting for us.  We got to the hotel and were able to check right in which is always nice.  The hotel is very modern and very cool. The lights in the hallways are all motion sensor..so when you step out of the elevator on your floor they go from very dim to bright. The whole design of the hotel is very modern.   Our rooms are on the 14th and 20th floor and we have an amazing view of the city!

We dropped off our this and got some directions from the desk and off we went to explore the city.  We headed to the metro  and after the challenge of whereto buy a metro card we were on our way.  The metro was very nice and clean.  We got off and walked along a shopping street with a few stops along the way.  Our destination was the Galata Tower.  When we arrived we decided we needed a quick coffee before heading to the top.


After a nice Turkish coffee we headed to the top.  We felt very lucky when we walked in and saw an elevator! Bonus ! It took us almost to the top.  A few steps and we walked out on to the top area.  The views were amazing! You could walk all the way around and see every side of the city! Definitely worth it.

 

View of the Galata bridge

We then walked across  the Galata bridge where there are lots of restaurants and fisherman all desperate for customers since it is Ramadan a lot of people are fasting and restaurants are empty.  

We played frogger and made our way across the street looking for a quiet spot  for lunch out of the hustle and bustle.  We found a restaurant with a rooftop terrace but chose to sit on the 2nd floor at nice  window  over looking the Bosphous. 

We had a nice lunch with a few appetizers and we each has a Kebap.

Our lunch time view

After lunch we ventured toward the Grand bazaar , in the maze of streets it took us a little while to find but but eventually made it.  The boys were troopers and walked through once with us then decided they should go have a beer and we would go back and shop a little more. When they went to have a beer they were told that is was illegal to drink alcohol I this area, then someone told them to go up to the 3rd floor and they could have a beer.  So up the 3 flights of steps they went and a beer was served to them in a paper cup.

Michelle and I shopped around the bazaar and met back up with the boys after about 45 minutes.

Time to head back to the hotel.  We hopped back on the tram but somehow when we got off and walked to find the metro station we were walking to the wrong station and probably walked an extra 1/2 mile we didn't need too which no one was really in the mood for, but we finally made it back to our hotel .  Time for a nap and shower before dinner later tonight.

Canakkale and our last day on Board!

Today our port was Canakkale.  We were scheduled to be in post for a quick stop today just 830-1230.  When we arrived the water was a little fought so the captain decided not to dock at the port and it posted anchor off shore and tender passengers ashore.  This did not see too over well with the the port authority and they tried to insist we use their tenders.  So the main office was Calling  etc  Those headed for an excursion finally got started about 1 hour later than expected so out departure time was extended until 2pm.

We decided not to go  ashore and just relax,  nap and read and for Michele and nice massage.

Today's departure would be the final sail raising so almost everyone was on deck.  The music played as we set sail and the sails were raised.  As you looked around you could see everyone smiling and just enjoying themselves.  Every time the sails are raised and. we set sail from  port the music plays and everyone  likes to be on deck to witness the departure and especially today.

As we sailed away our cruise director pointed out another so called passenger sailing vessel behind us..yet they did not have one sail was raised.   Once leaving Port we had to navigate through a pretty narrow strait along with freighters and lots of other traffic...I guessing other ship could not handle the challenge.

We had dinner at our or normal 9 pm and the crew all came out into  the dining room and sang we are he world along with everyone else.  The wished us all farewell !

We stayed up late chatting with 2 coup,e that we had met from the UK.  Everyone seemed like old friends by now.

Off to bed ..next up 2 busy days in Istanbul!

Dikili

Dikili

This was perhaps our most relaxing day of the trip..we didn't have an excursion planned and the town is really not a tourist destination. So not much shopping to be done.  We decided to take a walk into Town just to checked it out.

We walked along the shore where there was a small market lots of water front restaurant and some beach area.  We then walked more into town.  You can definitely tell that there are not many tourists here and most of the tourist who may be here are Turkish.  Many people looked at us curiously to look at our clothing our shoes etc.

We decided it was time for a cocktail and it was getting very hot walking the streets.  We went to one of the lovely water front p,aces for a drink and a small snack of course...it had been way too long since I had a piece of pizza so we ordered 2 small pizzas .  They arrived with a variety of toppings.,  some meat, corn, olives.  May have actually been a frozen pizza for for a quick bite it was just fine.

We headed back to the ship for a lot of napping...we found a nice spot on the back of the ship where we all dozed off or read our books.  That is pretty much how the rest of the day progressed.  More napping in our cabins before the captain's dinner tonight.  In the late afternoon we could see that we were sailing into rain.  There was some  lighting out at sea but I. Wild not say we were in a storm.

This would be the 1of 2 nights when the boys would wear the jackets they brought.  We met up in the bar at 8 and the maitre d came to find us to tell us we needed to come to dinner since it was the captains dinner everyone finishes at the same time.  We were seated in a booth for 6 not knowing if 2 other may join us.

About 10 minutes after being seated a party of 4 came in 2 were seated at the table next to us and 2 with us.   We got the 2 children..well not children, 19 and 21 years old.. The sat down  and said hello parents! They were very nice and we had a great dinner with them.  They are from Southern California.  Mackenzie was excited to hear that we were from Philadelphia.  She is considering University of Penn to continue her English lit studies. So I told her all about the city and all the great thing but also how it would be very different from Southern California.  Tanner is studying film at a school in Southern California.  They were really enjoying the trip although there were rally no others their age and you could tell that they appreciated the opportunity to take such a trip and how lucky they were.  They have family in Turkey and will spend 3 weeks in Turkey after the cruise.  They asked a lot about us and how we all met and what we all did.   Michelle gave the Peace Corps pitch...maybe a new recruit..

The capital gave a toast/ speech and talked about the rescue at sea the previous evening.  He apologized the inconvenience and specifically said one person was very upset because of the disturbance but we were saving so done life...we all guessed that person was feeling pretty bad at that
point.

After dinner tonight was the crew and passenger talent show.  It was very funny .  A lot of the crew participated.  Some with actual talent and some being funny.  A few passengers even participated.

Tomorrow will be another relaxing day.  Our time In Port is very short and we do not have an excursion planned so we will likely stay on board and relax.

Some photos of out sailing vessel!

130 am wake up call

130 am wake up call

The morning at about 130 am there was a series a 4 horns and an announcement man overboard all crew report to deck.  What he said was man on board but meant man over board..so Wayne immediately go up and headed to deck to find out who was trying to get on the ship in the middle of the night.  He was joined by about 50 other passengers curious as to what was going on.  Some were very shaken and had their life jackets with them.   Wayne saw 2 of the  guys he normally sees very early in the morning and one joked..we are a little early for sunrise don't you think...

It turned out that there were 2 people in the water that had been spotted.  They were not from our ship and from what we understand they were refugees.  The crew went into a very well orchestrated rescue mission.  The spot lights were shone on the people.  The skiff was dropped into the water and headed toward the two people.  The coast  guard was also called and headed to the area.  Our Crew retrieved the two people and handed them over to the coastguard.  From what we have heard it seemed as thought they had been in the water for a while. 

Everyone returned to bed and we continued on our way..

Kusadasi Turkey and Ephesus

I can't believe how many page views there  have been...I hope the posts have been entertaining even without photos to keep you all interested.   I did purchases one hour on the ship today so we will see how much I can get caught up on!



Kusadasi Turkey

I feel like I should start by talking about how much we have been eating ...so everyone understands the few extra pounds when we get home.  We start each day with the breakfast buffet at about 8 am.  There is quite a spread for breakfast.  Wayne always seems to head for an omelet which is no different from home....I have splurged with a little frosted flakes which I never have at home.. Michelle is loving the Nutella and Peter is dabbling in this and that. We don't walk away from breakfast hungry at all.  This is usually when we sit with some other passengers and get to chit chat.  

We then get ready for our day and then it is already time to eat lunch at 1130 before we leave the ship for the day.  Each day is a different theme, Greek, Mediterranean, Seafood, etc.  all have been very Delicious!   At sometime during the day wherever we have been there is usually a snack a some point.  Then usually back on the ship for nap and dinner which we have been showing up for at  at 9 pm, usually the last table .  Dinner has been at least a 3 course meal every night .   We have all been very happy with our meals and have not once gone to bed  hungry.

Ok now back to Kusadasi.  We arrived about noon and our tour was scheduled to begin about 1230 . We loaded the bus and headed out on  our 20 minute ride to the site.  Our guide was very informative and gave us a great history of the area and  of Ephesus on the way.  We all made sure we had our hats and bottle of water.  It felt like 100 degrees today !  We enter the site and it was quite amazing!  Our tour lasted about an hour and a half.  We learned at the end that we had seen about 8% of the city and only 12% has been unearthed so far! There were over 250,000 people living here at one point.  It was really amazing  to see.

Once we got back to town we were tired hot and hungry  so before a little shopping

we found a place for a bite to eat .  We each had nice pita wrap.  We had a nice chat with the owner ..it was his family business..which he was not extremely happy to be involved in but for now he was still doing it.  We figured he always in his late 20's . He showed us some pictures of the area just 20 years, some  earlier , before it a tourist area.  He gave us some warning about Istanbul to be careful etc..don't trust the taxi drivers. 

After we finished our snacks it was  time for some quick shopping. Michelle had a leather jacket her list and we were sure this is where we would find one .  Brian if you are reading this I am sure you will be surprised to hear that she did not find the right one.  We went to two different stores hoping a leather jacket would " speak to " Michelle but it seems as thought they all has laryngitis.....none of them spoke to her.  The attendants In the store gave her jacket after jacket to try on but no luck,  Wayne made the mistake of looking at one and them he had his own sales person....the sales guy did not want him to leave the store and the price kept dropping but Wayne did not love it so off were back to the ship with no leather jackets😔.

Tomorrow we stop in Dikili.

People of the Star Clipper!

Some of the people we have met on our trip

We have been quite amazed by some of the people we have met on board the star clipper.  We have met very few people who are sailing on the star clipper for the first time.

Wayne met a gentleman this morning from Belgium .  He was here celebrating his 70 birthday and the trio was. Gift for his wife.  He was very glad that his wife had just to,d him how much she was enjoying the trip and would definitely do another one.  He likes it some much better Lang a large ship and said he had met people fro a bout 8 different  countries and every was every friendly.

We met a couple from Zurich who were on their 14 trip and 20 week of the Star Clipper.  Now they do 2 weeks at a time and this was the 1st of a 2 week trip.

We met a couple from Vancouver.  They have lost count of how many trip they have done.  They were sailors for most of their life.  Now this is the sail boat .  This is the 2 week of a 5 week trip for them.

There are lots of Germans  some Australians, and quite a few Americans.

Although Wayne and I have said we probably would not "cruise" again I defiantly would not out this in the cruising category.  It is a totally different experience and I think we would defiantly do it agin! 

Our day in Patmos

Patmos

Today we spent the day in Patmos.  The last of our Greek islands.  Wayne and I were on deck to watch the arrival.  The captain  guided us to our anchor spot.  We dropped anchor it settled and then heard the port call to welcome the captain of the Star Clipper to Patmos..and the to proceed to tell us we needed to move due to 2 large cruise ships coming in later in the day and the spot where were was not a good spot.  The captain got very upset and did not immediately respond..why is there always a problem when we come here, why do they wait until we have dropped anchor and everything is shut down before they tell us to move.  He did finally respond we pulled up anchor and moved a little north where we dropped anchor again.

We hopped on the first tender to town and were able to quickly get a cab.  We asked for a beach with chairs, bar, restaurant etc.  He suggested a beach and said he would take us and arranged to come back and get us in a few hours.  It was much different than Kos.  Very quiet small secluded beach.  Just one restaurant maybe about 50 chairs lining the beach .  We all settle in read and napped a bit, took dip In the  very chilly water with lots of little fish swimming around. The water was crystal clear.  We had a very nice relaxing day.

We headed back to town to find lunch and do  a little shopping.  Hopefully today the shopping gods would smile down on me.  We had lunch  at a nice taverna and today Michelle and Wayne were the focus of the local cats.  They each had at least one sitting next to them Meowing and begging and and Wayne decided to feed the cats! Wasn't I just strictly forbidden from Even looking at the cats yesterday and definitely do not feed them...who would have pegged Wayne for the  softy...

 It is our last day in Greece and I am really hoping to get a piece of jewelry.  I did have the name of a jewelry designer whose shop no one exactly knew where to find.  Before I found his shop I did find 2 other rings but really wanted to see what he had since now it pretty much had become my mission in this town.  Well if this shop wasn't the biggest disappointment  of the trip...it took about 2 minutes to know that his shop did not at all compare to the other two shops and pieces I was looking and so off we went.  I ended up purchasing a beautiful gold and blue topaz ring.  It is a beautiful souvenir of my
trip to Greece!

Michelle was also able to make a few purchases..a very unique dress that I do not think she would find anything like it in the U.S. And some silver Jewelry that I know she will get lots of use out of.

We found the boys in a bar and we had just missed a tender  back to the ship so time for one more cocktail.  As soon as we got back to the ship we noticed a line of people waiting and remembered that they were taking people out on the tenders as we set sail and all the sails were raised.  So I jumped right back on and was able to get some amazing shots...

The tender ran all around the ship while it sailed and all of the sails were raised.. Wayne and I used our old stand by " lighthouse" signal so we could find each other..it worked out very well.

The captain and several of the crew member walked out on to the front of the ship..not being a sailor I am not sure of the official name..the long piece that sticks way way out..The waved waved to us as we took some photos...it was very cool!

Once I was back on board it was time for a little rest before dinner..and then it was a quick dinner and off to bed after a very long relaxing day..

Thanks for the great time Greece!

Turkey here we come!

Kos

Kos

We arrived in Kos about noon today and were docked right in town..Wayne made the call to walk to the beach which seemed soooo close...of course the walk turned out to be much longer than it looked.  We made it to the beach which was lined which hundreds of beach chairs and restaurants..and we walked by each one they each tried desperately to get you to choose their establishment.  Free Chairs ..free wifi..just order one drink..we finally decided on about the 5th one..his selling point was great hospitality and how he would take great care of us..chairs close to the water ...sold!

We got settled in our chairs and a bucket of beet and a tequila sunrise for me and all was good..we relaxed for several hours..I think Peter is about in book number 5 of the trip...We took a dip in the water which was a little cool but beautiful!  Livin' the life...

Since we would be docked in Kos until 1130 pm we had plenty of time to go back to the ship drop off our beach stuff and freshen up to go out to dinner.  We went to place recommended by our new friend from Solo Strand where we spent the afternoon.  We had a great dinner although I think on Greek dinner time we were very early...we had the whole place to ourselves.  We had a nice Greek salad, cracked wheat, stuffed cabbage, fried cheese, and souvlaki.  

there were a few cats wandering around, they seem to be every where but somehow the one cute little kitty knew to come right to me and give me blinky little kitty eyes...she almost tried to jump in my lap a few times...I did not feed her and repeatedly told her no...and she eventually went away.  I was told it would be like feeding the seagulls at the beach and I would have hundreds of cats following me around town if I even thought about giving her anything....I did take a few pieces of meat with me when we left to give the cats..but ended up just putting it in the trash ..I hope some kitty find it and has a nice meal .  Cats are Everywhere!  We actually thought most did not look that hungry..

After dinner we headed to old town for a little shopping.  My shopping this trip so far and been very lacking .  We wandered in and out of a few shops and all of the sudden...power outage..complete darkness!  Some shops and restaurants had candles but most were competent dark!  Michele did happen to find the one jewelry store that had battery powered light, since I guess this does happen every so often , and did make a few purchases.  We made our way back to the center of town where the light were on but the shopping gods were still not cooperating...no purchases.

Back to the ship and the end of another wonderful day in paradise! 

Tomorrow Patmos!

Mykonos

Mykonos

Well we had a plan ..

Our plan was to go to the beach , rent some chairs, have some cocktails, go for a swim, have snacks etc etc..then a little shopping and back for the last tender at 630.

We arrived and made out way to the taxi stand where we waited for almost an hour for a taxi so 1 hour of our day wasted...we decided we had waited long enough  and with no cab in sight we decided to skip the beach and head to town and do some shopping etc.

Michelle saw in town what I am not even sure there are words to describe..maybe a cross between a three wheeler and a golf cart for Wayne and I ..I needed Wayne's help for that description..and Michelle and Peter's ride was more like a very tiny three wheeler truck..2 seats in the front where Michelle sat very lose to the driver and a flat bed in the back where Peter sat. Michelle convinced them to take us to a beach.  We are not even sure that they were supposed to be carrying passengers...They may have actually been delivery trucks.  They zipped through the the tiny little streets of Mykonos and probably got up to about 30 mph. Once on the roads They agreed to come back to get us in about 2 hours.  

The beach was packed with people and was lined with restaurants and rentable lounge chair and was In a  beautiful little cove.  The water was a beautiful blue and looked amazing!  We found a place to have a cocktail and get an Internet connection where I was able to post 2 days of blog posts..but loading the pictures was very slow..I know it is a little boring without the pics so hopefully tomorrow I will find a better connection.  I have been writing them each day so I can keep up then just finding  a connection in town to be able to post since there is connection on the ship.

The boys went for a swim and Michelle and I just hung out.  No shopping in this little area of town.

Our rides came back right on time and dropped us off at the famous Mykonos windmills for photos and we walked back to port..stopping for a cocktail in little Venice overlooking the water and the windmills...another amazing view.  Once we figured out where we were after wandering thought all the a small winding streets we split from the boys who went to have a drink and we went to do  some shopping!  We wandering in and out of some shops but no major purchases.

We did stop in a jewelry store that must have been  having a very slow day because each sales person hooked one to each one of us and were working very hard to make a sale...the ring I was looking at was about $2500 but after I convinced the sales person I was not quite ready to make that purchase I went to see what Michelle  was looking at..stunning necklace..when we left I said..was that necklace $14000.. Why yes it was...the sales people were working very hard...but no sales today..

We got the last tender back to the ship.

Wayne and I decided to take a nap and we decided we would meet up at 830 for dinner...well when we woke up at 838 we quickly got ready and hoped Michelle and Peter waited for us.  When we walked in the dining room and looked around. The maitre'd said..they are waiting upstairs for you..when we got upstairs the bartender said, they are waiting over there for you.  On such a small ship the staff get to know you very quickly. 

We had a nice dinner and we able to have a table all to ourselves and sit together tonight.

At 10 pm was the crew fashion show which was slightly entertaining and then turned into a little dancing etc..of course staring with the song that starts every party YMCA!

We headed up to deck to make sure the ship was running smoothly..we were moving at about 10 knots..which from our sailing friends I understand is moving right along!

Peter's quote of the night as we stood and look off the front of the ship..

"OMG stars"

Quite an amazing view...time for bed....