[GG] Italy

Last Stop: Italy

Aug 11

Venice – disembarkation from the ship, water bus to our apartment in the castello sistieri, and ultimately reunite with Bee who has been touring Ireland while Cee and GiGi cruised the Holly Land. Endless alleyways, bridges, piazzas, pizzas, wine (and at least 1 distillery who will fill any container for 3 euros/liter...water bottles never tasted so good...a hose & a funnel seems to be all it takes).

Aug 13

By train to Florence where for 2 days we toured on our own, visiting the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, galleries, shops, streets, Katherine from Germany who joined us on our last day, gluten-free pizza, chianti.

Aug 15

By train to Milan with a pleasant stay at the Acca Palace, just a short metro ride away from the Duomo, castello, and wide streets lined by designer shops.

Aug 17

And then it was time to turn the page and each head into our own next chapter.....

Cruising like Princesses

It's almost embarrassing to win so much out of all the prizes given, in so short of time. Almost, but not enough to give back the prizes. The tone was set the first day with Cee winning the raffle grand prize worth $200 of daily entrance into a select area of the spa for private sunbathing and whirlpool and me winning a 25 minute massage. Next we won on scratch off lottery – over $50 which we rolled into play on the slot machines and Roulette. Yes, we won and lost. Next we won $1250 grand prize on Bingo. And finally, Cee walked away with $70 dollar win on blackjack on the last evening of the cruise.

So what else did we do besides gamble? Well....

Patmos, Kusadasi, Port Said, Alexandria, Haifa, Ashdod, Dubrovnik, Ravenna, Venice: ports of call in our 12 day cruise.

Patmos is a new black dress and a dip in the Mediterranean.

Kusadasi is a guided tour to Ephesus and the Terrace Houses, followed by shopping in the bazaar for new shoes to go with the new black dress.

Haifa and Ashdod were on tour with Mickey of Israel Guided Tours, baklava in Jerusalem, fresh dates, the Wailing Wall, security into Bethlehem, the Jerusalem Cross, special blessings at a special church, “The” Manger, a fight between our bus driver and the driver of a large truck. Fists, rubber pipes. Job loss. Apology. Wine.

Port Said & Alexandria are remembered as an overnight stay at Le Meridien with its wonderful view of the pyramids from the pool, internet charges of $25/day so spending time at the Mercure with free internet, our visit to the pyramids, climbing inside the pyramid, Cheops (builder of the Great Pyramid) & Kefran (builder of the 2^nd pyramid), Sakkara and the step pyramid, the Sphinx, eating rice stuffed pigeons in the felucca on the Nile prepared specially for us by Waleed's mother, Cee practicing her Arabic (spoken & written) with our guide Waleed, and the Egyptian Museum.

Dubrovnik we spent on board and at an internet cafe, that evening time for Cee & I in the whirlpool with Class V waves.

Ravenna was a walk through the old town & viewing many churches and basilicas noted for their beautiful mosaics.

Venice...disembark the ship and another chapter begins. But first a shout out to Matt & Chris ("Kids, Grandma, Kids") who were not afraid to play.

[GG] Yay! A for Athens

Greece

What happens when you don't pay your bills? For one thing, people refuse to work without pay. International trains refuse to come into your country because they may not be able to leave. Services are drastically cut. This explains our flight from Istanbul to Thessaloniki rather than a train ride.

Our goal was Meteora, about 3 hours by car, 4 hours by bus from Thessaloniki. Fortunately and unbeknownst to us, Thessaloniki has its own charm & call for tourism. It is right on the Med. Our hotel, aptly named the Tourist Hotel, was located in the center of shopping, spas, hotels and restaurants and only 2 blocks from the sea.

The girls enjoyed a Turkish Hammam with a Grecian touch (imagine lots of water, suds, big sponge, & massage all occurring simultaneously on a marble slab in the presence of Greek statues). We walked around the beach, listened to music, ate doner-kebab, then to bed early for an early morning departure for Meteora to climb the pinnacles to the monasteries perched on top. Or so we thought. The bus ride was 4 hours each way. On the ride out I concerned myself with thoughts that it may be too steep for me, too hot for me or both. If I saw it was a significant potential problem, I would content myself with letting the girls climb as I waited below. I had seen pictures of the monasteries and although I lacked knowledge of the details, I was aware that they were perched on the top of very tall pinnacles of rock. When we arrived in Kalampaka, however, we were transferred to another bus that drove us to the top, along with numerous tour buses. When I saw folks older than I getting out of the tour buses, I knew I would be able to negotiate any climb that was offered. So steps rather than shallow foot holds and narrow paths was what I encountered. A bit of disappointment, especially for the girls who were really looking forward to something more adventurous, and dare I say it, relief for me. The 15th century monasteries themselves were interesting and the frescoes were very beautiful, but perhaps we expected a little more for our 8 hour bus ride.

The following day it was bye bye Bailey who was headed to Ireland & hello train for CeeCee & I, headed to Athens.

Six hours on the train brought us to Athens and a quick metro ride brought us to the Plaka, with the Acropolis perched above. Our hotel, A for Athens, is a fairly new, boutique hotel. It is tiny and narrow but very close to the metro, so convenient. Our room was defined by its magnificent view of the Acropolis from our bed and modern, delightful décor, in hues of brown and beige. Breakfast and the bar were on the terrace and from there we had sweeping, unobstructed views of the Plaka, the Acropolis and the surrounding areas. It was definitely a lively and romantic spot

We had both been to Athens before, so no need nor time to explore in depth on this trip. Just a walk through the Plaka, up to the back door of the Acropolis, doner-kebab on the street, and drinks on the terrace and we were good to go.

[GG] A Brief Visit to Turkey

Istanbul

The flight from Bucharest to Istanbul is short – about 90 minutes – and Tarom Airlines, Romania's National Airline, is clean, relatively roomy, with a smooth flight and landing. So much different than our experience with train travel.

Our entry into Istanbul was uneventful: $20 US Visa fee payable at the airport, walk through passport control, pick up checked luggage and look for our shuttle. We had almost an hour delay in getting our shuttle, but then we were off to Hotel Basileus. The location of this hotel was convenient: a 10 minute walk to the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia, 20 minutes to Topkapi Palace. There were lots of nearby restaurants and opportunities to shop for the typical souvenirs. True to our history, we shopped for nothing that wasn't consumable...that is, we extracted money from an ATM and had dinner. We love kebabs, yogurt, fresh tomatoes, and onions so we were in heaven.

During our 4 night, 3 day stay, we were able to visit the Chora Church, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Cisterns, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Egyptian Bazaar, take a Bosphorus Cruise, and walk the side streets in Istanbul. We purchased scarfs, mostly as gifts, and the girls each bought a ring for themselves. We actually found our best prices outside the bazaar, but we can't complain in that most scarfs were about $1.20 and the most expensive $6 and they are beautiful. Sampling Turkish Delight was the start of a sugar overload as the girls bought a variety of fruit flavors, some covered in pistachios, some in powdered sugar. And along the way we enjoyed apple tea. We loved the doner kebabs and began to order 3 separate meals, rather than share. What we shared, in addition to laughs, was hooka. We huffed & puffed but never quite generated the smoke our restaurant manager could evoke; but we had enthusiasm....our enthusiasm ultimately made us a little sick, but nothing more than the 12-hour flu.