Royal Princess - part 3

Day 7
After a sea-day and our first formal night, we awoke to the island of Mykonos.  There is a strong wind blowing, but we tender over without any problems.  We are impressed with the white buildings and of course the windmills.  After exploring the little side alleys, we work our way to the end of the town and head back.  Lynne & Ivan stopped off for a coffee and free WiFi, while Vivian did some shopping.  The prices seemed reasonable, particularly as they appear to increase the nearer one gets to the port.  Vivian also managed to put a hand in the water, which was quite a feat as the wind was creating some reasonable waves.

As the visit was only for half a day, we set sail for Istanbul just after lunch.

Day 8
We have a ships tour to the Topkapi Palace, Harem & Grand Bazaar.  We were originally going to do it " on our own" but the Palace is closed on Tuesday's, except to ship's tours :-)  A longish drive through Istanbul to the Palace (which I am sure was just to confuse us).  The Palace is magnificent and the artifacts amazing.  Similarly, the associated Harem was really interesting - gave a whole new understanding of the life of those times and that it's purpose was primarily to educate women (as well as find the sultan with a wife or two, or more!). 

We were then bussed into the centre of Istanbul, to the Grand Bazaar - we elected to leave the tour and the carpet weaving demonstration.  Had a quick look at the Bazaar and were not overly excited, but found where the ship's shuttle departure place was, picked up a map and headed off on our own.  Soon got onto the tram line and in no time made it to the Blue Mosque, besieged on the way by well-dressed gentlemen employing us to go to their carpet shops.  I fooled them by wearing my Aussie hat!!

Well, we missed entry into the mosque by 10 minutes as afternoon prayers started at 12.15.  So we went in search of the Hagia Sofia and were really surprised to realise that it was right beside the Topkapi Palace (boy, that bus trip really confused us).  Went through the Hagia Sofia, which is impressive, but like so many things we have seen, is in the course of restoration.  Scaffolding etc. does not add to the ambience.

Headed back towards the Grand Bazaar and decided we needed something for lunch.  Once again Mr McD came to light (never been to so many).  After lunch Vivian wanted to go back to the Blue Mosque, so in the middle of the day, surrounded by carpet salesmen again, I willingly complied :-) :-) :-)

Infidels enter through the back entrance and we are given plastic bags for our shoes and enter.  Luckily, both men & women are allowed into the viewing/public area, whereas Muslim women have their separate area at the back of the Mosque, while men have the main chamber.  What surprised us were the number of the devout who were wandering around the body of the mosque taking photos etc.  An experience.

Found our way back to the shuttle meeting point, only to find that we had to retrace our steps to where the buses were parked.  The problem was that you needed a ticket to board the bus and you could only get that by going to the meeting point.  By this stage we were feeling so fit that nothing really mattered any more.  Ah, back on the ship.  We loved Istanbul and would liked to have had more time in Turkey.  A very interesting & friendly place from what we saw.

Day 9
Today we arrived in Kusadasi, which is still in Turkey.  The main reason for visiting here is to see the ancient ruins of Ephesus.  Once again, the history is unbelievable.  This is the town (for want of a better word) where St Paul & St John preached 2000 years ago.  To say that the site is amazing is an understatement.  Although one could say that it is just another site of old history, it is simply magnificent.  We enjoyed the whole experience and never complained about the walking or the heat that prevailed.  After this experience, we journeyed up to the top of the surrounding hills and visited the house of the Virgin Mary.  A very, very small building, which we passed through.  Once again, amazing to be standing in a piece of history.  New Zealand is solo new, we'll never have such experiences at home.

All set for another full-on day as we head across the Agean Sea to Athens tomorrow.  This is sort of our last port, if we ignore our destination of Venice and in some ways I'll be pleased as we have seen so much in such a short space of time, my brain hurts !!

Day 10
Athens on our own.  This gives a bus trip from the port to the edge of the Plaka, which is the shopping area at the base of the Acropolis.  As these are the only 2 things we want to do in Athens, it looks like a good choice.  Our guide, Anna, is useless, but anyway we strike out and buy our tickets for the Acropolis from the south gate.  It is an easy, pleasant walk up around the hill and we are pleasantly surprised.

But wait, there's more - a lot more - a lot, lot, lot more.  Our pleasant path leads us to the main line coming from the main entrance.  Next minute we are sandwiched between 10-15,000 other people going either up or down, or standing, or listening in groups to their guides.  Yuck!  It was bedlam.  Nobody was in control, the marble steps uneven, pushing and queue-jumping.  Unbelievable - all the while the temperature was climbing to mid-high 30s.  To cut a long story short, got to the top, took photos and headed down.  It was just as bad going down.  Saw an elderly woman who had cut her leg badly and as we found out later, Lynne (who was not with us) fainted and had to be taken down by emergency elevator.

All that aside, we were not that impressed, I think that we'd been spoilt in many ways with all the ruins we have just seen and once again, the Acropolis is a work in progress, with so much scaffolding and so much of what you see is replacement (have to go to London Museum for the original!).  Still, we are pleased that we have done it, and we certainly will not be doing it again.

After coming down, we were pleased to sit down in a cafe on the side of the avenue which has fine mist sprays going to keep everyone cool.  Boy, the beer did not touch the sides.  After lunch Vivian had an energy burst, so off to the Plaka in the afternoon sun.  Bought a tablecloth and a runner, so that made her happy.  Got back to the other end of Plaka and bought a Sprite and went across the road to Zeus Park.  Suddenly Vivian has a thought - oh oh, tablecloth is the wrong size (read the wrong measurement).  So with Boy Scout precision, we manage to locate the shop, which is no mean feat, and find our way back. 

Boy, it's been a hot tiring day so we buy another Sprite and sit on the steps of a disused Greek Bank and watch the traffic go by.  Forgot to mention that there are 6 cruise ships in port & all of the passengers are doing the same thing.  Also, most have bus pickup point at the same place - hence dozens of buses.  Enter the Athens Police with lights & sirens.  No, buses may not stop and are moved on.  This is really funny to watch, until it comes to our bus arriving. Luckily the bus is able to stop 50 odd metres away and we are soon home.  Exhausted.

Day 11
Well, today is our last full sea-day and we have had such a great  experience.  Tonight will also be our 2nd formal night, as well as the Captain's cocktail party for Platinum & Elite passengers.  Nice to actually meet the captain, who was captain on the Diamond Princess earlier this year.  Very pleasant and is great to have a day to enjoy the ship - even if we are supposed to be thinking about our disembarkation.  Tomorrow we arrive in Venice and will cruise up to our berth. We are looking forward to that and although there are some things which we do not like about Royal Princess, there are a lot of great features and all the staff are so friendly & helpful. 

This is the last entry for our Mediterranean cruise and I trust it has painted a little picture of our adventures. Now on to the rest of Italy and the journey to reach our little ship for our cruise home.