Cruise to Turkey, Greece and Croatia

     Bari was a major disappointment in my book. Our only objective was to try and find me a pair of tennis shoes since I had forgotten my trail runners in Florence. We tried the hop on/hop off bus without much success.  Then it finally donned on me that since it was Sunday NOTHING would be open. I have tried my hardest to embrace the Italian culture but this is one thing that I just can’t accept. Why everything aside from a few cafes has to close up shop all day Sunday?

After tooling around for a few hours we threw in the towel and headed back to the cruise ship. Needless to say I do not plan on visiting Bari again. Ever. Unless I wanted to go to this place…not.

Greece on the other hand was great. After arriving in port we were bused out to Olympia, the original site of the ancient Olympics and given a very insightful walking tour by an exuberant Greek lady. After the tour we went and had an amazing lunch at a local winery. After a few bottles of wine the staff began dancing and before I even finished my baklava nearly the whole tour group was forming a conga line and weaving in-between the tables. After lunch we boarded the bus and headed back to the ship. I really wish we could have spent more time in Greece and perhaps have visited another port. At some point in my life I would like to make it to Santorini and Athens. Also I have decided since the food was soooo good I would like the rehearsal dinner for my wedding to be Greek themed, obviously costumes would be mandatory, as would copious amounts of baklava.

Izmir was interesting....? I honestly didn’t know what to expect of Turkey. After arriving in port our tour group drove an hour to what is believed to be Mary’s House. Yes, I am talking about the Virgin Mary, like Jesus’s Mom. Needless to say the atmosphere was intensely somber. It was pouring down rain, which kind of ruined the experience, but we went inside the house and lit a few candles. There was a wall of handkerchiefs outside the house but I never did get an explanation as to what they meant. After Mary’s house we headed down the hill to the ruins of Ephesus. After being attacked by a very naughty puppy that kept mauling my umbrella we began another walking tour through the ruins.

Mary's House

Wall of tied up tissues?

With umbrella in one head and camera in the other we listened as our guide walked us down the ancient street toward what is believed to be the third largest library of the ancient world. Finally we approached the amphitheater and then got back on the bus. 

Istanbul was incredible. (I’m enjoying all these alliterations) We visited the Blue Mosque, the Sophia Mosque, (which is now a museum) had lunch in a Palace, visited the Topkapi Palace and shopped in the grand bazaar. Unfortunately we didn’t get to visit the Asian side of Turkey, so I can’t say I have been to Asia…yet.

The inside of the Blue Mosque was amazing, unlike the outside which is really kind of ugly and drab. The whole ceiling is painted shades of blue and chandeliers are hung down on long cables that created their own semi-ceiling under the dome. Since the Blue Mosque is still used by Muslims we were asked to remove out shoes before entering.

The Topkapi Palace was very interesting but very crowded. After our guide took us off the leash we visited the relics where supposedly there are bits and pieces of important religious figures. I saw bits of hair and teeth, which are believed to be Mohammed’s, his footprint and the skeletal hand of one of the prophets….but I can’t remember who, maybe John the Baptist??? This just goes to show that I shouldn’t wait four weeks between posts!

The Sophia Palace was also very interesting as is is no longer a Mosque but a museum. Over the centuries both Islam and Christianity were practiced here, and since Muslims believe that you can't have depictions of Gods or religious authorities, they covered all the Christian paintings and mosaics with white wash which actually helped preserve them through the years.

An uncovered Madonna and child next to Islamic scripture.

Lunch was delicious g and I am officially addicted to baklava. While in Turkey we were also given a Turkish rug presentation, at about 6,000 euro a pop we decided to pass on the rugs and go to the grand bazaar instead for some more affordable Turkish wears.

The Grand Bazaar.

Never in my life have I seen so many counterfeits items! Gucci belts, Chanel purses, Louis Vuitton Scarves, True Religion jeans, Omega watches, etc. etc. The grand bazaar was like the mothership of all counterfeits. I was kinda of surprised to see so much counterfeit paraphernalia because in Italy it’s a very sketchy business to be involved with, you can be fined at much as 3,000 euro for purchasing a counterfeit item. Not worth it.  After leaving Istanbul we boarded the ship and had a full day at sea before arriving at our last stop before returning to Venice.

Overpriced rugs.

Roughly 16 Million people live in Istanbul. Whoa.

Croatia was beautiful! After arriving in Dubrovnik we took the shuttle into the old town and began our sightseeing without an annoying tour group. After lunch we tried to find our way up the wall that circled the city but only found dead ends and clans of feral cats. (Never touch the the kitties or puppies in Europe as they likely have fleas!)

Meow.

At one point we went through the wall and got a fantastic view of the ocean but alas we still couldn’t figure out how to get to the top. After shopping and sightseeing we headed back toward the shuttle pick up point only to finally find the stairs that led up the wall. Of course we didn’t have enough time to walk the loop around the city but we took some photos and headed back to the ship and arrived back in Venice the following morning.

The ship itself was unbelievable. Being my first cruise I didn’t really know what to expect but I was very impressed with the over the top interior design. I also didn’t expect to eat so much. Every meal was a four or five course production and I left dinner feeling uncomfortably full more than once. We were lucky enough to have quite a group at our nightly dinners and post dinner cocktails which made for a good time. The cruise was wonderful but I am not sold on the whole thing yet. I personally would have liked to have spent more time in each port and gotten to see and experience more but the cruise served it’s purpose as more of a reconnaissance mission and I would defiantly go back to all the countries we visited and plan a real vacation.