Venice

Venice is another crazy mad Italian city. The streets and canals have no rhyme or reason to where they go. You think you are going heading in one direction, but the streets twist and turn, there's a dead end, and you end up somewhere completetly different. Full of tourists with maps in their hands trying to work out where they are! (Like us.)


We got to Venice about 3.30pm, and got a water bus (vaporetto) to San Marco and found our hotel (which was no easy task with these crazy streets). Then we had a wander around and found somewhere nice to have a drink and dinner. For some unknown reason we didn't take a map, but managed to get back to hotel alright. You definitely can't be in any hurry to get anywhere, but you can't get too lost on an island (yeah right).

The waters are never still. There are always vaporetto, water taxis, private boats, delivery boats, and gondolas moving about where ever you look.

Some canals are quite narrow and we saw boats struggling to get passed each other quite often.

Here's Richard using his orienteering skills to find our way back to the motel.

We didn't go in to any of the churches or museums, we just wandered around. There was just so much to look at. There were shops and restaurants everywhere too.

We only spent 24 hours in Venice, but that was probably long enough for us. Even though the place was madly busy, it was laid back. Richard asked one of the guys at the hotel what the population of Italy was, and got the reply "60 million angry Italians". We said they don't seem angry, and the guy said they keep it inside. We haven't come across any angry Italians, they all seem very calm, and although they toot a lot when they drive it's more to let people know where they are rather than in anger. Even the boats tooted a lot in Venice. A crazy madly busy country with masses of people everywhere looking calm.

Florence/ Pisa

From Rome we went to Pisa, found our hotel (very close to the train station) and then got another train to Florence for a quick look around there. We did a double decker bus tour, and had a bit of a wander around.
I don't know the name of this bridge, but it had building on it and looked crazy.

Florence is the home of the Michealangelo statue of David, but there are copies everywhere. This one was at the top of some hill on the bus tour. There were a lot of statues with naked men in them in Florence, a lot.

The leaning tower of Pisa really did lean. It was surreal to actually see it in real life, it was just like the photos.

We walked up to the top (there was no lift!), the spiral staircase went around the outside of the inside first of all, and then got really narrow and went up the middle. It was hard work to get to the top!! At some places it felt like you were walking up hill, then leaning to the inside, then leaning to the outside. It was weird because your eyes just thought you were walking up a normal staircase but your body was saying otherwise.

Here's me at the top. It's looking kind of straight across, so you can see that you have to walk up and down hill just walking around the top. It was quite a long way down too. Didn't spend too long at the top.

Of course we had to get the obligatory tourist photo.

Rome, Italy

We didn't really do much in Rome. Just visited all the touristy spots. We had a pretty full on day though, lots of walking as well as the hop on, hop off bus tour. We were out of the hotel by 7.30am and were second in line when the coloseum opened (behind a girl from the Sunshine Coast).

Here's us on the bus with the coloseum behind us.

Lunch was pizza, of course, and it was very nice with a bottle of wine.

We had a quick look at the outside of the Vatican, but the queues that were there all day put us off going any further.

Threw our coins backwards over our shoulders in to the Trevi Fountain (this is meant to ensure that we will get back to Rome one day).

It was a really hot day, must have been in the low 30s even in the shade. And even though there were heaps of people around and the traffic is mad all the time, it didn't feel like a crowded city. It was easy to get around and the touristy bits were in walking distance if you felt so inclined.

We managed to get our rail passes sorted quite easily, so it's off to Pisa tomorrow.

Istanbul

We had three nights in Istanbul after we got off the boat. It was such an interesting place, always something different to see. There was a real mixture of people and cultures, and everyone was very helpful if you needed something. A lot spoke English quite well, one guy we bought something from at the market invited us to have an apple tea with him so he could practice his English on us. Most of the market people know enough English to get you to notice them and what they are selling and try to lure you in "Yes please" was the common cry to get you to notice them, and once there is eye contact it's hard to break away.
We did an open deck bus tour, and a Bosphorus boat tour (that was a bit dodgey), and spent a bit of time in the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar. The markets were amazing, just millions of stalls, it was good just to wander around and get lost amongst it.

This was a turkish delight stall at the spice market. Just rows and rows of stalls, and millions of people.

We had a day trip to Gallipoli, it was very very moving. The tour guide was Turkish, of course, but we were mostly shown the ANZAC side of the war. This monument basically said that although your soliders are buried here far from home we will hold them dear and they won't be alone. There was such a huge loss of life from both sides, and after WW1 there was an enormous culture change in Turkey to be more harmonious, multi-cultural and tolerant.

We went to see a Whirling Dervish show. I don't know what I was expecting but there was quite a ritual that went along with it. It was very peaceful, and mesmerising.

We really liked Turkey and would definitely like to go back one day. We only saw such a little bit of it, and would really like to see more.

Day 11 At sea

Last full day on the boat. Cocktail of the day was called back to reality, and tasted quite nice but jack was the drink of choice.

Here we are with Captain Liz (between us) and Chief Engineer Nikola (on the left). They were doing their daily walk about and didn't mind stopping for a photo opportunity.

Part of our action packed day was a game of shuffle board. We managed not to injure any of our fellow passengers. We had to call it a draw because the red discs worked better than the black ones. Who ever had the red discs won every time. We also played bingo, line danced and swam. Between eating and drinking of course.

The last show was a magician/ acrobat. He was really entertaining.

Day 10 Mykonos, Greece

Got a bit ahead of ourselves in the last posting, Day 10 was at Mykonos. There were 5 cruise ships in the harbour the day we were there so there were tourists everywhere. Of course we had to climb to the top of the highest hill and take the scienic photo. I really wanted to have a swim in the sea, but the water was quite cold so we had to settle for a drink by the sea.
Richard sampling the local brew.

Mykonos from the top of the hill.

The show on the ship this night was boogey wonderland which was 70's music. The singing and dancing were really great, but we didn't know many of the songs. This one was an Abba song, so we knew that one at least.

day 10 at sea

We didn't do to much today, drink of the day was Gin Sling so started drinking these when the Schooner bar opened at 9am. Alison went to belly dancing in the morning and I went ot the Captains corner where they talked about the boat.
We went to bingo and Alison had to spend some time with the pokies. We also frequented the solarium bar for a few cocktails where most people were sleeping.

Also went for formal dinner, here we are ready for dinner, it took me some time to get my hair ready.

Day 8, Ashod, Israel

The second day at the port of Asdod we did a tour of Jeruselem and Bethlehem. It was a bit of a ride on the bus to get there. We had a Jewish/ Israeli tour guide that really knew his stuff, but was quite biased toward his culture. At one stage he said that it would be boring to live somewhere peaceful!!!!
This is the view from the mount of olives across to the old city of Jeruselem, looking from the south west. The bit in the foreground is a massive "active" cemetary, everyone wants to be buried within site of the old city to be ready for the first or second coming (depending on what you believe).

We went in to the old city and did a whole lot of walking. This is at the West Wall or Wailing Wall. It is separated in the the mens section and the womens section. All the action was happening in the mens section, there were a few barmitzvahs going on.

We walking along the stations of the cross, which was the path Jesus took on the day he died. It was along narrow alleys like this, mostly with shops all along the way. There were a lot of people the whole time, it was a very popular place to be. We nearly missed the bus to lunch because we stopped to buy a drink pourer that will pour six ports at once. Luckily they were waiting and looking for us, so we didn't miss lunch. Then we went to Bethlehem which was an eye opener. Bethlehem is in Palestein occupied Israel, and it is walled off and we had to go through a checkpoint with guards with really big guns (which is meant to make us feel more safe - and not bored). We even had to change to a Palestine/ Israel guide, and were taken to a Palestine souvenier shop (where prices weren't hiked up - yeah right).

This is going in the nativity complex built on the site Jesus was born. There are 3 or 4 chuches here because everyone wants a piece of the action. There were still a lot of people here, but not as many as Jerusalem. I guess it is a bit harder to get to.

As we were leaving Bethlehem this graffiti was on the wall just before the checkpoint. The one that stuck with us was "to exist is to resist". Give us good old NZ any day.

Another sleepy bus ride back to the boat.

Day 7, Ashdod, Israel

Our first day at Ashdod we went to Masada and the Dead Sea. We went through Jerusalem on the way, so we had a stop there on Mt of Olives and looked across to the old city. Then it was about an hour bus ride to Masada, past Jericho in the Jordon Valley.
Masada is a fort built on a rock in the middle of a desert. It has a sad story behind it. Some Zionists last occupied the site, holding off the Romans for three years. The Romans filled in this huge gully to make a ramp to the fort, and rather that letting themselves be captured, the Zionists committed suicide. When the Romans got there, only one woman and one child were still alive.
Luckily there was a cable car going up to Masada. Richard did have his eye on the track, but we'd had enough character building. Besides - it was stinking hot!

They have excavated quite a bit of the fort. It was really interesting to have a look around it. It was quite a flash place in it's time.

It's a bit hard to see, but this is a model of what it looked like.
From Masada we went to a hotel resort by the Dead Sea. So it the middle of the desert, beside this sea that has 30-35% salt and can't support any life, there is this series of flash resort hotels. Had an awesome lunch, (not many drinkers on the Holy Land Cruise, so the free wine went down well for some).
The swim in the Dead Sea was a real highlight. You can't help but float, a really weird feeling. It's a bit hard to get upright to be able to stand up!! But you can even float standing up. The water has that silica feel on your skin. The bottom of the sea is salt! They advise not spending more than 20 minutes in the sea, and then have a wash under the fresh water shower. I think the really salty water might cause you to dehydrate.

It was about a two hour bus trip back to the boat, so it was snooze time again. Another long day.

Day 5 & 6, At sea & Haifa, Israel

Our day at sea was quite uneventful. Bit of swimming, bit of drinking, bit of bingo. Don't know where the day went.
Most nights they have a mini show put on by the crew. This is looking down on it from the sixth floor, the show is on the fourth floor.

Richard played golf at the Ceasarea Golf Club, which is the only 18 hole golf course in Israel!! It was very flash, and I drove the cart. Richard played with two poms, one living in Tel Aviv and one visiting from London, who mentioned that Richards swing was very "agricultural".
After golf we went back to the boat for yet another 3 course lunch (pudding at lunchtime, what's up with that!)

After lunch we walked to the top of these gardens!! Which I think would have normally been quite straight forward, but they were closed for renovations, so we had to zig-zag around to get to the top. I really really wanted to catch a taxi, but apparently walking all this distance up hill in scorching heat is character building.

This is the view from top. And I did admit the view was almost worth the walk. Almost. Of course we had to walk back down. A drink at a pub on the road at the bottom never tasted so good.

Day 4, Rhodes, Greece

Richard played 9 holes of golf at the Afandou Golf Club. This little dog followed us around most of the way. He seemed quite good with golf etiquitte but after Richard took this photo of him, he picked up the golf ball and started walking away with it. He must have thought it was time to go back to the club house. When he got a growling he dropped the ball, and headed back without us.
When we got back to the club house and had a drink there were some Germans (some visiting and some residents) that had been to NZ. So they were very chatty, and bought Richard a beer while I went for a paddle in the sea across the road.

After golf we went back to the boat for our usual 3 course lunch!! And then went in to town to the market. It was nice to get out of the heat and stop for a drink, we asked for a beer and a wine, and this is what we got! A boot of beer and small jug of wine.

This was the view looking out of one of the market gates in to the Agean Sea. The weather has been beautiful. Bit more of a relaxing day than yesterday, quiet day at sea tomorrow.

Kusadasi (day 3 on boat)

Day 3 of the cruise, we were at the port of Kusadasi, Turkey. We originally wanted to do a taste of Turkey tour, but it got cancelled because there wasn't enough people, so we did the best of Ephesus tour instead.

The first stop was the house where they say the Virgin Mary spent the last days of her life. It was quite a peaceful place despite the thousands of tourists that were there.

Next stop was the site of Ephesus 3, built between two hills and used to go down to the sea. It was put in to ruin by earthquakes, and the sea had retreated by about 20km. This photo is the facade of the library, it was really amazing. We had walked for about an hour through the ruins, down a hill with a slippery marble path (stupid Romans weren't concerned with health and safety, rather with how it looked).

This was the arena for Ephesus and held about 24,000 people in it's time. It is thought these arenas held 10% of the population, so perhaps about 240,000 lived in Ephesus. There is still a lot of excavation going on, and they are finding more stuff all the time.

At the end, before we got back on the bus, there was a little show with Cleoplatra and Marc Antony being entertained by these dancers, and then by a couple of gladiators sword fighting to the death. Of course this kept the tourists amused as well, and there was actually no bloodshed.

It was a long day, and some of us had to have a sleep on the way home.