Venice

Good heavens why haven’t I been to Venice before this? It was absolutely magnificent. It is everything I’ve seen in pictures… and more. There was only one drawback to the day; it was May 1st which is a holiday in Italy and most of Europe so Venice was packed with people and some museums, shops and things were closed. None of that affected our day other than we chose not to go to St. Mark’s Square which was wall-to-wall people.

Our small ship was able to go through the waterway to the cruise port so we were able to see much of the skyline and buildings early in the morning and again in the evening as we left the port. What a sight!

We boarded the shuttle boat at about 9:30 without any wait - the short ride was about 15 minutes and it dropped us off fairly near St. Mark’s Square. We started off in that direction, but as the crowds grew heavier and heavier I decided not to deal with them and we headed off in the opposite direction. For us it was the perfect choice. We wandered along the sidewalks and along the canals crossing the bridges and taking whatever turns we wanted. Every block brought new wonders; I couldn’t stop taking pictures. We saw houses, shops, cafes - all the parts of real life in Venice rather than the stalls selling stuff for tourists.

At about noon we happened upon a couple gondoliers who ask if we wanted a ride. Why not, it is something I wanted to do anyway. Even though they are only used for tourists these days I just had to do it. Not cheap… but worth it. We had about a 40 minute ride through the small canals. Our guide pointed out several buildings and told us about them; Casanova’s house, several Doges houses, Marco Polo’s house. Now whether or not they are all true I don’t know… but it was a great time.

At about 2:00 we came out from between the buildings and realized we were back at the sea. Except it didn’t seem quite right. After studying our little map for quite a while we realized we were all the way across the island. We headed back in the direction we needed to go and eventually reached the place to catch the shuttle back to the ship.

I have heard all the stories: Venice is sinking - it looked fine to me. It stinks… I didn’t smell anything bad at all. It wasn’t even musty smelling. The buildings are falling into ruin… it seems to me they are doing everything possible to restore and save them. Many are 600 years old. I can’t imagine how they have stood for this many years in the water without crumbling away.
I’m tired and sore but what a day it was. This is now my number one “have to go back to” city. I need several days here with no time constraints (and no holiday). It’s quite expensive, but I’ll figure a way to do it.

The picture below gives you an idea of how crowded San Marco was.

Athens, Greece

Note from Sue: Since I have visited this area before I asked Jim to write this one so you get his impressions.
Arriving in Piraeus, the port city near Athens, we were planning on meeting our friend, Joyce. However a few days ago, through e-mail, she said she had received an appointment at the embassy for the same day we were going to be there. To change the date of the appointment could be very difficult and it could take several hours. We all decided getting together at a later date , whether Greece or Colorado, would be the thing to do. Since we have been to most of the historic sites in Athens we decided to go to the Plaka, which is a shopping area but it is in the old part of the city, just below the Acropolis. Outside the port terminal it seems all of the taxi drivers speak English and all are competing for your business. The prices quoted were all the same so we picked one and we’re off to the Plaka.

The temperature is rising and the sky is clearing; it is turning into a beautiful day. Time for some real coffee. We find an outdoor café and have coffee which comes with two small sweet rolls, very good. Near this café are some ruins that we could not identify but are great for some photos. For the next couple of hours we just roam this area, very narrow streets - up stairs - at the base of the Acropolis - down stairs - dead ends - looking in some of the shops - and taking lots of pictures. There are many ancient ruins throughout this area just mixed in with the newer buildings. Sue finds a fur shop. This may take a while. I am offered a chair and she heads up to the second floor with a sales lady. The owner of the shop comes to sit with me. He speaks very good English and soon asks if I smoke. When he hears I do smoke he is very happy and we light up. He is very happy, saying no Americans smoke anymore and explaining that since he enjoys smoking, he enjoys being with people who smoke; he says we should have a drink. Out comes a plastic bottle of homemade Raki from his uncle. After about 20 minutes of chatting, smoking and drinking, Sue comes down with a coat so she has a drink too! A deal is made and after more hugs and air kisses we depart.

Heading away from the Acropolis soon we lose our bearings and are lost, but still taking lots of pictures, especially when we find the meat and fish market. After a bit see some taxis. None of the drivers speak any English and we do not speak any Greek and since we have gone through this before (barely getting to our destination) we decided to look for the Metro. Half a block away is a Metro station. Having used the Metro the last time we were in Athens and luckily not having to change trains, we made it back to the port easily and for much less cost than the taxi.

Istanbul

We had an interesting arrival in Istanbul. We were watching out our balcony door and on the TV (bow camera) as we entered the port. We were on the great side of the ship and could see the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Topkapi Palace and many other interesting buildings through the morning fog. As we got closer to the pier I thought it looked like we should be turning more to come up alongside the dock (but then what do I know??) Suddenly the Captain came over the speakers “All Personnel, BRACE, BRACE, BRACE”. He had the propellers in full reverse and the bow thruster going… the engines were really roaring and the ship was bouncing and shaking. He got it stopped with only feet to spare! A really great save. He came on the speaker again in a little while and said we had gotten caught in an unpredicted current. All’s well than ends well.

This is one of the ports we have been really looking forward to; we met our friend Kagan who was our guide for 4 days a year and half ago. I had told him we were looking forward to some Turkish coffee so that was our first stop. Then we met his whole family for brunch at a restaurant overlooking the water on the Asian side of the city where they live. We had met Lala, his wife, for only 5 minutes on our previous trip and it was really fun to finally meet his two daughters. We also met her sister- and brother-in-law (Lala’s sister). Sadly we didn’t know about this in advance so we had already eaten breakfast and couldn’t begin to even taste all the wonderful looking foods on the buffet.

After brunch we headed to a shopping mall; no, I haven’t suddenly become a shopper but I wanted to get a special lens for my new camera. But… we couldn’t find a store that carried Sony lenses. We drove through many of the modern neighborhoods - the Asian side is mostly residential. Very lovely homes. Then we headed back across the bridge to the Europe side. We visited a very small church that we hadn’t been to before and took many pictures. Then we wandered down the main shopping street on our way to visit the watch tower. I got my box of Turkish Delight and Jim got the little coffee pot for brewing Turkish coffee. These are all modern shops with very few touristy things, but they are in historic buildings and it is a pedestrian only area so it was a nice walk. At the watch tower the line for the entrance was quite long so I decided that I didn’t want to wait… we would put it on our list for the next visit.
This is a city that is very high on my come back list - maybe even number 1 on the list. It is just fascinating and I want to have a chance to wander around the streets of the old city with no time constraints.

As I think Kagan is the best guide I’ve ever had anywhere I am particularly happy to hear that his business in really doing well. He has expanded and now has a few guides that work for him and owns his own transportation vans of several sizes. This is probably the only city in Europe right now that isn’t impacted by the economy… the prices are still fairly low so it is getting all the business!