Cruising the Meditarannean - Mykonos, Istanbul and Ephesus

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Dear Friends and Family,

As some of you know, I was a little concerned about taking a cruise as I thought I could be bored and there may not be enough to see or do - boy, was I wrong. It was a fabulous experience, a five star hotel on the water, tons to do on-board, and a new city to see every other day. We also met some fabulous people – Tony, Lisa, Shawn, Richane, Mike, and Sherry – who we ate fantastic meals with and explored the various cities.

On our way to our first port of call, we had views of Stomboli island volcano, the town of Messina and Mt. Etna on the island of Scilly. We had a full day sailing to reach the harbour at Mykonos. We dwarfed the small town with our 16 story cruise ship. Unfortunately the ferries to Delos had stopped operating but we had a walk through the narrow streets (that were built so that locals could avoid pirates). We visited the historic windmills and met a local celebrity – Petros II, the Pelican. We walked up through the town for a bird’s eye view of the harbour and then down towards the town of Omos with a stop at the beaches. Another cruise ship arrived just as the sun was setting which meant we only got half a sun set photo.

After crossing the Aegean Sea during the night, we awoke to arrive at the entrance to the Dardanelles strait which led into the Sea of Marmara. We continued up to the Bosphorus strait and arrived in the city of Istanbul (was once Constantinople) on the fringe of the Black Sea. During our first day in this magnificent Islamic city, we saw the tourist sights possible and a couple sights that were off the beaten trail. We admired the ceiling of the Blue Mosque, the obelisks from the Hippodrome of Constantinople in Sultanahmet Square, the unique spacing of the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) and it’s Viking graffiti, climbed down into the Roman cistern (where both James Bond and Dirk Pitt have escaped their tormentors) and completed a circle around the walls of Topkapı Palace before entering into the ancient palace of the Sultan and his harem.

I had heard about Valen’s Aqueduct from a lady on our cruise. It has stood for almost 2000 years, providing clean water to the city, stored in cisterns. Ann and I crossed through the Grand Bazaar, by the university and several mosques to find the aqueduct. Once we got there, we saw that 8 lanes of city traffic pass beneath its arches as it towers over the surrounding buildings. There was a young man sitting up on top of the aqueduct. I looked around for an access point but all I saw were fences. The young man pointed me over to a tree to one side then proceeded to shimmy down the rocks to the ground. His name was Mohammed and he offered to show us the way up. Ann politely declined but I figured I’d give it a go. First we climbed up the tree and jumped over to a ledge on the wall. Then we free climbed about 20 feet up the side of the aqueduct. My shoes weren’t really made for this but I managed to scramble to the top and pull myself over. Mohammed came up behind me and we walked across the top of Valen’s Aqueduct to see out over the city of Istanbul. We had to keep low so the wind wouldn’t blow us off as we were 60+ feet high. Mohammed also showed me a break in the rocks where we could see the original pipes that carried the water to the citizens. After we climbed back down, he took me over to a kid’s table with cans set up on a wall. We shot pellet guns and Mohammed gave the kid a couple coins. When I tried to pay him back Mohammed insisted it was his treat. We were very lucky to come across such a friendly local to show us around. A waiter from our cruise ship recommended we visit Taksim to find the nightlife. So after dinner, we headed of in the general direction and after missing several tiny streets, we passed the BJK İnönü football stadium and found our way up to Taksim Square. The real excitement was along İstiklal Caddesi street where all the fashionable shops are located and then at the Galata Tower where all the young people were sitting around drinking and smoking and generally having a good time.

The next day we visited the Spice Market, then caught a ferry to the Asian (eastern) side of Istanbul to see mostly the residential area. We did see the finish of a marathon with only a handful a spectators – not fair for having run so far. We caught another ferry to Besiktas so as to visit the Dolmabahçe Palace. The entry line ups were too long for the little time we had left so we walked around the outside grounds. We got back to the cruise ship just in time to leave and looked on in wonder as we sailed past the famous landmarks of the Byzantium skyline on our trek back out to the Aegean Sea.

The next day we arrived at Karadashi in southern Turkey. This port is the stepping stone to visit the ruins at Ephesus. We alighted from the ship with Shawn and Richane in tow. We made a deal with a tour group right at the terminal and still only paid half of the cruise excursion cost. We got on a small tour bus with about twenty others. We headed straight for the ruins at Ephesus for three hours of touring or individual sightseeing as we wished. Ann and I managed to lose each other but found each other outside the exit at the end. Some of the highlights included the Odeon, the Fountain of Trajan, the Library of Celsus, the Roman loo, the marble road and the Amphitheatre. Ephesus is one of the best preserved Roman ruins as it was not mined for marble like so many other locations; it was basically lost to history for hundreds of years. There was an unexpected show within the grounds when Marcus Anthony and Cleopatra and their many retainers stopped by to watch dancing Egyptians and a Gladiator battle. Also included on our tour was a visit to the Virgin Mary’s House, St. John’s Church, Isabey Mosque, the Temple of Apollo column and Ayasuluk Fortress. Afterwards we had a couple beers with Shawn and Richane, then went for a walk around Pigeon Island to visit the local residents.

Next, we were off to Athens, Santorini and Naples.

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